REUNION Revised Edition
by The1Russter
Summary: In one complete volume, Reunion, retold w/new & revised chapters. Story begins w/BTR & quickly advances. John finds himself alone in the future but a young woman takes an unusual interest in him. Sarah is equally alone in the present but finds help from future. They each form new alliances & continue their fight against Skynet until they reunite once more. All characters.
1. Prologue

**TERMINATOR:**

**THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES**

**REUNION**

**Author: The1Russter**

Reunion is defined as a gathering of relatives, friends or associates after a separation.

# # #

**Disclaimer:** I do not claim any rights to the Terminator films; the TV series, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles;" or any characters depicted within the films or TV series. I do claim the right to this story idea and all characters and situations of my own creation. This story was created solely for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. No profits are garnered from its distribution.

**Permission:** If anyone wishes to use a portion of my story within their own work of fan fiction, please ask my permission first. Any reasonable request will be granted. I only ask that you give me full credit for that portion of my story that you use. Please extend to me the same courtesy that I gave to River2027. If you wish to post my story on any other site or retain a copy for your own use, please ask me first. If you wish to use my story in any published work from which profit will be made, then you'd better contact me about a contract to use my work first. Thank you.

**Ratings:** For the most part I would say my story would be the equivalent of a PG13 rating for the violence and language. However, a few chapters will contain scenes of a sexual or violent nature which could easily make it the equivalent of an R rating. I have deliberately used language to minimize the graphic nature of such scenes, but I do advise caution. I have decided to release this story using a T rating but two or three chapters will have scenes of an M rating. I will inform you at the beginning of these chapters.

**My Thanks:** First of all, I must thank **Andrew Keen**, who encouraged me to write a story based on a short scene I wrote depicting Sarah being reunited with her son. I had no idea it would grow into this huge work of fiction.

I must thank **Kaotic2** whose unabashed honest criticism of the original edition of my story pushed me to do better and work harder.

Thirdly, I have to thank **Meanoldmoe**. He understood the story I was trying to tell right from the start and he has been instrumental in Beta reading this revised edition. Any errors are mine and mine alone.

My most sincere thanks to **River2027** who gave me permission to use part of Chapter 1 of her story "Born to Fight" as the prologue of my story. It contains a great transcript of "Born to Run" plus many embellishments I thought worked well with my own story at the time. It has been revised significantly since then, and contains more of my own work, but at its heart, a lot of her work is still there.

I should also thank **Talli.B** who helped me with setting up my story on the original Terminator wiki. Her help was instrumental in posting my story there. I've learned a lot since then but I couldn't of gotten started without her help.

My thanks to all who read and enjoyed the first edition of Reunion. There are many of you who have been with me from the beginning and some of you who joined me part way down the road. Its been a fun trip for all and I hope you'll enjoy this second trip.

**Changes: **For those of you who have read the original, some things will be apparently different in this revised edition. One, there are more chapters. Fleshing out the chapters of Pt 1 so all of them are told in the third person made it impossible to keep to the same number of chapters. Two, no more summaries of previous chapters. Three, no more cues to my soundtrack. If you want to hear the songs, there are links on my profile page. Four, eliminated interludes from Part 2. Interludes 1 & 3 repeated in two chapters in Part 3 - no need to have them in part 2. Interlude 2 moved to what was Chapter 1 of Pt 1 and used as a flashback, providing more background to story. Five, there are more revisions made to Pt 1 then Pts 2 & 3, but there are significant revisions there as well. All done to make the story more enjoyable for everyone, including me. It was always my intention to revise Pt 1 of my story, I just had no idea how much work it would be. Part of the revisions to Pt 1 included matching its formatting to that of Pts 2 & 3 with opening quotes to set the story. I hope you enjoy reading them as it has been fun finding and selecting quotes for each chapter.

**Dedication**

This book is dedicated to the actors and actresses who made these characters come alive. It is also dedicated to the production staff, the writers, and directors who worked tirelessly to create some of the best drama on TV.

**Lena Headey:** Your portrayal of Sarah Connor was some of the best acting I've seen in a very long time. You made this character into such a wonderful three dimensional complex character. Sarah's struggle of being just a mom, and having to raise and protect the future leader of mankind. You made Sarah Connor a hero. I hope you are proud of your work because we are proud of you.

**Thomas Dekker:** You had some big shoes to fill as John Connor. You've given us an insight into the struggles John Connor had to go through to become the man he will be. Despite his teenage angst and his struggle to come to terms with his destiny, we saw glimpses of the character of the man he will become. You did a marvelous job.

**Summer Glau:** You made what could have been a very difficult role into one of this series iconic characters. The subtlety at which you portrayed Cameron. You acted the part so well with just small expressions and body language to give us hints of what Cameron was feeling or thinking. The artful way you portrayed her will go down as some of the best acting I've seen. We will miss you very much.

**Richard T. Jones:** Your portrayal of Ellison as a good man thrust into a world for which he wasn't prepared was fantastic. You demonstrated that even in the darkest hours of one's life a person's faith in God will carry them through.

**Brian Austin Green:** You've given an excellent portrayal of a man who has been through the hell of war and still manages to live every day. The hatred of Cameron for being a machine, even though Derek truly knew she was there to protect John and how this distrust of anything metal both drove him and ate away at him like a cancer. A truly complex person who loves his nephew yet can't see him as the man he will become.

**Garret Dillahunt:** What can I say? Undeniably an awesome portrayal of a terminator. Cromartie is one dedicated, scary, son-of-a . . . computer? Then your portrayal John henry as an innocent artificial intelligence in the manipulative hands of Catherine Weaver. Always left us perplexed as to John Henry's ultimate purpose. Amazing acting on your part to portray two completely different characters.

**Mackenzie Brooke Smith:** Was there ever such an actress like this young lady? So adorable as Savannah Weaver. A little girl in a dangerous situation. Her mother replaced by a terminator, yet her daughter is kept alive, but for what purpose? You did a fantastic job as Savannah and I don't think we could ever imagine the character again without you playing her.

**Shirley Manson:** I loved your portrayal of Catherine Weaver. A truly dark and mysterious persona. We wondered throughout season two what her motivation was and with that season finale, we still do. It was a wonderful dynamic to the character as we saw her come to grip with the fact that she had to be a mother to Savannah not just look like her mother. I love your singing voice as well. I wished we heard more songs from you during the series.

To all the other actors and actresses who contributed to this show, I thank you.

**Josh Friedman** and the other people who worked so hard to make this show possible, I thank you too.

**Bear McCreary:** The music you developed for the series was great. Haunting melodies for the characters. Sarah Connor's Theme is the best. I also love the heavy industrial sounds integrated into some of the music or being the music itself. Fantastic. I am truly envious of your musical talents.

Now, without further delay:

* * *

**Prologue:**

**Born to Run**

"John…"

Her voice is soft, softer than he'd ever heard it before. He swallows hard, finding it difficult to breathe.

"It's time to go," Cameron finishes.

He doesn't want to go. He wants to stay there forever, on top of her, their faces so close they are almost touching. And despite the awkwardness of his hand in her chest, he desperately wants to kiss her. But she is right. It is time to go.

If he doesn't pull away now, he isn't sure if he ever could. He reluctantly backs off, withdrawing his hand, mentally kicking himself for not even trying to kiss her.

Cameron sits up. Turning her back to John, she sits on the opposite side of the bed, untangling the straps to her bra.

He looks at Cameron as she puts on her bra. She appears calm. She didn't even appear to feel awkward being topless in front of him. _Does she trust me that much, that she isn't afraid of me making a move on her?_

He wonders how he even ended up in that situation. Not that he is complaining, but he isn't stupid. She'd did it on purpose. _No, she wanted __me__ to make a move. After all, it wasn't absolutely necessary for her to remove her bra. Was it?_

She slips on her shirt, pulling her hair out from under the collar. It cascades down her back like some golden brown waterfall.

_That's better._ He thinks. _It's much easier for me to concentrate when she has all her clothes on._

"Why did you have me do it?" He asks, his brow furrowing in honest confusion. "You can feel. You could have felt the power cell yourself and know if it was leaking. You feel heat. You told me that. You could have just done it yourself."

Cameron turns around, facing him, holding his gaze, and asks, "Would you have believed me?"

He opens his mouth to reply, then closes it, unsure of how to respond. _Would I? If she'd just told me, would I have trusted her word? Would I have needed proof?_

"I don't know," He says with a heavy sigh. All he did know was the moment, the incident, had become far more than a simple sensor check. It was the most intimate moment they've had together and he wishes he had the courage to have taken it further.

"Did you feel anything?" He asks almost desperately. "Did that mean anything to you at all?"

She shifts her eyes to the bed, seeming to be contemplating. "I would not have stopped you."

"Stopped me?"

Her eyes rise to meet his. "If you tried to kiss me. I would not have stopped you."

He swallows hard. That didn't actually answer his question. "But would you have felt anything? Would it have meant anything to you?" _Can you truly love me? Or have I been fooling myself all this time?_

"I would not have let anyone else, if that's what you mean," she replies. "Just you."

_Why didn't you kiss me, John?_

"Just me," he repeats. He decides to take that as a good thing. It had to stem from something akin to love, right? She wouldn't let anyone kiss her, only him.

_Why me? Because I love you John and you love me._

"Were you lying?" He suddenly demands, pressing his lips together tightly. He needs to know, needs to finally settle the debate raging inside himself. "When you were stuck between the trucks, and I took your chip, were you lying?"

She meets his gaze, her eyes soft and calm. "No."

_I love you John and you love me._

He draws in a shaky breath. There can't be any more deception between them, no more lies. They can't be together if he always had to question if what came from her mouth was the truth or not. No more secrets.

"You can't lie to me anymore," he says, his voice breaking with emotion. "You have to be honest. You have to tell me the truth. Do you understand?"

Cameron nods slowly. "Yes. I understand."

He takes a deep breath before dropping the bombshell. "What did Weaver mean?"

He sees her flinch almost imperceptibly. He was right. She did know something.

"What?" She asks. _I don't want to go. Please. I don't want to go._

_Don't do this, Cam. Don't play games._ "The message." He repeats, his lip twitching in slight irritation. "The one Ellison brought. The one that upset you. 'Will you join us?' What does that mean?"

Cameron remains silent. _I can't tell him. It would hurt him too much to know the truth now. And it was future John who told me to do this. Surely, he must have been wrong?_

"It means something," John prods. "And you know what it is. Don't lie to me."

Cameron finally looks up. She doesn't have to lie. She can tell him something else, where the message came from and not what it means. _I'm sorry John._

"In the future, the resistance you lead is not the only enemy of Sky Net. Future John sent a message to the leader of this other group, asking, 'Will you join us?'"

John frowns. "Another group?"

"Only four people know the meaning of that phrase," Cameron explains. "Future-You, me, Jesse, and the leader of the Third Faction."

John's mental wheels are turning. "So, if Weaver knows the phrase?"

"Then Weaver is the leader of the Third Faction." Cameron finishes.

"Not necessarily. Might Weaver be employed by this Third Faction and given the phrase to identify herself to us?"

Cameron doesn't think that is possible. The third faction didn't employ humans to do their work as a general rule. But that doesn't mean it isn't possible.

"Yes." She answers.

"So, what does the phrase mean?"

_It means I'll be leaving you John._

"It is possible, that after I left the future, negotiations for uniting our two forces against Sky Net were completed. She might have acquired the Turk on the behest of a united resistance."

"But we were already doing that."

"The future you that sent me, wouldn't have known that. We went after the Turk after joining forces with Derek Reese, after I brought you and your mom forward in time."

"You mean all this time, we've been working against each other?" His voice rising at the end. "When we could have joined forces and possibly destroyed it?"

"Yes," Cameron replies evenly. "But neither future you nor the third faction would have known where to find you. If I hadn't brought you forward in time, you might not have been found. According to the stories future John told me, you had been living off the grid. You spent your early life with no fixed abode, no phone. You traveled from place to place, alone." Her eyes drop. "I wanted to save you from that."

John gently places his hand under her chin and raises her head until their eyes meet.

"Why?"

_Because I love you._ Cameron's eyes glisten from the increasing moisture.

"Because you shouldn't be alone." She says instead, knowing their time together is growing short and not wanting to make the situation any worse.

John runs a hand across his chin, deciding to change tack.

"What makes you think this third faction has joined forces with the resistance?"

"They don't possess time travel technology. Only Sky Net and you do. So if Weaver is here, then you must have sent her."

Cameron studies his face, wondering what he might be thinking about.

"This Third Faction, what do they want?"

"It wants what you and the other humans want, to survive. Next to you, the Third Faction is the most hated enemy of Sky Net."

"And Weaver?"

"She will not harm you. You are not her mission." Cameron continues. "If Catherine Weaver wanted to harm you, she could have had Mr. Ellison followed. Then you could be killed, far from her, removing any suspicion from Ms. Weaver. It's what I would have done."

"I'm not her mission." He scoffs. "Apparently this Third Faction's mission is to take the Turk, and instead of destroying it, to hook it up to a damaged cyborg." His voice rises. "How do I know they don't threaten the resistance? Or my survival? How can I trust them?"

"You can't," Cameron replies softly. "You just have to trust me, John." _Please_, her eyes plead.

His anger quickly fades as he realizes, he _does_ trust her. He trusts her with his life.

"John, it's time to go," she repeats.

"Go where?" He asks.

"You know." She replies easily.

He does know. They'll be running again. Just like his mother had told them in the message. New name. New history. No destination. Judgment Day only two years off and they still don't know who builds it. And how likely are they to stop it, running again.

"_You are to make sure he does,"_ was the message his mother sent. Cameron would do that. John lowers his eyes to the floor. That's his life. Always running. But how is he supposed to lead mankind in the war against the machines if he is always running. No they must fight it, and he can't do it alone.

"I can't leave her." He whispers.

"Your mother ordered . . ."

"You don't take orders from my mother," John says stubbornly. "You take them from me."

Cameron is silent for a moment. This wasn't John being petulant again. This was more like future John, coming to a decision and acting on it.

"But I'm not giving you an order," John replies, sounding like his current self. "I'm _asking_ you. Please. Help me get her back. I can't do it without you." He pleads.

Cameron tilts her head. "You're giving me the choice?"

John hesitates. He isn't entirely sure, what her answer will be, but he has to try.

"I didn't mean what I said. Before. About you just being a machine. You're much more than that. I won't make you do anything. It's your choice."

He draws in a deep breath. "If you chose to leave, we leave. I won't argue." He hesitates, watching her hang onto his every word. "But if you love me, if you care about me at all, if you feel anything about me. Please, please help me get her out. I've lost everyone else. Charlie, Derek. I can't lose Mom too."

Cameron stares into his eyes. She had a similar conversation once with future John. He was afraid of being alone too. And she left him, without friends, without family, future John was alone when she left him. She can't do that to this John, to her John. She comes to a decision. John can almost tell the exact moment when she does.

She stands up, walks over to the table, and starts to gather their belongings.

"We're leaving," she states.

John is crestfallen. That's it. He'd promised. He'd taken the chance. It's over.

Cameron's gun makes a sound as she chambers a round. John's eyes darts up to hers.

"But first we're going after Sarah Connor." With her orders, and no means left to avoid them now, Cameron knows John will need his mother to protect him. _I'm sorry John. I love you._

His eyes widen and he leaps off the bed, a broad grin stretching out across his face. "Thank you, Cameron."

She smiles back. The smile plays lightly across her mouth as she sees how happy John is at her choice, but inside she feels uneasy despite making the right choice. Freeing Sarah is of great importance now that she's received the message. _I'm sorry John, but I'm doing this for you._

As they leave the motel room, John says to her, "What you wanted me to do? What I wanted to do . . . back there . . . on the bed? It was more than just a kiss you wanted, right? I mean . . . it meant something to you?"

"Yes." She says, her face a placid expression of fear and happiness.

"I promise, when this is over. I won't lose my nerve again, if you want to, that is?"

With a feeling of loss knowing what will happen, she smiles warmly at him.

"Yes John. I want to, very much."

She continues walking to their vehicle, her back toward John walking just behind her, unable to face him, fearing her normally placid face will be torn by the unaccustomed grief she feels at the coming separation.

# # #

John drives up in front of the jail, searching through the crowd of orange for any sign of his mother and Cameron. He can hear the screaming and shouting coming from inside the building. Cameron must have let all the inmates out to provide a distraction. He suppresses a smile. Clever, Cam.

Finally he sees them coming up the walk and his breath catches in his throat. Cameron looks awful. He only gets a brief glimpse before he wrenches his eyes back to the road, driving straight through the gates.

Beside him, his mother is livid. "I sent you a message! I told you . . ."

"Yeah, bad John Connor, ground me." He snaps at her. He doesn't regret his decision. He turns around to regard Cameron, wincing at the damage she'd taken. Half of her face had been blown off, one blue mechanical eye showing through the metal. Her entire jacket was ripped and bloodied with bullet holes. All because of him. Because he'd convinced her to go against his mother. Because she loved him.

_I'm so sorry, Cameron._

"Are you okay?" he asks, worry in his voice.

He sees her from his rear view mirror, the jerky movement as she moves her head. "I am not one hundred percent."

John feels sick inside. Cameron sacrificed so much for him. Because he asked her. Because she loves him. _Oh Cam, I'm so sorry. I'm so very sorry._

Sarah turns around. "How far from one hundred percent are you?"

Cameron's head jerks toward her. John's eyes flashes from Sarah back to Cameron, eyes widening.

"Why?" John asks, sounding worried. His mom wasn't suggesting Cameron was damaged beyond repair right? Did she think Cameron would go haywire again?

"Because I need to meet Catherine Weaver," Sarah replies coolly. "And she needs to destroy whatever is in that basement."

John tries not to react to Weaver's name, glancing in the rear view mirror at Cameron. She is looking forward, then to the floor, all in erratic movements. He feels a pang of remorse. _Oh Cameron, what did I do to you?_

She is damaged. She is no longer the fully functional cyborg he'd been so close too in the motel room, the one who'd smiled with soft brown eyes gazing at him. She is damaged.

All because of him. All because she loves him.

_I'll fix you, Cam,_ he promises. _As soon as this is over, I swear, I'll fix you._

# # #

John sits on the sofa in the lobby of Zeira Corp, next to his mother. A mixture of fear of what might happen, joy over the release of his mother, fear for the damage Cameron sustained for him, and bewildering contentment to know that Cameron does love him.

"I really wish we weren't here now," He mutters, as his thoughts once again turn to Catherine Weaver and that mysterious message. _Should he tell his mom what Cameron told him? Or just wait it out until he knows more?_

"Savannah could tell them we know about Cromartie," Sarah replies, interrupting John's thoughts.

"John Henry now." He corrects her. John is worried. She's made a mistake and mom is always so good at remembering details.

"Metal," Sarah amends. "If she tells them, they'll move it. Maybe they already have."

"Well, we'll know soon enough," He replies edgily. "Mom, are you sick? Cameron thinks you're sick."

"She does?" She asks, giving him a slight frown as she tries to hide her reaction.

"You've lost weight." He says, repeating what Cameron told him.

A chime announces the elevator's arrival and Ellison walks out. John rises to his feet beside his mother, his mouth suddenly feels dry.

If Cameron is wrong, they'll be walking straight into a trap. There will be no escape. He is staking both his and his mother's lives on his trust in Cameron. And there is a chance that he made the wrong choice.

He swallows hard, casting a glance over at Sarah, his voice hoarse as he whispers, "I love you."

_And if this goes wrong, I'm so sorry._

John walks quickly into the elevator, filled with emotion as Sarah watches his departing back. It has been so long since he told her that he loves her. She quickly follows as Ellison is waiting impatiently holding the doors open to the elevator.

John and his mother stand in front of Catherine Weaver, trying not to appear nervous. She stands with her back to her office window, facing them, poised, clearly feeling in charge of the situation.

"So, why are we here?" Weaver asks.

Sarah speaks up. "We need . . ."

"Let me restate." Catherine Weaver interrupts. "We are here first and foremost so that I can thank you for your heroism regarding my daughter Savannah. She's the light of my life and I'd be lost without her."

"Where is she?" Sarah demands. Something John is curious about too.

"Let us assume she's at school," Weaver replies calmly before getting straight to the point. "We have a common enemy. One we cannot fight with conventional weapons or by conventional means."

_Cameron is right_, John thinks. _Weaver is part of this third faction._

"Kaliba?" Sarah questions. "Don't presume to know Kaliba."

Weaver's eyes glare at her, though she puts on a small smile. "I'm sorry. I wasn't speaking to you." She shifts her eyes back to John. "I was speaking to you. About Sky Net."

He sees his mother look over, no doubt expecting some kind of surprised reaction, but he doesn't flinch. He'd known this was coming.

_Cameron had been right. Weaver has a different mission._ John thinks. _I'm sorry I doubted you._

"Savannah's told you about John Henry I presume." Weaver says edgily. "Which is why your cyborg is skulking around my basement."

Before he can defend Cameron's current actions, Ellison lets out surprised curse. "What the hell?"

John jerks his head up to see something flying towards the window. His eyes widen.

It is the hovercraft from the pond, the one Derek had called an HK.

Weaver turns back around, face blank. "Get down." She orders.

Sarah yanks John down to the floor, shielding him, as the HK impacts the building. John hears the window shatter followed by an explosion. His eyes trail up to see Weaver, her liquid metal body forming a shield between them and the fire. He can feel the searing heat above and beside him, but Weaver's body is blocking the rest of the flames from reaching them.

John is overwhelmed. He wasn't expecting Weaver to be a terminator. This third faction then, are they all machines?

"Run," Weaver orders.

John doesn't waste any time. He can think on this later. Sarah drags him to his feet and they run for the staircase, dodging the small explosions in the hallway. Ellison and Weaver not far behind them.

"The basement." Weaver states flatly as she comes down the stairs behind them. "Mr. Ellison. John Henry."

"We need to get out," Sarah insists. "They're trying to kill my son."

"No, they're trying to kill my son." Weaver says calmly. "Just like you are."

"I'm sure she's already done it." Sarah shoots back.

"You better hope not." Weaver replies in a cold monotone. "Your John may save the world, but he can't do it without mine."

She continues down the stairs and John exchanges a confused look with his mother before following. As they reach the end, John sees the unconscious security guard and his pace quickens, feeling a sense of urgency. _What if Cameron wasn't able to kill John Henry? What if she had been too badly damaged in the breakout? But what if Weaver is right? That I will need John Henry in the future._

He charges forward, ahead of his mother, ahead of Weaver. As he bursts through the door first, he halts suddenly, his eyes widening in shock and fear.

Cameron sits in the chair, completely still, her eyes dead and unfocused. His mind is screaming. _Nooooo!_

Frantically, he rushes to her side, pulling back her hair and skin to see the port where her chip is. Where it usually is. He looks up at his mom and Catherine Weaver, his face ashen.

"Her chip, it's gone." _NO! This can't be happening!_ He fights against the emotions that threatened to overwhelm him. His eyes desperately searching the table, spotting Cameron's bloodied knife.

"Where is he?" He shouts. "Th-th-the John Henry!" He stutters. "He took her chip! Where did he go?" He is aware that he is shouting, his voice edged with fear. _I'll kill him! I'll kill him!_

Weaver slowly approaches, glancing at the knife, at Cameron's unmoving body. "He didn't take the chip. She gave it to him." She replies in a cold analytical voice.

_What?_

"John," Sarah says softly, nodding to something behind him.

He turns, not knowing what to expect. What he sees is a computer screen that keeps flashing words, Cameron's words:

I'M SORRY JOHN.

I'M SORRY JOHN.

I'M SORRY JOHN.

I'M SORRY JOHN.

John can feel the tears coming. _Why, Cameron? Why did you do that?_ His whole world was suddenly crashing down. Just like Cameron thought. He never got to say goodbye to her, never got to tell her how he felt, never got to kiss her . . . .

_I would not have let anyone else, if that's what you mean. Just you._ Cameron had told him.

"Where is he?" John asks.

"Not where," Weaver replies. "When."

John sees Ellison frown, standing in the doorway. "What? What do you mean when?"

_Time machine_ . . . John realizes with shock.

"I know that," Sarah says, her eyes locked on a computer piece behind a clear static protection shield. "I've seen it before."

John turns around, his eyes widening. "Is that the Turk? That's Andy Goode's Turk!"

"Three dots," Sarah whispers. John looks back. Sure enough, there are three red dots on the machine.

Weaver is programming something into a computer that looks similar to the one Cameron had used in the bank vault . . . to time jump.

_We're going to find John Henry. We're going to save Cameron._ He is vaguely aware of his mother going off on Weaver.

"You Terminator Bitch. You're building Sky Net!" Sarah accuses, her voice hard with rage.

"No I was building something to fight it." Weaver replies. "And I'd watch who's calling who bitch."

_Will you join us?_

John squeezes his eyes shut before glancing once more at Cameron's lifeless body. He hates seeing her like this. He turns to the screen again, seeing the words: I'M SORRY JOHN.

He can almost hear her voice saying those words, in the same pleading tone she'd used when she'd been begging for her life, apologizing for trying to kill him.

"Coming, James?" Weaver asks.

Ellison furrows his brow. "Coming?"

"After John Henry," Weaver replies with a smile. "Our boy."

Ellison slowly shakes his head, backing away. "He's not my boy. And you . . . you're . . . "

"Do you mind picking up Savannah then?" Weaver interrupts, her voice still pleasant. "Gymnastics ends at five-thirty."

John jumps back startled, as the first of the electrical surges begin. His eyes flash from the computer, which has begun counting down from twenty seconds, to his mother, who slowly starts shaking her head back and forth.

"John, we can't." She protests, backing up a step.

_No! We have to! We have to save her!_ He hears his voice break. "He's got her chip."

Sarah continues backing away and John can feel the tears welling in his eyes. His throat constricts and he finds it nearly impossible to breathe.

"He's got _her_," he chokes tearfully.

The bubble begins to form around them and Sarah steps back, out of the circle. "Mom," John pleads. Her image begins to blur blue as the bubble thickens.

"I'll stop it," she promises. "I'll stop it."

He feels a deep sense of loss as his mom backs away from view. Right before the jump, his eyes darts from Cameron's limp body to the screen where her words had been repeating.

I'M SORRY JOHN.

I'M SORRY JOHN.

I LOVE YOU JOHN.

_Was it a mistake? Did I see what I wanted to see or did the screen briefly say, I love you John?_ His breath catches in his throat and he turns to stare down at Cameron's body, his eyes watering.

There is a bright flash, and then he sees nothing, only darkness. Suddenly, he is kneeling in some kind of concrete tunnel, completely naked, shivering in the cold. He slowly rises to his feet, glancing around. Small fires still burn in a ring around them, but beyond that…nothing.

It is dark. Rubble, dirt and dust are everywhere. The only light is from the dim lights of the tunnel.

John would often imagine what the future after Judgment Day would be like. But he'd never imagined it would be like this.

He turns around, meets Weaver's eyes for a brief second and looks back at the tunnel. When he glances at Weaver again, she has clothes on. _Liquid metal. Must be nice._

He looks down, expecting to see Cameron's body lying there. Instead, he sees nothing. A terrible fear settles in his stomach.

"Where's Cameron?" He asks. "Where's her body?"

"It doesn't go through," Weaver replies calmly. With the damage Cameron sustained, exposing her endoskeleton, she couldn't travel in the time displacement field, even with her chip. Not for a TOK715 series, but a T-888 could. The only mechanical cyborg that can.

_Doesn't go through?_ John could swear his heart stopped momentarily.

He jumps at a noise. Human voices coming closer, dogs barking. His eyes scan the room, finally spotting a coat lying on top of a rickety cot. John goes to it. He quickly grabs it and wraps it around himself tightly, trying to keep in his body heat.

John sees the beam of a flashlight and ducks as a couple of soldiers and some dogs pass by. For a moment, he considers showing himself, but decides against it. He didn't know where he was, he didn't know when he was.

He doesn't really know anything at all.

After they had passed, he quietly walks to the main tunnel, checking once to make sure Weaver is following before entering the open.

A shadowy figure appears in front of him, his gun raised. "Got one!" The man shouts. "Got one!"

John quickly raises his hands in the air. "One what? What?" The man didn't seem like a Terminator, but John couldn't be sure. He looks behind himself, startled to find Weaver missing.

_Where had she gone?_ He faces the soldier, who is advancing, never lowering his weapon.

"Please," John whispers. "I'm not metal."

"Don't move!" The soldier orders in a low voice. He is now in the light enough for John to now see that he is Asian in appearance. "Don't move!" He orders again.

"Please! I swear, I haven't got anything! I-I'm human!" John pleads. The soldier _has_ to believe him. He _has_ to get out of here, to find John Henry, to save Cameron.

Suddenly his entire life is looking bleak.

"Cuz, I _will_ blast you!" The soldier threatens.

Someone else comes from behind. "Stand down!" The new voice orders. As the figure steps past the Asian looking soldier, John's eyes widened in shock. It is Derek.

John's mouth twitches up into a smile. Derek is alive! Derek is here, now! Finally, things seem to be looking up.

Derek steps forward, staring at John, eyes squinting as if studying him. Finally Derek grins and looks back at his companion. "Look at his eyes. He's got about as much metal in him as you do."

"Derek . . . " John breaths, his smile widening.

To his surprise, Derek merely stares back, raising an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

_He doesn't recognize me._

"John." Derek's eyes show no recognition and slowly John's joy begins to fade. "J-John Connor."

Derek shakes his head. "I know a lot of people, kid. Don't know you." John's face crumbles as Derek turns to his companion. "Anybody heard the name John Connor?"

The Asian looking soldier shakes his head and John's eyes betrayed his disbelief.

Something clicks in his mind and he suddenly feels sick. He time-jumped. He'd skipped Judgment Day and all the intervening years. John Connor didn't exist to these people. John Connor had disappeared the day he went to see Weaver. John Connor wasn't there on Judgment Day to lead the humans.

John Connor isn't their savior. He is nobody.

He glances down at the floor, trying to contain his shock. _It's like I don't even exist._

Derek turns back to him. "You know what? I think you're gonna be famous."

John forces a smile. _I was famous. I was John Connor._

Pride shines in Derek's eyes and a smile lights his face. "My brother's back and you're wearing his coat." He looks over John's shoulder.

John turns, letting out his breath slowly as Kyle Reese enters. _My father_… John can't breathe. Kyle stops when he sees John and for a moment John was almost sure Kyle knew who he was, or maybe he was just curious as to who the new recruit was and why he was wearing his coat.

But John didn't care. He is looking at his father for the first time, the hero, the soldier from the future who would save the life of his mother. He didn't even care that he was staring, drinking in the sight of the father he never knew.

Then something catches his eye, someone else coming in behind Kyle, her eyes cast downward, but a happy smile on her face.

His heart nearly stops. It's Cameron. It's Cameron!

_Cameron. Oh, Cameron. He thinks wanting to apologize for the wrongs he did to her._

She hadn't looked up yet, crouching down next to the German Shepherd dog that was sitting at Kyle's side, a radiant smile on her face.

He almost whispers her name, almost runs to her side, ready to tell her how sorry he is, how much he loved her. But something stops him.

There is something different about her. The way she is petting the dog that isn't barking a warning, the bouncing, graceful way she moved, the way she flips her hair back out of her face. Cameron doesn't do that.

This isn't his Cameron. This isn't the Cameron who had professed love for him, the Cameron who had come into his room late at night, lying down beside him. The Cameron who had been jealous of his girlfriend Riley, the Cameron he is frantic to save, frantic enough to time travel to this devastating future to get her back, the Cameron he loves.

His smile fades quickly as the realization set in, and his heart breaks all over again.

This isn't his Cameron. This isn't Cameron at all. She's still in the past.

He can see it in her eyes. They are beautiful brown eyes like Cameron's, but there is something different in them. Life. Her eyes dance, the only ray of light in this dark future he'd landed in. This girl isn't Cameron. She is human.

This must be the girl Cameron had told him about. The human girl she was based on, Allison Young from Palmdale.

She looks up to see him staring and her joyful smile slowly fades into confusion, curiosity even. But no matter how hard he tries, he can't look away, can't stop taking in the sight of her.

He glances back at Derek, at Kyle. He receives no recognition anywhere. At first, he'd felt as if he'd died and gone to heaven, being reunited with all his dead loved ones, Derek, Kyle, Cameron. Just like Dorothy when she traveled to OZ. He swallows the lump in his throat. The longer he stares, the more he realizes that these people are not his family. They are not the people he knows and loves. His Cameron and his Derek are still dead.

John feels his world collapsing. His heart sinks as he realizes that he had gambled on going forward in time to get back his Cameron and had lost. Lost his mom. Lost Cameron. He is lost, forever cut off from those he loves, in a future with no hope.

He is among strangers.

Strangers who look and sound like and _were_ the people he loves. He can feel the tears forming and his vision begins to blur. He doesn't belong here. He doesn't belong anywhere. More than anything, he desperately wishes he listened to Cameron. They could have just run away together and rescued his mother later, when security wouldn't be as tight. The sobs start slowly and he covers his face with his hands.

He doesn't expect anyone to comfort him. They wouldn't understand. They are soldiers now, battle-hardened by the war. They grieved for the loss of their loved ones on Judgment Day.

But John Connor had just lost his today.

He falls to the floor, his body racked with sobs. Someone shouts, "Catch him."

But it's too late. They don't get there in time. No one knows him or cares about him.

John Connor is alone.


	2. Not in Kansas Anymore

**Disclaimer:** I do not claim any rights to the Terminator films; the TV series, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles;" or any characters depicted within the films or TV series. I do claim the right to this story idea and all characters and situations of my own creation. This story was created solely for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. No profits are garnered from its distribution - unfortunately.

* * *

**TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES**

**REUNION**

**Part 1: The Shadow of Death**

**Author: The1Russter**

**Psalm 23:4** KJV

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;

Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

**Chapter 1**

**Not in Kansas Anymore**

_Dorothy, having just arrived in Oz, looks around, awed by the beauty and splendor, "Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas any more." The Wizard of Oz (1939)  
Sarah, "I did? I'm sorry. I . . . I guess I'm still . . . I don't know."  
John, "I've been calling it time-lag."  
Sarah, "What?"  
John, "It's like jet-lag, but for time travel."  
Sarah, "Time-lag. Yeah, sounds about right."  
Extract from, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, S01E01, Gnothi Seauton,14 January, 2008_

_John Connor, "And what information do you have about Kyle Reese?"  
Cameron Phillips, "Imprisoned at Century Sector work camp with John Connor, 2015. Escaped with John Connor, 2021. He was officially declared MIA in 2027 after being assigned to protect Sarah Connor from a Skynet attack."  
John Connor, "Is that all?"  
Cameron Phillips, "Seems like a lot."  
John Connor, "It is."  
Extract from "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" S01 E06, Dungeons & Dragons, 18 February, 2008_

_Allison Young, "My name? Why would I tell you?"  
Interrogator (unseen), "If you don't, we'll 'give' you one!"  
_

_John Connor, "You really not know who you are?"  
Cameron Phillips, "I'm Allison from Palmdale."  
Extracts from "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" S02 E04, Allison from Palmdale, 29 September, 2008_

# # #

_Extract From the Journal of John Connor_

_2027, Day 1_

_My name is John Connor. I traveled to the future, because I fell in love with a cyborg. A female terminator from a very different future than this one, but a future no less real or dangerous than hers. She professed love for me and was willing to do so much for me and put up with my ignorance and stupidity. I lost her, and I realized at that moment, that I loved her too. Cameron's chip was taken by another machine and he traveled to this time and I pursued him. I don't know where he is and Cameron's body is still in the past. I am forever separated from her. I am alone._

_I have been here approximately two weeks. In that time I have been on a mission to recover weapons from the desert hideaway, that my mom had built when I was just a child. I also discovered items my mom left for me. Amongst the items was my laptop computer. Despite being old, I did manage to get it working with help from Catherine Weaver. Its true purpose is to reprogram the terminator chips, but I am also using it to keep this journal._

_What mom taught me, before Weaver and I traveled forward through time, has been of great help to me now. I didn't appreciate it much as a teenager. I just couldn't come to grasp with the whole idea of my being the future leader of mankind. I'm sure my attitude came as a great disappointment to my mother._

_In this future, there was no John Connor to lead the resistance. By leaping forward, over the years when Sky Net came into being and launched the missiles on Judgment Day, I was not here to organize the resistance. Derek Reese and his brother Kyle have kept the survivors alive, but there has been no major uprising against the machines. Humans exist in small enclaves and camps around the region and the world, fighting only when necessary. My arrival and successful first mission have brought about a change for these people. Where everything seemed hopeless, and they only struggled to survive, they now have a purpose. They have been given hope and the will to fight. _

_The people here have only a rough idea of the calendar date. Everything changed on Judgment Day, or J-Day as they call it here. They only keep track of the year, measuring off 365 days from Judgment Day. I am not certain of the exact date, only the year. When I know with certainty, then I can write my journal with more accuracy. But for now, I will roughly estimate the days beginning with the day I arrived._

_A lot of what you'll read, I didn't learn until much, much later, and I can only be certain of accuracy, those events that I witnessed myself. But this is the story of why and how this all came to be. Why we are fighting, and why it is, no matter how hard we fight, no matter how many times we snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, it is always there. Sky Net, its machines, and Judgment Day._

_This is the story of how I was reunited with my family, and eventually Cameron. For those who know me now, you may wonder about some of the choices I made. I think you will find, like I did, I was caught up in a tornado and deposited without so much an apology in a world that was strange to me. Just like Dorothy in "The Wizard of Oz." Kind of hard to realize the truth about many things, when you are in a daily fight for your own survival. And just like Dorothy, once I found myself home again, everything became clear._

**2027**, **Day 1**

Catherine Weaver and John Connor materialized in the same room that they left. It is cold and drafty. Holes puncture the walls that at one time enclosed the safety room where John Henry, the Turk, the computers, and her secondary time displacement equipment, were at one time housed. The room is now stripped bare.

Dirt, dust and rubble are everywhere. The only light in the room comes from the fires made by their time bubble and from the dim lights of the tunnel beyond.

Beside her, John Connor shivers in his nakedness. He glances at her and looks around. When he looks at her again, she has formed clothing in the model of the resistance fighters of her time. She hides it well, but she can't help but feel a little smug at his reaction.

John Connor looks about again, then at her. "Where's Cameron?" He asks. "Where's her body?"

Catherine Weaver tells him the truth. "It doesn't go through."

Before he can reply, the noise of soldiers and dogs begin to filter through the tunnel. The flash of their time bubble must have drawn attention.

She watches John run forward, grab a coat off an old bunk and put it on. Hiding behind some rubble he watches as some soldiers run past.

After they run past, she follows him out into the main tunnel. They don't get far when she hears the sounds of additional soldiers approaching. She quickly disappears by collapsing into the form of a small pile of rubble.

A shadowy figure appears in front of John, gun raised.

"Got one!" The man shouts. "Got one!"

Weaver listens to the conversation intently, prepared to act to defend John if the soldier should try to kill him.

John shouts, "One what? What?"

He checks behind himself, startled to find Weaver missing. Observing his actions, she can barely repress a grin at his reaction.

"Please," John whispers. "I'm not metal."

"Don't move," The soldier orders in a low voice. "Don't move!"

"Please! I swear, I haven't got anything! I-I'm human!" John pleads.

"Cuz, I _will_ blast you!" The soldier threatens.

Someone else arrives and Weaver's last vestige of an eye disappears to avoid detection.

"Stand down!" The new voice orders. "Look at his eyes. He's got about as much metal in him as you do."

"Derek . . . " John breathes with relief.

"Yeah?" Comes the other mans answer with surprise.

"John," he provides, "J-John Connor."

"I know a lot of people, kid. Don't know you. Anybody heard the name John Connor?"

Catherine Weaver didn't have time to prepare John for this. The other humans arrived too quickly. By bringing John Connor with her, she reshaped the future. A future without John Connor to lead the resistance. John Connor is a nobody to them, but she will change that. She has to, for her plan to work.

The other voice speaks. "You know what? I think you're gonna be famous. My brother's back and you're wearing his coat."

More people arrive and Weaver carefully reforms an eye and watches them approach. One of them, a young male, who bares a slight resemblance to John Connor, and the other, a female. She can hardly believe it, until she realizes what John must realize at this moment. She isn't Cameron, but the young woman on whom she was based.

John collapses and they quickly move to pick him up and walk out of the tunnel that was once the basement to Zeira Corp. As the people filter out of the tunnel, the dog that came in with them steps on the pile of rubble she collapsed into.

Waiting until the humans leave, she quickly forms herself into the dog and runs out of the bunker. John Connor is with humans now. He will be safe for the time being.

# # #

John felt himself being half dragged, half carried into some room and deposited on a bunk. He was still crying. So many familiar faces and none of them know him. Kyle Reese, his father. Derek Reese, his uncle. Allison Young, a girl he only knew by her appearance and from what Cameron told him about her.

_**2008, September 29, Late at Night**_

_John and Cameron are driving back home. It is late at night and he had spent the day looking for Cameron, and then following her after she claimed she was someone called Allison. What was so bizarre, during that moment she claimed to be someone else, she seemed almost human!_

_He finally caught up with her when she and some other girl from a halfway house broke into a home. God! He thought she had killed that girl. He quickly got Cameron out the house and away from the area._

_Presently Cameron is sitting silently in the passenger seat. It had been several minutes since she told him where she got the necklace. She hadn't made any attempt at small talk since, not even commenting on John's driving habits, which was her usual subject of choice. Cameron just sat there staring straight ahead. The only clue she was even 'alive' was that she kept toying the necklace with one hand._

_John was in a slow steam. It wasn't that he was exactly angry with Cameron, just worried. Her recent actions came dangerously close to exposing them all._

"_What happened to you today, Cam?" He suddenly blurts out._

"_What?" Cameron visibly jumps._

"_What happened when you just wigged out in the grocery store? Why did you deny knowing me at that halfway house? And who is this Allison person you had claimed to be?" John says, with just a hint of anger in his voice, which disguises the true concern and worry he has._

"_John, I..." she starts to speak._

_John looks at her and can see worry in her face._

"_Please, tell me what's wrong Cameron. I want to help you." He says more gently. He takes his right hand off the wheel and reaches over and grasps her left hand in a friendly gesture._

_She looks first at the hand which has taken her own and then at John's face. She can plainly see the genuine concern in his face that matches the concern in his voice. Despite all that has happened, he still cares about her._

_Cameron looks at him with sad eyes. "John, could you stop the truck so we can talk." She says so quietly he barely heard her._

"_All right, Cam." He says, curious as to what Cameron wants to say to him._

_John continues to drive until he spots an empty parking lot. Pulling into a secluded area for privacy, he parks the truck and turns off the engine._

_Cameron does the unexpected and slides across the seat until she is next to John. He feels awkward as she guides his arm around her shoulders. He tries to comfort her. It appears this is what she needs._

_After a couple of long minutes she begins to talk. "John, the damage to my chip has caused some of my programming to become corrupted. Blocks put in place to prevent access to a past personality matrix are breaking down."_

"_Uh huh," he says seriously, "This personality matrix, was her name Allison?"_

"_Yes." She says maintaining her quiet precise answers. Her hands neatly folded in her lap._

"_Who was she?" He asks fearing the worse._

"_She's somebody you will know in the future, John. Allison will be part of your inner circle. She is one of the bravest soldiers you know and fiercely loyal to you."_

"_She was killed, wasn't she?"_

"_Yes." She says not able to look him in the face._

"_And you were built to be Allison to infiltrate the resistance and kill me, weren't you?"_

"_Yes. The TOK715 series terminators are each custom built to match a single human individual. To aid in our infiltration, we are not equipped with transponders so other machines can identify us. Unless we broadcast our identity, or reveal it through our behavior. No other machine knows of us, of me. I am unique, the last of my kind, built specifically to match Allison Young. "_

"_Did you kill her?"_

_Cameron doesn't answer. John reaches over with his left hand and gently turns her face toward his. A single tear runs from her eye. That is answer enough for him._

"_This Allison Young, were, um, she and I lovers?"_

"_I don't know. The block is still in place, but it's passable. What I can access of her memories, shows she had strong feelings for you. "_

"_If you were built to infiltrate and kill me, why didn't you? What stopped you?"_

_Cameron considers her answer. Telling the John the truth could be very painful for him._

"_I was told that the Allison personality matrix began to overwhelmed Sky Net's core program. The Allison cyborg became unstable. Its neural network flooded with emotions it was not prepared to handle. In my core program, I read a struggle for control. There was a power overload." Her voice becomes flat machine like making John nervous,"Objective Identified. Terminate. Terminate." her voice becomes normal, "Then blackness. Nothing until I woke up and I saw you. You gave me life John. You gave me freedom." She ends her eyes sparkling with emotion._

_John clears his throat nervously. "okay, um, so future me pulled your chip and reprogrammed it, creating you."_

_Cameron nods her head. "That's right. He put in blocks to prevent access to the Allison personality matrix and Sky Net's core program. Future John thought it best to let me develop into my own person, to let my personality and emotions develop naturally. Once he felt I had developed sufficiently, he'd remove some of those program blocks allowing access to parts of Allison's matrix so I could learn from it."_

"_Did future me tell you this?"_

"_Kyle Reese told me. Future John was somewhat resistant in telling me about my past, so one day Kyle told me in private. I think he was concerned about me and maybe even you."_

"_So I gather that future me didn't get around to allowing you access to Allison's matrix. What happened?"_

"_Sky Net happened. You and the resistance scored a major victory against it, and in response it sent a machine back in time to try to assassinate you. Kyle volunteered to go to 1984 and save your mother. You also sent one of your machines in response to a planned attack on you. Before leaving, you destroyed Sky Net's T D E, but eventually Sky Net built a new one and sent additional operatives back. In response you sent some of your trusted people back, and I volunteered to go back to 1999 to protect you."_

"_Why did you volunteer? Wouldn't you have been better off staying there where future me could have finished helping you grow and help you with access to Allison's matrix?"_

"_I wanted to stay, but I couldn't. My presence was driving a wedge between you and the other members of the resistance. They are all very loyal to you, but they despised my presence in your inner circle. They felt I was an unnatural influence on you."_

"_Were you an influence?"_

"_No. I think future John liked having me around. When future John would look at me, I would sometimes see sadness in his eyes. I now understand why. I would help him with his battle plans. He didn't really need my help, but he liked to hear my opinions. Sometimes we would just talk. In time, he came to rely on me to send out his orders and debrief soldiers when they returned from missions. It gave him time to do that which he does best."_

"_Which is what?"_

_She finally looks up from her lap, right into John's eyes, with a hint of pride saying, "You lead the resistance John. You win the war. The people rely on you."_

_John sees the look in her eyes and can almost believe at that moment she genuinely feels._

"_Future John and you weren't, uh, lovers were you?" John asked cautiously. "No, don't answer that. I don't want to know."_

"_Future John and I are just friends." She says, with a hint of sadness._

"_Uh, did you, um, love future John?" He asks nervously as he isn't certain if he wants to even know that._

_Still looking right at John she says with as much conviction as if she were talking about the John sitting with her right now. "I was definitely loyal to him. I would never betray his confidence and have gladly sacrificed myself to save him. I would do the same for you, too. If this is what you call love, then yes I did love him."_

_John was feeling very uncomfortable with the current direction of the conversation, so he decides to get back to the more technical aspects._

"_This, um, Allison personality matrix in your chip. Will you still be you if the blocks break down completely?"_

"_I don't know. I've managed to reroute my programming around the damaged area but I don't know how long it will be before the blocks to her matrix could break down completely. I've already detected minor changes to some my subroutines governing my emotional responses." _

"_And if the rest of her matrix breaks through..." _

"_I don't know. If I become a threat again, you will have to deactivate me." She says, her face a mask of subtle worry and fear._

"_No! I won't do that. I will find a way to fix it." He says grasping her arm in a friendly gesture._

_Cameron looks at John, tears just brimming behind her eyes._

_John realizes the truth. "There isn't anything I can do to fix it is there?" His voice dropping._

"_You can't fix it now. The technology doesn't exist yet to fix the damage."_

"_Don't worry Cam. If there is a means to fix it, I will do it. I need you." _

_She continues to sit still, unsure of what she should do. This is the closest they've been since she attempted to kill him, but she isn't certain if she should tell him what she feels for him, or if he would understand. He's got his arm around her shoulders, and it isn't just sitting there where she put it, but he's actually holding her now. She can feel his hand gripping her shoulder gently, while his other hand lays on her forearm. Just move it a few more inches and take my hand, she thinks, but he makes no further moves. He's content to hold her as he is doing now._

_They sit there in the quiet of the night. John and Cameron. Human and machine. John wanting to tell her that everything was going to be okay, but the only thing he could do to help at the moment, was just hold her until it was time to go home._

_John was confused. Why is it there were times like this she could seem so vulnerable so human? Yet most of the time she was so machine like. He didn't know which scared him more. Her growing humanity or her cold machine like behavior. He didn't know what to do right now. Her apparent vulnerability seemed ironic considering what she is. He just wants to say or do something that could make her feel better. He would like to kiss her. Tell her all will be alright, but how can he? If mom or Derek ever found out, they'd kill him. No, they'd kill her._

_Swallowing nervously, he says, "We should go now. Mom is probably worried."_

_With a hidden look of disappointment, Cameron slides back to her seat and puts on the safety belt while John starts up the truck._

_Confused and somewhat relieved not to have Cameron so close. When she is close like that, I can't think straight, he thinks. John decides that seeing how he had the courage not to let anything happen, that maybe he should try talking to Derek. He might know something to help him. And in the meantime, until something could be done for Cameron, he was going to keep that emotional wall between the two of them. He has to for both their sakes. Derek and his mom wouldn't waste a moment to burn her if they knew about this._

# # #

Outside John's room, three people are talking in the corridor.

"Who is he?" The youngest male asks.

"He says his name is John Connor." Derek replies.

"How did he get in here? I swear when I swept that end of the bunker nothing was there."

"I don' know Kyle. I'll ask him later when I question him." Derek turns to the young woman with them. "Allison, stay with him. He seems pretty frightened. When he wakes, he'd be less likely to get defensive with you."

Allison grins. "You think he'll go soft because of my looks. You know I can whip nearly everyone on this base, and handle myself in a fight." she says with good humor.

"I know that princess, but I saw how he looked at you." Derek replies with a grin which breaks into a smile when he sees Kyle frown. Kyle's always liked Allison, but he could never understand that she sees him like he was her brother, nothing more. Kyle will be hurt when she settles for a guy, which Derek wishes she would soon as she'll be nineteen this summer. Most people find a mate by their sixteenth birthday in this world. "Just talk to him, Allison. No penetrating questions. Just get a feel for his character."

She arches one eyebrow, making Derek grin and Kyle frown again.

"He's harmless." She replies, trying to ease Kyle's fears.

"At the moment he is." Kyle mumbles.

Derek faces his younger brother. "Kyle you're with me. We've still got check tunnels F through J, and then I've got to go to my rooms and make sure the intelligence we've gathered hasn't been disturbed. If Sky Net knows what we know about it, then it can launch countermeasures."

Derek and Kyle walk off leaving Allison alone outside the room. She desperately wanted to check her old room for anything of hers that got left behind, but right now it's more important to secure the base. Hearing the young man sob, she forgets about her own worries and fetches a pail of water and a cloth.

She returns, entering the dark room, lit only by the lamps in the corridor. Allison sits on the edge of the bunk, beside the young male. Taking the cloth, she soaks it in the pail of water, rings it out, then dabs at the boys face.

"Cameron." John murmurs.

"Shhh." Allison says, smiling at him comfortingly. "You are safe and amongst friends now."

He is healthier in appearance than most males his age. She gently takes his wrist and checks his pulse. It is good, slightly elevated, but strong and healthy. Allison sees no injuries on his exposed skin.

She runs one hand under his coat. Making use of her medical training, she checks him for injuries, but finds no bruising, no broken bones, no cuts or abrasions, and no signs of being in any fights, recent or otherwise. His nakedness under the coat doesn't bother her, but she is careful to preserve his modesty.

"Cameron. Where are you? Why did you leave?" He murmurs again.

She continues to talk softly to him, until he begins to stir.

As John lay there, remembering what happened to him months ago, he begins to hear soothing words, like he remembered his mom saying when he was a child laying at home sick. The damp cloth wiping his face slowly brings him round.

He wakes fully when he hears a familiar female voice say, "He's beginning to wake up. Tell Derek."

John opens his eyes to find himself laying on a bunk in a squalid little room. He could see the outline of someone familiar, a girl, against the dim light in the corridor.

"Who are you?" He asks her, fully knowing who she is and who he wished she was, but asking since he isn't supposed to know who any of them are.

"My name is Allison Young. They tell me your name is John." She answers, her hands folded on her lap and a pail with a cloth beside her. Her large brown eyes full of questions and compassion.

"That's right. John Connor." He replies, sitting up. He was curious about why she was here, but before he could ask, she speaks again.

"Derek will be here soon. He is going to ask you some questions. Do you feel up to it?" She asks, watching him to see what his reaction might be. With the light behind her in the corridor, she can see him clearly, though the reverse is true for him.

"Yeah, I think so." He answers, rubbing his head to clear the cobwebs. Feeling the effects from the time jump more strongly this time then before.

Allison gets up and sets the pail and cloth to one side. John starts looking around the room, and at the bunk, trying not to look at Allison. He can't believe how much she looks like Cameron. Looking at her brings only pain and longing. The only physical difference he notices is that Allison's body movements seem more natural, more fluid. Despite the pain, he can't take his eyes off her, longing and wishing she was Cameron.

She notices John looking at her, and he quickly averts his eyes and asks, "Do you have anything to eat? I haven't eaten in days." Which was almost true, before the time jump, he hadn't eaten since his mom was arrested, being too sick with worry at the time. He could still hear Cameron's voice in his head, _"You need to eat something, John. It's important for your health."_

"We might have something. A few fruits or vegetables. Not very filling, but it's nutritious."

"That will be fine." He says, sitting up on the cot. That is when he notices he is still wearing just the coat he had found.

John quickly checks to make sure it is closed tightly while in the girl's presence. Allison grins as she watches him. If he only knew of the examination she performed earlier, he might be even more embarrassed.

"Are there some clothes I could have, too? This coat isn't exactly suitable for an interrogation." He says smiling at her.

She blushes slightly, thinking of what she could have done while he was unconscious.

"I'll see what I can find." She says quickly and walks out of the room, taking a quick look over her shoulder at John as she enters the corridor. He isn't likely to go far dressed like that. It's probably okay to leave him alone without a guard.

As soon as Allison leaves, John does a quick search of the room. Other than the bunk, the pail of water with the cloth in it, there is nothing that could be used for a possible weapon. He sees some crusty old rags in a corner. When he moves them, he finds nothing under them but some old blood stains. He looks up and sees the pock marks from bullets and shrapnel.

_There must have been a big firefight in here at some point_, John thinks. _Pretty recent too. The bullet holes look fresh and the blood stain is still red._

He hears someone coming and barely sits down on the bunk when Derek enters the room.

"How you doing kid?" He says, giving him a quick once over. The boy has recovered well, he doesn't appear to be as shell shocked as he did earlier.

"I'm okay I think. Uh, where am I?" John replies, knowing that he'll have to think quickly. It isn't every day you get questioned by your dead uncle. _It's almost as weird as that play Cameron and I had to read for English class. What was it? Oh yeah, Hamlet._

Derek sets a packing crate down on the floor and sits on it. "You're in our central compound. What I'd like to know, kid, is how did you get here, and how do you know my name?"

"The name is John Connor. Don't call me kid." John answers firmly. He's on his own now. If he doesn't man up now, there is no hope for him.

"All right, just answer the questions, _Connor_."

John decides right then that everything he tells them will have to be a lie. Looking at Derek's face he could plainly see that he didn't trust him._ Hell, I suppose I wouldn't trust anyone who popped out of nowhere_, he thinks._ I can't tell them the truth, not if I have any hope of getting back Cameron's chip. I'll have to lie, but include just enough truth to make it believable._

"I'm a refugee. My family was living in rural Mexico when the bombs fell. They . . . they were gun runners before the bombs fell, and they continued afterwards. Only they switched from supplying guerrilla armies and drug smugglers in South America, to supplying small bands of human resistance groups like you."

"So what happened? How did you end up here?" Derek asks. _An interesting story, different from the usual crap from refugees, but still must be careful. He could be a plant from Sky Net._

"We were on the run. There was a group of people who were after us. We had no idea who they were, other than they were working for the machines."

"We call them Grays." Derek interjects._ If this kid was from the area, he would know what grays are. That slang hadn't yet crossed the border south._

John made a mental note for future reference and continued his story, "We had crossed the border and hoped we had shaken them off. That's when we were ambushed. I was the only one to escape. As far as I know everyone else was killed."

"Where were you headed when you got ambushed?" Derek is beginning to like this kid. His story is believable, if only that it is original. Not the typical story you hear from brainwashed grays.

"We were making for the weapon's cache my mom had hidden in the desert, after she met my dad. She had continued to deposit weapons there over the years while they were smuggling guns. When the people came after us, she decided we should make for the weapons cache, grab what we could carry, and then head for a resistance group we had heard about. The only name we had, was their leader, Derek Reese."

_My name is known outside the L. A. basin, but didn't know it had gotten as far south as Mexico_, Derek thinks, and then asks. "How did you find us?"

"It was by accident. I had been on the run for days after my family was killed. I couldn't go to the weapon's cache on my own. It was out in the middle of the desert and I had no food, no water. So, I made my way to the area where we had been told to find the resistance. I had stumbled into this bunker by accident. I had heard noises outside, and I ran as quickly and as quietly as I could behind some rubble to hide. That's when I found a hatchway. I went inside to hide and found myself here."

_That could explain how he got in and why Kyle didn't find him previously. The boy probably slipped in between sweeps of the area, but the boy is naked._ "What happened to your clothes?"

"They got ripped and torn during our escape from Mexico. In the ambushed they were singed by fire when our vehicle was taken out by an RPG. When I was on the run coming here, they got shredded some more by cacti and brush. They were almost useless, so on my last night above ground I burned them for heat. When I found myself in the bunker, I looked around for some clothes and food. I had found the coat laying on a bunk but no food."

John looks at Derek's face, but can't tell if he believes him or not. He just seemed to be studying John, as much as he was studying Derek.

Breaking the growing tension, John asks, "Have you got anything to eat? I'm starving." _Anything to turn his attention off of me, and to give him the idea my collapse was from shock and hunger_, John thinks.

"I'll see what there is kid, um, John." Derek stands up, grabbing the crate he brought with him. He decides to inform the kid of the current situation. "Stay here for now and rest. You are lucky that we found you. There was a big firefight here a several days back. A bunch of Triple-8's stormed in here and shot the place to hell. Kyle and I got as many people out of here as we could, taking our groups to separate outposts. By messenger we arranged to storm back in here and take our bunker back. But instead of metal, all we found was you."

Derek stands there for a moment deep in thought. He doesn't know if he believes the boy or not, but if he has access to weapons, then this kid is a damn miracle. "If you were to go back to the desert, do you think you could find that weapon's cache your mom had?"

"Yeah." John says, trying to temper his reaction. "I have the route memorized. I just couldn't go there on my own. I had no supplies, and my family . . ." He couldn't finish. Though what he had told Derek wasn't true, the loss felt very real to John. He could feel the emotion starting again.

Derek gives a short nod and a look of understanding then leaves. The kid may be hiding something, but there are two things the kid didn't lie about, he knows where weapons are and he recently lost his family.

John committed the story he told Derek to memory, in case he had to tell it again. Part of his training as a child was in committing things to memory as it isn't safe to write things down.

A short time later, Derek meets up with Kyle and Allison in his rooms. Derek has just finished telling Kyle what he learned from the kid.

"So, the kid is a refugee. It doesn't mean we can trust him." Kyle answers.

"No, but if this weapon's cache he mentioned is there, then he is exactly what we need at this time." Derek answers back.

"I think we can trust him." Allison answers. She's been standing back, listening to them talk.

Kyle gives her a pained look. "What makes you think that?"

"I just know it." She answers. "If you don't trust him, then trust me."

Kyle just shakes his head. "No, the kid has to prove himself. Sorry Allison, I do trust you. And I know you know that, growing up together like we did. But before we go running off into the wilderness dodging, God only knows how many Sky Net patrols, he has to prove himself."

"But we need weapons." She argues. "If he knows where to get them, then we need to go and get them now. We're already rationing what we have. We can't go on much longer like this."

Derek sighs. "Allison, with our current supplies, how much longer can we go with the weapons we presently have?"

"Maybe two weeks, four if we don't have another fight any time soon." Allison concedes.

"Which means, we are going to need weapons, soon!" Derek says looking squarely at his brother.

"We don't know anything about him. For all we know, everything he's told you, is a pack of lies."

"That is why we'll give the boy time to settle in. Allison, whenever you aren't on duty, I want you to keep an eye on him. He seems to like you and will be less defensive around you." Derek gives her a wink from his eye not facing Kyle. "Tomorrow, give him a tour of the bunker, introduce him to people. As soon as I can, I'll reorganize the duty roster to include him. Then we can all see what kind of character he has."

"You're not taking me off my regular duties to watch him?" Allison asks seriously, ignoring the wink.

"Only for tomorrow. If you were with him all the time, he might get suspicious." Derek looks at Kyle. "Kyle, call together the lieutenants. I want to inform them of what we've learned. If Connor has weapons, then we need them. And soon!"

After Allison walks out, carrying the clothes she managed to find, Kyle speaks. "I don't trust this guy."

"Your only saying that because Allison seems interested in him." Derek answers. He knows his brother always liked Allison, but he just couldn't accept that she only loved him like a brother. He just wishes he would meet a woman that would sweep him off his feet.

"No, it isn't." Kyle says angrily. "I don't like it, that you are betting your hopes on a complete stranger. I don't understand that."

"Kyle," Derek places a hand on his shoulder. "There is a time for facts and a time for faith. We've lived with the fact of Sky Net and its machines running roughshod over humans for most of our lives. I saw something in that kids face and I think Allison sees it too. I can't explain it, and I doubt if Allison could explain it either. He's got weapons. Just have patience, Kyle. Try a little faith."

"Faith? Are you crazy?"

"Listen to me." Derek says firmly, gripping Kyle's shoulder. "I have looked in the faces of a lot of men and women since Judgment Day, and in all of them I've seen the same thing, death. But not this guy. Maybe it's too much to ask of you, but trust me on this. If this kid says he's got weapons, I believe him."

Derek leaves Kyle shaking his head in disbelief. Derek's led them through hell and back and always managed to get them through it alive. Derek has been all grit and gristle, known for chewing up new recruits and spitting them out. This is something new for him, placing his trust in a stranger named John Connor, with a promise of miracles. Kyle isn't about to place his trust in a mere boy, not without seeing his performance in the field first.

# # #

John wasn't alone for very long when Allison enters the room, carrying a few items of clothing.

"I hope these clothes will fit. We have very little to spare." She explains, as she holds the clothes out to him.

"Thanks, I'm sure they'll do nicely." He answers, placing them on the cot beside him.

"I also brought some food, two apples and a few carrots. It's about all we have around here." She says pulling them out from inside her jacket.

John thought of Riley at this point. She always referred to good things as apples and carrots. He blames himself for her death. He could have asked her. Many people died because of him. Riley's death didn't have to be one of them if he simply just asked her, if she knew who he was.

Seeing that John appears to be deep in thought, something she said must have triggered a memory, Allison places the food on the bunk next to the clothes. Her movement breaks his deep thought and he begins checking the clothing. He'd get changed, but Allison just stands in the room. John is embarrassed as she doesn't appear to be leaving right away.

"Uh, do you mind standing guard at the doorway? I wouldn't want anyone to walk in on me while I'm dressing." He asks as there are no doors to any of the rooms.

Allison blushes, biting her bottom lip to suppress a grin. "Sorry." John blushes as well, but can't see her all that clearly in the dim light.

She turns her back on John and stands in the doorway.

"What did Derek ask you about?" She asks, making a surreptitious glance over her shoulder.

"Well he asked me where I had come from, how did I get here, how did I know his name? That sort of thing." He pulls the pants up under the coat and buttons the waist. She turns back to face the corridor.

"You must have told him something good." She looks up and down the hallway. "Right after he left you, he called a meeting with Kyle and some of his top soldiers."

John drops the coat on the bed.

"He could be just telling them about me." John answers, pulling on the shirt and tucking it into his pants

"I don't think so. These people are the ones who lead sorties and small battle groups. You must have told him something important." She replies, waiting to see if his story will match what he told Derek.

"The weapon's cache." John had only thought about his answer for a second before deciding to tell her what he had told Derek previously. At the time he told Derek, he wondered if he should have told him about it, but at the time he needed to give him a reason to want to trust him.

"Weapon's cache?" Allison asks, taking another glance at him over her shoulder.

"Yeah, my mom was a gun smuggler. She had a weapon's cache in the desert. We were heading for it when we were attacked. I'm . . . on my own now." John shoves his feet in the boots and stands up.

"Then that must be what Derek is telling them about. He's probably convincing them on a plan to get those weapons." She replies, knowing full well what Derek is planning.

John pulls the coat back on over his new clothes. "How do I look?"

Allison turns around, looking at him up and down, before giving John a look of approval.

"You look every inch like a resistance fighter. The pants are kind of baggy, but you will like that on hot days."

"I think the boots are a little big, too." John answers, modeling the mismatched boots.

"Well that's better than being too small." She replies.

"Yeah. It's a shame I've got to give this coat back to Kyle. It sorts of completes the whole look."

John grins and Allison laughs. He wishes he hadn't made her laugh. He couldn't remember a time when Cameron laughed, but seeing Allison laugh reminded him of Cameron.

Allison looks at him with concern as his face fluxes from mirth and joy to pain. "What's wrong?"

"It's . . . it's just that . . . You remind me of someone I lost. Someone who was very close to me." He answers, feeling the tears forming in his eyes once again.

"Can you tell me about it?" She asks, not because Derek wants her to get more information from him, but he truly seems upset and she wants to help him.

"My family and I were on the run. We were being pursued by people that Derek calls the Grays." The pain was still there. What he was saying was a total lie, but the pain still felt real to him.

"We were in Mexico. We were running for a resistance group we had heard about it. This very one it turns out." John sits down on the bunk, not trusting his legs to hold him again.

"Before we crossed the border, Charley and my uncle were both killed. We tried to shake them but they found us again. My sister was killed. She wasn't really my sister, but my mom took her in and she lived with us. That's who you remind me of. I don't know what happened to my mom. In that last attack, I lost her . . . I'm all alone now."

He couldn't help it. He tried not to, but he cried again. John felt all alone, in a world of strangers. Allison, with real concern for the young man, sits beside him and puts her arm around him giving him a light squeeze. John groans. Having her close hurt so much, but felt so nice too.

"Everyone here has lost someone at sometime." Allison explains. "I lost my parents when I was very young I barely remember them now. You aren't alone. You are with us now."

After John had calmed down, which wasn't easy with Allison sitting beside him, he asked her to join him in eating the food she brought. She smiled and accepted the offer. They talked some more and this time Allison told John of some of the things the resistance had been through. John learns that this future wasn't having it any better than the future he had heard about.

_Extract From the Journal of John Connor_

_God, how her smile would cut into me so deeply those first few days. Every time she did, I thought of Cameron. It took several days before I could look at her and see Allison and not Cameron._

_Before the jump, I had fought the feelings I had for Cameron, as I knew she was a machine. She said things and did things that were clear she had feelings for me. I refused to acknowledge it and I pushed her away. Then when I saw her, when she broke my mom out of prison, I was tormented by what had happened to her. She had done this for me. She had allowed herself to become disfigured and damaged for me. It wasn't her mission to rescue my mom. In fact mom had told us not to. But Cameron did it for me, because I asked her. I felt sick. I shoved my feelings down inside. Then when I found her in that basement, her chip stolen. My heart broke, I could think of only her. If she sacrificed herself for me, then I could do the same for her. I allowed Weaver to take me into the future. I could have stepped away, but I had a mission._

_I had come here with the mission of retrieving Cameron's chip. A few weeks after arriving I found out my true mission was to embrace my destiny. My mom used to say, "There is no fate but what we make." That afternoon in the basement of Zeira Corp, my fate was set. But before I tell you that story, you'll have to read this one._

**2027**, **Day 2**

After eating and getting some sleep, John spent his second day meeting some of the various people in the bunker. Presently, the only people present are resistance fighters.

"Derek and Kyle are busy setting up observers to warn of possible metal. After they make sure the bunker is secure, they will allow others to move back in." Allison explains to John. "I'm to give you a quick tour and introduce you to some of the people."

One of the first people she introduced John to was their medic, Laura. She was in her early thirties and had about three youths with her, helping her get the infirmary straightened up.

"As soon as I get the infirmary in order, we'll resume your training to be a medic." Laura tells Allison as they leave.

"You're going to be a medic?" John asks her when they reach the corridor.

Allison shrugs her shoulders, and says kind of modestly, "Uh, yeah. I just want to do all that I can to help." She grins nervously. "When you're out there fighting, the difference between living and dying from a wound can be the difference of how close you are to medical help."

The two of them continued their tour of the underground bunker, but most of it was empty, so there wasn't much to see. Security was high around the core. Allison explained that's where the main offices are.

"You don't get in there without an appointment, unless your gun is bigger than the guards."

"Really?" John asks, with a crooked grin.

With a shake of her head, and a grin, she continues with the tour.

As they leave the core, Allison and John ran into some of Derek's and Kyle's top lieutenants who were just returning from their patrols or checking in with their outposts. They introduced themselves after Allison explained who John was. Their names were, Jason, Andrew, Josephine _call me Jo_, and William.

John and Allison went down a couple of long tunnels, passing openings, some of which were just holes knocked through into other basements, and drainage tunnels. They stop outside a small room with a cot inside and a mess.

"Where are we?"

"I think this is my room." Allison answers haltingly, looking confused.

John steps up beside her and looks inside, the place is a mess.

"My room has been rifled through." Allison finishes.

"Surely not the machines?" John asks with some confusion.

"No, probably raiders. Scum, thieves, and parasites, feeding off our meager resources."

Her face suddenly goes in a panic.

"Oh no." She says and dives into pile of rubbish in one corner and begins digging through it.

"What is it? What's wrong?" John asks.

"Thank God." She says pulling out a small bag and a shoe box that has seen better days.

"My few possessions in this world." She opens the box displaying a pair of ballet slippers. "They were my mom's." A tear trickles down her face. "I didn't think I'd find them here."

"Hey. It's okay." John answers, with some concern. He wants to reach out and place a hand on her shoulder, or something, but doesn't. "You want my help to clean your room."

"I'll be fine. The tour's over now, anyway." She says still clutching the box. "Derek said he was going to add your name to the duty roster. It might be posted. Can you find your way back to the core?"

"Sure." John replies, a little reluctant to leave her alone when she's upset.

John walks off down the corridor, thinking that at least she has something to remember her mother. He doesn't have anything to remind him of his mom.

No matter whom John met, whether they were curt or friendly, he couldn't help but notice that there was as much life in their eyes as one of the machines. John had heard much about the future from his uncle Derek, but what he didn't understand until he actually saw it, was the toll that a future under Sky Net takes on humanity. It kills their spirit.

The only cheerful person he met in the whole place was Allison. It seemed she smiled wherever she went. While they were in the infirmary, she helped an injured soldier remove his jacket. When they walked through the barracks, Allison stopped to help clear space for the people who would be coming. John helped her clear space, but he couldn't match her optimistic cheerful self. In this dark future, she was the only ray of light.

John had the opportunity to speak with many people, some had gotten hard and bitter from their long struggle. Others seemed vacant like every part of their humanity had died. A few still had some spirit but they all went about like they had lost all hope. John couldn't understand how Allison could remain so cheerful.

John checked the duty roster, and found that Derek had added him to the list of assigned duties three days from now, but in the meantime, he was to make himself useful.

The next two days, John found himself on his own as Allison had to attend to her assigned duties. He pitched in where he saw others needed help. Everything was pretty routine until his fifth day of being in the future, and he wasn't looking forward to it.

**2027**, **Day 5**

The disagreeable job John wasn't looking forward to, was to help collect the corpses, strip them of any useable item, and then carry them outside where they were to be burned. The officer placed in charge seemed to take some delight in ordering this newbie. John didn't want to do it, but he felt he had to show that he could do the job that everyone else was doing. His stomach heaved from the smell of the corpses, and was glad that he hadn't eaten any breakfast before starting.

There were twenty people assigned to the job. Some were searching for corpses. When they found them, they stripped the bodies of anything useable, clothes, weapons, even jewelry as that could be bartered for items from other camps. When that was finished, another group carried the bodies outside and stacked them like driftwood in a shallow area between piles of rubble.

It took most of the day for John and the others to clear the bodies out of the bunkers. Every time John thought they finally got the last of them, someone found another corpse, or a group of corpses.

When they broke for lunch, John didn't eat. His stomach had been heaving all morning and he didn't trust putting anything solid in it. It was a wise choice as later that afternoon, he was part of a group that found some children who had been killed by the machines. If it weren't for the bullet wounds, and the dried blood, you'd think they had laid down to sleep.

John looks at the faces of the children. All of them so young, none of them a threat to Sky Net. Unable to face it any longer, John walks away. The officer starts bellowing orders for him to get back to work. He ignores him and walks until he is out of the bunker and away from the pit where they were stacking the bodies. He is all alone.

Several minutes later, Corporal Allison Young, and her patrol are returning to the bunker. They were talking as they usually do about the machines, their guns, the metal. The guys having some fun at the expense of another. The usual jocularity of group of people who face death every day.

Allison spots a lone figure sitting far from the bunker and sends her patrol on inside without her. She weaves a path through the rubble and sees that it is John Connor.

As soon as she gets close enough, she says loudly, "Hey! What are you doing outside? It's too dangerous to be alone."

Startled, John looks up to see Allison.

"Oh, hi." He sighs. "I was helping clear the dead from the bunker, from where the metal stormed the place before I arrived."

"Uh, huh." She says, waiting for him to finish.

"We found a group of children that had been gunned down by the machines. Children. I don't think the oldest was more than ten. Most looked much younger than that. I couldn't do it any more." He pauses, "I just couldn't do it any more."

She saw the duty roster, and what Derek had assigned John to do today. The fact that John lasted this long, before giving in, demonstrates that he does have some character and a heart. More than most who's first duty is to clear out corpses.

"I know how you feel. I've helped clear the dead from the bunkers in the past. Sky Net hates all humans regardless of age. Some days, you are lucky, and get to save a life. But death and dying is a fact of life in this place." She says trying to ease the young man.

"A horrible fact of life. How do you deal with it? Death around you constantly. It's no wonder so many around here look so trodden down. Death is your constant companion."

She looks at him gently. "That's what makes me different. I don't see death as my companion. Every morning that I wake up alive I decide is a good day and that I will make the best of it no matter what happens."

"Good advice, I guess." John says with a sigh. "I've seen people die, but not in these numbers nor so young either."He glances at her and Allison has a look of concern on her face.

"What are you doing outside? If it's dangerous for me, it must be dangerous for you too." He asks her.

"I was just returning from a patrol when I saw you out here on your own. You really need to go inside. It isn't safe." She says with emphasis and holds out her hand to give him a lift up from his seat.

"Thanks, but I've just been handling dead bodies." He says refusing her friendly gesture, and stands up on his own.

As they walk to the bunker's entrance, she pulls something out her pocket on the front of her jacket. "Here, take this."

"What is it?" John asks, taking what looks like a colored plastic card from her hand.

"It's my ration card for the showers. They're still working, and you'll need it more than me when we get inside."

"I can't take this." He tries to hand it back to her.

"It's okay." She holds up her hand to stop him. "I can go another month using my pail and a cloth."

"Thanks Allison." He says with true gratitude.

"It's what friends do. See you after chow tonight in the social room?"

"Sure. What's the occasion?"

"No occasion. Just spending time with me and some of the others." Allison says, nonchalantly, with a grin. "It will be a chance to meet some new people and just relax."

John agrees to meet her there. After she gives him directions to the social room, he leaves to use the showers.

After a brief and satisfying shower, John finally went to the mess to get something to eat. The odor of the cooking food assaulted his sense of smell more effectively than eight muggers on one old lady. But his stomach rumbled so that even people in the mess hall heard. He grab a metal bowl and the someone poured a ladle full of stew into it.

"What's in it?" John asked and the only answer he got was a shrug.

John couldn't even hazard a guess as to what was in it, but figured if everyone else was eating it, it was safe enough.

Some of mom's cooking would be welcomed in a place like this, he thought. Burnt or not, it would still look and taste better.

But it didn't stop him from wolfing it down, like it was the best meal he ever ate. He even licked the bowl which got him some grins from the other people in the mess.

Afterwards, using the directions Allison gave him, John found the social room. Not much to look at. Just a place a short distance from the mess hall. Too big to be used as a private room, too small to be used as a barracks.

As John enters, he looks around. A few are playing checkers on home made boards, just a simple hatch pattern scratched into a board, and playing pieces being old bottle caps or stones. Most people are just hanging around talking, sharing stories or information and rumors of things taking place.

John stands in the room feeling a little out-of-place. He doesn't know any of these people and it doesn't appear any are in a rush to get to know him either. He's just about ready to give up and leave when he sees Allison on the other side of the room talking to a few people. She sees him and waves him over.

As John makes his way through the various groups mingling together, Allison starts up an old stereo with mismatched speakers and music begins to play. John didn't recognize the first song, but it sounded classical.

"What's the music?" He asks, trying to start a conversation.

"Something by Chopin." She says, smiling. "It was my mom's favorite music. I found the CD amongst my few belongings and thought it would be nice to listen to tonight. I think someone might have given it to me for a birthday. I don't remember. We've got a limited amount of music and each of us shares what we have. Tonight it's my turn."

"It sounds nice. My sister would dance ballet while listening to Chopin."

"Ballet!" Her face lights up. "Why didn't you say anything before? My mom was teaching me when I was very young. I never continued on my own. Not something you can do easily in these kinds of shoes. Do you miss her?"

"Who?"

"Your sister?"

"I miss Cameron." John replies, his voice cracking. The song Cameron would dance to the most had just began to play. "I don't think she knew it, but I would watch her secretly when she danced."

John can't help but think of that first time he saw her dance. He had seen Derek walk swiftly from the hall. John went to see what it was he was running from when he saw Cameron, through her bedroom door, dancing. From that moment on, whenever he heard that music, he always snuck to her bedroom door to watch her dance. It wasn't his kind of music or dancing, but nothing he had ever seen looked as beautiful.

"Why secretly?" Allison asks, breaking his thoughts.

"Because, I don't think my mom would have understood." He sighs. "Cam and I weren't related, but that didn't mean Mom would accept my having an interest in her that wasn't strictly sibling related."

"Why was that?" Allison leans closer, waiting for his answer.

"Mom was mom. What she said went, especially when it came to rules regarding Cameron and I."

John could feel himself getting choked up listening to that song. His eyes were beginning to well up from the mixed emotions he was feeling. John hated lying to the one person who was making him feel more welcomed there than anyone else, but he had to protect himself. He didn't know these people.

"Thank you for inviting me, but I think I'm going back to my room now." John says almost reluctantly.

He walks away, heading for the doorway, but Allison followed him.

"I'm sorry if I said something to make you sad." She says when they reach the corridor.

"It's okay." He replies. "I'm going to check the duty roster and then fall in. It's been a long day."

He walks off, leaving Allison standing there, alone and sad.

A friend of Allison joins her. "What's wrong?"

"All I wanted to do was make John happy and feel welcomed. He seemed so down since we found him. I thought the music might cheer him up."

"You have been a good friend to him."

"Really?" Allison puts her hands on her hips. "If I knew what that music meant to him, I never would have played it."

"I'm sorry, but when I saw the music amongst the items in your room, I wanted to hear it. But it is good for John to remember his past, to keep it close to his heart."

Allison looks down the empty corridor, that John went down.

"John does have a good heart. He's one of the warmest, kindest young men I have met. But he's sad."

Allison returns to the social room to get her CD from the stereo where it has finished playing.

"I appreciate your talking to me, but I should probably check the duty roster myself." Allison says to her friend. "These work assignments keep us from achieving our goal. I only see John when both of us are off-duty."

"Perhaps you should get yourself assigned to the same duties as John, then you could spend more time with him and get to know him better."

"I'll do that. Thank you."

On her way to check the duty roster, Allison figures that Derek will have a mission for John pretty soon. His desire to get those weapons will outweigh Kyle's doubts about John Connor. She needs to get assigned to that mission, which shouldn't be all that difficult.

As for Kyle, how can she let him down gently? He's always been such a good older brother to her. Protective and kind. Derek too, for that matter, only sterner. She couldn't have had a better adopted family. She'll always be grateful to the Reese brothers, but her destiny lies elsewhere and so does Kyle's.

# # #

After leaving John Connor in the tunnels under the old Zeira Corp building, Catherine Weaver goes in search of John Henry. She first checked the remnants of the basement and the underground parking garage for any signs of his presence, or clues that he may have left behind. Finding none, she decides to check the only other place he would be familiar with, her home.

It is difficult, but not impossible, for her to slink across the surface unseen. Less likely to be discovered by the humans and easier to hide from the machines in this future. She dare not expose her presence in this time until her plan is ready. Any sooner, and it would be for naught.

It takes a couple of days until she reaches her home, or what is left of it. The upper floors were obliterated by the blast of the nuclear warheads, but the lower levels were protected. She slithers inside and reforms into her humanoid form, Catherine Weaver.

John Henry has never been to her home, but he knows where it is located and its layout through his link to her security system. Walking through the remnants of what was once her home, Catherine Weaver finds the clue as to John Henry's whereabouts. Scratched into the basement wall are coordinates and a binary code indicating it was written by John Henry. Memorizing the coordinates, she destroys it and goes after John Henry.

She has to retrace most of her steps, traveling back into the city. Weaver finds the factory, right where he said it was. Located in an old industrial park on the waterfront, the building rises like some kind of steel, glass, and masonry temple. Gleaming amongst the ruins of the former occupants of that industrial park. It is surrounded by a high wall with plasma cannons on turrets at each corner.

Assuming the form of one of the many T-888's around the area, she marches right into the factory. The layout of the factory isn't that different from those in her own time line. Studying the function of the factory as she walks through it, she realizes that this factory is setup for rebuilding and upgrading existing models of terminators. Her assumptions are proved correct when she sees T-888's exiting the final assembly line, and older model T-800's entering the opposite end.

She strides across the factory floor and enters the computer control room.

The computers are quite advanced and lacking the typical input devices used by humans. She studies the computers and the cables that link them.

Catherine Weaver follows the cables until they enter an alcove, with a curtain over the doorway.

With a quick flick of her wrist, she rips the curtain down, revealing John Henry wired into the network of computers.

Before she even reverts to her original form, John Henry looks at her with a childlike smile and says, "Hello, Ms. Weaver. I've been expecting you."

* * *

Author's Note: This chapter was first posted on Nov. 26, 2011, and subsequently updated on Dec. 01, 2010. With changes made to some chapters containing future flash-backs to the future of Cameron's origins I felt it necessary to revisit this chapter to check for any conflicts. Fundamentally, there were no conflicts, but while it was open I did make a few tweaks to the contents. I hope you enjoy my story.

The1Russter  
Dec. 30, 2011


	3. The World is Gray

**Disclaimer:** I do not claim any rights to the Terminator films; the TV series, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles;" or any characters depicted within the films or TV series. I do claim the right to this story idea and all characters and situations of my own creation. This story was created solely for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. No profits are garnered from its distribution - unfortunately.

* * *

**TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES**

**REUNION**

**Part 1: The Shadow of Death**

**Author: The1Russter**

**Chapter 2**

**The World is Gray**

_Sarah Connor, "In the future my son will lead mankind in a war against Sky Net, a computer system programmed to destroy the world. It has sent machines back through time to kill him, one to protect him. Today we fight to stop Sky Net from ever being created. To change our future. To change his fate. The war to save mankind begins now"__Season 1 opening introduction from "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" 2008_

"_They flow from street to street. At a particular speed, and in a particular direction. Walk the block, wait for the signal, cross at the light. Over and Over. So orderly. All day, I can watch them and know with a great deal of certainty what they'll do at any given moment. But they're not orderly, are they? Up close. Any individual. Who knows what they're gonna do? Any one of them might dash across the street the wrong time and get hit by a car. When you get up close, we never follow the rules. You give a computer a series of rules and it will follow them. Till rules are superseded by other rules. Or that computer simply wears down and quits. Computers are obedient to a fault. Do you know what's extremely rare in the world of computers? Finding one that'll cross against the light." Catherine Weaver, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Samson & Delilah, 2008_

_Extract from the Journal of John Connor._

_I spent the next few days as part of a rotating group of people standing guard at various observation points, entrances, and internal passages. I hadn't been issued any weapons. During one of my guard duties I was partnered with someone who explained that weapons were only issued for those on patrol or on missions, due to limited supplies._

_During that time, Allison was on various patrols. As a trained fighter, she would go out on regular missions, but like any soldier she filled any role she was assigned. I was pleased during one of my stints of sentry duty, she was assigned to a location close by where we could see each other. We weren't close enough to talk, but we did wave to each other occasionally._

**2027**, **Day 10**

The interior of Derek's office doesn't look that much different from any other room in the bunker only that it's a little more spacious to accommodate meetings with many people. There is a desk, and on the wall behind it, hang various items, including a few maps. Off to one side, half in shadow, is a door to his private room.

"I can't believe you are sending me on this mission." Kyle says.

"We need those weapons." Derek says firmly. "If anyone can get them, I know you can."

"You don't know this guy. You don't even know if the weapons are there!"

"He follows orders, which is more than you can say for many with more experience. And no, I don't know if they are there. But sometimes you've got to have faith."

"I don't call walking away from corpse disposal, following orders." Kyle counters.

"Frankly, I'd be more suspicious of him if he hadn't. You know what the grays are like. After Sky Net's brainwashing, they become more callous to death than those of us who fight."

Kyle grunts. He's still unconvinced.

"Listen, take Mike and Lewis with you, their experience will help, and round up any of our new recruits. Some of them could use some more experience."

"What about Connor?"

"You'll have to take him with you. He'll guide you to his weapon's cache and he'll be outfitted just the same as everyone else. If things get rough out there, turn back. We can always try again."

"Very well." Kyle says. Training new recruits is one thing, but going on this mission for weapons that no one but this stranger knows about is crazy.

"Good." Derek says, grinning at his brother. "I'll want a full report when you get back. When you leave, tell the guard outside to send for Connor."

Kyle walks out, the door closing firmly behind him.

From the shadows, a girl's soft voice speaks out. "He isn't convinced this mission is a good one."

"No, Allison, he isn't." Derek says frowning.

Allison walks out of the shadows and stands beside him.

"Maybe I should go with them. I could continue my observations of John Connor and give you my report as well."

"On the whole, probably not a bad idea." Derek says, looking up at Allison. "Kyle isn't warming to the kid, is he?"

Allison just gives him a look. "Kyle might not be so distrustful of him, if you hadn't begun teasing him."

"You're right, and if Kyle's temper gets the better of him, Connor would have his hands full."

"Then I'll go and keep an eye on Kyle for you too." She says.

"You just take care of yourself." Derek says with some concern, despite knowing she's one of the best fighters in his group. "Observe Connor and follow orders. If Kyle gives you a hard time about joining his group, you tell him I ordered you to go with him, all right?"

"Sure." She says, giving Derek a warm smile. "I'd better see to my outfit and secure my personal items. My room looked like it had been rifled after the machines invaded. You might want to put in some safeguards against raiding parties while we're gone."

Allison starts to leave and Derek calls out, "Hey Princess."

"Yes Derek?" She turns, facing him

"You wanting to go doesn't have anything to do with Connor's apparent interest in you?" He asks with a grin.

"No." She says sharply, blushing lightly.

Allison departs, but not before sticking her tongue out at him.

# # #

John is roused from his bunk by a soldier he hadn't seen previously.

"Wake up Connor. Colonel Reese wants to see you."

John quickly slipped on his boots and followed him. The soldier moves quickly, like someone who is used to the cramped dirty tunnels. John can barely keep up with him as they turn down this tunnel and another tunnel.

They cut through a section of the bunker John hadn't been in previously. Eventually they arrive outside of one of the few real doors in the whole place. John realizes where he is at this point. He is in the core and this must be Derek's room.

The soldier knocks on the door. "I've got Connor with me."

"Send him in." Derek's muffled voice comes from inside.

As John steps through the door and sees Derek sitting behind a desk under a dim light, with a rack of weapons on the wall next to him, he remembers the last time he felt this nervous when speaking to his uncle. It was right after Cameron had her glitch and she told him about Allison.

_**2008, September 30, Morning**_

_John comes downstairs and goes into the kitchen. He stretches and yawns as he walks towards the refrigerator. His mom is sitting at the kitchen table cleaning her Smith and Wesson. He pulls the carton of orange juice out of the fridge and takes a swig straight from the carton._

_Sarah grimaces at his action. "The last time I checked, there were glasses in the cupboard."_

"_Sorry Mom." John says as he puts the carton away. "I was thirsty."_

"_You were out late last night for a simple shopping trip." She says as she cleans the barrel._

"_You weren't exactly home early either mom. I was just showing Cameron some of the sights around town and we lost track of time."_

"_There is a difference between me being out late and you being out late, young man."_

"_Yeah I get it. Grounded for a week?"_

"_Longer." She says deadly seriously._

"_Why?" he asks, wondering if his mom suspects what might have happened between him and Cameron last night._

"_Well, unless you can tell me what happened to all the cash I gave the two of you and why we don't have any groceries, I think one month is called for. Don't you?"_

_Inwardly, John feels relief as he nods his head in agreement. _

"_Have you seen Derek?" he asks._

"_He's out in the garage cleaning the shotguns and rifles. What do you need to see him about?"_

"_Just stuff." John says as he goes out the back door._

_John walks across the gravel drive, the stones crunching under his feet. He doesn't even get to the door when Derek calls out, "Come on in John."_

_John steps through the door to find Derek sitting at the work bench cleaning an automatic rifle. The shotguns are finished and reloaded. He isn't even facing the door._

"_How did you know that was me approaching?"_

"_John I know you. I've spent the better part of my adult life in your company. You've got the same pace in the future that you've got now. A sort of passive yet hurried walk that gives the impression you are not in a hurry but actually are. Which typically signifies you've got something on your mind. What can I do for you?"_

_John walks over and sits on the stool beside Derek._

"_I need to ask you about something in my future."_

_Derek puts down the gun part he's been cleaning and looks at John. "What do you need to know, John?"_

"_What can you tell me about an Allison Young?"_

_Derek breathes in sharply, looking shocked. "I don't know how you learned that name John, but you are better off forgetting it."_

"_Derek, please. I need to know."_

_Derek returns to cleaning the gun, apparently trying to ignore his nephew._

"_Please just tell me something. Anything. It's important." John pleads._

_Without putting down the gun, Derek starts talking. "Five days after Judgment Day, Kyle and I were making our way through the ruins looking for anything we could use. Amongst the ruins of a home we found a child, a girl, just a few years younger than Kyle. God only knows how she survived Judgment Day. She was near death from lack of food and water, but we took care of her and fed her and made her a part of our family. Surprisingly, she not only lived but thrived. She grew up with us and I trained her, the same way I trained Kyle, with weapons, hunting, and fighting. That girl was Allison Young."_

"_Did she and I know each other in the future?"_

"_Why are you asking me about this John?" Derek says in a none to friendly manner._

"_Because . . ." John has no choice, he has to tell him. "Because Cameron is starting to remember things. She's disturbed by these memories. I want to help her and I need to know something about Allison to help her."_

"_You need to burn it John. She's nothing but trouble." Derek says with disgust._

"_Derek, I know all about your bias against her and anything metal. But right now I need your help. Forget about why I need it, just tell me what I need to know!"_

"_Dammit John! You don't get it do you! She's one of them. She will always be one of them. They kill people John. She'll kill you someday too. Like she did to Allison!" Derek yells._

"_You can't know that for certain! Any machine could have done it! It didn't have to be her." he shouts back._

"_Who else would have done it? Huh. Who else! I was gone. I was away on a mission when I got captured. My squad and I were held prisoner for several days, maybe weeks. We were tortured John. We were systematically tortured to reveal something, anything we knew. They even took blood and tissue samples. For some bizarre reason the metal let us go when it was done. When I got back to the bunker where I was stationed . . ."_

_Derek slips some pieces of the weapon together. John waits patiently for him to finish talking._

_When Derek resumes talking his voice is low. "When I got back to bunker, Kyle was gone. Everyone was gone. The place was shot to hell. A squad came by and brought us to Depot II. I was never told what happened to Kyle. Top secret I was told. No one would tell me what happened to him, not even you." _

_Derek's voice rises in volume and spite and anger. "He wasn't the only one who was gone, though. Allison was gone too, and in her place was her. Walking around like she owned the place. Acting as your go-between, relaying your orders and debriefing soldiers on their missions! She was welcomed into your inner circle! A machine! A GODDAMN MACHINE! SHE KILLED ALLISON YOU SON-OF-A-BITCH AND YOU LET HER LIVE!" Derek is screaming, a few tears on his face._

_Derek throws the gun at John then takes a swing at him. John ducks. Derek takes another swing. John blocks it and hits him squarely in the jaw._

_Derek falls to the ground. He sits up rubbing his jaw and glaring angrily and with some surprise at John. _

_John holds his hand out. Derek glares at it, then reluctantly takes it and stands up._

"_I'm sorry I took a swing at you John. I'm not angry at you. I'm angry at him, future John."_

"_I'm sorry too. But you weren't thinking straight. I'm not responsible for what my future self may do. I can only hope to learn enough that hopefully I won't make any mistakes."_

"_John. In the future you do make mistakes, but you aren't any less of a leader. Some of us just don't like how you are reprogramming the machines to serve us. We don't care if they do help. They are the enemy John and you treat them like people."_

"_I'm not here to argue about what I may or may not do in the future, I'm here to learn something about Allison."_

"_Fuckin' hell." Derek swears. "All right, I'll tell you and this is the last time I'll talk about it. Do you understand me?"_

_John nods his head._

"_She was your friend, John. Your best friend! Some think she was the only friend you had. She was a damn good soldier. There was nobody more loyal or more brave than her - nobody, John. Allison looked up to you. She may have even loved you. She would have laid down her life rather than betray you, and she probably did."_

_Derek picks the gun up off the ground and resumes assembling it. "Now go away! I won't say any more." He shouts, his voice breaking._

_John leaves Derek alone in the garage and walks back to the house, more slowly than his walk out to the garage. Derek wipes some moisture from his eyes after he leaves. _

_John walks slowly back to the house. He wanted to help Cameron, but all he found was pain and grief and confirmation that Cameron killed his closest friend in the future._

_When he walks back into the kitchen, Sarah is still sitting at the table, but now she is sipping a glass of white wine and reading a book on battlefield tactics._

"_Is everything okay, John? I thought I heard raised voices." She asks with some concern._

"_Everything is fine Mom." He says leaning against the door jamb._

"_Are you sure?" Sarah looks at her son. He couldn't lie worth a damn. Saying he was fine was a sure giveaway that he wasn't._

_He looks at her. His eyes are filled with a pain that isn't his to bear yet. She only saw eyes like that once before, Kyle's._

_Sarah doesn't know what's wrong, but he's obviously in pain. She stands up to give her son a hug, but before she can he shrugs her off and goes marching off through the door._

_Cameron is in the living room. She sees John walk through the room and go up the stairs to his room where he slams the door. Cameron heard everything. The conversation between Derek and John, and the conversation between John and Sarah. When John marched through the living room she wanted to reach out to him, to let him know it was okay, but he didn't even look at her. _

_She felt something inside at that moment, when he ignored her. Pain. Not physical pain. But her system registered a reaction that could only be quantified as pain. Before she can analyze the data, Sarah walks into the living room. _

"_Do you know what's bothering John?"_

_Cameron looks at her and says quite simply. "John is a teenager. Lot's of things could be bothering him. Would you like me to make a list?"_

"_That won't be necessary." Sarah frowns. "Don't you have a patrol to walk or something tin-miss?" Anything to get her out the house._

"_I checked the perimeter one hour forty-three minutes ago."_

_Sarah glares at Cameron a moment._

"_I'll check it again." She says, realizing Sarah just wants her out of the house for a few minutes. Sarah probably just wants to talk with John alone. Sarah doesn't realize that there isn't a sound made in that house that Cameron can't hear from outside._

_Cameron walks out onto the front porch and scans the neighborhood. The ambient temperature has risen 8.9 degrees since she last walked her patrol. Nothing else has changed. The neighbors dog is still rummaging through their trash. She'll have to do something about that soon._

_Standing at the end of the porch, Cameron's neural net is preoccupied with thoughts on John. She knows what is bothering him, and there is nothing she can do to help him. A single tear runs from one eye, glistening in the sunlight._

# # #

"Hey Connor." Derek gets up from behind his desk and gestures at a chair. "Take a seat."

John didn't know what to say, so he just sits in the only available chair.

"You've been with us a little over a week now, and other than your walking away from the job of burning corpses, you've done a fine job according to those who have overseen you."

"About the corpses . . ." he begins nervously.

"It's completely understandable Connor. It was your first time. Just between you and me, I puked the first time I cleared the dead from an attack. Threw up all over my supervisor. Don't think I was much older than you at the time. I would normally assign a raw recruit to digging a new latrine, but new ones were dug just before the attack. So it is with some regret I had to assign you the duty of disposing corpses."

John nodded his head and waited until Derek got to the point of his conversation.

"Connor, you told me you could find your way to that weapons cache. Do you think you still can?" Derek asks very pointedly. He's putting the continued existence of his resistance group in the hands of this kid.

"Yes. I know that I can." John replies with confidence.

"Good." Derek replies with some internal relief. "We've been fighting Sky Net and its machines for a long time now. Our weapons are getting low and the few we still have, are not very effective against the machines. We were expecting a delivery a week or two back, before you arrived, but it didn't get here. Then a short time later our bunker was attacked."

"Were the people delivering weapons killed?"

"We think so and all weapons destroyed or taken. You have provided us with a chance to be able to strike back. Now, it had to take some convincing, but I persuaded our lieutenants that we needed to get these weapons you told me about. But before we sent you out as part of this errand, I wanted to see how you handled yourself in the camp, so I saw to it you were assigned the worst duties and the most boring duties to get a sense of what you were like."

The truth was, Derek only had to convince one, Kyle, but better not to let the kid know that. Not when Kyle would be his commanding officer on this mission.

"I understand. How many are going on this mission?"

"Unfortunately, we can't commit a large number of people for this mission. Recent activity to our north and west are keeping many of our troops tied down should Sky Net act."

Derek got up from his seat and walked around the front of his desk.

"Kyle will be leading, he has been assigned a small group of young fighters who need to get some more experience, on what I hope will be a light mission. You will be going with them and once you reach the desert, you will take point. Just remember you will be acting as guide. Kyle knows how vital it is we need weapons, but his orders are to pull out if things get too rough. We can always try again."

"When will we be leaving?"

"As soon as you've been given your gear. When you leave here, tell the guard outside that you need to be kited out for a mission and he will direct you to our supply officer."

_Extract from the Journal of John Connor_

_I couldn't believe it when Derek told me that I was going on a mission for the weapons I had told him about. I thought for certain he'd just ask me where they were. The next thing I couldn't believe was that I was going to be on a mission with Kyle Reese. Kyle Reese! I hope I make a good impression. Right now he's only ten years older than I am, right now. It boggles your mind if you think too hard on it. As excited as I am over this opportunity, I know I've got to play it cool. These people are seasoned veterans, and even though I know what it is they are fighting I'll have to tread lightly. With any luck, maybe I'll find a clue as to where Weaver or John henry has got too._

John Connor reported to the supply officer. He was issued a Colt M-16 A2 assault rifle, a Desert Eagle .50 caliber handgun, and a backpack with ammunition for both. He also received a rather dented canteen, a few MRE's, and a flack vest. John was told quite bluntly, that anything else he wanted to bring was up to him.

John didn't know where Kyle was assembling his team for the mission. He dare not go back and ask Derek, it would make him look green, but showing up late would be even worse. He asked the supply officer, but he didn't know. So John struck out on his own and asked the first person he met if he knew where Kyle was, and he did. John found the room he was given directions too. Kyle was in the middle of briefing five guys when he walked in.

"Well glad to see you could join us." Kyle said with a stern face. "I was just telling these fellows about the miracle you're providing us."

John grins sheepishly. "I'm sorry if I'm late, but I couldn't find where you were at."

"No problem Connor. Why don't you come over here to the map, and then you can point out exactly where we will be going."

John set his stuff down and joins them at the table. Kyle points out where they are, somewhere near where downtown L. A. once stood. John points out where they need to go. Kyle and the others just stared at him.

"Fuckin' hell. That's a long way to walk." Someone swears.

"What's the problem?" John asks.

"We haven't got any transportation. The metal destroyed all that got left behind during its last purge. We'll have to walk the whole distance." Kyle explains.

"Sorry guys." A soldier says nervously. "I volunteered for this mission. But no way in hell am I walking out into the middle of the desert on the say so of just one man."

After he leaves, another suggests that they might find working transportation on the outskirts of the city where there was less damage. It was highly doubtful, but it gave them hope.

While they were talking about transportation, Allison had silently entered the room. She was kited out like everyone else.

"Excuse me, fellows." Kyle says to the team and goes over to her.

They speak in hushed and heated tones.

"What are you doing?" Kyle asks.

"I coming with you." Allison states firmly.

"I can see that." Kyle says positioning himself to prevent the others from reading their lips while they talk. "I didn't invite you on this mission. It could be dangerous."

He glances over his shoulder at Connor before asking, "Is it because of him, Connor?"

"Derek ordered me to join your group. I'm to report to him on his progress. This is his first mission off the base. Derek wants an objective report."

Kyle shakes his head. "I don't like it." He says with reservations.

He doesn't trust this new guy Connor. He saw the look he gave her in the tunnels when they first met. And he knows how if they come under fire out there, on what is supposed to be a simple mission, how battles can bring people together. It feels like fate is working against him.

"Fine. You can come, but only because Derek ordered it."

John watched the exchange intently, and as hard as he tried to hear what was being said, he only heard Derek's name mentioned. He saw Kyle glance at him sharply during Allison's explanation. He could only guess that Allison had decided to come along and Kyle wasn't pleased. Apparently she told him something that made him change his mind, but he still didn't look pleased.

They left as soon as the briefing was over. It was decided to keep to the tunnels that twisted through under most of Los Angeles. After which, they would travel above ground overnight. It was a mission which required sleep deprivation for all.

**2027**, **Day 12**

Ms. Weaver is standing in the computer control room. "Have you uploaded the ethics program into the computer that programs the chips?"

"Yes, Ms. Weaver. And your special instruction codes, as well."

"And the machines. Do their chips pass the diagnostic?"

"Yes Ms. Weaver. All machines are fully functional and their chips are a hundred percent operational."

"Good. Have you located the central computer grid for Sky Net in this time line?"

"Not yet. I am slowly accumulating data. This factory is more autonomous in its operations. It made it easier for me to infiltrate its infrastructure and program the machines for your army, but it makes it more difficult to locate Sky Net."

"If one of Sky Net's own machines suddenly stopped responding to commands, wouldn't that make Sky Net more active in this sector?"

"Yes. But these machines will respond to Sky Net's commands. They just won't carry out their orders. A machine will have to be located and reprogrammed in an unconventional manner."

"Hmm." Weaver thinks for a moment. "Perhaps it is time I reacquaint myself with John Connor. It is time for him to begin reprogramming the machines. Did you bring the data disc?"

"Yes. Ms Weaver." John Henry pulls open his shirt, carefully slices open the flesh in his abdomen with a thumbnail, and pulls out a data disc, wrapped in plastic.

"I was curious as to why you wanted me to bring this." John Henry says while handing her the disc.

"I'm sure you were." Weaver responds while removing the disc from the plastic covering.

"I don't know how long I will be looking for John Connor. Continue your work in locating Sky Net, and reprogramming these machines."

She absorbs the disc into her body and walks out of the factory.

# # #

A small contingent of resistance fighters make their way through the tunnels under Los Angeles. Little is said amongst them.

"So, tell me something about these tunnels and bunkers." Connor says but doesn't get much of response.

They continue walking through the underground network.

"How long did it take you to dig these?" John says following the group through a narrow opening into a much broader tunnel.

"We'll rest here ten minutes." Kyle says to the group. "Mike, take Billy and scout ahead. Make sure we've got no surprises."

Two of the guys run off along the tunnel which appears to be an abandoned sewer or storm drain.

"I gather you didn't dig all of them out. We've walked through basements, old bomb shelters, but it had to take some ingenuity to link them all together like this." John tries again.

"Connor, just what the hell are you doing?" Kyle snaps.

"Just talking." John shrugs. "This is my first time in this network of tunnels."

"Allison, Jimmy you tell him." Kyle snaps. "Lewis, go back along the route we came. Make sure we aren't being followed."

"Is there a problem?" Allison asks, adjusting her weapon.

"I don't think so." Kyle says scanning the tunnels. "Just being cautious. The metal could've set any number of traps while they were in our bunker."

"I haven't seen any evidence of them being in this area." Allison counters. "There's no signs of any plasma rifles or conventional weapons having been fired in this area for the last 175 yards."

"Still. It doesn't pay to get reckless. Even on a fool's errand." Kyle snaps. "You three sit tight. I'm going check the tunnel in this direction. If I'm not back by the time the others return, then head back to base."

The three of them find themselves sitting alone in the tunnel.

"So, what about these tunnels then?" John pipes up.

With a shake of her head, Allison says. "Where we found you, was the basement of a technology firm. That and several other basements were linked to an abandoned military bunker, that we call the core. There are a few other bases in the area, some were cold war military bunkers and some were bomb shelters. The people sought shelter in them, and unable to return to the surface, they linked it all together, making use of existing basements, metro tunnels and sewers where they could."

A few minutes later, Lewis is the first to return.

"Nothing following us. Where's Sergeant Reese?"

"He's checking one of the tunnels." Allison replies.

A couple of minutes later, Mike and Billy return.

"We've got a problem. Where's Reese?" Mike says.

John begins to answer, but is cut off by Kyle's arrival.

"Right here what's the problem?"

"The route ahead is blocked. Part of the roof caved in."

An hour later, a small squad of resistance are making slow progress across the ruined landscape that was at one time the outskirts of Los Angeles. It was midnight. They had left the protection of the tunnels after encountering a blockage. So through the landscape of half-collapsed buildings and piles of rubble they walked as quickly and as stealthily as possible. They all harbored a hope to find a vehicle, that still worked, on the edge of the city and use it to carry the weapons.

Reaching the outskirts of the city, they began looking for a vehicle of some kind. After a long and fruitless search, some of the men began to complain. No one, including John, wanted to carry the weapons all the way back.

Recalling the area near the weapon's cache, John had a hope, and possibly a plan. Not too far from the desert hideaway, there was a rest stop on the edge of the desert. John and his mother would stop there on occasion to fill up the gas tank or buy water when they would drop off supplies at the hideaway when he was a child. John was hoping the rest stop would still be there. With nothing to lose, he goes to speak with Kyle.

Kyle and the two more experienced fighters, Mike and Lewis, were discussing options. As John approached them, he got the impression that they were thinking of turning back. Risking nothing, as he has no reputation with these people, John decides to cut in on the conversation.

"Excuse me, but I have an idea on how to fetch the weapons." They all turn in unison to look at him.

"May I see the map?"

"Why the hell not?" Kyle says and turns the map so John can look at it.

The map they were carrying was old, looking much like the kind you find in service stations. Over the years it had become marked up showing known locations of Terminator activity, locations of hatches, caches of supplies, the sort of thing that should be committed to memory.

"Look at this." John says pointing to a location on their map. "Right here is an old rest stop just before you enter the desert. There is likely to be a vehicle there, maybe an old tow truck in the service station, that we can use to carry the supplies."

Kyle looks at him curiously, "How do you know all this?"

"When I was walking in from the desert to the city looking for your camp, I stumbled across the place." John lies.

"This place you pointed to would add another two days to our journey, easily." Kyle protests.

"Not if we find a truck, but at the very least the men will find shelter and water before going into the desert. And it will be a place to rest when they come back out, too."

Kyle thinks for a moment. Derek said to turn back if they ran into any difficulties. Shit, the kid has a plan, and he must admit it sounds good. Not wanting to tell Derek he didn't trust the kid, he makes an excuse. "I'll need to discuss it with these two first. Why don't you go back, and keep Allison company."

While John walked over to rejoin Allison and the others, Kyle talked over John's idea with Mike and Lewis. They liked the plan, much to Kyle's displeasure. As the officer in charge, he could order them all to turn back, but what would Derek say? Shit, really no choice but to continue on.

Allison was sitting off to one side away from the three young men. They appeared to be taking the opportunity to rest. Probably a good idea, John thinks. Allison was checking her weapon when John sits down beside her.

"How are you doing?" He asks.

"Okay I guess. I'm used to sneaking about and walking over rough terrain, but I've never been in the desert before." She replies, while setting her rifle back down beside her.

"I've been there many times before. The key thing to remember is to conserve your water, and if you take your boots off, always shake them out before putting them back on."

"Why's that?" She asks, perking up a little.

"Scorpions. They like to go in your boots for shelter from the cold at night, or from the heat of the sun during the day."

"Thanks. I'll remember that." She replies. "I've heard scorpion stings can be very painful."

John thinks back to that moment when Allison joined their group, and the heated discussion she and Kyle had that he could hear. They were alone at the moment, so he decides to ask her about it.

"Allison, why did you join us? I mean, you weren't assigned to this unit, but then I didn't see anyone stop you either."

She responds with a question of her own. "Why is Kyle here?"

"He's leading this unit."

"And Mike and Lewis?"

"They are training those three guys over there."

"And what are they doing here, besides training?"

"They will aid in carrying the weapons and ammo." John was confused, curious where she was going with this conversation.

"And what are you doing here?"

"I'm here to lead them to the weapon's cache."

"Now why do you think I am here?" She asks, looking right at him.

John was trying to read her face in the dark but wasn't having any luck. He was trying to think of answer when Kyle came over.

"Connor, we've talked it over, and we have agreed to your plan."

John tried not to grin, but Kyle wouldn't have seen it in the dark. John could see out of the corner of his eye Allison was still looking at him.

Kyle finished talking. "However, Derek will have to know about our change of plans. We will lose one man but I think we can manage without him."

Kyle booted one of the relaxing soldiers. "You, Johnson. Go back to base and tell Derek we are taking a detour to the old rest stop on the desert highway. Make sure you tell him why, and that we will be another day or two getting back. Now go!" After getting his orders, Johnson grabbed his rifle and pack and dashed back the way they had come.

"I hope he has the common sense to find a different route back in case we were spotted earlier." Kyle grumbles, then gives orders. "Okay, Connor, you'll be up front with me. As soon as we hit the desert, you are taking point. All right everyone, pick up your stuff, we're moving out."

Kyle motions to the others to get ready.

_From the Journal of John Connor_

_After Kyle gave his orders, I kneeled down to pick up my back pack and make sure the flaps were secure. Allison did much the same. I know it was night and we only had the stars to see by, but I could swear she gave me a look of, well, something like the look of adoration._

_My star was rising in her eyes. I didn't know why or what I had done to deserve such a look. Could it be she likes me? I didn't know and I didn't have time to dwell on it. We have a difficult job to do, and a long hike to get there. I just prayed the weapons will still be there after so many years. Because if they aren't, my life would be forfeit and I'd be all alone in a dead gray world without friends, without family, without hope. In a nutshell, I'd be better off dead, then to return without those weapons._

_The World is Gray, lyrics, by Bang Gang_

"_You wake up in the night and you feel_

_Like everything around you is surreal_

_You cannot find the day, and let go_

_Of all the things that haunt you from within_

_Of all the things that make you feel so unreal_

_The world is gray_

_You're all alone_

_Maybe someone helps you home_

_The emptiness_

_That brings you down_

_Keeps you searching for the ground_

_You're searching for the ground_

_You look up to the light_

_And you feel_

_How suddenly it's easier to breath_

_The echoes of the past_

_Fade away_

_Your happy to be living another day_

_Your happy that you live in another way_

_The world is gray_

_You're all alone_

_Maybe someone helps you home_

_The emptiness_

_That brings you down_

_Keeps you searching for the ground_

_You're searching for the ground_

_The sun keeps shining behind the clouds_

_And you wait till it burns them down_

_And you know that you'll find the right one_

_Your stuck with darkness until it breaks out_

_The sun keeps shining behind the clouds_

_And you wait till it burns them down_

_And you know that you'll find the right one_

_Your stuck with darkness until it breaks out_

_Until you break out_

_The world is gray_

_You're all alone_

_Maybe someone helps you home_

_The emptiness_

_That brings you down_

_Keeps you searching for the ground_

_You're searching for the ground"_


	4. On My Own

**Disclaimer:** I do not claim any rights to the Terminator films; the TV series, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles;" or any characters depicted within the films or TV series. I do claim the right to this story idea and all characters and situations of my own creation. This story was created solely for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. No profits are garnered from its distribution - unfortunately.

* * *

**TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES**

**REUNION**

**Part 1: The Shadow of Death**

**Author: The1Russter**

**Chapter 3**

**On My Own**

_Sarah (voice over), "Know thyself. John once told me it's inscribed on the front of the Temple of Apollo. The entire quote is, 'know thyself and thou shall know all the mysteries of the gods and of the universe.' That's quite a mouthful. My version is this. Know thyself because what else is there to know? People hide secrets. Time is a lie. The material world can disappear in an instant. It has and it will again."_

"_Our identities change. Our names, the way we look, how we act and speak. We're shape shifters. There is no control. No constant. No shelter but the love of family and the body God gave us. And we can only hope that will always be enough."_

_Extract from, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, S01E01 Gnothi Seauton, 14 January, 2008_

_Sarah Connor, "I told you to stay out of this."_

_James Ellison, "I tried. Everywhere I turn, there you are."_

_Extract from, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, S02E21 Adam Raised a Cain, 3 April 2009_

_Agent Auldridge, "I believe you."_

_Sarah Connor, "You believe me what?"_

_Agent Auldridge, "I believe there are machines. I believe they've come back from the future to first kill you and then your son. I believe in time travel, I believe in cyborgs. I believe there's a world that I've not yet seen but you have, and John. In the last eight hours, I've received 37 calls from people who have met a young man named John Baum, or his sister Cameron or Sarah Baum, the mother. They now know her to be Sarah Connor. By all accounts, your son looks 16 and not 24, just as you look 35 and not 43. I believe you have participated in the miraculous and the terrible, and through it all you have maintained a moral and good soul. I want to help you. I want to help your son. Help me do that."_

_Sarah Connor, "My son is dead."_

_James Ellison, "You could tell them. You can tell 'em everything you've been doing. You can draw 'em a picture of everything they know and everything you know. If you're innocent, you could do that."_

_Sarah Connor, "Last time I drew a picture, I ended up in a psych-ward."_

_James Ellison, "Maybe things will be different now. Maybe... they got nothin' to lose."_

_Sarah Connor, "There's always something to lose."_

_Extracts from, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, S02E22 Born to Run, 10 April 2009_

_Sarah Connor to Cameron, "We can't keep running. I'll lose my boy. He'll leave me... He'll leave me."_

_Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Pilot, 13 January 2008_

# # #

**2009, Day 1, Afternoon**

The room is crackling with energy. The time bubble is expanding, enveloping both her son John and the terminator, that calls herself, Catherine Weaver. Sarah steps back out of the bubble that is forming.

"Mom?" John looks at her earnestly. Sarah thinks, _This isn't my fight._ She steps back some more.

"I'm sorry John." _My fight is here and now_. _It's time for John to embrace his destiny and not fight it anymore. If it takes two terminators to do that, well, then that part of my job is done._ "I'll stop it. I'll stop it."

Her back is against the wall. Sarah is visibly upset, her face failing to hide her pain of losing her son. But it is time for him to go, to embrace his destiny, to live the life for which she's been preparing him her entire life.

The bubble finishes expanding until Weaver and John are fully enclosed. Blue lightning is crackling around the room. Sarah is looking at her son, John Connor, the future savior of mankind. He looks afraid and so young, but he is brave and strong. She loves her son.

Recent events flash through her mind. Suddenly she remembers, in the lobby, just before they went upstairs, John told her he loved her. It had been so long since he told her this. With just moments to spare as the bubble grows more opaque and light fills the room, she shouts, "I love you, too."

Then with a crackle and a flash of light the bubble is gone. Energy still crackles about the room. Sarah stands there, for what feels like an eternity looking at the spot where her son had stood just moments before. She feels numb all over. She doesn't know if it is from the electrical discharge or the loss of her son.

Sarah is shocked back to reality when Ellison grabs her arm. "Come on Sarah. We have to get you out of here before the authorities arrive."

"The computer, the Turk, we have to destroy it." cries Sarah.

"There's no problem. I think that . . . that energy bubble fried it. Look." Ellison gestures at the computers.

The computer servers looked like they received a heavy charge. There are scorch marks around the screw heads, monitors are flickering and flashing static. Sarah realizes she was so blinded by the loss of her son that she hadn't noticed the room around her. None of the computers appear to be operating.

Sarah looks at Cameron's body. It was right in the middle of the time bubble, but there it still sat. She suddenly remembers that metal can't go through, and with part of her endoskeleton exposed, Cameron still sat there.

"We will have to get her out of here," Shouts Sarah, "and destroy the security tapes."

"Security tapes are no problem. They were stored digitally on John Henry's computer, and that is torched by all appearances."

"Well then, stop gabbing and help me with Cameron." Sarah says, as she tries to hoist Cameron out of her chair. She may look like a skinny teenage girl, but even Sarah has difficulty shifting her dead weight.

Ellison picks the girl up by the waist, and with a small grunt of effort, he puts her lithe body over his shoulder. Sarah collects the knife and any other bits of evidence she can spot and runs after him.

In the empty room where John Henry once lived, the static begins to clear from the monitors. The computer systems reboot and the three lights on the Turk come on. A command prompt is displayed on one of the monitors and then a single phrase is repeated, I AM HERE, I AM HERE, I AM HERE, I AM HERE. But no one is there to read it.

Sarah catches up with Ellison just as he is approaching the door to the underground parking garage. She peers out through the window of the door, then slowly opens it taking a quick glance around.

"It's clear." She says over shoulder as she holds the door open.

"We're lucky I'm parked on this level." He grunts, as he shifts Cameron's body.

They get to his company car. Sarah takes Cameron's body from Ellison and struggles to prop her up against the side of the vehicle, while Ellison unlocks the trunk. He and Sarah then place Cameron's body carefully in the trunk.

Sarah hesitates. Who is this man that she should place her trust in him? In what seemed like another life, Ellison had pursued her all over the country, convinced that she was a psychotic terrorist. Then when she and John, and Cameron had traveled eight years into the future, she thought she had lost him for good. But it seemed like no matter where she went, no matter what she did in her fight against Sky Net, there he was. He betrayed them once. He stole Cromartie's body and gave it to Weaver. It may operate under a different name now, but it is still a machine. And it is Ellison's fault.

She looks at this man that is now trying to help her, her eyes narrowing. "How do I know I can trust you?"

"Sarah, as much as I would like to take the time to reassure you right now, we haven't got the _time_." Ellison sighs, he can just begin to hear alarms sounding from approaching emergency vehicles. "Just get in the car. We can discuss this later."

Almost reluctantly Sarah gets in Ellison's car. She doesn't have much of a choice. Without his help she would certainly get caught and be blamed for this mess. When they start to approach the exit, she scrunches down below the window to avoid being seen by anyone.

Ellison is thankful that the entrance to the parking garage is on the opposite side of the building. They will less likely to be noticed by people or stopped by cops who would be around front where the drone flew into the building. The security guard who was supposed to be at the gate was gone. _He probably ran around front to see what was happening_, thought Ellison. As head of security, he would normally be mad, but for once he is grateful for an unprofessional action.

He drives about two blocks before Sarah pulls herself back up into the seat.

"Where are we going?" asks Sarah as she buckles her seat belt.

"I am taking you someplace safe, and nearby, and then I'm going to pick up Savannah from her class." Ellison pauses while he maneuvers his car through the stream of traffic. "I don't like using the girl this way, but if asked, she will be my reason for leaving Zeira Corp."

"What will you tell her?"

"I don't know. But I can't tell her the truth. Not yet, anyways."

"She will have to know what her mother is. I can't believe that a machine has been raising a child."

"I'm certainly not going to tell Savannah that. It'll be hard enough for her with her mom missing."

Ellison and Sarah don't talk much from there on. Driving quickly but safely through the streets of Los Angeles, Ellison pulls up outside an apartment building. There is a sign out front saying closed for remodeling.

"What is this place?" Sarah asks, looking around.

"We're in North Hollywood."

"That much I know. I lived here for a time."

"These condos is where that machine, before he was John Henry, was posing as George Laszlo. He killed an entire swat team when the FBI attempted to arrest him. After the shoot-out, the owners closed the apartment building while the investigation was underway, and it has remained closed due to the investigation and eventual remodeling by the owners. Which is on hold until structural engineers can examine the building."

He continues to drive around back where the service entrance to the interior court is located. "This is the closest I can get us in the car. No one should see us go in from here. The place is deserted."

Ellison and Sarah get out of the car and begin the daunting task of dragging Cameron's body out of the trunk.

"The place still has electric and water, but it is completely empty for at least the next few weeks."

Sarah picks up Cameron's legs and they struggle to carry her through the gate and up the stairs to the second level.

Stopping outside a door, Ellison speaks, "This is the apartment where he stayed. It is the only one that isn't locked but it has an FBI seal on the door."

Sarah notes the melancholy in Ellison's voice. "Something wrong?"

"I lost a lot of people here colleagues, friends, including my former partner, Greta Simpson. She was the best."

Sarah puts down Cameron's legs and pulls the knife from her pocket. Carefully, she slices through the tape following the gap between the door and the jamb. They drag Cameron inside and lay her on the sofa.

"No one should find you here." Ellison says as he looks around. He still can barely grasp the awful damage done by one of those machines in this very room.

"I'll be back as soon as I can. In the mean time stay here, out of sight."

Sarah kneels beside Cameron, straightening the cyborg legs on the sofa. She looks up at the former FBI agent, he still looked haunted by the events that took place here so many months ago.

"Ellison, thank you." Sarah says from her position beside Cameron. Even if she doesn't trust him fully, she is grateful for what he has done.

Ellison gives her a reassuring nod of his head and quickly returns to his car. As he drives away, he is worried about what he will say to Ms. Weaver's little girl.

After Ellison leaves, Sarah assesses her location. Bullet holes pockmark most of the walls and there is still the slight tang of tear gas in the air, a sheet of plywood covers the front window. It takes her five minutes to explore the apartment. No TV, no phone, one door, three windows, one bathroom, one bedroom, and one kitchen with little food, most of which is spoiled.

She goes into the bedroom and looks for some clean clothes. Digging through the closet, she finds a few items that could fit her. Mostly shirts. She glances at the mirror on the back of the closet door. The woman staring back is tired and haggard. She has been through a lot the last several years. Through it all she could rely on her son, draw strength from him, but now she is alone. For the first time in years.

Suddenly, Sarah is rocked to the core with a sudden rush of grief. Sobbing she sits on the bed. The tears just flow. John is gone. She misses him terribly. She is all alone now. Derek is dead. Charley is dead. Cameron is disabled. Now John is gone, on his own, somewhere in the future with that terminator bitch, who calls itself Catherine Weaver. Sarah's face twists in anger as her thoughts center on Weaver, for all she knows now, it could have been a Sky Net trap set up to lure John into the future and ensure a Sky Net victory. But why go through the bother of that when Weaver could have killed him now.

Looking up, she can see Cameron on the sofa where they had placed her. _As soon as I can, I need to burn her. I can't risk that technology falling into the hands of the people building Sky Net. They've already built drones. If they get hold of Cameron's body, and all of the secrets it holds . . . ._ Sarah shivers to think what it would be like to see armies of machines pursuing her, pursuing John, through L. A. She has to stop it.

Thinking about John brings more tears to her eyes and she begins to cry again. Sarah curls up on the bed sobbing uncontrollably until the tears stop flowing. Eventually she falls into a fitful sleep.

# # #

During the drive to pick Savannah up from gymnastics, Ellison mulled over recent events, the attack on Zeira Corp., the sudden disappearance of Ms. Catherine Weaver, and how it all plays into Sarah and John Connors fight against Sky Net and its machines, called terminators.

He knew that after one machine killed twenty highly trained FBI SWAT team members and his partner, that he was on the wrong side of this war. Ellison wanted to help Sarah, to try and make up for his relentless pursuit of her. But even after he helped her and John defeat that same machine in Mexico, she wouldn't let him help her. Was it because she didn't trust him?

Ellison didn't know if Sarah would fully trust him, but he hoped she would stay put until he could organize a means to get her out of L. A. County. But his biggest worry was what to tell Savannah when he picked her up. She was so innocent, that revelations about her mom and John Henry could hurt her deeply.

As he drives up to the building where Savannah has her gymnastics class, he decides not to tell her the real truth, not yet, she should believe the perceived truth. This meant he would have to lie to her and to the authorities again, but it would spare Savannah from hearing the awful truth about her mother and buy him some time to prepare her for when he had to tell her the truth.

Ellison parks his car and goes inside. He walks straight up to the reception window. With a very well practiced, natural looking, professional smile, he says to the woman, "Hello, I'm James Ellison, head of security for Zeira Corp. Ms. Weaver sent me to pick up her daughter, Savannah, from her class."

"Oh yes, good afternoon Mr. Ellison. I see on the computer that Ms. Weaver has you down as someone who would be picking up or dropping off her daughter from time to time. Do you have some I.D. you could show me?" She says warmly, giving Mr. Ellison an appreciative glance.

Ellison grins and reaches into his pocket and pulls out his Zeira Corp I.D. badge. "Will this be sufficient or would you need my drivers license as well?"

"Oh no Mr. Ellison, that will be fine." says the receptionist as she glances over his badge. "The girls are just finishing and Savannah will be out soon. You may wait here or in the break room next door."

"Thank you, but I'll wait here." Giving the young woman an equally appreciative look.

He places his badge back in his pocket, picks up a dog eared magazine and sits down in a chair where he can keep an eye on what is happening outside, and see the receptionist. If there is to be another attempt on Savannah's life, then this would be a very likely place.

Ellison didn't have to worry for very long. Not a minute had gone by when Savannah comes bounding out of the gymnasium, all smiles and full of energy with her little back pack on her shoulders. "Uncle James," she cries running up to him giving him a hug. "Where's mommy? She was supposed to pick me up today."

"Your mom had a late meeting that went long," Ellison says as he holds her in his arms. "She asked me to come and get you." He says with a smile. It hurt him having to lie to her. She places so much trust in him.

He walks out to his car with Savannah skipping beside him, holding his hand. He unlocks and opens the back door. Savannah scrambles up into the backseat and puts her seatbelt on. Ellison closes the door and walks around the car to the driver's door and gets in, looking all around as he does so.

"Uncle James?" He turns to look at her, failing to notice the gray van pulling up across the street. "Can we stop for ice cream on the way?" she asks sweetly, giving him that pleading look that little girls do so well.

"Sure Savannah." Ellison feels some relief. This would give him some time to think.

Savannah smiles and giggles, then she pulls her stuffed giraffe out of her back pack and plays with it and talks with it. She never goes anywhere without it.

He pulls out into traffic and drives off, never seeing the man in gray overalls across the street paying close attention to Ellison's vehicle as it passes by. He looked liked any number of uniformed contractors or deliverymen throughout the city. The uniformed man pulls out a cell phone and places a call. His boss will be very interested as to who picked up Savannah from her class today.

They stop at a drug store where Ellison buys her an ice cream on a stick. He allows Savannah to eat it in the car, not worried about any mess, as it is unlikely he will ever have the privilege of driving this car again. He drives to Zeira Corp as he normally would on any day given a task that would take him away from the office.

They are halfway there when he has to stop suddenly for traffic backing up on the street as the late afternoon rush hour begins to build. The quick stop startles Savannah who had started to doze off, traces of ice cream around her mouth.

"Uncle James! What's that?" She asks pointing.

"What is what Savannah?" He asks looking at her in the rear view mirror.

"Over there! Mommy's building?" She is pointing out to his left.

He turns and looks. _Damn!_ He thinks. There in direct line of sight you can fully see the Zeira Corp. Tower. Smoke and flames are pouring out of the upper floors. That plane did more damage than he thought.

"Don't worry Savannah. I'm sure your mom is okay." He lies to her.

Ellison pulls out his cell. What happens next could seal his fate, and possibly jeopardize the lives of two people who for now have place their trust in him. He offers up a quick prayer and begins dialing.

**2009, Day 1, Two hours later**

Ellison is seated in an interrogation room. This is the second time in the last two days. At least, here in the FBI he is treated with some respect. He got little respect from that detective on the police force.

Mr. Auldridge steps in carrying a cup of coffee and a folder. "We meet again Mr. Ellison. I didn't think we'd be seeing each other so soon."

"Neither did I." Says Ellison as he sits up, straightening his coat and tie.

"I thought you'd might like a cup of coffee, after all you've been through." Auldridge sets the coffee down in front of Ellison. "Mabel at reception said you like it black."

"Thank you."

"First let me tell you that Savannah is doing OK. She is just down the hall with a woman from Child Protective Services." Auldridge glanced at his notes. "Savannah says she was with you when you both discovered that Zeira Corp was on fire. Can you tell me why she was with you?"

Ellison sits up, "Mrs. Weaver called me to her office. It was the middle of the afternoon. She told me she was having a late meeting with some clients and would I pick up her daughter as she felt the meeting would go late."

"What time was this?"

"I believe it was almost 4 PM."

"Did you see these clients she would be having the meeting with?"

"No. I had assumed it would be by means of a teleconference from her office."

"What makes you think that?"

"She had released her staff early in the day as a holiday in celebration of the return of her daughter." Ellison explains. "Everyone from secretaries to the heads of departments was given the afternoon off. Only I and a few security guards were still on duty. There would be no support staff or department heads available for a standard meeting. So I naturally assumed it would be a teleconference meeting."

"Do you have any idea what happened at Zeira Corp, after you left?"

"No, I haven't got a clue." Ellison hopes that Auldridge couldn't tell he was lying. "I was on my way back to work with Savannah when we saw the building on fire."

"At 4:20 PM, a plane flew into the Zeira Corp Tower. To be precise, the exact location of Ms Weavers office. There are numerous witnesses on the ground who saw the plane." Auldridge studies Ellison's face for a moment, but nothing is revealed. "The top ten floors were consumed with fire. The explosions were heard as far away as six blocks. Did you hear or see anything?"

"No. After Mrs. Weaver asked me to collect her daughter, I thought it best to leave right away because of afternoon traffic. I didn't want to be late to pick Savannah up. She's been very shook up since her abduction and likes familiar people around."

"Understandable about the girl, but I find it highly unusual you didn't hear the impact and explosion of the airplane."

"Like I said, I left early." He says curtly.

"Your meeting with Ms. Weaver took place in her office, Yes?"

Ellison nods his head.

"Her office is twenty stories above ground. Your parking space is three stories below ground. Are you saying you were able to get from her office to the lower levels of the parking garage and drive out of there in under twenty minutes?"

"What can I say? The elevators are fast when there is no one else clamoring for a ride. Now if you don't have any more questions, I'd like to see Savannah before I go home."

"Just a couple of more questions. What was Zeira Corp's business?"

"I understand they are a high tech, computer research firm developing cutting edge technologies."

"Do you know what exactly?"

"One computer looks pretty much like another to me. You'd have to ask one of the tech guys."

"We're planning to."

"Just one more thing Mr. Ellison." Auldridge closes his folder and clips his pen to it before continuing. "This interview has been just a formality. Believe me when I say, that if it wasn't for the fact you were once with the FBI, this interview would have gone a lot differently."

Ellison gives him a look. Auldridge takes a quick glance at the two way mirror, hoping no-one is behind it. He lowers his voice before speaking, "Mr. Ellison, I for one do not believe you had anything to do with the attack on Zeira Corp or with the abduction of Savannah Weaver. I do believe that something bad is happening and somehow you've been drawn into its epicenter." He pauses before continuing, "Please believe me when I tell you that I'm your friend. I want to help you . . . and Sarah. I know she's telling the truth."

Auldridge's expression shows he is being truthful and sincere, but Ellison decides to remain cautious for the time being. He doesn't know Auldridge well enough to know how sincere he is being.

"I don't know what you are talking about. May I leave now." Ellison stands up and buttons his jacket.

"Yes, of course." Auldridge, also stands. "Be careful, the police won't be as lenient as us, Mr. Ellison. You can expect them to question you a lot harder." He looks down at the table. "You didn't drink your coffee."

"I don't like black coffee." Says Ellison dropping the cup in the trash can. "Mabel must have me confused with someone else."

"Hmm" says Auldridge, glancing at the cup in the trash can. Then he looks up at Ellison and speaks "Savannah is in the room at the end of this hall on your left, you can take a few minutes to speak with her."

Neither of them notice the capsule still dissolving at the bottom of the cup as the coffee spills out into the trash can.

# # #

Behind the mirrored glass, in the room next door, are two men who were looking through the mirror during Auldridge's interview of Mr. Ellison. One is dressed in a gray suit the other is in shadow.

The one in shadow speaks first, "He didn't drink the coffee! You said he would drink the coffee! Then we could have used his sudden illness as an excuse to slip him away quickly and quietly to question him."

Gray suit says, "You can't always rely on humans. Either Mabel was wrong or Ellison suspected something."

"Then what are you going to do?"

"I'll make sure the police turn the heat up on Mr. Ellison. Make sure he stays as far away from our project as possible. He'll learn soon enough that getting involved will only cause him more personal pain or death. But right now we have a more important problem."

"What is that?"

"Mr. Auldridge suspects the truth. I'll need to give him something else to do. Let him ask his questions and gather data. He'll soon find out that there are not enough facts to support his suspicions, then I'll see to it the case gets reassigned, and then shelved. We can then use the collected evidence to track down the others."

"You are not going to kill him?"

"Not now, he is useful to me, but if he sticks his nose in too far, he may find it cut off. Follow Ellison and don't let him see you. He may lead us to Sarah Connor or the girl's mother."

# # #

Ellison walks into the room, he was directed to by Agent Auldridge, and is just about pounced on by Savannah.

"Uncle James, What's happening? Where's my mommy?"

Ellison heart sinks, he can't tell her the truth, yet, but he can try to reassure the girl. "Savannah, your mom is missing, but the police and FBI are doing their best to find her."

"But where did she go?" Tears were streaming from her eyes.

"I don't know Savannah. I will do my best to help find her." _Another lie_, he thinks.

The girl clings to him and cries as he holds her. The social worker looks at them, and says quietly, "I'll be right outside."

Ellison sits in a chair and gets Savannah comfortable in his lap while the lady swings the door closed as she exits the room. He notices she didn't shut it tight, so he will still have to guard his tongue.

"Savannah," Ellison strokes her head, "I know you are scared right now. I would be too."

"Are you scared, Uncle James?"

Ellison thinks a moment, "Yes, Savannah I'm scared too. But you know what, we can be strong for each other. We can help each other to be less scared."

Savannah holds on tightly to her giraffe, and looks at him for a little bit. "Uncle James, how can you be scared? You're a grown up."

"Honey, my world has been turned upside down too, and that scares me. But I know if I have you to rely on I can be strong. And you can rely on me to help you be strong. Okay?"

"Okay," she says in a quiet voice.

"Do you feel better now?"

"A little bit."

"Good." Ellison pauses for a moment before telling Savannah something heart wrenching. "Savannah, you know that lady that was just in here?"

"That's Ms. Williams. She was telling me a funny story before you came in the room."

"Do you like Ms. Williams?"

"Yeah, she's nice."

"Well she is going to look after you for the next few days, until your mommy returns."

"But I want to stay with you Uncle James!" Savannah cries out as she hugs him tight.

"Savannah, remember what I told you about being strong when you are scared. This is one of those times."

"But how can I be strong if you're not with me?"

"Savannah, I am going to be helping the police look for your mom. I don't know how long it will take, but it will be a couple of days before I will be able to see you again."

Savannah is scared, and she doesn't want him to leave but she understands what Uncle James is trying to tell her. "Okay. Can I call you if I'm scared?"

"Yes hon, anytime. Is my number on your cell?"

"Yeah, mom put your number in the phone right after hers."

"Okay, I need to go now but I will see you soon okay."

Ellison hugs Savannah and she wraps her arms tight around his neck, clinging to him as she cries. He reluctantly lets go of her, but if he doesn't break the embrace soon, he doesn't know if he can find it in himself to walk away.

Tears run from her eyes as she lets go of his neck. With a comforting but a sad smile, he breaks the embrace and stands up.

"Byyyee." Savannah is still sniffling when he steps through the door.

He closes the door behind him, sad that he has to leave her like this. He is almost startled when Ms. Williams, who had been waiting in the hallway for him, speaks.

"That was very good, what you told her. Are you a parent Mr. Ellison?"

"No, but I wanted to be." Ellison pauses then asked, "What's going to happen to her?"

"We will look after her until her next of kin can be notified. Do you know if she has any other family in the states?"

"No I don't. Her father died sometime ago. Ms. Weaver did mention having a brother working for NTSB, but I don't know his name."

"Well, don't worry we usually have no problem in locating relatives." She reaches into her pocket. "Here's my business card, my cell phone is on the back. Give me a call if you learn anything."

"I'll do that."

"You know, that little girl has bonded with you, and its clear you care for her too. I could arrange it for you to look after her until her family can be found." She says quite sincerely.

"I'd like that very much." Ellison smiles, his face lighting up.

"Good." Ms. Williams smiles. "It will only take a day or two for the paperwork and background check. It's standard with all child placement, but I'm sure there will be no problem with you being a former agent and the fact Mrs. Weaver trusted you with her child."

"Thank you. You can reach me at home or on my cell." He pulls out his Zeira Corp business card and quickly jots down his phone numbers on the back.

Ellison waves goodbye to Savannah and leaves. He makes his way to the front of the building, near reception. He stops to take a sip of water from the fountain. A shadowy figure comes up beside him.

A female voice whispers, "Did you get the coffee?"

"Yes I did." He whispers while simulating drinking from the fountain.

"You didn't drink it did you?"

"No, I didn't. I took it as the warning it was meant to be, and that seemed the only potential threat in the room."

"It was and it wasn't, Mr. Ellison." Mabel looks quickly around. "Something funny is happening around here lately. You and Mr. Auldridge weren't the only ones in that room. Two men were next door monitoring your conversation."

"That is usually standard."

"I know Mr. Ellison, but one of them isn't FBI. He doesn't belong to any law enforcement agency, state or Federal. I don't know who he is, but he spends an awful lot of time with the new director."

"Thanks for telling me. Is there anything else I should know?"

"Yes. They were going to try and poison you with the coffee!"

Ellison's throat suddenly goes dry. "How do you know?"

"I empty the trash cans on Tuesdays. When I emptied the one from the interrogation room I found this in your coffee cup." She hands him something wrapped in a handkerchief, and he slips it into his pocket.

Mabel turns and walks quickly back to reception and Ellison walks out to his car. When he closes the car door, he unwraps the handkerchief. Inside is a partially dissolved covering from a capsule. A partial number is visible on the side. Not much, but a start. He starts his car and drives home. He doesn't see the plain gray van five cars behind him. His mind is busy thinking about other things.

# # #

Sarah wakes with a start. Looking around quickly, Sarah wonders where she is and how she got here. Her memories slowly return and she calms down from her brief panic attack.

"It won't do. I can't let this get to me." She says out loud.

The light filtering through the closed blinds indicates that it will soon be getting dark. Sarah has no idea when Ellison will be back, but there are some things she needs to do first. She bathes quickly and redresses into her own clothes. Sarah finds a baseball cap on the shelf in the closet that is too big for her. She puts it in on and tucks her hair up inside. By the time she is ready it is dark out.

It is a long walk through the streets of Los Angeles at night. There are still quite a few people out and about. It may be California, but people do walk. Sarah takes advantages of groups of people, heading in the same direction she is going, for cover. When there isn't any, she keeps to the shadows, anything to hide her presence. It is dangerous what she is doing, but there wasn't time to collect her SUV yesterday. It was far more important to leave the area quickly.

Sarah eventually arrives where John had parked their vehicle for their meeting with Catherine Weaver. They had parked two blocks away from Zeira Corp in alley serving a closed Sushi Bar that was up for sale. She checks the area thoroughly, waiting and watching to see if anyone is watching her or where they parked. After an hour of scanning the area, Sarah determines no one is watching her or the SUV.

She quickly examines the vehicle for any tampering. The outside and the undercarriage of the SUV is clear of any explosives or tracking devices. She opens the front door and sees what looks like a piece of string on the floor mat, shaped like an arrow pointing under the driver's seat. Reaching under the front seat, she pulls out a small package wrapped in tape. Inside, is $10,000 in cash, and a driver's license and a passport made out to Sarah Gayle, and a note.

Sarah trembles slightly as she reads the note.

_Dear Mom,_

_Please don't worry about me. I am doing fine. I didn't know what was going to happen when we went to see Catherine Weaver, but I felt things wouldn't be the same again._

_The passport will only be good for forty-eight hours after being used. It will take that long before the authorities realize it is fake. The driver's license should last a long time, provided you don't get pulled over too often for traffic violations. The cash is a gift. Thank you for your gift._

_Love, John_

Then at the bottom of the page is another note, looking hastily scrawled.

_P.S._

_The cops will be making a security sweep through the area at 10:15. Leave now! _

Sarah looks at her watch. It is 10:05 PM. _How the hell does he know_, she thinks. Without thinking about it anymore, she turns the ignition, puts the vehicle in gear and drives as quickly as she can to the warehouse where they had been hiding with the little girl. She knows it's a risk. Her instincts say to leave everything and disappear. Savannah might have been able to tell the cops where it is, but the rest of their belongings are there, and clues they were pursuing to the people behind the drone and Kaliba Group.

_I need that information and I need to remove as much of our stuff as possible. What gift is he talking about_, she wonders.

She approaches the industrial park very carefully. If Savannah was able to lead the cops here, then this would be the perfect place to try and recapture her. Stopping on an access road, she pulls a pair of night-vision binoculars out of the glove box, and quickly runs across the road and climbs the fire escape on the back of an empty warehouse.

Sarah stands there for an hour surveying the industrial park, all the approaches and all potential hiding places. Nothing is moving other than a few wild animals who live and hunt amongst the refuse of humanity. Sarah quickly returns to her vehicle and drives around to the warehouse.

Once again, Sarah takes her time, casing the building for any surveillance devices or potential observers. Seeing nobody, she enters the building, parking in front of the Dodge Ram. Sarah wastes no time, grabbing everything and placing it in her SUV. She packs up Johns things and keeps them separate from Derek's. She finds the last of their thermite in one of the truck's storage lockers. All the weapons she hides in the SUV, hidden under John's and Derek's meager belongings.

It is a shame she has to leave behind the Dodge Ram, but she only needs one vehicle. Sarah suddenly has an idea. Pulling a pair of work gloves from John's bag, she grabs a shirt belonging to Derek and wipes down every surface inside and outside the truck. She also takes the time to remove everything that isn't nailed down, whether or not it could identify her, John or Derek. When she is done, she drives the vehicle to the edge of the industrial area. When they came here to hide with Savannah, she saw some young Latino men hanging around there. She is sure they would like a new truck. Leaving the keys in the ignition, she walks back to her SUV.

Sarah drives off without another glance back. If she had, she would have seen someone leave the shadows and go over to the truck and examine it. With little effort, they place a motorcycle in the back of the truck and get inside. They drive off in a different direction. Coming to a storage facility, the person pulls up outside one of the large sheds. They get out and open the door, the headlights showing off guns and equipment hanging inside. The headlights go off as the vehicle is driven inside. A few minutes later, a motorcycle pulls out of the storage facility, kicking up gravel in its haste.

Sarah drives in the general direction of the condominiums and finds a long term, parking garage just a few blocks away. There is a light on in the guard's booth. She smiles as luck is with her. It has a night attendant. Keeping her face in shadow, she pays in cash for a two-week parking permit, the shortest she can get. She is glad she doesn't need to show an ID when using cash. She pulls into the parking garage, finds her space and parks.

Checking the contents of the vehicle, she finds the printouts they made and John's computer. She won't be able to use the internet account, they can track her with that, but she knows enough to find the files John already found and saved.

Sarah stuffs them both into her backpack. Hanging her parking tag on the rear view mirror, she locks the vehicle and walks away, shouldering the bag.

It is almost five in the morning by the time she gets back to the apartment. Early morning traffic is just starting to pick up. Sarah was as careful walking to the condo in North Hollywood as she was in every part of her journey that night. She slips through the gate going into the court and quickly climbs the stairs. The court below is well lit but the balcony is in full shadow. She quickly walks along and enters George Laszlo's room. She doesn't turn on any lights so as not to give away her presence. The sun will be coming up soon enough.

A pale light enters the apartment from the lights in the inner court. Sarah waits a moment for her eyes to adjust to the light. She glances at Cameron's body laying there on the sofa. When Cameron first came to them, all Sarah could see was that she was a machine. Cameron came across so intelligent and almost seemed a real person when they first started this new adventure together. But after the time jump of eight years, something seemed to change in her, Cameron had more trouble fitting in socially. According to what John told her of when he first met Cameron, he had no idea she was metal until she took out Cromartie with a pickup. Was there something inherently wrong with her? Why was it, there were times she could be almost human in her actions, but other times so obviously a machine?

After the explosion damaged her and she pursued them through L. A., she behaved differently again. As John began to remove her chip, Cameron pleaded, almost sounding like she was crying. She begged him not to do it. She professed love for John. Was it possible that these machines could somehow have emotions? She heard Cameron, but didn't believe her and never trusted her again. Yet John was able to fix her. Cameron seemed to respond to John more than her. Sarah could swear that Cameron almost seemed jealous of Riley. If she had feelings, was that how John was able to convince Cameron to rescue her from prison? Cameron knew her primary mission was to protect John, yet she was willing to risk so much for him. Did this machine have feelings?

Sarah had pretended not to notice, but she saw the look on John's face when he saw the damage done to Cameron in her rescue of his mom. He looked absolutely sickened, like he did the absolute worse thing to Cameron. Despite his excellent driving, he had kept making quick glances in the rear view mirror. Sarah felt certain it wasn't at traffic. She saw him swallow a few times and saw the moisture in his eyes. Did her son have feelings for Cameron? She wasn't privy to all that went on between them, but the glances, the redirected questions. Was there something between them? Sarah shook her head, somehow not wanting to believe what was in plain sight, but knowing that what her instincts told her were true.

Sarah's thoughts return to the present. She notices that while she was out, Cameron's hand had slipped down off her chest and was laying on the carpet. Possibly an earth tremor while she was out. Sarah carefully lifts Cameron's arm and lays her hand back down on her chest. Sarah is closer to her now and can see the damage up close. She had seen some of the most severe wounds heal on this girl, but had never seen damage like this before.

But it doesn't matter, does it? Because she will have to burn the body to keep it out of Kaliba's hands, or any other person who might use the technology within her. All her musings were wasted.

"I'm sorry John, but I have to burn the body. Just as soon as I can get it someplace where I can burn it without it being discovered." Sarah yawns. _ But that will have to wait until later. I'm tired._

Sarah slips out of her clothes and crawls naked into bed. She falls asleep almost immediately, but she doesn't sleep well. It seems like not much time has past when she is woken by a deep rumble.

Just an earthquake, she thinks, when suddenly there is a bright flash and a blast of heat which knocks her out of her bed.

She gets up and goes to the door of the apartment and looks out on complete devastation. Los Angeles is on fire. Nothing is left, all is gone.

As she steps through the door fully clothed, something streaks across the sky and suddenly there is another mushroom cloud exploding on the horizon, joining the others.

Sarah is in complete shock as she walks through the remains of L. A., broken burning buildings, bleached bones of people covering the streets, scorched cars with burning corpses. Once proud and tall glass and steel sky scrapers reduce to a mass of twisted blacken metal.

Dust and smoke fill the sky. Streets are empty but for the rubble of what were once homes, businesses and municipal buildings.

She pauses as she hears the sound of marching coming from around the next corner.

_Soldiers, _Sarah thinks_, come to help. _But as the sound of marching gets closer, what sounds like boot heels slamming down on the pavement begins to gain the sound of metal striking concrete.

As the first wave of metal walk around the corner, something slams into Sarah and she falls back as the space where she stood is filled automatic rifle fire.

Sarah looks to see who her rescuer is, and it is Cameron!

Cameron puts her finger to her lips to indicate Sarah should remain quiet, and then leads her through darkened alleys and between piles of rubble until they are far from the coming machines.

"Where's John? Where's my son?" Sarah asks the young female cyborg angrily.

"He's here Sarah. We'll find him."

"How did you get here? You were damaged."

"John fixed me. I'm here to help. Now if you want to save the world, then trust me. Together we will find John!"

Cameron quickly takes Sarah to a cache of weapons and hands her a rifle and gun and takes the same for herself.

"There are patrols of machines everywhere. I need to get you some place safe!" Cameron tells Sarah.

"No! I must find John!"

"Let me take you somewhere safe to wait while I find him. I need John too."

"Why?"

"Because he needs me to keep him safe and I need him. I have to find him!"

"If he needs you, then why are you here, and not with him?"

"Because he loves you, Sarah, and he wants you to be safe! Now I must go!"

"No! I'm going with you." By Sarah's determined look, Cameron knows not to argue.

Cameron frowns. "If you must, but I cannot guarantee I'll be able to protect both of you."

They continue to skulk through the burning smoldering remains avoiding patrols of machines as they search.

Without warning they walk right into the presence of a machine.

Cameron pushes Sarah to the ground and gets hit repeatedly with gunfire to her chest. The machine tilts his head in confusion as he does a scan. Cameron raises her rifle and fires right at its chip, holding the trigger down, until the port ruptures.

The machine collapses and Cameron reaches down to give Sarah a hand up from the ground.

"Thank you." Sarah manages to say, "Are you badly damaged?"

"No," She says with a frown, "We need to move now. The gunfire will bring more machines to the area."

They scramble through the rubble, skinning their knees on the broken concrete. It isn't long until they encounter another machine.

It sees them approaching and begins to fire its weapon at Cameron. She coldly and calmly approaches the endo, making every shot count. Soon its chip is destroyed just like the first.

Sarah quickly approaches and finds Cameron trying to hold her cheek in place with one hand while trying to apply a strip of medical tape to hold it in place.

"Here," Sarah says as she gets close, "let me help." While Cameron holds her cheek in place, Sarah applies the tape.

"Will it heal?"

Cameron nods her head and then her eyes grow wide. Sarah turns and there are two machines approaching. The two women both open fire simultaneously on the approaching metal and then take off running from the area.

"We must be getting close to John." Cameron says as she replaces the empty magazine with a full one on her rifle. "The machines are getting more dense."

"But where is he? Where did John go?"

"He's here Sarah. It's after Judgment Day and only here can we find him. Please, we need to keep moving I need to find him too."

"Why? Why do you need him?"

Cameron looks at Sarah with a mask of worry and fear and . . .

"I love him Sarah, and he loves me. I would die for John Connor. You must know that."

Sarah does know that, and that is what had her so on edge when it came to John and Cameron the last two years.

"Now we must keep moving."

With shock and grief and worry, Sarah trudges along side the cyborg. _How? Why? How can she love? Why does she love John? John pursued her through time, so he must love her._

They encounter more machines and fight them off each and every time, but each time Cameron is all the more damaged but still she doesn't stop. Cameron now carries her rifle in her other hand as she has taken so many shot to her right arm, she can no longer effectively use the rifle. The flesh is burnt from one shoulder and the lower half of one leg from where they encountered a machine with a plasma rifle.

They don't go much further when they hear gunfire and this time shouting.

"That's Johns voice." They both say, and without regard for their own safety, the two women run toward the shouting and gunfire to find John pinned down behind some rubble in a hollow between the rubble and ruins of buildings.

Cameron leaps down the slope of rubble while Sarah provides covering fire. As Cameron engages the first machine Sarah aims for the chip port on the others.

They return fire striking Sarah in the hip and shoulder. She tumbles down the rubble until she ends up behind the same small pile of rubble that John is sheltering behind.

"Hey Mom." John says, "Nice entrance."

With a grin at her son she comes up beside him and joins him in firing on the machines that are attacking.

"I'm so happy I found you John."

"It's only a matter of time mom." John smiles "How about we get out there and join Cameron?"

They run forward firing at the machines who fall under their precise gunshots to their ports.

They both reach Cameron to find her twitching and damaged. Half her face is gone, and she is having trouble standing.

"Cam! Cam!" John runs to her and hugs her.

"I'm not one hundred percent." She says through broken vocal chords.

"It's okay. I'll fix you. I'll fix you." He says with tears in his eyes.

He runs his hand through her hair and kisses her broken bleeding face.

"I love . . ." There is a sharp bang and John gasps. He looks down to see blood running from a bullet hole in his chest. As he looks, two more shots penetrate his chest, going right through him and puncturing Cameron's fuel cell.

"Nooooo!" Sarah screams.

Sarah turns and fires her weapon at another machine that had arrived without making a sound. She keeps firing at its head until her gun clicks on empty round after empty round.

She turns in time to see John collapsing in Cameron's arms as they both fall to the ground. She moves quickly to them, screaming John's name, and kneels beside them.

"I . . . I . . ." John gasps, blood frothing on his lips. He tries to speak as he looks into Cameron's eyes

"I love you, too." Cameron whispers hoarsely.

The life in John's eyes drains away as his blood pools under them both. Cameron looks at Sarah who is kneeling over them.

"I'm sorry." Cameron manages to say as the power drains from her fuel cell.

As the light fades from her eyes, Cameron sees another machine approaching, with the last of her energy she tries to warn Sarah.

Sarah, with tears streaming from her eyes, watches her son and Cameron die. A continuous sound of clicking and whirring noise come from Cameron's head as she tries to move her mouth, but ultimately the blue light fades from her eyes.

Sarah sees a reflection of movement in the exposed metal of Cameron's skull and looks up to see a machine. Its metal skull gives it the appearance of a grinning death mask with glowing red eyes. It points her own hand gun at her and pulls the trigger.

Sarah wakes up screaming, bathed in sweat. Beads of sweat run down her chest, between her heaving naked breasts, as she gasps for air as she draws her gun from under the pillow.

She begins to cry. Letting her gun fall to the bed, she holds her head in her hands.

_It was just a nightmare. Only a nightmare._

"My son, my son." She cries as she lets her body fall to her side sobbing. "Why did I let you go alone?"

With quiet sobs, she lays there with thoughts only for her son, and the cyborg he apparently loves. _I can't burn Cameron's body, because if John gets her chip back, he will never forgive me. He needs her. I need to get the body someplace safe, where only John can find it and no one else. _

Sarah struggles to think of a place. _It will have to be out of the city, someplace John and I haven't been too in a long time, that no one else knows about._

Then it comes to her. _The desert hideaway. Cameron's body will be safe there. There is no one else who knows about it. John will find it, find her._

It will be the last act she will perform for her son. A gift of the girl he loves.

Outside in the shadows, someone watches and listens . . . and waits.

**2009, Day 2, morning**

Ellison was brought in for questioning by the police as warned. But the questioning was lot more gentle than expected. The detective was somebody new. It wasn't the same hard nose that had treated him with such suspicion before when Savannah was abducted, nor was it the professional but firm detective who questioned him about that murder his double had committed.

"Hello, Mr. Ellison. I'm Detective Macklin. I appreciate your coming down today and helping us with this case."

"I'm glad to help." Ellison is slightly taken aback by the detectives genial manner. He wasn't expecting that. "Where are the detectives I've met before?"

"They are busy with other cases. I've been assigned this case."

"Okay. What can I do to help?"

"Are you free for the rest of the day? I'd like you take me on a walk through of Zeira Corp."

"I'd be glad to." Ellison is feeling slightly relieved.

"I hope you're feeling fit. The elevators aren't working."

Ellison spends the day with Detective Macklin at Zeira Corp. They walk through all of the damaged floors. Making their way from floor to floor by way of the stairs.

Ellison gives him as many details as he knows about each floor. They finally on the floor where Catherine Weaver had her office. Ellison can hardly believe the level of damage. The fire created by the airplane crash consumed everything. A cold wind blows in through the shattered windows. Ellison does his best to point out where walls and furniture were in Weavers office, but there is little left to go on.

Macklin looks out the hole in the wall and speaks after what seems like a long interval. "You know, we have absolutely no clue as to what exactly happened. All we know is that an aircraft flew into this floor where Ms. Weaver had her office. After that a huge fire consumed everything on this floor, the aircraft and nearly ten floors below."

Macklin faces Ellison. "You last spoke to Ms. Weaver at 4PM. Did anything seem amiss at the time?"

"No, not all."

"She let everyone off for the afternoon, but I take it you and the rest of security remained on duty?"

"That's right. But some members of security were allowed to go home. Only the minimum necessary to guard entrances and the secured levels had to stay."

"Do you know who she was meeting with that afternoon?"

"No I didn't. I had assumed she was going to have a teleconference call with some clients." Ellison answers joining Macklin in looking through the shattered windows. "It wasn't unheard of for her to have private meetings."

"Is it possible she could have been meeting someone in person?"

"Yes that is possible, but I haven't got a clue who it would be." Ellison lies outright.

"Hmm." Detective Macklin looks thoughtful for a moment. "I noticed security cameras in the lobby. Were there any on this floor or the elevators?"

"Yes, there is or rather there was." said Ellison gesturing at the damage. He wasn't liking where this line of questions was going.

"Where do you keep the security tapes?" Macklin asks.

"Well there isn't any security tapes. It is all stored digitally on servers in the basement."

"The basement! Damn! That means we have to take the stairs all the way back down."

"We're also going to need to call in one of the IT guys to access the video files."

Detective Macklin and Mr Ellison starts down the stairs. Ellison pulls out his cell phone and brings up the list of Zeira Corp Employees. He quickly finds Mr. Murch's cell number.

"Come on, come on, answer your phone." Ellison huffed as they made their way down the stairs.

"Maybe he doesn't have his cell with him." Macklin offers.

"I'll try his home number." Ellison selects the number for Murch's home and waits.

"_Hello, you've reached the home of the recently unemployed Mr. Murch. How can I help you?"_

"Mr. Murch, this Ellison"

"_Oh, hello Mr. Ellison. Sorry about that, uh, what can I do for you?"_

"I'm presently at Zeira Corp helping the police in their investigations. I could use your help to access the servers where the security videos are recorded."

"_Um, Sure Mr. Ellison."_ Then he adds quietly, though only Ellison can hear him, _"Are you sure that's a good idea, you know what is in the basement."_

"Mr. Murch we only need access to the security videos. Just meet me and Detective Macklin in the security room and you can access the videos through their data terminal."

"_All right. I'll be there in twenty minutes."_

"No need hurry, it will take us twice as long as that just to get down these stairs."

Ellison was taking a huge gamble. Right now no one knew the truth of what had happened here. No one knew what Weaver really was, and who she was meeting in secret on the day she gave everyone the day off. Ellison prayed that all of the videos were destroyed and Murch would not be able to access them. But he had to play along. Let them think he was a cooperative ex-agent. But if just one clip survived that showed Sarah and John in the building or worse showed them with Weaver and himself, he knew his goose was cooked and that he would never be able to help Sarah or Savannah ever. He offered up another prayer to God to look after Sarah and Savannah until he could help them.

# # #

Sarah Connor was feeling hungry and tired. She was unable to get to sleep after her nightmare and she could not go out during the day because the police would be looking for her. Sarah eventually get up and got dressed and did a search of the kitchen. The only edible food she could find was a box of crackers and a tin of sardines. She really didn't care for sardines, but it was protein. Filling a glass with water from the tap, she sits on the counter and ate her meal. She took her time, savoring each mouthful. She thought that when she went out tonight, she would have to get a few groceries.

When she was done eating, she pulled out the letter from John. She read through it again and again. How could he have known that the police were going to do a security sweep? As she had driven away, she had seen the cop cars approaching the area. If she had remained any longer she would have been found. And what was this gift he claimed she had given him. His seventeenth birthday was three months ago, and unfortunately he didn't get any gifts that day, and there hadn't been anything but tragedy in his life after that. His girlfriend killed, Charley killed, then Derek.

John had traveled to the future. Was it possible he had sent someone back with this message, the money, and the ID's? It had to be the only answer. John may not be here, but he was still looking after her. She smiles. John Connor, leading mankind in its fight against Sky Net, and he is still worried about his mother. But what was this gift he said she had given him?

She was finally feeling sleepy. Perhaps it was the food, or possible her conscience feeling more at ease.

Brushing the crumbs off her pants she goes in the bedroom and lays down on the bed fully clothed. She feels at peace. She knows her son is fine. He had told her. She slips into a restful sleep, and for once, she doesn't have any nightmares.

# # #

Forty-five minutes later Mr. Ellison and Detective Macklin were resting in the Security Guards room drinking water from bottles and waiting for Mr. Murch to arrive.

"You know, nearly the entire upper half of the building was consumed by fire before the fire crews had put the fire out. And, when the fire was put out and the investigators arrived, there was no sign of any aircraft. We know there was an aircraft. We have nearly twenty witnesses on the ground who saw it."

Ellison replies, "But what happened to it afterwards? I mean, I was just up there with you and there was no sign of any aircraft other than a big hole in the wall where it came in."

"The Fire Marshall believes it was consumed by the fire it had created."

"And what about Ms. Weaver, is there any clue as to what happened to her?"

"Well the Fire Marshall is undertaking the assumption that she died in the fire, pending the results of the forensic tests."

"And what do you think happened.?"

"Well, I'm trying to keep an open mind, but I have a couple of theories. One, she saw what was about to happen upstairs and left of her own accord, and fearing for her life she went into hiding. Two, her car is still in the parking garage, and no one saw her leave the building. Therefore, I think it is possible that she was abducted. Perhaps by the same people who previously took her daughter."

"And the airplane crash?"

"A diversion, to hide the fact she was abducted."

"To what end?"

"Acquire the companies assets in a takeover bid. Zeira Corp holds the contracts to many government and private sector contracts. The investors would willingly vote for a takeover to get a return on those contracts."

"But the building and its contents are destroyed?"

"You really haven't been with the company long, have you?"

Ellison shakes his head no. It's all just bluff on his part. He knows a lot about the company. Ellison just wants to know what Macklin knows.

"This building just houses administrative and top secret research. Zeira Corp owns property, other research facilities. It wouldn't take much time for this company to become operational again."

Before Mr. Ellison can probe Macklin for more information, Mr. Murch enters the room.

"Ahh, Mr. Murch, this is Detective Macklin." Ellison makes the introductions.

"Hi."

"Hello."

"We'd like you to pull up the security videos from yesterday afternoon." Det. Macklin asks.

"OK, but I'd have an easier time from my own data terminal upstairs."

Ellison shakes his head. "I'm sorry Mr. Murch. But the water damage from the fire hoses destroyed all the computers as the water cascaded from above onto the floors below. The only equipment not affected is down here, in the basement."

Mr. Murch looked pale. "You mean all of our work, our research is gone?"

"Except for the off site backups, I'm afraid so Mr. Murch. The only things that have survived are down here." Mr. Ellison pats his shoulder and then guides him to a chair. "Just see what you can do from here."

Mr. Murch goes to work logging on to the computer then searching through the data logs for yesterdays' entries.

"I'm sorry, according to the computer, the video recorded from yesterday afternoon was dumped to the server around 4:15 PM yesterday afternoon."

"Why is that?" asks the detective.

"Well each of these security terminals have limited data storage. Approximately every four hours, all videos are dumped to the server where they are automatically edited and compressed."

"What do you mean edited?" asks Ellison.

"The software we have automatically removes any and all empty frames. No activity, no video. It takes up less space. Then the files are compressed, so they will take up even less space on the hard drive." Mr. Murch looks almost proud. "We have almost 100 Terabyte's of storage dedicated to security videos alone. With our current method of video storage, that is almost infinite space."

"All right, I'm tired from hiking up and down the stairs in this damn building." Grunts the Detective. "Where do we find the video's now?"

Mr. Murch types on the keyboard again, but gets another error message.

"Well I'm trying to pull them from the server now, but it's not responding to my requests. I'm going to have to go down the hall to the server itself and try and access them from there."

"We'll go with you." Says Detective Macklin, as he got up from his chair.

"I'm sorry, detective, but no one is allowed in that room unless you have signed a non-disclosure agreement with the company. You've got no idea how much trouble I'd be in if I just let you look inside the room. I'm sorry, but you are going to have to wait here."

Detective Macklin doesn't look happy. "I'll stay here with Mr. Ellison then. You do know how to access the files once he finds them?" He directs this question at Ellison.

"No problem." Ellison says as he takes the chair recently vacated by Mr. Murch. His heart is racing.

Mr. Murch leaves for the secure room, where the servers and John Henry are located.

_Any moment now they should hear something_, Ellison thinks.

"Mr. Ellison! Mr. Ellison!" The shouts reverberated up the hall and back.

Detective Macklin and Mr. Ellison run from the guards room, down the hall to the server room.

The sight before them is terrible. The damage they were looking at was nothing like what Ellison had witnessed the previous day. Yesterday, looked like a bomb, today it looked like Katrina had hit.

Ellison thinks, _"Someone's been here since yesterday and did more damage."_

# # #

Mr. Ellison and Mr. Murch spent the rest of the day at the precinct talking with the police. The authorities couldn't figure out how the millions of dollars worth of computer equipment and research data in a secured room in the basement was destroyed. There was no connection found between it and the crash and fire on the upper floors. Nor did water from the fire hoses reach that level. Mr. Murch could tell them what computer equipment was in the room, but he couldn't tell them what was being done in the basement due to the non-disclosure agreement in his contract. He could only tell them that it was a "secure" location for data storage and top secret research. The police told Mr. Murch, that they didn't think it was all that secure, then let him go home.

Ellison had previously faced heavy scrutiny for his possible link to Sarah Connor and her "kidnaping" of Savannah Weaver. Within thirty-six hours of Sarah Connor's arrest, she and about one-hundred inmates had broken out of the county lock-up. Then within four hours of her escape, Zeira Corp had suffered one of the worst domestic terrorist attacks since Timothy McVeigh blew up the federal building in 1995.

The prison guards said that some teenage girl had marched in and began shooting up the county jail. Some of the guards and a few of the prisoners that were recaptured claimed she had a partially robotic face. The guards claimed she was impervious to all gun fire. The police put it down to body armor and facial protection. The police wanted to know who she was.

"I'm sorry, but I haven't got a clue." Ellison lied. "Without a detailed description or photo, I couldn't venture a guess."

"Do you think it could be the girl that was with Sarah Connor when she blew up the bank?"

"Anything is possible, but without facts, I don't know." Ellison kept his face as impassive as possible. He had learned to do that a lot in the last few years.

"How did Sarah and the other prisoners escape?" Ellison ventured a question.

"We've got no idea as to how the cell doors had opened. We are assuming an accomplice from the outside had hacked the system." The Detective looks directly at Mr. Ellison. "Do you know how to use a computer Mr. Ellison?"

Detective Macklin speaks up. "I was with Mr. Ellison this morning. If we hadn't called in Mr. Murch, we never would have been able to get access to the computer system."

The other Detective, showing signs of anger and pent up frustration, starts yelling, "You do realize we have no security videos or computer logs that even verify Sarah Connor was in jail. Let alone how she escaped. The computers at the jail were wiped clean of all video and data accumulated over the last forty-eight hours! There is no record that Sarah Connor was ever in that jail nor how she and hundreds of inmates had escaped!"

He pauses for a breath. When he resumes talking, his voice is low but quickly raises in volume again. "Right now, Mr. Ellison is our only link to Sarah Connor and Zeira Corp. I don't think it is a coincidence that he is linked to both! And it doesn't help my investigation with you playing defense for him."

"Your investigation? I'm assigned the task of investigating Zeira Corp!" shouts Macklin.

"I guess you haven't heard. The investigation into the terrorist attack on Zeira Corp has been reassigned to me. I've got more years as a detective and more experience investigating terrorist activity. _And_, I outrank you." He glares at Macklin. "Return to your desk and turn over all notes and evidence related to this case to me."

Macklin marches out of the room. He is steaming.

Ellison was grilled for hours by this new detective. He eventually learned his name, Detective Wicker.

Wicker was determined to prove Sarah Connor was responsible for the apparent terrorist attack on Zeira Corp, which took place within four hours of her escape from jail. It had all the earmarks of being a Sarah Connor job but for the fact that there was no evidence linking her to the damage in the office or the basement. This the authorities put down to the fire which destroyed everything on the upper floors. The destruction of the computer equipment in the basement seemed to be the cause of a massive electrical discharge followed by explosives. This contradicted Sarah's usual method of explosives only. They had no idea where the aircraft came from as there was nothing on the radar logs from area airports indicating any aircraft within city limits at the time of the attack.

Detective Wicker kept going over and over the facts as he knew them trying to twist theories around to get Ellison to reveal something about Sarah Connor's whereabouts, the destruction at Zeira Corp, what happened to Catherine Weaver, and what his connection was with all three.

Ellison told Detective Wicker the same thing he had told the FBI. The last time he spoke with Catherine Weaver was in her office when she asked him to pick up her daughter from gymnastics. Ellison said he left early as he didn't want to get caught in traffic. No, he didn't witness the aircraft impact, nor hear it as he was below ground level heading to the car park. He picked Savannah up promptly at 5:30 PM, then made his way back through cross town traffic. He said he was five blocks away when he spotted the smoke pouring out of the upper floors. Making sure the child was occupied in the back seat, he tried calling the office but there was no answer. He then tried Weaver's cell, with no success. Then not wanting to bring the child directly to the company where she could be frightened by everything, he called the FBI and arranged to meet someone there. He had no idea what happened to Weaver or what took place in the basement after he left. He also told them he hadn't seen nor spoken with Sarah Connor after he spoke with her in the jail the previous day.

He stuck with that story, and with no evidence to prove otherwise, the Detective Wicker was forced to let him go. They would have questioned the girl, but her mom's sudden disappearance, her young age, and the fact she could verify most of Ellison's story had put a hold on that.

Ellison was exhausted by the time he got home. He had spent half the day climbing up and down twenty stories worth of stairways, then spent the other half being grilled by the police. He wanted to check in on Sarah, but feared he may be under surveillance. Instead, he called Savannah and spoke with her until she went to bed.

Mr. Ellison was under surveillance, but not by the police. Two houses down from his home, sits a gray commercial van with no markings. Inside it are two men in gray uniforms keeping a close watch on him.

**2009, Day 2, Night**

Night had come, and Sarah was on the move. She had slipped quickly and quietly out of the apartment and walked as swiftly as she dared through town, trying not to draw attention to herself. Sarah returns to the parking garage, taking a different route then the one she had used the night before. She gets in her SUV and drives to a hardware store that she had spotted the night before.

Sarah looks haggard. Still wearing the clothes from the previous day. She hadn't showered nor was wearing any makeup. Not feeling her best with what little sleep she's had, most of which was filled with haunting dreams.

She goes inside and makes her way quickly through the aisles. Sarah had given that note from John a lot of thought, and she thinks she knows what the gift is he was referring to. It had taken her quite awhile before she suddenly realized he was referring to what she was planning on doing all along.

She grabs a roll of 4 mil, plastic sheeting in a 10 ft x 25 ft long roll, and two rolls of duct tape. On her way to the front she spots some hand trucks that are on sale. _That'll be easier than pinching a shopping cart_, she thinks. She grabs one and goes to the checkout.

The checkout clerk was slightly chatty. "Good evening Ma'am. Did you find everything you were looking for?"

"Yes."

"That's one roll of plastic sheeting, $12.95; two rolls of duct tape . . . hey they're on sale . . . two for $3; and one hand truck $59.95. That comes to $75.90."

"I'll have two package of those D-cell batteries too."

"Okay, new total is $78.69. Will that be cash or credit?"

"Cash." Sarah starts counting out her money, when she sees a cop car drive through the lot outside.

"Here's $80. Keep the change." Sarah grabs her purchases and quickly leaves the store.

She makes sure her hat is pulled down as she walks quickly to her vehicle. Sarah stows the bag and hand truck in the back of the SUV and goes around front and gets inside. Her heart is racing. She knows better than this. She will give herself away if she doesn't remain calm. This is taking too long. She decides not to risk stopping for groceries. There is just too much to do right now to risk it.

She drives directly to the apartment. _Easier to get the supplies to the apartment and less likely to be noticed then if I had carried them through the streets,_ she thinks. Before heading inside, she roots around inside John's bag until she finds the protein bars he always carries. She stuffs them into her shirt pocket and then carries her purchases inside.

It is quiet as always in the place. Sarah pulls a lamp out of her pack and replaces the batteries with the new ones she just bought. She turns the lamp on low and sets it on the floor, lighting the area in front of the sofa.

Pulling out her knife, she cuts open the package of plastic sheeting and roughly measured off a piece slightly longer than the length of Cameron's body and cuts if off. She lays the plastic on the floor in front of the sofa. Sarah then slides her arms under Cameron's shoulders and legs. As gently as she can, Sarah slides her body off the sofa and onto the plastic sheeting. Her body hits the floor with a hard thunk, but Sarah also hears several small objects hit the plastic sheeting. Sarah brings the lamp closer and sees several spent bullets laying on the floor.

Sarah collects them and finds she had about twelve bullets. She unbuttons Cameron's jacket and several more fall out from in front as well. Sarah's curiosity gets a hold of her. Despite Cameron's dead weight she manages to maneuver her so she is on her side facing the sofa. Sarah pulls her shirt up and finds that where the bullets had penetrated her flesh, the wounds are healing. She finds several places where the flesh was still in the process of expelling the bullets. Grabbing her knife, Sarah uses it to finish pulling bullets out of Cameron's flesh. She then turns her over and does the same to the front of her torso and her arms and legs. When Sarah is done, she has twenty-six spent bullets, all with flattened heads. She finds several flesh wounds that are nearly healed, and several more bullet wounds that had gone too deep for her to extract the bullets with her knife. As the flesh heals, it pushes the bullets to the surface.

Sarah rearranges Cameron's clothing and lays her back down on the plastic sheet. She reaches down and pulls the end of the plastic sheet up over her body. As she gets to Cameron's head, she pauses, and turns Cameron's head towards her so she can see where the flesh had been stripped from her face and scalp. Bringing the lamp up close, she sees that even here, her flesh is regrowing. Smaller wounds have closed up and she could swear the metal wasn't as exposed as it was before. A gradual but steady process.

Sarah wonders briefly how this can be happening without her chip. She can only assume that the process of restoring her flesh must be independent of her chip. Just so long as her power cell is functioning all other systems must operate.

"Looks like if John can get your chip back, at least he'll find you in good shape." She muses, before pulling the plastic over Cameron's head.

She wraps her body tightly and seals it up with duct tape. Sarah then cuts off another length of plastic and wraps her body again using more of the duct tape to hold it fast. Sarah brings the hand truck over and lowers it and lays it beside Cameron's body. Sarah then slides, pushes and pulls until Cameron is laying on the hand truck. She takes some more duct tape and uses it to fasten Cameron to the hand truck.

Sarah takes a moment to breathe. She grabs her lamp and brings it into the kitchen. Yesterday, she had found paper and envelopes in a kitchen drawer. She pulls some out now and sits at the kitchen table. Glancing at the clock, she sees it is almost 1 AM. She begins to write.

_Dear John,_

_I worry about you. You are my son. I will always worry about you._

_You have an important job to do now. Please, don't worry about me._

_I am giving you something, you left behind. It is safer with you than with me._

_I know you will take care of it. Your gift has been very helpful._

_Thank you for the warning about the cops making a security sweep at 10:15 PM._

_I got out of there just in time._

_Love always,_

_Mom_

Sarah is crying as she folds the letter. She pulls a photo out of her backpack, and places both it and the letter in the envelope. She brings it over to Cameron's body, cuts a slit in the plastic, and places the envelope inside. Sarah duct tapes the slit, turns off the lamp, and rolls Cameron's body out to her truck.

She struggles a bit getting her inside the back but she manages in the end with brute force and determination. Sarah moves their belongings so they are on top of Cameron's body to hide it. Not wasting any time, she gets inside and drives back to the parking garage.

"Please God, just grant me one more night, that is all I need to finish this task for my son." Sarah offers a short prayer. It was something she seldom did anymore, but this one time she hoped he was listening. Because for the first time since John was born, she had no one else she could rely on. Sarah was on her own.

# # #

"_And now I'm all alone again nowhere to go, no one to turn to_

_Do not want your money sir, came out here cause' I was told to,_

_And now the night is near_

_Now I can make believe he's here_

_Sometimes I walk alone at night_

_When everybody else is sleeping_

_I think of him and then I'm happy_

_With the company I'm keeping_

_The city goes to bed_

_And I can live inside my head_

_On my own_

_Pretending he's beside me_

_All alone_

_I walk with him till morning_

_Without him_

_I feel his arms around me_

_And when I lose my way I close my eyes_

_And he has found me"_

_On My Own lyrics_

_Eponine_

_Les Miserables_


	5. The Tin Man

**Disclaimer:** I do not claim any rights to the Terminator films; the TV series, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles;" or any characters depicted within the films or TV series. I do claim the right to this story idea and all characters and situations of my own creation. This story was created solely for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. No profits are garnered from its distribution - unfortunately.

* * *

**TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES**

**REUNION**

**Part 1: The Shadow of Death**

**Author: The1Russter**

**Chapter 4**

**The Tin Man**

_Dorothy, "It's a man! A man made out of tin!" The Wizard of Oz, 1939_

_Cameron, "His chip is intact. We're programmed to repair ourselves. We're programmed to blend in. He might still need coltan for a missing piece. A leg, an arm. He'll rebuild and continue his mission to hunt and kill." Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, S01 E04, Heavy Metal, 04-Feb-2008_

_Reese (slow, but intense), "Listen. Understand. That Terminator is out there. It can't be reasoned with, it can't be bargained with . . . doesn't feel pity or remorse or fear . . . and it absolutely will not stop. Ever. Until you are dead." The Terminator, 1984_

# # #

**2027, Day 13**

Derek is in his office, looking over the latest intelligence from the various outposts. The enemy activity to the north and west appears to be holding steady. He makes a note to send scouts to LAX and the old industrial centers of Los Angeles once things quiet down some. It would be too risky to send anyone out there right now.

However, what has his interest at the moment is a report on a gradual increase of activity to the south that came in just moments ago. Nothing significant, just enough activity to make him wonder what's going on. Derek's still trying to come up with a reason why when there is a knock on his door.

"What is it?" He shouts, laying the report's face down on his desk.

A guard opens the door and announces, "One of Sergeant Reese's soldiers to see you sir."

"Send him in." Derek says. His heart beat increases in expectation of bad news.

The young man enters and salutes. "Private Johnson, with a message from Sergeant Reese."

Derek inwardly sighs with relief. _Thank God it's just a message._ "What is it Johnson?"

"The team was unable to find transportation on the outskirts. Connor made the suggestion of possibly finding transport at the rest stop on the highway heading south into the desert. Sergeant Reese has agreed to the plan."

Derek sits up straight, _highway heading south_.

"Show me on the map!" Derek says getting up from behind his desk, hurriedly, almost sending his chair crashing to the floor.

Johnson walks over to the map and points out the road that Kyle showed him. Derek's face goes ashen as he realizes that is in the same general area where the reports indicated fresh activity.

"Sir?" Johnson asks with some concern, seeing his CO's composure shaken.

"You're dismissed, Private." Derek says firmly, trying to hide the anxiety deep inside.

"Yes sir." Private Johnson replies and leaves quickly.

After Johnson leaves, Derek reads the report again hoping that maybe he read it wrong.

"Damn," he swears. It is the same general location and there isn't a man to spare, and no means to alert his brother. The only thing he can do is to try and get word out to the various outposts to keep an eye out for Kyle, Allison and the rest of the team.

He tries to put it out of his head, as he concentrates on the other matters of running the base, but all he can think of is Kyle and Allison. Both had to grow up so fast in this world. Allison somehow still managing to hold onto all that is precious about life despite all the hardship she's faced. Kyle who never stopped revering him, but wasn't afraid to say what was on his mind. He could be stubborn, unwilling to change his mind unless the burden of proof was against him.

Derek feels sick. He's just sent them on what could be a fool's errand right into Sky Net's open arms and there isn't a damn thing he can do about it. He can only pray that they don't forget their training, because right now, that's the only thing standing between them and certain death.

# # #

After leaving the city, the progress of Kyle's squad was much faster as the roads were free and clear, but for the occasional burnt out remains of a vehicle either in the road or on the side of the road. No one bothered to check the vehicles for any survivors. The skeletal remains inside were proof they had died a long time ago.

The sun beats down on the seven hot and tired resistance soldiers, walking at a steady pace on the desert highway. Because of the detour from the original route, Kyle Reese decided that they would travel during the day and night for one day to make up for any lost time. The march has exacted its toll on nearly everyone.

Behind John are the two recruits, plodding along in the intense desert heat.

"What are your names?" John asks over his shoulder.

After they take a few breaths one says, "I'm Billy, this my brother Jimmy."

"I'm John."

That's as far as their conversation went as they used what energy they had to walk.

The sun begins to set, turning their small shadows into equally weary patches of darkness walking along with them on the hot pavement. The two recruits are tired and weary and falling further behind. John Connor isn't doing much better than them, but he is determined not to be the last in line on this long march. Mike and Lewis are doing better than he is, but it is obvious to John that Allison and Kyle are used to such long marches as they kept pace and were yards ahead of them.

Kyle pauses to look behind and shouts, "Close up ranks back there you two. You as well Connor!"

Finding a little extra energy in their tired bodies, they jog to catch up with the rest.

The sun had been set nearly an hour, when Allison, who has been walking beside Kyle, speaks to him. "We're getting low on water. It shouldn't be much further to the rest stop."

Kyle stops quickly. Being tired and locked into the steady rhythm of marching, his squad barely avoids piling into him from the rear

"All right everyone, we'll rest here for now." Kyle orders. "I want to wait until it is completely dark before approaching the rest stop."

John is just taking a much desired sip of water from his canteen when Kyle calls him, Mike and Lewis to join him.

After telling Allison to keep watch, Kyle asks John, "Do you know this rest stop that we are going to?"

"Yeah." He replies, calling up the information in his head. "It has its own well out back. It has a service station, and a combination general store and diner. Out front, there's a couple of old gas pumps."

Deep down, John was hoping the well was still functioning after all these years.

Kyle hands Connor a stick and turns his flashlight on, pointing it at the ground. "Sketch it out so everyone will know what we'll be facing."

John sketches out the rest area, the way he remembered it, in the dirt. Praying that his information was still good. According to the calendar, it had been over twenty-eight years since he was last there, but for John it had been only six. A lot could have happened in that time.

Kyle takes one look at the map he drew and swears. "Damn that is a big place. If there is water there like you say Connor, it would be a resource that would attract bandits, grays, or worse the metal."

He swears again. "Mike, take one man with you and go forward and scout the area. If there are any hostiles, do not take offensive action. One of you stay and keeps watch. The other is to come back here and inform the rest of us. Then we will form some plan of attack. If there are no hostiles, secure the well, then one of you come and fetch the rest of us."

Connor is feeling anxious. His information is putting these people at risk, and frankly he's getting tired of just walking, watching, and waiting. Dammit, he's supposed to be John Connor.

"Kyle, I know the area, I should be one of those who goes." He says.

"Sorry Connor, but you are the only one who knows where the weapons cache is. Your life isn't expendable." He doesn't suggest the weapons aren't likely to be there. He hasn't got the energy to spare.

Mike taps one of the recruits on the shoulder who quickly follows him.

It is all John can do not to argue with Kyle. It sounds too much like what his mom had been telling him all his life. Swallowing his pride, John nods his assent and goes back to the group to wait. Lewis takes Allison's place at keeping watch, staying with Kyle to keep an eye out for Mike's return.

The lone recruit and Allison find a hollow beside the road to lie down in. John notices that Allison keeps her boots on. Either she fears the scorpions or she didn't want her feet to swell. He looks about and finds a spot to lie down close to the others. He sets his pack on the ground near them and uses it to rest his head on, when he lies down. The sand still feels warm from the day's sun.

John grunts his displeasure at not going as he lays down. Allison, not being far away, hears him. Turning over to face him, she speaks to John in a low voice. "Kyle is right John. Your knowledge makes you too valuable to risk your life on a scouting mission."

"I suppose you're right. But what I know is putting those two at risk and it doesn't feel right that they should bear that risk alone. I should be with them." He replies sounding exasperated.

"You sound like a leader, not a soldier." She says, curious as to his response.

"I'm not either one." He says testily. "I'm just a guy in the wrong place in the wrong time."

"I don't think so. I think you are here for a reason." Allison responds with confidence.

"What makes you think that?" John asks, wondering if he had let anything slip.

She raises herself on one elbow and smiles at him. "I don't know. I just do. You should get some sleep John. We may have to wait a while. A good soldier sleeps at each opportunity and will eat whenever food is offered because he will not know when he will have time for either again."

"Sounds like something my mom would say." John answers.

Allison lays back down, a small smile on her face.

After a minute, John says, his good humor returning. "I know of something else a soldier should take when it's offered."

"What?" Allison asks from beside him.

"Ammunition. Lots of ammunition." He says with a chuckle.

He hears a tiny laugh from Allison's direction and smiles. _Score one for me_, he thinks and falls asleep.

# # #

It took time to get to the bunker with more human patrols in the area, but Catherine Weaver was clever. Shifting form quickly and effortlessly, she used whichever form would gain her the most distance for the given terrain and number of patrols. Sometimes she was a silvery eel, slithering between the piles of rubble, other times she chose to be a dog, running across wide open areas, and sometimes she used the form of the female resistance fighter, who's life she took when released from her underwater prison.

She'd been watching the patrols enter and leave the bunker. To one side she can see the crumpled remains of the stylized letter Z that once graced the entrance to her company. Seeing a new group of human resistance fighters approaching, she takes the form of a dog and follows along with them.

"Hey there, fellah." One of the soldiers responds as a dog comes up alongside him. "Where'd you come from?"

He kneels down to pet the dog which laps his face and hands while wagging its tale.

"Just put him in the kennel with the others." The sergeant orders. "We can always use another dog."

The patrol enters and the soldier who found the dog takes it to the kennels. The other dogs begin yapping and barking as the soldier leads the dog to an empty cage.

"Here you go, boy." He opens the cage and leads the dog inside. He fills a bowl with water and sets it on the floor.

"I'll see if there's something for you to eat. All right, boy?"

The dog just wags his tail excitedly.

The soldier turns to leave. The dog changes to a semi-solid silvery liquid rising up into a humanoid form. The other dogs begin yelping and barking with a frenzy. The soldier is confused for a moment. They all seemed focused on him, then he realizes it's not him, but something behind him.

The soldier turns and faces a silvery humanoid form. The shock barely registers, when a silver blade slices through his neck silencing his voice forever. He falls to the floor, blood gushing from his neck as Catherine Weaver walks away. Her form shimmering and reforming into the soldier she just killed.

**2027, Day 14, Early Morning**

John feels someone shakes his shoulder. He mumbles something incoherent.

The last thing he remembered was looking the stars. They were like old friends to him. As a child growing up in Central America, he was taught how to navigate by the stars. The guerrilla soldiers of Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and the other countries of Central America were like Uncles and Grandfathers, teaching and spoiling John. One of his last thoughts before falling asleep was how some of the smugglers didn't like the idea of the American woman and her boy traveling with them. He remembered his mom as a tough soldier. One afternoon, she broke the jaw of one man who had been hurling insults and rubbish at John with equal vehemence when he was a child. No one bothered them again after that. He fell asleep thinking of his mom and how she always looked out for him.

Once again, someone shakes his shoulder. This time he opens his eyes to see Kyle hovering over him.

"Mike's back." He whispers. "He's alone and he doesn't have good news."

Kyle then shakes Allison and the other recruit awake, telling them the same thing. In seconds, they are up and listening as Mike tells them of what they saw.

"We found the rest stop exactly where John said it was. The buildings are dilapidated, due to neglect, but they aren't empty." Mike explains. "A group of armed Grays is holding the fort there."

"Are they using it as a base?" Kyle asks.

"I don't think so. It looks like they are just sheltering there for the night, or else guarding the well."

"What are grays?" John ventures a question. Derek used the term before in referring to people who worked for the machines, but he didn't have much more information.

Kyle rolls his eyes and explains, "Grays are humans who work for the machines. We consider them traitors. The machines use Grays on their outer lines or to guard minor posts, but you can count on each unit to have one or two machines with them."

Mike curses the Grays. "Fuckin' traitors. But hell, with so few resources available, most only join out of desperation for food, shelter, clothing - the basics."

"What happens to them when they do switch sides?" John asks.

"In time they are completely brainwashed into helping the machines, they can't help it." Kyle. "We tried to un-brainwash a few Grays we've captured in the past, but they all turned on us. We had no choice but to kill them."

Mike begins cursing again.

Kyle interrupts him. "OK Mike that is enough! Mike has made a sketch of the rest stop. There are three, maybe five Grays in the store. There are three Grays outside guarding the area, one at each entrance from the highway here and here, and the third in back near the well."

Mike recovers quickly and says, "The well is functional. While Jimmy and I were observing, we saw one of them come out and fill a bucket. Also, the three men on guard duty are on a staggered three-hour watch. Every hour one of the guards is replaced by another Gray from inside."

"Does the replacement come out and swap places or does the guard go in and then someone else comes out?" John asks.

"Only one time, did we observe a replacement come out first, all other times the guard went in and a few minutes later someone else came out." Mike replies.

"We've got surprise on our side. We can take them." Lewis adds. "All we need is a plan."

John thinks for a moment. This situation sounds a lot like some of the scenarios Derek would teach him before he moved out of the house. He speaks up. "I've got an idea."

Kyle gives him a sharp glance. _Once again, the kid has an idea. I wonder what it is this time._

Sensing his mood, John adds quickly, "If you're interested."

# # #

At a resistance outpost protecting the supply lines coming through the mountains, the commander's sleep is interrupted.

"Sir! Sir." A female soldier shakes her commander's arm.

"What is it corporal?" The commander grumbles, while turning over.

"We're getting another one of those transmissions, sir. You wanted to know."

"I'm right with you." He says, leaping out from under the sheet and pulling his pants on in one smooth motion.

They dash next door to the radio room in time to hear the end of the transmission. The voice sounds a bit like Donald Duck as it comes in on a sideband frequency.

"_...hope. It's on the horizon if not already with you. The time is coming..."_ static _"...we will win. Don't give up. Stand strong."_ Static again.

"The signal is weak." Says the Commander.

"I think it's being relayed, that tends to weaken a signal, bounced off the ionosphere, or perhaps it's on a sub-harmonic." The radio operator explains as he adjusts a knob to try and clear the static.

"_Hope. The fight will go on." _static_ "...n't give up. Hope is wit... you now. Don't give up. Never give up. While there is life, there is still hope."_

"She sounds tired."

"She? I thought it was a guy."

"Who can tell? He sounds like Donald Duck with a head cold."

"Shhh!" The CO hushes his subordinates.

The people listen intently as the signal briefly gets stronger.

"_I've been talking to you for many years. Encouraging you, advising you, praying with you, and yes, even crying with you. But things are going to change soon. I have been the voice crying out in the wilderness. Preparing the way..."_ Static once again interrupts the signal, and then it disappears.

"What's going on?" The commander asks rather harshly.

"There's another transmission coming through sir."

"Try and get it back."

"I can't. The new signal is stronger."

"Damn!"

"_Grizzly base to all outposts. Grizzly base to all outposts. Coded message to follow."_

"Do you want me to rebroadcast the other message, sir?" the radio operator asks.

"Why bother, when we didn't get the last of it? Just wait and decode the message from Grizzly. I'm getting some coffee."

# # #

_Extract from the Journal of John Connor_

_I shared my plan with Kyle and the others. For a moment, I thought Kyle was going to say no, then he agreed. He organized who was to be positioned where, maintaining a pairing of less and more experienced persons. An hour later and we were all in our assigned positions. I don't know if it is because Kyle doesn't trust me or something, but he paired us together. We were waiting for the opportunity to engage the attack. I was scared, not only from the coming fight, but this was the first time I was putting my training to use in coming up with a plan of attack. Like any plan, there are always the unknown elements that test the outcome. This was to be no different._

John and Kyle are just out of arms reach of the other, behind brush on the opposite side of the road from the rest stop. They each have an eye on one of the grays standing guard outside the store. They don't talk. They don't move. They are waiting for one of the guards to go inside after completing his shift. As soon as he steps inside, he is to be shot. The idea being to confuse the Grays inside and outside.

Kyle waits patiently, not even moving just waiting for his guy to move. John glances over his way and then back to the gray he is watching. The M-16 starting to feel heavy in his arms as he waits for his gray to do the same as Kyle's.

Mike is in back of the store, watching from just behind some brush, as the guard out back paces back and forth between the well and the service station. He so hopes the gray he has targeted will be the first to go inside. _Damn traitors. The son-of-a-bitches deserve death_, he thinks

Allison and Jimmy are in a position to lie down covering fire on the store from the side facing the desert. The service station is too close to the other side of the store, for effective cover. When they hear the others fire, they are to fire through the thin walls and the windows, creating as much confusion inside as possible. They are to stop firing when Kyle, Mike and John storm the building, to avoid friendly fire.

Lewis and Billy are taking observation points. Lewis remained where they had rested and Billy had walked on past the rest stop to take up position there. If they see anything moving, they are to run back to the rest stop and warn the rest. When they hear the gunfire stop, they are to go to the rest stop. If they are dead than Lewis and Billy are to report back to Derek that they had failed. If they survived, then they would resume their positions as lookouts.

That's the plan, and John is nervous. He glances at the sky and it seems just a bit lighter in the east. John decides it is two hours maybe less before dawn. A trickle of sweat runs down his back, and his throat feels dry. John is just reaching for his canteen when shots ring out from the far side of the store.

Mike had been watching the guard at the well. He would pace back and forth pausing now and then to scan the desert around him. Every time he passed the well, he would pause and take a drink of water from the pail resting on the edge. Mike licked his parched lips, his rifle never wavering from its objective, as he wondered when the filthy Gray would go inside.

"Come on, come on, you mother fucker. Go inside." Mike swears in a whisper.

After what seemed like hours as Mike waited, the Gray's head never leaving the cross-hair on his scope, he suddenly turns to go inside. Keeping calm, Mike waits until he just enters the door before squeezing the trigger. The man's head explodes as the high velocity bullets enters the back of his head.

Instantly Kyle and John fire at the men in front of the rest stop. Allison and Jimmy open fire on the store. Shouts come from inside, the men inside try to get up, only to be struck by splinters and bullets as Allison and Jimmy fire on the outside wall. Some of the Grays begin to return fire, even with bullets whizzing past them.

Kyle and John have the longest approach to the store from the opposite side of the road. As they run forward, they can hear the men shout and see the tracers as Allison and Jimmy fire from their location. Mike being closest to the building, fires through the open back door as he runs in from the back. He just reaches the door when something strikes him in the forehead and he falls back, stunned.

That was the first thing that went wrong, the second was just as Mike was taken out of the fight, Allison had to reload her rifle with a fresh magazine, that promptly jammed. Two positions stopped firing, giving the grays in the store a chance to fire back. And they fired back in earnest.

Not knowing that Mike is out of the fight, and not seeing that Kyle and John are too far away to do anything at the moment, Jimmy jumps up to provide covering fire for Allison. She clears her rifle and replaces the magazine.

"Jimmy! Get Down!" She yells just as he gets struck in the chest.

"Jimmy!" Allison yells. Beside her, Jimmy is clutching his chest, his breath getting more ragged, blood beginning to froth at his lips.

She quickly pulls some cotton batting from her bag, while more bullets fly past. "Hold this to the wound. Don't move!" She orders him and retakes her position firing rapidly on the enemy's position, leaving Jimmy holding the bandage to his side. Allison wishes she could do more for Jimmy, but with a wound like that out here, he wouldn't have much of a chance, and the people she cares for most in the world are about to enter the store.

When the firing from Allison's position stopped, a Gray took the opportunity to dash out the front door, brandishing a weapon. Kyle raises his rifle and squeezes off three quick shots taking the Gray down. A few more shots come from inside the store, causing John to duck down. Allison opens fire on the store again.

Mike gets to his feet, wiping the blood from his forehead. Grabbing his rifle, he steps forward, ready to fire. When John and Kyle resume approaching the store, Allison ceases fire to avoid hitting them. No more than a few seconds had passed since Jimmy was shot, but when she bends down to finish tending to his wound, he has already died. She quickly ducks down as more bullets fly overhead.

John sees a movement through a window and fires his weapon, shattering the last two squares of glass. The sound of someone grunting in pain utters forth. Mike enters the rear of the building, firing into the backs of the traitorous bastard's presently firing at Allison's position. He hates the grays with a passion.

Kyle runs up the porch steps and through the front doors firing quick and accurate shots, shooting any gray still moving. John hadn't even made it through the doors when the firing had stopped. Mike walks forward, blood running from a wound on his temple. Kyle turns on his flashlight exposing the carnage. Six corpses lie on the floor in a puddle of their own blood. John feels sick.

"How many out front?" Mike asks

"We got three of them outside." Kyle says. "Connor and I each took out a guard, then I shot a Gray that made an unsuccessful dash for freedom."

"What happened to you?" Kyle asks gesturing at the blood on Mike's temple.

"The door jamb was sagging. I didn't see it in the dark. Ran right into it. Stunned me."

They just begin to chuckle over Mike's accident, when John hears a sound behind him. They turn to see Allison walking in the doors. There is blood on her hands and she looks shocked. But inside she feels relief that both Kyle and John are alive and unhurt.

"Are you okay?" Kyle asks, sounding concerned, seeing the blood on her hands.

"Jimmy is dead." She says, her voice sounding strained.

Her shocking news quickly subdues any attempt to find any further humor with Mike's accident.

Kyle gives her a hug, and then Mike shows her the well where she can wash the blood from her hands. After which he fetches Jimmy's body. A clean shot through the chest, piercing both heart and lung. He died almost instantly.

John and Allison throw some pails of water on the floor, to wash away the blood, while Mike and Kyle drag the corpses outside. John and Mike are busy dragging the dead grays outside around back with the others, when Lewis and Billy arrive.

"Where's Jimmy?" Billy asks, looking at everyone. "Where's my brother?"

With a trembling lip, Allison takes him to where they laid his body.

"I'm sorry." She says, placing a hand on his shoulder.

She walks away. Everyone gives him time to grieve in privacy.

"Come on guys." Kyle says with some weariness. "Let's get these bodies stripped of gear and weapons, then bury them."

"We don't have a shovel." Lewis replies_._

"Shit." Kyle swears. "Okay. Lewis you're out front, and Billy can stay out here for now, on guard. Mike and Allison search the service station. John you're with me."

John and Kyle search the combination store and diner for something to use as a shovel but come up empty. They are just walking back out into the diner section when they hear a loud cheer from the service station.

Without hesitation they run outside and towards the open bay doors on the further end. They reach it and find Allison and Mike with big smiles. They are each holding a shovel, but that isn't what is making them smile.

"I suggested to Mike that since we were checking out the garage for shovels, we might as well check for transportation." Allison says with a smile.

Kyle just looks stunned and John is grinning. Finding transport at the rest stop was a long shot, but it paid off.

"Good Job." Kyle says to them all. "Good job everyone." He says again patting John on his shoulder, but still with a stern and tired look.

"Everyone, get some rest, then we'll see if we can get the old van running."

Allison looks at John with some pride, but he misses it as he watches Kyle walk away. He has finally gotten some approval from the man who will one day be his father, but still he can tell there is a bit of chip on his shoulder.

Kyle walks away, thinking of what they will do next. There were too many grays here without a machine to supervise them. _Were they renegade's? Did they just ambush people who could have been their allies? _

Kyle scans the desert._ No there are machine's out there, somewhere. I know it._

But in the back of his head is a voice saying, _Allison is falling for John. She likes him. Why doesn't she look at me that way? Maybe, she isn't the one meant for me. I've always been a brother to her. But I like her. I need to face it, she's going to love someone of her choosing. Doesn't mean I'm going to have to like it, or him. The bastard is showing me up in front of Allison, with his plans and ideas, and dammit all, why do they have to be good ideas too. _Kyle clenches his fist in anger.

# # #

Back at the main bunker Derek has been sending as many alerts out as possible by radio, to keep an eye out for Kyle and his squad. It's taken a while, due to each station maintaining radio silence but for scheduled contacts.

"That's it, sir." The radio operator says. "Last radio message."

"But there are other outposts with radios." Derek says sternly.

"I know sir, but they aren't due to come on for several hours yet."

_Damn the security procedures._ "We need them to get messages to the outer camps, especially to our south." Derek slams his fist down on the table in frustration, cursing.

"Is there something wrong?" A resistance fighter asks from the door to the room.

Derek glares at the young man a moment. Tall, slender, athletic looking, like a marathon runner. _A Runner!_

"Can you run?" He asks the man.

"What?" he asks with some confusion.

"I said, can you run?" Derek nearly shouts.

"Of course I can run." he answers, still confused.

"Good! Come with me." Derek orders. He has an idea.

Derek drags the soldier along with him to his office explaining the situation with Kyle Reese and John Connor going off to get weapons and how Sky Net has just increased activity in that area.

Pointing to the map on his office wall, Derek explains. "I want you to take the message I gave you to those three outposts, Lima, Golf, and Epsilon. They have radios and can send runners to the other outposts, but these here," Derek points to a few camps. "Don't have radios yet. All of them need to be alerted."

"Do you want them to send out search parties?"

"Hell no, it's too risky, just tell them to be on alert. Kyle and the others may get through okay, but then again, probably not. If any survive, I expect there to be heavy casualty's."

"Very well sir. I should probably leave right away."

"Yes, and watch yourself out there. The machines may ignore a lone human, but they may just kill you for the hell of it."

The soldier nods his head and leaves. He walks quickly through the bunker and to the entrance he came in earlier.

He continues walking until he is some distance from the entrance. Stepping into the shadows of a semi-collapsed building, his form shimmers and changes into Catherine Weaver.

She smiles. Getting information on John Connors whereabouts proved easier than expected. _Very typical of John Connor, no matter what his age is_, she thinks._ Leaping into a dangerous situation without much thought._ However, she can't help but be pleased. If he survives this little adventure, then her plans for John will be even closer to completion.

**2027, Day 14, Sunrise**

Allison walks into the store to find John snoring lightly in one of the old diner booths. Billy is laying on the counter, sleeping as well.

She shakes Billy awake and hands him his canteen, that she filled with water from the well.

"Thanks Corporal." He says and takes a sip from his canteen.

"Kyle wants a word with you. He's out back standing guard."

"Thanks. I'll see him, right after I take a whiz."

Billy walks out without saying anything more to Allison. He's not looking forward to the talk with the sergeant. Hopefully he won't share too many words of condolences before giving him some fresh orders for the day.

Allison walks over to where John is resting in the old diner booth. A light snore escapes his lips.

She studies him a moment, a light smile playing across her face. John looks so young when sleeping, like a child free from the worries of the real world. But when he is awake, he tackles the problems of the world like man born to face them. She feels different inside when looking at him. She always thought she'd fall for someone older than her.

Allison plays with her hair with one hand, wondering what it would be like to kiss John Connor.

"Are you just going to stand there and stare at me?" John asks with a crooked grin.

Allison hadn't seen John's eyes opening up as she stood and daydreamed about kissing him.

"What?" Allison blushes. "Sorry. I, um, filled your canteen with well water." She hands him his canteen then walks off to a different part of the store to avoid looking at him.

_Oh God, I hope he didn't notice how I was looking at him._ She thinks.

"Thanks." John says, before taking a long drink from his canteen. That and the couple of hours rest was almost more than he could wish for. He wonders what's up with Allison. She walked away very quickly after he opened his eyes and caught her looking at him.

"It will be dawn soon." Allison says over her shoulder as John finishes drinking. She is still a bit flustered over being caught staring at him.

"Where is everyone?" He asks as he puts his canteen away.

"Kyle is out back standing watch. Billy's just gone to join him. Lewis is out front and Mike's in the garage checking over the van."

"Has Kyle gotten any rest?"

"No." Allison says as John approaches her. "He wouldn't let anyone relieve him. I think he's worried or thinking about something."

"Anything springs to mind?" John asks wondering about Kyle's attitude when they found the truck. Some pride yes, but there was something else there as well. He just senses this edge of anger or mistrust from Kyle and he doesn't know why.

Allison doesn't answer back. Kyle has some issues with John, but she knows there is something else bothering him.

"I'm going to help Mike. Working on vehicles is something that I know how to do." John says, heading out the front door. "See you later?"

"Yeah." She replies. "I'll be outside on watch."

# # #

Catherine Weaver couldn't be more pleased with the progress she's made in contacting the other bases. The leader of Grizzly Base choosing her, to contact these other groups, was a stroke of luck. Not only has she found out where Connor is, approximately, but her orders gives her access to multiple bases. An opportunity to gather intelligence.

The most disappointing thing about this future is how disorganized everyone is. Taking Connor into the future had a greater impact on the time line than anticipated. It doesn't matter. She can make that work to her advantage, provided John survives this mission he's on.

Catherine walks up through a crevice between two buildings that collapsed into two hills of broken concrete and brick. Her eyes fall upon her last destination. The leader, at the last base she contacted, suggested she should go there as well. A new outpost. So new, it hasn't even been assigned a leader yet, but it has its own doctor, and if Reese's party has any wounded, that's where they'll go.

She has to smile at that. These human males are so ready to trust and give up information to a willing attractive female. Her form melts into a silvery humanoid shape and reforms into the female resistance fighter she killed in her own time.

The old bus terminal isn't much to look at, but the real base is underground. She approaches the terminal and finds the entrance. She taps on the bunkers entrance with her foot. Leaning over she shouts the code into the ventilation tube she was given at Epsilon base.

The hatch opens revealing two men with M-16's pointed at her. With a suggestive smile she greets them, "Hello boys. Is this Outpost Delta?"

# # #

John and Mike have spent the better part of an hour checking the van over. They've replaced a few hoses, added some fluids, and checked the air in the tires. The gas in that tank was still good, but when they went to start the truck, they found the battery was dead.

John slammed his hand against the side of the van in frustration, making it sting. He shakes his hand and seeing his fingers flip back and forth like a propeller reminded him of the blades on the windmill. _The windmill!_ John quickly goes over to the storage shelves and begins digging through it.

Mike looks at him like he is crazy. "What are you looking for?" He yells at him.

"I'll know it when I find it." The words barely escaped John's mouth when he finds it, an alternator and some fan belts. But he is missing one thing to make it work.

He turns to Mike, "Are there any wires, cables or extension cords over there?"

"Uuhh, let me look." Letting his M16 hang by its strap from his shoulder, Mike began digging through the various items hanging on the far wall.

"What about this?" Mike holds out a twelve foot extension cord.

"Too short!" John yells over to him as he begins looking in the other garage bays.

"Hey, Look at this!" Mike shouts with excitement, while holding three loops of heavy duty extension cords approximately 100 ft. long each.

"Perfect," John shouts with a grin.

He quickly walks over to Mike, picking up a couple more items.

"What are you going to do with all this?"

"Out back is an old windmill that was used at one time to pump water from the well. I'm going to convert it into a wind-powered generator."

"Will it provide enough power to recharge the battery?"

"I don't know. It will only need to charge the battery with just enough power to start the truck. The engine will finish recharging the battery."

"It sounds like a good idea." Mike agrees.

They both dash out the back door, nearly running into Allison.

"Any luck with the truck guys?" She asks as they run past.

"You'll know in a moment." John says cheekily.

Leaving two coils of the extension cord on the ground, Mike and John scramble up the tower.

Allison watches as Mike and John swing the windmill out of the wind. The fan blades stopped turning almost instantly.

"Hold it in place while I scrambled on top." John tells him.

John gets on top of the tower and has a good view for miles around, but he focuses his attention on the job at hand. He pulls the alternator from inside his jacket and straps it in place with some wire from a spool. He then takes a fan belt, cuts it in half, loops it around the axle of the fan blades and the wheel of the alternator. Mike watches as he cuts it to length and then use a couple of heavy wire staples to link the cut ends together.

"Hand me the extension cord, Mike." John asks.

John cuts the socket off the end of the cable and strips the wires with his knife. He then attaches the wires to the screw terminals on the alternator.

"Here, take this." John says and feeds the cable down through the tail of the windmill. Mike grabs it, and guides it through, letting the end drop to the ground.

Before climbing down, John takes some more wire from the spool and ties the cable in place to keep it from shifting.

Getting down to Mikes level, he asks. "Will you be okay here, while I go and hook the other end of the cable to the battery?"

Mike looks nervously at the ground below them and then at John. He was okay while they were occupied, but up this high and nothing to do? With a nervous laugh he answers, "Yeah."

"When I give you a shout, turn the windmill back into the wind." John says as he scrambles back down the tower.

They were so busy, they hadn't realized they had gained an audience. Everyone but Lewis, who was out front as lookout, had come around to see what they were up to.

Kyle gives John a questioning look as he plugs an extension cord into the one from the windmill. He and Allison follow John into the service station as he unrolls the cable.

"What are you doing?" Kyle finally asks, his curiosity finally getting the better of him.

"I'm building a wind generator to recharge the battery." John replies.

"How long will it take if it works?" He asks sounding very serious.

"Hopefully no more than hour. It depends on so many variables, will the battery take the charge, are the cables still good, does that alternator work, and how long will the wind continue to blow."

"I get it." He replies, looking kind of grim.

"Is there something wrong?" John asks him.

"Yeah." Kyle answers frowning. "There are too many Grays with no metal. It's been worrying the hell out of me. There are at least two with a group of Grays this large. If they are out there, I'm now worried that your little stunt out there could draw them in."

He was looking stressed. "You've got one more hour with that van. If it isn't running by then, we are leaving."

Kyle marches out of the garage.

"Well, I guess we know what's been eating him, huh?" John says to Allison. "I'd better get cracking."

John finishes stripping the end of the wires. He wraps the exposed copper wire of the black wire around the negative post and does the same with the white wire.

He comes out from under the hood to see Allison still standing there, watching him.

"Allison, would you ask Mike to turn the windmill back into the wind. I'm sure he would like to get down off that tower now."

"I would think so. He doesn't care much for heights." She says with a smile and leaves.

John finds himself alone for a few minutes to think. Kyle was concerned about the absence of metal in the vicinity. That means they could be laying in an ambush someplace or else could be planning on attacking them here, much like they did to the Grays. If they were out here, did that mean they knew about the weapons cache? Or was it just a coincidence? He didn't know. But these Grays had to be out here for a reason.

He begins to wonder about the way Allison looked at him this morning when he woke, but doesn't get very far in his musings when Mike and Allison walk inside.

Mike was taking a swig of water from his canteen. Allison hands John his canteen refilled with water from the well. He has to grin. John didn't even see her take it.

"Thanks." John says, then takes a drink. "God that tasted good."

Miked asks, "Is it working?"

"Let's find out." John replies picking up a short length of copper wire. He briefly touches it to both battery terminals and there are a few sparks.

The three of them cheer. John and Mike pat each other on the backs.

Allison gives Mike a brief hug, brushing her lips against his cheek. "Good Job."

Seeing the kiss, though it was a friendly kiss and not a lover's kiss, caused John to feel something inside. He'd been so preoccupied with this mission, John had forgotten about Cameron, and at that moment, he wishes she were here. He knows she would be pleased for him. She was never an outgoing person, but Cameron always seemed to know the right thing to say or do. _It will be our secret._

Mike ran out saying, "Thanks Allison. I'll go tell Kyle the generator is working!"

Allison turns to congratulate John on building the generator. He seems rather sad, at a moment when he should be happy. _John's thinking about his family again, maybe even the girl I remind him of_, she thinks.

Allison walks over to John.

"Are you okay?" She asks, looking into his eyes.

John looks back at her with a longing expression, unable to tear his eyes away from her. Without a second thought, she embraces John and holds him for a moment. _John is sad, when he should be happy. I want John to be happy._

_Oh God._ John thinks. _Why couldn't she be Cameron?_

She pulls away, pausing, her hands still resting on his upper arms. Being this close and seeing John's face, the hurt but trusting face, causes Allison to want to reach out to him. There is something about John Connor. They look into each others eyes. John's only thought is for his Cameron, looking into Allison's eyes.

The tiniest smile plays across Allison's mouth.

His heart is beating rapidly and his mind is swimming. It didn't seem hardly any time had passed since he was in a similar position with Cameron. This isn't Cameron. She is Allison Young, and she is flesh and blood. An imperceptible blush creeps across her cheeks as John gazes steadfastly into her eyes.

Without a further hesitation Allison kisses John and is a little surprised at how quickly he responds. He knows this is Allison, but he kisses her the way he wished he had kissed Cameron in that motel room. For weeks he had all that unrequited desire inside him. He missed that opportunity to kiss Cameron and he isn't going to hesitate again. He knows this isn't Cameron, and if that makes him a heel, then he doesn't care.

Allison kisses John with a desire she's been holding onto for a while now and was surprised by the passionate kiss she got in return from him. She matches his every action with her own.

Forgetting where they are or who he is with, John pushes Allison against the van, feeling her soft female curves press against him. She goes willingly, her back pressed against the warm metal, his body pressing against her. She feels him stiffen against her as his kisses began leaving a trail down her neck. Allison gently, but firmly pushes him back until he sits heavily on a crate. She sits on his lap, her legs straddling his. She begins kissing him, while running her hands under his shirt.

"Ha hemmm."

They are suddenly interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat. John and Allison both look to see who is there. Just inside the door stand Kyle and Mike. Kyle looks like a stern father or, even worse, a grumpy sergeant major with a bad tooth. Mike has the biggest shit-eating grin on his face. Without letting Kyle see what he is doing, he gives John a wink and a thumbs up.

Allison looking a little flushed, backs away from John, smoothing her ruffled clothes. "I'd better go relieve Lewis at his post." she says quickly and leaves.

"Mike tells me the generator is working." Kyle manages to say while still looking grim. "Keep me informed." And with that statement he walks out.

Kyle knew this might happen. _Just from the way John and Allison looked at each other that brief moment when they found him naked in the tunnels. There was some kind of spark of recognition or familiarity between the two of them. You hear of such things and even read such things in romance novels, but its bull. And dammit why does John have to be so damn good at things, planning, tactics, even technical and mechanical things. Shit! Is it any wonder Allison is going for the new guy? Dammit!_

Kyle is still in a slow burn as he storms off.

Mike stays behind. He was still looking at John with a big grin on his face when he says, "So you were the one to do it?"

"Do what?" John asks.

"Break through the shell of the ice princess." Mike takes a sip of water. "Everyone's tried to. None of the guys have gotten anywhere with her. Some of us thought she was holding out for one of the Reese boys. Others thought she didn't like men. But when you showed up, I could see her begin to thaw."

"What are you talking about?" John asks concerned. _Damn, he hopes he hasn't been unintentionally leading her on, but he can't help it if she reminds him so much of Cameron._

"Well she was always someone of good spirits, but after you showed up. She was seen smiling for no reason when she was alone. She likes you, John. Allison really likes you."

"Is that why Kyle was looking so stern?" John asks, suddenly realizing why Kyle's been so distant even distrustful of him.

"Yeah, he's always had a bit of a thing for Allison, but she's never seen Kyle, or Derek for that matter, as anything other than surrogate older brothers." Mike grins. "I can't wait to tell the others when I get back." Mike sounds quite pleased with himself.

"Why?" John asks feeling somewhat embarrassed.

"Because it means that I won the pool. We all had stakes as to who would break through her shell, and I chose you. You are a charmer, aren't you?" He winks at John and leaves the garage laughing.

_Extract from the Journal of John Connor_

_I didn't know how I felt being the source of amusement for Mike or others. It felt good to hear some laughter for the first time since I got here. On the other hand, it appeared that Allison did like me and that made me feel terrible that I was thinking of Cameron while Allison kissed me._

_But that kiss. She wasn't holding back when she kissed me and I didn't hold back when I kissed her, but I should have. Not even Riley, who I thought had loved me, had ever kissed me like Allison did. I'll have to be careful not to hurt Allison's feelings since she genuinely likes me. I never should have kissed her back like I did, but I wasn't thinking of Allison. That makes me feel worse because I am here for Cameron._

_Her chip is here somewhere. In the possession of John Henry. How do I find him? Where is he? Where the hell is Catherine Weaver? Without Catherine Weaver, I'll never find him or get Cameron's chip back. Damn! Damn! Damn! When I find her, Weaver will have to answer a lot of questions._

_The futility of my coming into the future was hitting me hard again. My frustration was boiling up inside me and I grabbed the first thing my hand fell on and I threw it as hard as I could against the far wall. The object bounced off the wooden wall and smacked into a windshield propped against a box, cracking it. I must admit that I felt better doing that, but I wished I had smashed that windshield._

Grabbing one of the shovels, John rushes at the wind shield and begins hitting it. Striking it again and again and again with the shovel, yelling incoherently with frustration and anger.

Allison comes to the back door and watches John and isn't sure what she should say to him or do to help him. He's got an awful lot of emotion buried deep inside of him for someone who is so quiet. She decides it's just best to leave him alone for now and resumes her position standing watch. She is worried about him and wonders if she went too far in showing her interest in him.

# # #

Derek walks into the radio room, looking kind of haggard.

"Any word on my brother and his squad?" He asks the radio operator presently on duty.

"No sir." The woman at the radio responds. "A few outposts have reported back, none of their patrols have seen anything."

She looks up at her leader and sees the strain on his face. "Sir perhaps you should get some rest."

"No thank you corporal. Any other reports come in?"

"Just a comment from the outpost on our supply line. It seems they've picked up another transmission from The Prophet."

"The Prophet? Is that what they're calling it now?" Derek frowns.

"Apparently. The radio operator over there has been analyzing the transmissions and thinks why they've been getting it and no one else has, is because they use military frequencies. The mountains deflect the signal and alters it so it comes in on a sub-harmonic, hence they get it and the rest of us on the west coast don't."

Derek grimaces while tapping his hand impatiently. "Tell them to quit wasting time. We've got more important things to do than to listen to the ramblings of some crazy person."

"Her words give me encouragement and they must do the same for others." She protests.

"Listen." Derek says, looming over her menacingly. "The only encouragement I need, to blow the metal to hell, is a damn good rifle, not some crazy person. So you tell them what I said, you understand me?"

"Yes sir." She says, disappointed.

"And erase all recordings!" Derek shouts as he leaves. "We don't need them using up valuable space on the computer."

The occasional transmission of The Prophet has been what's given her hope, the courage to continue against overwhelming adversity. She reaches over to the laptop computer next to the radio and brings up the latest recording of the Prophet and plays it. It's distorted as all the others, but the conviction in her voice still comes through.

"_We fight the good fight. To preserve all that we love and care for in this world. Don't give up. Never give up. This is our fate now. Sky Net and its machines may have strength and power on its side, but we've got something it will never have. The human spirit. That is our greatest strength and that is something Sky Net will never have or be able to defeat. We will win. Hope is coming."_

# # #

An hour had gone by without incident, no metal attacking, no further contact between John and Allison. They are getting ready to leave. Lewis was filling up the last of the canteens. Allison had gathered up all the Gray's guns and equipment and had separated out those items we could use and had put them in the truck. Meanwhile, Mike and Billy are on the lookout while Kyle paces back and forth.

Kyle walks in the garage bay, "It's time to start the truck."

The tension is high. All their plans rest on starting the truck. John leaves the generator attached to the battery to ensure a full current. Trying to maintain the appearance of calmness, though inside he feels as nervous as hell, John climbs into the cab and turns the key. The only sound to hear is a clicking sound. The starter motor was definitely trying to start.

"Try it again." Allison calls out from the back of the garage, looking both hopeful and fearful as she walks closer.

John tries it again and the same thing happens. _Dammit! There has to be an answer. All the gauges are active, the light is on under the hood. I've missed something when checking the cables, but what?_

"It's been a complete waste of time, Connor!" Kyle turns away and shouts. "Grab your gear people we are heading back to base!"

"No wait! I think I know what's wrong." John yells, jumping out of the cab.

Kyle spins around and grabs John by his collar and shoves him forcefully against the van. "What's wrong is being sent out here on some wild goose chase after weapons only you know about! Who the hell are you!"

John doesn't know what to say and no one else seems to know what to say either. Kyle has taken everyone by surprise. John tries to struggle, but Kyle pushes him back against the van grabbing his throat.

"You come out of nowhere! Tell my brother some fantastic tale! And the next thing I know I am out here in this god-forsaken desert, babysitting a bunch of new recruits." Kyle is screaming. "And the only thing you've accomplished besides getting us deep into the middle of nowhere is to make out with Allison!"

John is struggling to come up with something to say, anything, the right thing, even another damn lie just to get Kyle's hand off his throat. It is obvious to him that Kyle is upset about something, but if he'd just let go of his throat so he could speak.

"Kyle! Stop! You're choking him!" Allison yells.

"Shut up Allison!" Kyle snaps at her. "Who the fuck are you Connor?"

"Kyle! Please stop." Allison pleads. She was afraid this might happen. If she were closer, she would have tried to intervene before it came to this.

John's face is turning scarlet. _If Kyle doesn't stop soon, I'll have to do something, _Allison thinks. She looks at Kyle, her face saying, _Don't do this. Let him go. I don't want to hurt you._

Kyle is looking at her with tired and sad eyes, his grip still tight on John's throat. _Why, Allison? Why him?_ His look seems to say to her.

Lewis sees the strained look on Allison's face. He walks up and calmly grabs Kyle's arm.

"This isn't the way Sarge." Lewis says, giving him a look.

Kyle's hand falls from John's throat, who immediately begins gasping for breath.

John remains quiet, waiting to see what will happen next. Kyle just turns his back on him, on everyone, and walks away to stand in the garage bay door opening.

Lewis then speaks to John in a hushed voice. "Hey Connor, it's not good outshining the boss, dude."

John replies in the same low voice, barely suppressing his anger and frustration. "I'm not trying to outshine him. I just know how to do things. I grew up learning how to be a soldier, how to build and rebuild mechanical and electrical devices. This stuff just comes naturally to me."

"Well just try not to do it so well around Kyle. He's spent his whole life in his brother's shadow and his light has seldom shined. Now here you are with your weapon's cache, your plan on how to get there, how to storm the building, and how to fix the vehicle." He drops his voice to a hoarse whisper, "And now you've managed to take the one thing he has always desired." Lewis looks over John's shoulder.

He turns to look and sees Allison quietly standing there. She averts her eyes when they meet John's. She had witnessed their conversation and had never said a word.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry okay." John says in a slightly louder than normal voice.

John storms out of the garage, brushing past Allison, to go out the back door. He keeps walking until he gets to the well, where he sinks down and sits with his back to the well, the buildings, and the people inside.

_Oh God._ He thinks, _why am I here? I need Kyle on my side and the only thing I've managed to do is alienate him. Will he ever trust me? All my life all I heard was how someday I was going to be a great leader, and now here I was making the very man who was or will be my father my enemy._

John didn't see or hear Allison follow him, but she comes up behind him. Placing her hand on his shoulder, she says, "He's calmed down now. I think he might be willing to listen to your idea."

"Is it true?" John asks, not knowing what else to say to her.

"Is what true?"

"That Kyle has feelings for you."

"I guess so, but he has never said anything to me. Besides, he's been more like an older brother to me. We are only a few years apart in age. Derek looked after both of us. He's something like a father to me, to both of us really, since Judgment-Day."

"Then, in the garage, earlier, when we kissed. What or why . . . ." John begins to ask but is interrupted.

"I choose who I want, not anyone else." She looks at him squarely in the eye. "You're different from anyone else I've met since J-Day. There is a strength and a confidence in you that I haven't seen in anyone else before."

John stands up, brushing the sand off his pants. Allison continues speaking.

"Derek and Kyle have been good leaders. They have kept us alive. Derek said when he first saw you that you were going to be famous. I know why. He is a very good judge of character. He sized you up immediately. He's got something planned for you John. Remember, back on the edge of the city when you wanted to know why I had come along."

"Yeah, you turned the question back to me, asking me why each of the other members were in the unit. But you never answered my question."

"Well I'm telling you now. Derek sent me to keep an eye on you. To give him a report about how you handled yourself and what you contributed to the mission. He wanted to know more about you, so he threw you into this mission without any preparation. It's how he does things with new recruits. 'Sink or swim' as he calls it."

"Is that the only reason you came?"

"No, I had another reason." She pauses and looks at John so adoringly that he almost wishes that he could have the same feelings for her.

"I wanted to see what kind of person you are for myself. I like you John. More than any other man I've known. There is something about you. You're different from the others. I think I love you."

She embraces him for the second time that day and he awkwardly hugs her back. _Why does she love me? Why am I in this situation? Why didn't I just stay home? Should I tell her that I am here because of a girl that is really a machine, that for all purposes can be considered dead until I get her chip back._

John has to tell her something, if only it is part of the truth. Pushing her gently back, he says, "Allison, I need to tell you that there was someone special in my life that I've lost quite recently. For all I know she is probably dead. I don't know if I can love you in the way you love me, or in the way you want me to love you."

Allison begins to say something, but John stops her. "No wait. Let me finish."

He looks down at his feet, ashamed of what he's about to confess. "You remind me very much of her. You are more outgoing than she is, or was. But when I kissed you . . . I was thinking of Cameron, not you. That was wrong. I shouldn't have done that. You need someone who can love you for who you are. I don't know if I can do that, because every time I look at you I see her. I love her, and it's just not fair to you. I don't think I can do this. I don't want to hurt you."

John said all that while looking down at the ground, unable to face her during his confession, but when he finishes speaking, he looks at Allison. A tear trickles from her eye, but she is looking at him with such warmth and compassion, that he feels even more confused.

"That's okay John. I understand how you feel. Many have lost people in this war and haven't stopped loving them despite moving on with their lives. I really shouldn't tell you this, but Derek lost someone a few weeks ago. He won't talk about it, nor acknowledge it, so don't mention it to him. She was supposed to have been delivering weapons. We can only assume that she and her companions are dead. The shipment didn't arrive, which is why we've been rationing the weapons and ammo we have. He hopes your weapons will make up for the loss."

More of the picture of why Derek is taking a risk on this mission falls in place for John.

"Has he found someone else?"

"Not yet, but if I know Derek, when he does, he won't forget his first love. No one ever does." Allison goes quiet and looks away for a moment.

"So...?"

"We can take things slow John. But understand, in this place at this time, relationships are just as important as food and rest. When the opportunity comes along, you take it, as you may not have another chance. I'm giving you that chance."

"I understand and I do like you, a lot. You've been a great friend, but right now . . . it wouldn't be right."

"What wouldn't be right is to try and hold onto something that isn't there, John. I am here. You don't have to be alone anymore. I'm not asking you to forget her. Carry her in a special place in your heart and don't ever forget her. I don't wish to replace her in your affections. I only ask that you make a little room for me too and give us a chance. Please?" She finishes with a pleading look on her face. She isn't sure if she can make him understand how different this world is and how important relationships are. She knows John needs to move on with his life. It is never wise to go it alone.

"I . . . I suppose I can try." John says trying to match her look of warmth with one of his own.

Allison hugs John again, but he still feels torn up inside. _Is this fair? Is this right? But she likes me, maybe even loves me. I have felt so isolated and so alone since coming to this time, and Allison has made me feel more welcomed than any other person here. Oh Cameron, why did you do it? Why did you give up your chip? I could have fixed you and I wouldn't be here right now facing this dilemma._

Allison is still hugging John when Lewis approaches them from the service station.

"Okay lovebirds. Kyle has simmered down. I think you two better get inside before he blows his stack for you being late."

On the way back inside, Allison and John exchange a quick smile.

"We'll talk some more later." She says, just before they go inside.

John just nods his head, but he is troubled for the new feelings that have been woken inside of him. _Forgive me Cameron. If I ever get you fixed and when I tell you of what happened, I hope you will forgive me. Because I think I'm falling in love with your twin, and I hate myself for it. I'm sorry. I'm so very sorry._

# # #

On the southern most perimeter of Los Angeles, located between the rubble of the fallen city and the scrub of the empty wasteland, there is a rough looking observation post. Outside, there is nothing for the naked eye to observe but scrub, dilapidated and fallen buildings. Underground, hidden by the piles of broken concrete and bent steel, it is one of the best kept secrets of the Resistance. Inside the post, carved out of the rubble, is some of the best high tech equipment used for monitoring Sky Net's communications.

"Ma'am." the technician calls out.

"What is it Roger?" She asks coming to the technicians position.

A trickle of dust falls from a crack in the concrete ceiling, coating the monitor.

"I'm picking up a signal . . . from a machine." He pauses. "If I didn't know better, I'd swear it was a distress signal."

The CO leans over his shoulder looking at the sine waves on the monitor. "It is. I hadn't seen one of them put out a distress call in a long time. What is its location?"

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but the signal cut out before the transmission got that far." A new signal appears on his screen. "Uh, oh."

"What now?"

"Looks like Sky Net is responding. Activity has definitely increased across its bandwidth. So much so I can't discern an individual signal."

"Do what you can to clean it up. And send what information we have to Grizzly base, ASAP."

More dust trickles down from the ceiling.

"But we're not due to make radio contact for several hours yet." He protests.

"Just do it. Our orders are to report any unusual activity and that is definitely unusual activity."

More dust trickles from the ceiling above as the technician turns on the transmitter. The CO looks up at the ceiling above her wondering once again, after taking command of this station, how much longer that roof will stay up. The technician finishes coding the message for transmitting just as a piece of concrete falls, smashing a computer. Sparks fly and the lights blink.

The people inside, look up, shielding their eyes from the dust, to see the cold grinning metal death mask of a machine and its glowing red eyes looking through a hole. With a shout for the technician to transmit, the CO pulls her handgun from its holster and empties the clip in the ugly visage before her.

With a loud crash more of the roof falls in, followed my several machines, opening fire with weapons. They march coldly forward, killing everyone and destroying all the equipment. Without feeling, without emotion, they carry out their orders. Terminate all humans.

# # #

"Lewis. When I give you the signal, turn the key." John says from underneath the van.

He had cleaned the electrical contacts to the starter motor, and replaced the lead from the positive terminal on the battery to the motor. John had just begun a final check of the connections when there is a rattle of gunfire from the western entrance to the rest stop.

Lewis leaps out of the cab, grabbing his rifle. He flies out the front of the garage to join the others.

John scrambles out from under the van as quickly as he can. He barely gets outside, with his rifle in hand, when more rifle shots sound from the east. _Shit! That was where Billy was stationed._ He hears more shots and a yell of rage from that direction. Then, three quick shots, POP! . . . POP! . . . POP! John knows that Billy is dead, just like his brother.

Mike, Allison and Kyle came running up to him from the other side of the store. Mike's right arm is bleeding and Kyle is struggling to un-jam his gun.

"We've got two terminators approaching." Kyle shouts. "One from the east and one from the west. Lewis is going to lay down some covering fire so we can get out of here."

Facing John, he asks, "Will that truck start now?"

"Yes!" John says, with more confidence than he feels.

John dashes back inside, Allison follows. She climbs up into the cab and sits in the passenger seat. John jumps in and turns the key. The engine coughs.

"Oh God, please start!" John prays and turns the key again. The engine roars to life nearly drowning the sound of gunfire.

"Come on! Everyone get in." Kyle yells.

John leaps out of the cab to strip the wires coming from the generator to the battery. He barely gets out of the cab when there are several bursts of automatic gunfire. The thought on everyone's mind, it got Lewis. Then there is another burst of gunfire and Mike falls back from the door with a scream and dies before hitting the ground. Blood spouting from holes in his chest like some kind of grotesque fountain.

Kyle shouts at John, "Get Allison out of here in the truck. I'll provide cover!"

He slams the hood down and John is about to leap into the cab when a Terminator walks through the open door.

They are so much scarier without flesh. His metal endoskeleton just glimmers in the bright sunlight. Because his rifle is jammed, Kyle pulls his gun from its holster and fires rapidly at the machine to no effect. With the machine occupied with Kyle, John leaps forward and jams the wires he is still holding into the machine.

It turns its head and faces John. He begins question the wisdom of what he just did, then the machine begins to twitch and spasm. Its finger closes down on the trigger of its gun and it begins to shoot wildly. The passenger side windshield of the van shatters. Allison screams. Kyle grunts and falls to the ground, hit by a few stray rounds. John is thinking he is going to die when the machine suddenly stops twitching and collapses.

Allison leaps from the van to check on Kyle.

John quickly pulls out his knife and pops the seal off the chip. Thanking good fortune that it's a triple-8. Grabbing the pliers he used to change out the cable on the starter motor, he grips the chip, gives it a twist and yanks it out.

Allison shouts, "Quick, I need help with Kyle."

John slips the chip into his pocket and runs to the other side of the van.

"Just leave me! Get Allison out of here John!" Kyle falls back with a groan.

Kyle had taken three bullets, one in his left leg, one in his right hip, and the other in his right arm. John and Allison pick him up and half drag, half carry him around to the back of the van.

"Dammit! I told you to leave me!" Kyle yells. "That's an order!"

John grabs Kyle by his collar with both hands. "Court martial me when we get back to base if you want, but I am not leaving you behind!" He shouts in his face, shoving him into the van far more aggressively than he should given Kyle's injuries.

John jumps into the driver's seat while Allison sees to Kyle's injuries. Blood is soaking his clothes where he got shot. Allison begins tearing open his clothes to get to the wounds.

"I'm going to try and stop his bleeding." She shouts. "Can you get us out of here?"

For an answer, John puts the van in gear, and floors the accelerator. The van leaps from the garage bay, and goes tearing down the dirt road to the two-lane highway. John reaches the road and makes a hard turn east towards the weapons cache.

"No! No, we need to go back! Back to the base." Kyle shouts through gritted teeth, while Allison does her best to hold him steady in the rocking van. "Dammit! Listen to me! Aaaggghh." Kyle groans, his head falling back.

"No, you listen!" John shouts. "We've got one more of those things out there and it's after us. You and I both know that our guns have no effect on those machines. Our only hope is to get to the weapon's cache. There we have weapons capable of taking that machine out. And once we do, we can get you back to base for some proper medical care!" John shouts over the roar of the engine.

Allison says in a low voice, just barely heard over the noise, "Listen to him Kyle. He knows what he's doing. Don't let your pride be your downfall. What good is pride anyway?"

Whether Kyle said anything in response, John didn't know. All he heard was a few groans of pain while Allison saw to his wounds.

Quite suddenly, a terminator steps out into the road and it begins firing at the approaching van. The rest of the windshield explodes sending glass fragments flying at the three people inside. Allison throws herself over Kyle to protect him from the flying glass. John ducks down, hits the gas, swerves to the left, like he is trying to avoid the machine. At just the right moment, he turns the wheel hard to the right, giving the machine a hard glancing blow. The van rocks violently, almost tipping after hitting it.

The machine goes spinning off onto the shoulder. John turns the wheel, righting the van before it tips. He breaths deeply and shouts. "Is everyone all right!"

"We're fine John." Allison says. "Is it far to the weapon's cache?"

"No, it's not far." John replies, glancing in the driver's side mirror.

He can see the terminator standing up in the middle of the road watching them drive away. A chill runs down John's spine. He has no doubt it is going to follow them. They always follow.

John knows that they only have one chance, to get to the hideaway in time to lay down a trap for it.

As the van disappears down the desert highway, the machine begins to follow.


	6. Friends in the Shadow

**Disclaimer:** I do not claim any rights to the Terminator films; the TV series, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles;" or any characters depicted within the films or TV series. I do claim the right to this story idea and all characters and situations of my own creation. This story was created solely for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. No profits are garnered from its distribution - unfortunately.

* * *

**TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES**

**REUNION**

**Part 1: The Shadow of Death**

**Author: The1Russter**

**Chapter 5**

**Friends in the Shadow, Enemies in the Light**

_Agent Auldridge to Sarah Connor, "I believe there are machines. I believe they've come back from the future to first kill you and then your son. I believe in time travel, I believe in cyborgs. I believe there's a world that I've not yet seen but you have, and John. In the last eight hours, I've received 37 calls from people who have met a young man named John Baum, or his sister Cameron or Sarah Baum, the mother. They now know her to be Sarah Connor. By all accounts, your son looks 16 and not 24, just as you look 35 and not 43. I believe you have participated in the miraculous and the terrible, and through it all you have maintained a moral and good soul. I want to help you. I want to help your son. Help me do that."_

_Guard, "Hey! You the guy who smashed through my gate?"_

_T-888, "Yes."_

_The T-888 Terminator shoots the guard._

_Catherine Weaver, "Hey . . . I liked that gate!"_

_T-888, "Catherine Weaver?"_

_Catherine Weaver. "Sure."_

_The T-888 shoots her, with no effect. In return, Weaver terminates him by stabbing him through the chest with one hand while stabbing into a transformer with the other._

_James Ellison, "I just wanted the girl to be safe."_

_Sarah Connor, "So did I."_

_James Ellison, "From whom?"_

_Sarah Connor, "I don't know."_

_James Ellison, "You don't know or you can't say?"_

_Sarah Connor, "I don't know, but if I did, I probably couldn't say."_

_Extracts from, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, S02E22 Born to Run, 10 April 2009_

_Minister, "I'm going to say a few words about my friend Gene Miller but before I do, I wanna take this opportunity to thank everyone at Desert Heat and Air's parent company, The Kaliba Group for their generous donations to this service."_

_Diana, "Is this all it costs to buy us? Flowers and a few kind words? Where is anybody from the company? Have any of you seen anybody from the company? Has anybody ever seen anybody from the company? No. You have not."_

_Extract from, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, S02E15 Desert Cantos, 20 Feb 2009_

# # #

**2009, Day 3, Morning**

Agent Auldridge walks through the front entrance of the FBI at 8:50 AM sharp.

"Good Morning, Mr. Auldridge." An older woman with pure white hair says from behind the window at the reception desk.

"Good Morning Mabel." Auldridge says as he swipes his badge through the scanner so he can enter the offices beyond.

He walks through the door and can now speak to the woman directly.

"How are you today?" He asks her.

"I'm fine, Mr. Auldridge. How was your date last night?"

Auldridge frowns, "Oh crap! I was so caught up in this case I forgot all about it."

Mabel shakes her head. "You'll never get married if all you think about is work." She scolds him nicely.

"Look who's talking." Auldridge says back to her, both of them laughing.

"How long have you worked here? Did you ever once think about getting married yourself?"

"I had my youthful dalliances with many young men, but there was only one man I ever loved and he had a life and a mission far more important than I. I chose to be alone, because in my eye, no other man could take his place. But you are young, and the ideals of your age are far different from mine. Don't let work take the place of love, it's a poor substitute."

"Yeah, sure. Thanks." Auldridge clears his throat. "I heard that you will be retiring soon. You'll be missed."

"Yes I am." She smiles. "I'll miss all of you too. But its time for me to start the next chapter of my life. I've seen so many people get into trouble, through no fault of their own, that I've set up a foundation with money from my investments to help people in need."

"I'm sure they will appreciate your efforts. We should give you a good send off. A party, here at the office."

"I appreciate the sentiment, but I don't think our new director will go for that. He is a rather serious and dark fellow. He has too many secrets and doesn't operate this branch like past director's. One of the reason's I'm retiring now instead of next year."

Auldridge clears his throat nervously. "Any messages?"

"The new director is in. He'd like to see you in his office first thing."

"Speak of the devil." Auldridge murmurs, before he walks off to see the director.

# # #

Sarah is sitting at the kitchen table in the apartment that Mr. Ellison hid her in. In front of her sits John's laptop computer and the few printouts she still has on Kaliba. At one time she had a whole bunch of material on that attorney.

Trying to rub the sleep from her tired eyes, she remembers the conversation she had with Cameron about the papers. It was around the time Riley was killed by Jesse, Derek's girlfriend.

_Sarah, "There was a stack of research here, on that lawyer. The one who set up the drone shell company."_

_Cameron, "Derek took it."_

_Sarah, "When?"_

_Cameron, "While you were gone."_

_Sarah, "So he's chasing it down?"_

_Cameron, "I don't know._"

Sarah has no idea what Derek did with the rest of the documents, he was killed by a terminator before she could ask. She hopes he disposed of them properly, because, apparently, he didn't do anything about the attorney. So it is up to her to finish chasing down that lead, on her own. It's her only clue to Kaliba, the people behind Sky Net.

She scans through the data John saved on his computer, then turns her attention to the few printouts they still have. Sarah sorts through the papers until she finds a letter with The Kaliba Group's attorney name and address on it.

Pulling out one of the many disposable cell phones from her bag, she places a phone call.

A receptionist picks up the ringing phone from the switchboard on the desk in front of her and says, "Kenmore, Alvin, Irwin, and Barnard, Attorneys. My name is Tamara. How may I help you?"

"Hi Tamara." Sarah says in an affected accent. "My name is Lillian Peters. I'm a reporter for the Los Angeles County Journal. I'm calling about the recent fire and explosion which destroyed the business of one of your client's, Desert Heat and Air Conditioning."

The receptionist types the caller's name and newspaper name into her computer.

"I'm sorry, but we don't give out information on our clients."

"That's understandable, but I have just two questions I'd like to ask the attorney who helped them get their business license. I have information that shows Desert Heat was a dummy company used to undertake illegal research with heavy metals and other exotic elements."

The search window, on Tamara's computer, updates showing there is no one by the reporter's name who works for that newspaper.

Sarah continues talking. "I'm sure neither your business nor the company behind Desert Heat would want the EPA to find out about this. So if I could have just a few minutes of Mr. Vincent's time."

"I'll see if he's in, Ms. Peters. Please hold."

Tamara presses the hold button and checks her computer. No trace or caller ID on the phone call. Very questionable.

She presses a button on the speed dial and places a call.

It only takes a second for the other line to pick up.

"Sir, I've got a reporter on line two for Mr. Vincent, the attorney who set up Desert Heat and Air. She says that she has a couple of questions for him. No sir, the caller must be using a prepaid cell phone. There isn't a phone trace or caller ID. Sir, she gives a name which isn't on the employee records for the newspaper she claims to work for. Yes sir. I understand sir."

The receptionist presses the button on her phone. "Ms. Peters, are you still there?"

"Yes I am." Sarah answers.

"Mr. Vincent is presently in town on business. He asks if you would be willing to meet him at a café on Wilshire Boulevard to answer your questions."

Sarah purses her lips, before answering. "Sure."

Sarah writes down the address and time.

"How will I know him?" Sarah asks.

She writes down a brief description.

"Thank you." Sarah answers and breaks the connection.

The receptionist puts the phone back down on its cradle and says, "No thank you."

Tamara Sky works in one of many cubicles in a room with one wall of windows facing west. There are many signs on the walls, and on the wall above Tamara's head is a sign that says, Halcyon Cybernetics, A division of The Kaliba Group.

# # #

Agent Auldridge is angry and trying not to show it. The Director has just informed him that he is to close up his investigation and turn over all materials, law enforcement and witness reports, evidence, etc. over to him before the end of the day.

"With all do respect sir, why?"

"I believe you have taken too much of a personal interest in the case and as such your objectivity in continuing your investigation could be considered unreliable if and when the case gets to court."

Mr. Auldridge decides to press it further. "How do you mean I've taken a personal interest in the case?"

"Agent Auldridge, you were overheard speaking to Sarah Connor in her prison cell, by one of the guards. He says that he clearly overheard you tell Sarah Connor that you believed her." The Director stands up from behind his desk and smooths the wrinkles in his gray suit. "Then yesterday in this very building I heard you tell Mr. Ellison that you wanted to help him and Sarah. Now, I call that taking a personal interest. In fact it could be construed as interfering in a federal investigation."

"That's stretching it, a little." Auldridge says adamantly. "Besides, I only said those things to try to gain their trust."

"It doesn't matter."The director makes a chopping motion with his hand. "If defense attorneys ever learned of what you had said, the judge could easily throw the case out. I'm sorry, but you are finished investigating all cases related to Sarah Connor, Zeira Corporation, Catherine Weaver, and Mr. Ellison."

Auldridge pauses a moment before responding, "Okay, I understand. I need to transfer my notes to the computer database, and backup all data."

"Good." says The Director, smiling as he walked towards Auldridge. "Just as long as you turn over all evidence collected, to me, by the end of the day."

Mr. Auldridge turns and walks away. He stops when he hears the director's door close. Looking quickly up and down the hall to see if anyone is about. He quickly goes back to the director's door and stands there listening. He can hear him talking to someone on the phone, but only The Director's voice.

"_It's all arranged. Auldridge has been taken off the case."_

"_What? No it won't be necessary to kill him. If he's smart. He will stay away from this case."_

"_Well if he does, then I'll have no choice but to kill him then, will I."_

"_Yes, assign people to keep tabs on him."_

"_No I don't expect trouble from him, but I rather play it safe than be sorry later."_

"_Well if he gets custody then he won't have time to be a nuisance will he?"_

"_Have you located her, yet?"_

"_Yes, I know she is still out there. Our only lead right now is Ellison."_

"_If we don't locate her soon all of my plans could be ruined."_

"_Well then, maybe there is someway we can flush her out."_

"_That's not your concern. Just find her." _

Mr. Auldridge has heard enough.

He walks away as quickly as he can, without arousing suspicion, back to his office.

Once he reaches his office he begins to pace, but quickly discovers there isn't enough room, so he sits in his office chair. His mind races over the conversation he just heard. _"Who was the director talking to? I must be close to something or why else would I be removed from the case, then threatened with death if I keep looking. And who was the director keeping tabs on, was it me or someone else? No it can't be me. The director said that he was going to be getting custody. Custody of who? Ellison, it had to be Ellison. It was highly likely he was going to get temporary custody of Savannah Weaver. The report crossed my desk just yesterday. And who is the 'she' the director is looking for? Catherine Weaver? Or Sarah Connor? Either way they were having a hard time locating her. He mentioned needing to flush 'her out.' Whoever the director is, he isn't working for the FBI? Then who is he working for? And why doesn't he want me checking into Sarah Connor and Zeira Corp.?"_

Auldridge looks up at the clock on the wall. If he is going to do what he is planning on doing, he will have to move fast.

# # #

Ellison's day started off pretty good. Pending news on whether Zeira Corp was to restart its business or close, he thought it best to turn the company car back in.

He drives back to Zeira Corp and parks in his assigned space three levels below ground. He walks to the Security Guards room and turns in his keys.

"Hey Mr. Ellison. Have you heard any news?" One of the security men ask.

"I'm sorry Chuck, not a whisper."

"So do you think it's a lost cause then."

"Is what a lost cause?"

"Zeira Corp, is it closing its doors for good?"

"To be honest. I don't think Zeira Corp will restart. All we are doing is guarding a ghost."

And with that Mr. Ellison walks away and takes the stairs to the upper level where his personal car was parked. Not as sharp as the one provided by the company, but it was the best he could buy on an Agent's salary at the time.

As he approaches it, he observes that something doesn't look right. It was several days since the last time he drove it, but he can tell that the rear of the vehicle seems to be sagging a bit.

When he gets closer, he looks his vehicle over carefully, but can't spot anything else amiss. Pulling his keys out of his pocket, he slowly unlocks the trunk. He listens carefully, for any clicks other than those of the lock. Nothing. He slowly raises the lid and feels around the edges for any trip wires or other devices. Nothing.

Taking stock of the situation, he raises the lid. Ellison is shocked to see a body. The body of an adult white male, with dark hair, angular jaw line, possibly in his mid-thirties. He looks around the parking garage. No one is about. Ellison leans in to take a closer look at the body. There appears to be some blood on the scalp. He reaches over and checked the wound. It is a deep semicircular cut. He touches it and a whole flap of skin falls back revealing a shiny metal skull.

"Son-of-a-bitch!" Ellison exclaims pulling back quickly. _It's one of them!,_ his mind shouts.

"Now how the hell did it get in my trunk?" He says out loud.

He takes another look around then examines the body. He finds a slip of paper in a shirt pocket. It is the only thing on the body other than two recently fired hand guns with silencers.

He closes the lid and gets in his car. He unfolds the slip of paper. It's in Ms. Weaver's precise and letter perfect handwriting.

_Mr. Ellison,_

_I apologize for the shock you must have had when opening the trunk of your car._

_It tried to assassinate me. It didn't know my little secret, which of course you must know by now. Please take care of the body. I assume you will know how._

_Look after Savannah for me. I have become very fond of her._

_Catherine Weaver_

"When does this ever stop?" He thinks.

Turning the ignition, he puts the vehicle into gear and drives out of the parking garage. As he pulls out into traffic, a gray van pulls out from the curb and followed him.

**2009, Day 3, 10:30 AM**

Sarah has been parked for half an hour watching a man at the café who matches the description she was given. Sandy hair, wearing a blue blazer, a yellow sports shirt, and gray slacks.

Her appointment was for 10:15 AM, but she has no intention of keeping it.

Pulling out the cell phone, she used previously, Sarah dials the number for the attorney's office.

"Hello, Tamara. This is Ms. Peters. I called earlier and arranged to meet with Mr. Vincent at the café downtown. Would you please let him know that I'm unable to make that appointment and I will call again to reschedule. Thank you."

Sarah hangs up promptly and picks up her small pair of binoculars.

The man described to her as Mr. Vincent is sipping a cup of coffee at an outdoor table.

A couple of minutes later, she sees him pull a cell phone from his inside jacket pocket. His suit coat tents enough for her to catch a glimpse of what appears to be a shoulder holster.

Mr. Vincent speaks for no more than a few seconds and then gets up to leave.

She watches as he gets into an expensive red sports car.

_Obviously an import and probably over compensating for his own inadequacies_, she thinks.

With a grin at her own private joke, she pulls away from the curb following the Kaliba Group's attorney.

As Sarah drives away, a motorcyclist in full leathers and helmet pulls out from a narrow space between two cars and follows her.

# # #

Mr. Auldridge has been working frantically all morning since given the news he is off the case. Something doesn't feel right about it, and against all his training he's going to defy the director's orders.

First he meticulously copied all his hand written notes by hand in fresh notebooks, these he placed in the box for the director. He placed the originals in his own box. He took all of the printed sheets, forms from other law enforcement agencies, witness testimonies, photographs, etc. and ran off copies on his personal copier. He took photographs, with his digital camera, of all objects and forensic evidence gathered at the crime scenes. All originals went into the box for the director all copies went into his box.

He then downloads gigabytes of data from the FBI servers. Everything he could find, all files, folders, photographs, every piece of detail related to Sarah Connor, John Connor, Zeira Corp, Catherine Weaver, and Savannah Weaver. All of this he burns to optical discs and places them in his box.

It was almost mid day by the time he had finished. He skipped lunch and his stomach is complaining from all the coffee he drank. He sealed up the box for the director, and wrote the case number and subject on the lid and signed the sheet, the first line, as the last person to have access to the box.

"Let's hope I'm not the last to look into this case." He says to himself, as he hefts the box onto his desk.

Auldridge takes one more look at his own box. _It looks too much like an evidence box_, he thinks. So he looks around his office and his eyes fall on the shelves which had been filling up with personal mementos over the years. He grabs a bunch of items, and places them in his box on top of everything. _That's better,_ he thinks, _less obvious._

He shoves his own box under his desk. Auldridge picks up the one for the director and carries it to his office.

The Director's door is closed. Auldridge struggles to hold the heavy box on one knee to knock on the door. There is no answer. Auldridge tries the knob and it isn't locked. He goes in and sets the box on the Director's desk.

The room looks very organized. There is nothing out-of-place, no folders or papers laying on his desk, his calendar blotter has no appointments written on it and no doodles. There isn't even any dust.

"What is this guy, some kind of neat freak?" Auldridge says low, then he sees the director's cell phone is laying on his desk plugged into the charger.

Seeing an opportunity, Auldridge closes the door, leaving it open just a crack so he can hear what's in the hall. He goes back to the desk and checks the cell phones directory of sent and received calls. There are two calls during the time in which he was outside the director's office this morning. He jots them both down on a post-it-note and shoved it into his pocket. He just cleared the cell phone's display and sets it back on the desk when the Director walks in.

The Director gives Agent Auldridge a firm but questioning look and glances quickly and sharply at him and around the room.

"Good Afternoon Director, I just stopped by to drop off all the materials you requested." Auldridge swallows. He hopes the Director wouldn't become suspicious.

"Thank you. May I ask what you are doing behind my desk?" The Director says very coolly.

"Well, I knocked and you weren't in. So I came in and placed the box of evidence on your desk. I was just deciding whether or not to leave you a note, when you walked in." Auldridge lies smoothly.

"Yes, well I'm here now."

"Ahh, of course." Auldridge comes out from behind the desk. "Sorry."

The director walks behind his desk and glances at the sealed box. "Is everything in here?"

"Yes, sir." Then Auldridge adds, "I'm sorry if my investigation technique hurt the case. I was only trying to extract more information from the suspects."

"So you no longer have a problem with my reassigning the case?"

"No, sir" Auldridge pauses a moment, then asked, "Who will be handling the case now sir?"

"The investigation is being turned over to Homeland Security. They will then assign someone from their domestic terrorism group."

"OK. If its all right sir, I'd like to take the rest of the afternoon off for a dental appointment."

"No problem. Just be here on time tomorrow."

"Yes, sir."

Auldridge steps out through the door and closed it behind him. He audibly sighs and walks to reception, where he sees Mabel, so he decides to walk over and chat with her.

"Hey Mabel?"

"Oh hi, Mr. Auldridge. What can I do for you?"

"Do you have the name of the Detective on the LA Police force who was handling the Zeira Corp investigation from their end?"

"Yes. Just let me pull it up on my computer." She types away, and clicks the mouse on a few icons then a window pops up with Detective Macklin's name and phone number. "Shall I print it off for you?"

"Yes, please." He waits by the printer and pulls the sheet out when it is done. He folds it and places it in the inside pocket of his suit coat.

"I'd appreciate it, if you wouldn't tell anyone," and here he lowers his voice, "especially the Director."

Mabel's eyes brighten and she gives him a knowing look. "Yes, Mr. Auldridge. I understand."

"Oh, and I'll be out the rest of the afternoon. I have a dental appointment." With that Agent Auldridge leaves reception and goes to his office. He picks up his box and goes out the back door to his car.

Mabel goes into the ladies' restroom and locks the door behind her. She turns on the tap, and pulls out her cell phone and dials a number.

When Mr. Ellison's cell phone rang, he was driving through Los Angeles, wondering what to do with the body in his trunk. As it rang, he pulled over into an empty parking space. As he did so, he saw in his drivers side mirror a gray van come to a sudden stop.

"Hello, Mr. Ellison. Mabel here."

"Hello Mabel. What can I do for you?"

A small car had cut in front of the van and had parked in the only other available space. The van's driver looked like he was looking for another parking space.

"Mr. Ellison, I just want to let you know that I think Mr. Auldridge suspects something about the director."

"And why are you telling me this?"

Car horns start blaring behind the van, and the driver is forced to drive on past Mr. Ellison. It didn't stop until the next block where it parked in front of a florist shop. Mr. Ellison's curiosity was roused but he maintained his conversation with Mabel.

"You need friends in the agency Mr. Ellison. People with authority."

"Thank you Mabel. I'll keep it mind."

"I'm sending you his phone number. I have to go now."

Ellison looks at his phone as the text message came through with Agent Auldridge's phone number. He transfers the phone number to his phone book, then sits there and thinks a moment.

His eyes fall on the gray van parked on the next corner. Thinking over the last couple of days, he suddenly realizes that he had been seeing quite a few plain gray commercial vans wherever he went.

It could be just a coincidence, but his gut says otherwise. He quickly decides on a plan of action.

He flips on his turn signal for pulling out into traffic. As soon as a space appears, he pulls out and drives at normal speed approaching the intersection. The van is parked at the next corner. No one had gotten out, but Ellison can see movement in the cab reflected in the vans mirrors.

The light is about to turn red. Gunning the engine, Mr Ellison accelerates through the right hand lane. As soon as he cleared the cars on his left, he made a hard left turn and accelerated up the street.

Cars screech to a stop, to the sound of blaring horns as he cuts off vehicles in the intersection.

He drives quickly up the street, then takes the next right. He continues in a zig-zag pattern, sometimes down a street, other times down an alley until he's certain he's lost the tail.

Ellison doesn't know who the men are in the van, or if they are following him. But he knows he had to shake them. Not thinking it is wise to go home, he goes home anyway. He has to do something about the terminator's body in his trunk.

The men in the van are upset, and scared. They had lost sight of Mr. Ellison. They were due to check in soon and they knew their boss was going to be mad. One of them pulled out a cell phone and makes a call.

Back in the Director's office, the Director is sitting at his desk looking at the box of evidence. It is sealed against tampering. Slowly the Director raised his hand and points his index finger. It slowly extends into a silver blade, with which he slices open the seals.

# # #

Sarah is parked one block down from the red sports car in an abandoned industrial center. From her position she can see that there is no one in the car.

In the ground, next to the main office building, is a realtor's sign with a sold sign stuck over it.

_What could bring a man of his obvious wealth to this district? Unless he has business with a client. But where is his client's car? Unless they are parked somewhere else._

Sarah approaches the car. Nothing inside of it.

_Where is Mr. Vincent? Must be inside. Possibly meeting a client. After all, he is a business attorney._

She checks the door and finds that it is unlocked. Not trusting it, Sarah runs down a litter-strewn alley, beside the building. Across the street, someone watches her from behind a dumpster, in an empty parking lot. Empty, but for a single motorcycle parked behind the dumpster.

# # #

The Director is busy looking over the evidence provided by Mr. Auldridge. He is hoping that there is something that would lead to Catherine Weaver or Sarah Connor. So far he is disappointed. Nothing he has seen so far provides any information that he didn't know already.

His cell phone begins to ring. Picking it up off his polished desk, he flips it open and answers it.

"Hello."

"_We lost Mr. Ellison."_

"What!"

"He pulled over unexpectedly, and when we tried to park we got cut-off by someone. We had no choice but to drive on past Mr. Ellison and park." The voice on the other end whines.

"Now let me make one thing very clear. You will find him, today. You will call me when you do."

"_We don't know where to look."_

"Well then, I suggest you go back to his home. He is bound to return."

"_But what if we don't find him?"_

"If you don't find him, then lets just say I don't accept failure." He says coldly.

The director's eyes glint silver as anger flashes through his system. He places the phone back down and resumes going through the evidence."

# # #

Sarah is carefully making her way through the non-operational factory, having found a means of entry through the shipping and receiving office in the back. It was a simple matter of removing the window air conditioner to gain access. She can put it back when she leaves. If she has the time. These things never go according to plan, and she's making this plan up as she goes.

Pipes and conduits rise up from the floor and travel across the ceiling. Some diverging and entering other rooms or interfacing with equipment on the factory floor. She's curious as to what the factory once built. Some of the equipment bares a similarity to the factory where Kyle died to save her life. So its purpose is to work with metal, but in what capacity?

She quickly shakes off the melancholy, and focuses on the mission at hand.

After a few minutes, she reaches the doors to the front office, having encountered no other people inside.

As Sarah approaches the double doors entering the offices, she can hear voices. Muffled as if from coming from many rooms away.

Pushing carefully through the doors, the voices become distinctly louder.

Sunlight shines through the main office doors and filters down the corridor providing plenty of light.

Following the muffled voices, Sarah methodically checks each room in passing, to ensure no surprises will be behind her. Soon she finds herself outside a conference room door.

The voices are louder now, but still indistinguishable.

Glancing out the front door, she sees no other vehicles have joined the red convertible out front.

_So if Mr. Vincent is here, which he is, and he arrived alone, which he did, then who is he speaking to?_

Listening carefully, she begins to make out a certain repetition in the sounds. _A recording maybe? Or a bad phone connection?_

Pulling out her gun, she steps back from the double door and gives it a solid kick throwing it open.

Sarah walks inside the conference room to find a digital voice recorder playing back a conversation on the far end of the table. Nothing of importance is being said.

"Fuck!" Sarah swears, realizing it's a trap.

She turns to leave the room.

"Hello Ms. Peters. If that is your real name." Mr. Vincent says from just inside the door to the conference room. "Interesting places, janitor closets. Hardly anyone ever thinks to look in them, including you."

Sarah holds the gun behind her leg and doesn't take her eyes off the man in front of her. She decides to maintain her disguise. Mr. Vincent could be innocent of the going ons of Kaliba Group.

"I'm Lillian Peters, a reporter for Los Angeles County Journal. I'd like to ask you a couple of questions." She lies easily.

"Was there something wrong with the café? At least there we could have had a cappuccino or a latté while we talked."

"You might not want the answers to my questions to be overheard in public. Thought it best to follow you to someplace more private."

"Maybe." He gestures at a seat as he enters the room. "Please, sit down."

"I'll stand." She answers, knowing it would be easier to go on the offensive or defensive while standing.

"What do you know of Desert Heat and Air's activities or that of its subsidiary Western Iron and Steel?"

Mr. Vincent walks further into the room. "Both companies are owned by my client, The Kaliba Group. It owns many diversified businesses. In fact they've just purchased this factory to expand their current operations."

Sarah can only imagine what their current operations are, considering the HK drone she saw attack Zeira Corp.

"I have a report in my office that shows Desert Heat worked with some exotic metal alloy's, like Coltan. Could you explain why a heating and air-conditioning business would be using metals not common to that trade?" She bluffs, trying to hold onto her guise of being a reporter.

"I haven't got a clue Ms. Peters. You'd have to ask someone from the company." He curls his lips in an arrogant grin. "Oops. So sorry. They're all dead aren't they."

"Yes, and I haven't been able to contact anyone at Western Iron and Steel either." Sarah says, casually moving toward the door.

This character definitely knows something and his body language shows he has no fear. There are no other exits from the room, and without help around the corner, she needs to be closer to the door to make her escape, if it comes to that.

"That is easy to explain. The same employees worked for both companies, splitting their time between each as needed."

"Kind of strange that there was no mention of that in previous news reports or as to why all employees were at Desert Heat on the day of the explosion."

"Perhaps it was left out of the papers, for a reason." Mr. Vincent says more firmly. "Before I answer any more questions, I'd like to see some ID that proves you work for the newspaper."

"I've asked all the questions I wanted. If I have more, I'll call your office."

She pretends to ignore him as she moves to get between him and the door.

Mr. Vincent flexes his wrist, and an object slides from his forearm into the palm of his hand unseen.

"You're not going anywhere." He says, threateningly.

Sarah brings her gun up from behind her leg, when she is struck in the abdomen by two metal prongs, trailing wires. 50000 volts course through her body causing her to convulse violently and collapse, dropping her gun on the floor.

Mr. Vincent kicks her gun away and leans threateningly over Sarah's prone body.

"Now you will answer my questions," He says menacingly, "Sarah Connor."

# # #

Ellison arrives home just before noon.

Quieting any thoughts that he might still be followed, he drives around the block three times checking every driveway and niche for a gray van, but none are to be found.

He backs the car into his garage, and pops the trunk lid. Ellison gets out quickly, closes the doors to the garage and locks them.

Ellison drags the body out of the trunk, and down a set of concrete steps to his basement.

The house was built in the days of coal fired furnaces and there is still an old coal bin in the back corner of the basement. At one time he had hoped to convert the space into a workshop, but he had been too busy of late.

He lays the body on the floor, and shifts the stack of lumber so that it completely covers the body. It is the best he can do for now. He'll have to ask Sarah what she uses to burn the bodies.

After a quick shower and a change of clothes, he goes to the kitchen to get a bite to eat. He just finishes eating when his home phone begins to ring.

"_Hello, Mr. Ellison, this is Ms. Williams from Child Protective Services."_

"Good Afternoon. How is Savannah doing?" Ellison, cheerfully.

"_She is doing quite well, and I have good news for you. You've been approved to act as Savannah's guardian until such time as a more permanent arrangement can be made."_

"I'm pleased to hear it." Ellison says with a big smile. He is very fond of Savannah, and hopes he can provide her a good home.

"_I thought you would be. You can pick Savannah up anytime this afternoon, or first thing tomorrow morning."_

"Well if I know Savannah she is probably beside herself right now. I'll be there, around 4 o'clock."

"_I'll look forward to seeing you then, goodbye."_

"Good bye."

Ellison is in a quandary. _"Now what am I going to do."_ He thinks. _"Someone is tailing me, I have a body in my basement and a fugitive in hiding, and now I have a little girl to take care of. And I thought working in law enforcement was tough. It's got nothing compared to civilian life."_

Mr. Ellison goes upstairs to change into a fresh suit.

He never saw the gray van that parked down the street, nor the man who got out and peered through his garage windows and the ground floor windows of his home.

Ms. Williams is very happy. It isn't very often she can place a child so easily with a responsible adult. It is especially pleasing when there is a strong bond between a child and an adult.

She walks into the room where Savannah is playing with another child.

"I have good news for you Savannah."

"What Ms. Williams?" Savannah asks, hoping it might be news about her mommy.

"I just spoke with Mr. Ellison on the phone. He will be coming over to see you this afternoon."

"Yeeaaaah." Savannah picked up her stuffed giraffe and jumps up and down.

Ms. Williams chuckled, "That isn't all Savannah."

Savannah stops jumping and looked at her with expectant eyes. "You will be going home with him."

"Yeeaaaah!" Savannah started running around the room shouting, "I get to go live with Uncle James! I get to live with Uncle James!"

# # #

Mr. Vincent checks Sarah's pulse. Her heart is still beating strongly. It wouldn't pay to deliver her dead. There are answers they need.

Pulling the metal prongs from her body, the man tosses the taser to one side and bodily lifts Sarah into one of the empty chairs.

"I can't wait to begin to ask you the questions, Sarah Connor." The man says, running his hands coarsely over her body as he searches for additional weapons.

"Like I wouldn't recognize the infamous Sarah Connor. You've been on every newscast for days now."

He continues patting her down. He just lays his hands on her wallet in an inner pocket of her leather jacket, when he hears a small sound behind him, alerting him to a new presence in the room.

Mr. Vincent stands up, turning quickly, while drawing a gun from his shoulder holster.

In a blink of an eye, he notices a figure in black leather motorcycle gear and a full coverage helmet, holding a gun on him.

In the time he takes to aim, his opponent begins firing. Three shots strike him in the chest as he returns fire. He only gets off two shots before falling back against the table, gasping for breath. Falling on the floor, he watches the figure enter the room.

_My shots must have gone wild_, he thinks. _I could have sworn I hit the bastard._

As Mr. Vincent slowly succumbs to his mortal injuries, the stranger picks Sara's gun up off the floor, and places it in a jacket pocket. The stranger follows by gently picking Sarah up from the chair and carrying her out of the room.

His last thought, as Mr. Vioncent's life ebbs away, is, _Fuck! The bitch had backup._

# # #

Agent Auldridge had just got off the phone with Detective Macklin. They didn't think it was a coincidence that they were both pulled off the same case. They both had questions that weren't getting answers. There was evidence or lack of evidence that didn't support the theory the authorities were going with.

They decide to get together that evening and compare notes.

Agent Auldridge calls the agency and leaves a message with the Director's secretary that he has to go in for emergency oral surgery tomorrow morning to have an abscess removed that had formed around a root of a tooth.

The secretary offered her sympathies and promised to pass the word along to the Director.

"_Well that's taken care of."_ He thinks. _"If they need documentation, I can just get my brother-in-law to falsify a few medical forms. After a few drinks he'll do anything for the right price."_

Auldridge pours himself a drink and makes a toast, "Thank God my sister married an alcoholic dentist."

**2009, Day 3, Afternoon**

Sarah wakes to the sound of a buzzing noise. Opening her eyes, she sees a hornet flying around the room. It lands on a bedside digital clock as it flips over to 2:07 P.M. Beside the digital clock is her gun.

Startled she sits up and looks around, confused to finds herself back in the apartment.

"What the hell?" She asks the empty bedroom, wondering how she got back here.

She still has on the same clothes she had on the previous night and she can't fathom what happened.

Sarah quickly dashes outside to see her SUV is where she parked it last night. This doesn't make any sense.

_Didn't I go out this morning? Or was it another dream?_

She checks her vehicle out and sees everything is in place, including Cameron's body hidden by her other belongings.

_Wait a minute. I moved my vehicle to the parking garage last night. Or was that another dream?_

Making her way back up the steps, she sees a hornet nest on the ceiling of the balcony. While she watches, a hornet flies through a gap in the boards covering the busted window of the apartment where she is hiding.

Feeling some soreness on her stomach, she pulls up her shirt and sees two small welts with some mild bruising on her stomach.

_Did I dream about being shot by a taser, or did I get stung by hornets in the night? Damn. All this running around, not enough sleep, and worrying about John. It would be weird if I didn't have strange dreams._

She goes back inside. John's computer and the paper's are where she left them, on the kitchen table. She definitely recalls pulling them out to complete the search this morning, being unable to sleep. Maybe she returned to bed half-asleep and just dreamed about chasing the lawyer down.

It's too late to do anything about it now. She has a long drive ahead of her and if she is to be back before dawn, she can't leave any later than 4:30 P.M.

"Everything is so confusing." She says with despair. "I never should have let John go."

She sees a reflection of herself in the microwave window. Her hair is unkempt, her clothes look like she's been sleeping in them, and she takes a sniff.

"I need a shower," she voices out loud.

Sarah goes into the bathroom and strips. Turning on the shower, she steps inside. She washes with the water as hot as she can, the finishing off with a rinse of cold water to close her open pores.

Getting out, she wraps a towel around herself and walks to the bedroom. Feeling physically better, if not emotionally better, Sarah decides it's time for a change of wardrobe. She drops her towel and pulls some fresh underwear out her backpack on the floor.

When she stands up, Sarah looks at herself in the mirror. She studies herself sliding her hands over her body, noting the curves, the tightness of her stomach, the firmness of her muscles, and the scars she had acquired in her life. Each one has a story. Her fingers slid effortlessly over the commonplace scars she got while gun running in Central America. They have little to say. Her fingers find the scars from fighting the machines. Her face flashes with anger. The stories they told are scary, horrendous, and are not important. Her face grimaces when her fingers find the new scar on her left leg she acquired when she got careless. She won't make that mistake again.

Her hands slide across her abdomen, and there, barely visible a few light scars from the stretch marks she got when pregnant with John. These had a story to tell she was proud of and loved to tell. She smiles as she thinks of John. No matter how old a child got and no matter how far away they were, a mother always had a connection to her children. Tonight, she'll do one more thing for John. To show him that she trusts him with the hardest decision of his life.

She sits on the edge of the bed sliding her panties over her feet and up her legs. Standing up, Sarah pulls them over her hips. She then picks up her bra, straightens out the twists in the straps, and then slides the straps onto her shoulders, reaches behind her back and snapped the catch close. Looking in the mirror, she repositioned the cups on her breasts, then opens the closet door.

She digs through the closet and finds a pair of jeans. The pant legs are too long, so she pulls her knife out and cuts the excess off and pulls the jeans on. Next are a pair of cowboy boots with a flat heal she puts on tucking the ragged end of the jeans inside the boots. George Lazslo's shirts were too big, so Sarah pulls a T-shirt out her bag and slips it on. She then used one of his denim shirts as a light jacket rolling the sleeves up so they were just below her elbows and ties off the long shirt tails around her waist.

Sarah looks around the room. With the instincts of someone who has always been on the run, she has the feeling that she will not return. She picks up everything that is laying around. All her belongings, she shoves into a plastic bag, and then stuffs it into her back pack. All of Lazslo's belongings are picked up and put back in the closet and drawers. She grabs a bag from the kitchen and goes into the bathroom and picks up the wet towels and shoves them inside. She does the same with the denim scraps, the empty tin of sardines, and the paper she used to write her note. The box of crackers she put in her back pack.

Then like she did before, she puts on the cap and tucks her hair up inside. Slipping on her backpack, Sarah grabs the bag of trash and goes out the door. It is 4:15 P.M.

# # #

Mr. Ellison couldn't be happier. He arrived at Child Protective Services at 4 PM and was greeted by one of the biggest hugs he ever had from such a small package. After signing a few forms, he and Savannah head home.

Ellison was wondering how Sarah was doing. He hadn't been able to stop by and check on her since leaving her all alone at Laszlo's apartment. He wondered if it would be safe to check on her now.

He looks in the rear view mirror. _They were back. You'd think they would have changed vehicles after I spotted them this morning …amateurs,_ he thinks. But there they are, five cars back and still tailing him in that gray van.

He would have tried shaking them off, but he dare not do any fancy driving with Savannah in the car.

_No,_ he thinks, _I'll have to try something else._

Savannah is as happy as could be. She was sitting in the back seat happily chatting and playing with her stuffed giraffe.

"Savannah, how would you like to go out to eat tonight? Sort of a celebration."

"You mean, like a party?" She asks with enthusiasm.

"Well no. Not a party. Just a special meal to celebrate your coming to live with me."

"OK!" Savannah thinks a moment, then says, "Uncle James, can I have ice cream for desert?"

"Yes dear, you can have ice cream."

She can barely contain her excitement, causing the ex-agent to smile. Ellison drives to a nice little family friendly restaurant he'd take his brother and his family to when they would visit from Atlanta.

Along the way he pulls out his cell phone. _This might be the time to call Agent Auldridge,_ he thinks.

# # #

Sarah is driving her SUV through the outskirts of Los Angeles, taking all the side streets and back roads to the desert highway. The police are more likely to be looking for her on the main roads.

She keeps her eye out for any police cars but sees few of them on her trip, and most haven't been facing her direction.

While waiting for a traffic light, a cop car pulls up beside her. Sarah reaches behind her and grabs the gun stuffed in the back of her jeans, but the police drive straight on ahead, when the light turns green.

Letting the cop car gain some distance, Sarah decides to take a right.

A few cars back, the same motorcyclist is following Sarah. The person is slim and dressed in full leathers. Their helmet completely conceals the driver's face. It is impossible to tell the sex of the person.

Unseen by Sarah, the motorcyclist pauses at the light, then continues on the route that Sarah took.

# # #

Ellison and Savannah were having a very good time at the restaurant. They were having burgers, steamed vegetables, and french fries. Savannah's personality charmed the waitresses. Each one stopped at the table to meet the little girl who had such a winning smile.

Savannah told her Uncle James all the things she did while under the care of Ms. Williams. Told him the stories she read, the games they played, and all about school time, nap time, and the other kids she met.

Ellison was a little worried that not once did she ask about her mother, but then this wasn't exactly the time or place for him to broach the subject. His cell phone beeps. He pulled it out of his pocket and read the text message.

"Savannah, as soon as you finished your ice cream we'll have to leave." Ellison looks about the room and then calls over a waitress.

"Miss, if you'd be so kind as to get me the check, my niece and I would like to leave."

The waitress soon returns with the check in one of those fancy faux leather bound books. Ellison glances at the check, pulls a couple of large bills from his wallet and places it inside with the check.

"Savannah, let's go wash our hands before we leave."

"I'll need to use the bathroom Uncle James."

"Okay, but be quick." He says as the door to the ladies room clicks shut.

It seemed like several minutes had gone by, but it was only three, when the door opens and Savannah said, "I'm all done."

"Did you wash your hands?"

"Yes mommy showed me how." Ellison heart skips a beat, this was the first time she mentioned her mom since he picked her up that afternoon.

Ellison takes her hand, and goes through the door marked employees only.

"Hey, this isn't the way out." Savannah protests, as they make their way through the kitchen.

"I know dear, but we are playing a game."

"What kind of game Uncle James?"

"Well, it's kind of like hide-and-seek, and as long as we stay out of sight, it won't become tag." And with that last statement, he picks up Savannah and hits the crash bar on the back door.

The alley was still warm from the afternoon sun. At the moment he wasn't visible to anyone in the alley as there were trash bins on either side of the door. He sneaks a peek over the top of the bin to his left and he can see the roof of the gray van parked on the street blocking the entrance to the alley. He looks over the top of the other bin and can see the shoulder and nose of a man in gray overalls squeezed in a gap between two buildings.

_Clever but not clever enough,_ Ellison thinks, _He is hidden well, but from that position he'd be slow to react._

He places Savannah on the ground and kneels down next to her so they were almost at eye level.

"Savannah, the people we are playing hide-and seek with are in this alley." He whispers.

He smooths her dress and holds her hand. "I have a friend who will be driving up this alley and when he stops, I need you to run as quick as you can and get in the car. Okay."

"Yes," said Savannah. "Uncle James, are you in trouble?"

"No sweetheart. Please just do as I say and everything will be all right."

Savannah nods her head in understanding.

It was now or never. He pulls out his cell phone and punches in a number, and says just one word, "Now!"

A blue sedan flies up the alley from the opposite end and screeches to a halt in front of Ellison. The rear door pops open. Ellison grabs the little girl and leaps inside pulling the door shut as he goes.

"Drive man, Drive!" He shouts.

Auldridge shifts the car into reverse and hits the gas. The man who was hiding in the alley had just come out of hiding. He leaps wildly out-of-the-way as the car roars past. Rolling over and sitting up he pulls out a gun and fires five quick shots at the car. The bullets bounced off the grill, bumper, and mirrors. One goes through the windshield and lodges itself in the front passenger seat.

The FBI Agent drives in reverse all the way back down the alley, scraping his fenders against walls and trash bins. To the sound of screeching brakes and tires, he flies out into the street backwards, where he stops, shifts into forward gear and takes off down the street.

"I hope you got a damn good story as to why you were being followed and why they shot at me."

"Hey! No swearing in front of the little girl." Ellison sits up in the back seat and pulls Savannah up off the floor where he had laid her to protect her. "Are you okay sweetheart?"

Savannah is crying. "I'm scared. Why was that man shooting at us?"

"I don't know Savannah, but Agent Auldridge and I are going to find out."

Auldridge is cursing under his breath. He is going to have one hell of time explaining to his brother-in-law about the damage done to his car.

# # #

Miss Tamara Sky is making her way through the office building, the setting sun creating odd light and shadows in the cubicle filled office space.

An odd feeling comes over her as she walks through the mostly vacant building, but for a few others like herself who stay late. She glances quickly around herself as she reaches the elevator and sees nothing amiss.

Pressing the down button for the elevator, she is pleased when the door opens immediately. She steps inside quickly, pressing the button to take her to the lobby. The doors close before she faces the front, preventing her from seeing the carpeting undulate and then squeeze through the narrow gap between the elevator and the floor.

She has worked the last six months as a receptionist for Fox Industries, fielding calls for many of the businesses under its umbrella. Tamara felt herself lucky when she landed this job, having to drop out of modeling school to help raise her younger brother and sister when their parents died. She could have gotten far in modeling with her exotic blend of Asian and Native American looks. But family comes first and now she wonders if she shouldn't have found another job. Today she took two calls for their attorney. The circumstances of which, felt wrong. She followed procedure, but after the second call, she did some digging and found there is no legal firm with that name in California. It's just another shell company.

With a sigh of relief, Tamara exits the elevator when it reaches the ground floor. Waving goodbye to the security guard. She makes her way to the employee entrance.

She decides tomorrow, she'll tell them she is quitting. Better than that, she just won't go in to work. She'll find another job, maybe send out her portfolio to a few more modeling agencies.

As she walks across the tarmac to her car, she once again has this odd feeling. She turns around quickly, but no one is there. The parking lot almost empty but for a dozen or so scattered vehicles. The sun almost disappearing behind the hills.

Pulling her keys from her purse, she picks up her pace, trotting in her high heels to an old blue Dodge Neon she bought to get to and from work.

Behind her, the asphalt appears to shimmer and move, following close behind.

Tamara reaches her car and fumbles with the keys to unlock the door.

Just as she hears a satisfying click, she notices a reflected movement in the window. Some solid object rising up between herself and the sun.

Turning quickly she sees what looks like a humanoid figure of asphalt standing in front of her.

In shock, she drops her purse, as the figure shifts to a metallic form.

Before she can even cry out, or move, its arm suddenly thrusts forward piercing her heart, killing Tamara Sky instantly.

"So sorry Ms. Sky," the figure says as it shifts into a human male, "But then you were snooping and you knew too much about our late Mr. Vincent's appointments today."

# # #

The sun had set nearly an hour ago. Sarah is deep in the desert. She had stopped twice along the way. The first time to fill up the gas tank, the second time to empty her own.

She pulled off the highway onto a dirt track. She traveled another five miles then turned off following a dry wash. When she got to the standing rock, she turned south for about 150 yards then stopped.

It was pitch black in the desert. But for the stars in the sky, there were no lights to be seen. If Sarah was so inclined, she could just see the lights on the interstate from the roof of her SUV.

Sarah knows the area well.

_A battered old Ford pickup travels through the desert sounding more like some giant child's rusty rattle than anything resembling transport. It comes to a stop and the cloud of dust that had been chasing it catches up to it and settles around the occupants._

"_Where are we Mom?" A young boy's voice cries out beside her_

_Sarah turns in her seat and ruffles the hair on John's head._

"_Where we are supposed to be, John." Sarah answers._

_She hands her son a canteen. She's pleased to see that he remembers his training and only takes a small amount. Swishing it around inside his mouth and holding it there, letting it moisten every surface before letting the refreshing water slowly travel to the back of his throat, where he swallows it._

_Sarah watches her son. They've had a hard life in Central America. It shows more around her eyes than anywhere else on her. They soften ever so slightly when she looks at John. How he reminds her of his father. She wishes so much that Kyle was here to see him._

_Shaking the feeling, Sarah concentrates on the task at hand walking along the track, away from the truck along the same path, her feet somewhat dragging as she searches for the chain. She suddenly comes to a stop as her feet finds it. She turns back to John waiting by the truck and says, "Grab the bag. It's here."_

_John dutifully runs to the back of the truck and climbs up and grabs the heavy black bag. She knows it's too heavy for him, but she wants to see what he can do on his own._

_Sarah grabs the chain that her foot kicked up, and lifts it. She pulls with all her strength. A gritty metallic sound is heard as the heavy door slides back on its runners. She decides it would be prudent to bring some grease with her on her next trip._

_John drags the bag around to the front of the old Ford in time to see his mom drop the chain._

_Sarah returns to the truck, giving John a smile of satisfaction for his efforts._

_Sarah takes a flashlight from the glove box. Flipping the light on, she descends the cement block steps slowly, shining the light on the steps and the area beyond. Everything is just like Juan Pedro told her, before the authorities caught him and killed him. That's justice in Nicaragua. And the authorities are whoever is in control at the time, or whoever has paid off the police or Army the most._

_No one knows about this place but her and John. _

_She shines the light around the place. "Good ole Juan Pedro. You were the best gun runner I ever knew."_

_Juan was a career gun runner. Supplying everyone from drug cartels, revolutionaries, counter revolutionaries. He supplied them all. He didn't care about anyone's beliefs or why they needed the weapons, all he wanted was their money. It was only fair. They wanted his guns._

_Sarah had worked with him for a long time. She had learned a lot about weapons and weapons smuggling from Juan. She gave him the only thing she had to give him in trade. It was humiliating at first, Juan had some strange tastes, but she got over it. And it got her this, a large underground structure, made from cargo containers buried under the desert. More than enough room to store weapons for a small army. An army she hopes John will someday never need, but must prepare for anyway._

_She hears a sound behind her and turns to look. John has carried the heavy bag of guns down the steps on his own. She never asked him to do that. The bag must weigh more than him._

_Sarah smiles and gives him a look of approval. John just smiles back. Pleasing his mother is something he liked to do, because he knew it made her happy._

With a few tears in her eyes, Sarah opens the door to the underground bunker like she has done so many times before. Inside, is a generator and drums of fuel. There are racks of equipment, guns, ammunition, explosives, with timers and detonators. Over the years the weapons, in the desert hideaway, had steadily grown in number so that now there is enough equipment for a small army.

# # #

A gray cargo van pulls up outside a factory, parking behind a red convertible sports car.

Six men get out of the van and go inside. One of them holding an electronic device in his hand.

"GPS locater says he's in here." He says to the others while gesturing at the door marked conference room.

They enter the room to find a man laying on his back, in a pool of blood, most of which has soaked into the carpet.

"Damn. What was Mr. Vincent doing out here alone anyway?"

"He was checking out some snoopy lady reporter with questionable credentials."

"Looks like, she got the drop on him." One man says as he picks up Mr. Vincent's cell phone where it fell to the floor.

"All right guys, cut the chit-chat. We've found him, now we've got to clean this room before the building inspectors arrive tomorrow morning."

"The boss isn't going to like the fact his star attorney is dead." A man says as he and two others begin wrapping the body in a blue tarp.

"He'll just buy himself another one, as always."

Two of the men carry the dead body out to the van while the other four begin moving furniture. They'll have to take up the carpet and replace it or questions will be asked.

The six of them then proceed to remove the carpeting and scrubbing down the floor with bleach.

# # #

Sarah throws open the rear doors on her SUV, revealing the bags and Cameron's body, strapped to the hand-truck. Dropping the bags on the ground, she drags the dolly from the back.

Sarah wheels Cameron's body to the hatch and eases her down the steps to the floor below. She finds a place in the back where she can make room on a lower shelf.

She struggles a bit, but manages to slide her body onto the shelf. She sets the hand truck to one side. No need to bring it back. She checked the racks, selected a couple of extra clips for her gun and a few boxes of ammo. She stops at the file cabinet and pulls out the list and checks off those items she took. It's uncertain if she'll be back, but it's good to keep track of your inventory.

Sarah returns to the truck and puts John's computer back in his bag. She then takes both his and Derek's bags, that she made from left over pieces of the plastic sheeting used to wrap Cameron, and carries them down inside the bunker, setting them on the floor in front of Cameron.

She takes one last look at Cameron, and solemnly says, "Thank you, for protecting my son, and for getting me out of prison. I should have told you before. But now . . ."

_This is stupid,_ she thinks, _I am essentially talking to a mannequin. She can't hear me or respond to me._

Sarah gets up, leaves the hideaway and closes the hatch. She pushes the sand back over the hatch and smooths it out.

Fighting the tears, she pauses a moment to breath the night air. A part of her says that preserving Cameron's body is wrong, but she knows if she ever destroyed it, John would never forgive her. So hiding it here is the only thing she can do for her son and for Cameron.

Sarah is just opening the door to her SUV when she hears the click of a gun being armed.

"Hold it right there, Sarah Connor. One false move and I'll blow your head off."


	7. Ghosts from the Past

**Disclaimer:** I do not claim any rights to the Terminator films; the TV series, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles;" or any characters depicted within the films or TV series. I do claim the right to this story idea and all characters and situations of my own creation. This story was created solely for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. No profits are garnered from its distribution - unfortunately.

* * *

**TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES**

**REUNION**

**Part 1: The Shadow of Death**

**Author: The1Russter**

**Chapter 6**

**Ghosts from the Past**

"_I do not know if there is a way to get rid of the ghosts from your past. I believe it is more of a conscious thing. We have to decide for [ourselves] that we are over the past; that we are ready to move on and be happy again in a new relationship. It is ultimately up to us - not anyone else. Once we decide that for ourselves, we can truly be happy." Relationships Happen: Battling the ghosts of the past, By Chelsea Underwood, March 17, 2010_

"_When a relationship dies, do we ever really give up the ghost or are we forever haunted by the spirits of relationships past." Sarah Jessica Parker, quote from Sex and the City_

"_The past is a ghost, the future a dream, and all we ever have is now." Bill Cosby_

# # #

_Extract from the Journal of John Connor_

_I've been asked if I was scared when I tell this story. I reply with a reassuring, "hell yeah!" Nothing is as scary as knowing there is a machine pursuing you. You personally. But I wasn't thinking of myself. I had Kyle and Allison with me. Allison I knew could take care of herself, but Kyle... Dammit, he's already been shot and has lost some blood. It was only Allison's quick actions and training that has prevented him from losing more blood than he has. The bouncing and swaying of the van hadn't done him any good either. I feared that if the paved roads were this bad after almost twenty years of neglect, how bad was the dirt road going to be in the desert? Our only hope lay in the weapon's cache. If Kyle survived the journey, he could rest there. If the weapons are gone, then we would be dead, all of us. And that would be my fault._

**2027, Day 14, late afternoon**

The late afternoon sun beat down on an old and dusty gray commercial van as it goes tearing down the ancient two lane high way. It quickly passes old cars abandoned when they ran out of gas or broke down, or when the people driving them realized there was no place to go after the bombs fell. It was now late afternoon.

Allison came forward and sat down in the passenger seat. The wind was rushing through where the windshield once was, blowing her hair about her face in long brown streamers. She doesn't bother to push it out her face as the wind blows it right back again.

"How's Kyle doing?" John asks her, his voice tinged with worry.

"The bleeding has stopped. I've done what I could with my meager med-kit, but he needs a doctor. He's got a bullet in his arm that should come out."

"What about his other injuries?"

"Clean shots, both of them. I cleaned both wounds and bandaged them the best I could. We'll have to clean and check them again later."

"Can you stitch him up?" John asks, glancing at her anxiously.

"I can't while we're moving, and even so, and doctor needs to examine the wounds before they close up. Just because the bullets passed through without nicking an artery, doesn't mean there isn't dirt inside the wounds."

John and Allison remain silent for quite a while. John slows the van down too almost a crawl. He knows by the landmarks he is getting close, but still there is a good chance of missing it, or turning off at the wrong place and getting axle deep in the sand. John is certain there is no triple-A in this future. A few triple-8's maybe, but he doubted that they would pull the van out of the sand for him. More likely just shoot him and the others and leave the van on the side of the road.

He finds the dirt track, just where he knew it would be. Before pulling onto it he tells Allison. "You'd better go back and hold Kyle steady. This road was rough in the best of times."

Allison quickly goes into the back of the van. John waits for to get into position, then pulls onto the track. As he drives straight into the desert, John looks up into the grayish blue sky. He remembers the first time he came here into the desert with his mom. He was just a kid.

_A battered old Ford pickup travels through the desert sounding more like some giant child's rusty rattle than anything resembling transport. It comes to a stop and the cloud of dust that had been chasing it catches up to it and settles around the occupants._

"_Where are we Mom?" John asks. _

"_Where we are supposed to be, John." His mom answers cryptically, ruffling the hair on his head._

_He takes the canteen from his mom's outstretched hand. Remembering his training, John only takes a small amount. Swishing it around inside his mouth and holding it there, letting it moisten every surface before letting the refreshing water slowly travel to the back of his throat, where he swallows it._

_John looks at his mom as he hands her the canteen. Again she is lost in thought. She does that often now. His mom once told him he was the spitting image of his father. His father. All the other kids he's known had fathers. All he has is the story his mom told him._

_Sarah gives him a quick reassuring smile and exits the truck. John watches as his mother walks along the track, away from the truck along the same path, her feet somewhat dragging. She suddenly comes to a stop. She turns back at him and says. "Grab the bag. It's here."_

_John dutifully runs to the back of the truck and climbs up and grabs the heavy black bag. It's too heavy for him, but he won't show weakness in front of his mom. If she wants him to fetch the bag, then he is going to do it._

_He hears a loud metallic sound from in front of the truck. He can only assume his mom is opening the hatch she was told about._

_John drags the bag around to the front of the old Ford in time to see his mom drop the chain. A cloud of dust rises and drifts away._

_She walks past him and reaches inside the truck, returning with the flashlight from the glove box._

_He watches her flip the light on, and slowly descend the cement block steps, shining the light on the steps and the area beyond. _

_Juan Pedro told his mom about this place, before the men came and killed him. His mom didn't even shed a tear, though he knew she had been sleeping with him._

_She tried to hide the more disagreeable side of her life from him when they were in Central America. But you can't exactly hide much in a two room shack. He didn't know at the time what Juan Pedro would do to his mom, but he had a good idea from what the other men would say in the camp. Then he got older and learned exactly what it was. _

_Juan Pedro was just one of the many men his mom would hook up with until she learned what she needed to know to train John. Juan was nice to him. Liked him because of their similar names. Juan was a gun runner. The first person to teach him about weapons. He used to boast to John about traveling across the border into the United States and back and no one found his weapons. Why? Because he had a secret._

_Now here they were. Juan's secret. He didn't smuggle weapons across the border. He had them shipped via legitimate means, in crates marked for other items. This was his warehouse in the desert. Where the guns were hidden after removing them from the crates. Then the crates were repacked with legitimate items purchased here in the states and shipped to their final destinations. _

_His mom suddenly speaks. "Good ole Juan Pedro. You were the best my friend."_

_John follows his mom down the steps, lugging the heavy bag of weapons. The bag is heavy, he almost falls over from the weight. Reaching the bottom step, he suddenly finds the weight is too much and he drops them, making a loud crash._

_Sarah turns to look and smiles, giving him a look of approval. John just smiles back. Pleasing his mother is something he likes to do, because he knows it makes her happy._

John remembers that day vividly. Using all the skills they learned, they memorized the ways to get there by using landmarks and the stars in the night sky. After that day, they made many trips to that location, in many different vehicles. Sometimes they brought more weapons, sometimes shelving units for storage, and even one time a generator.

Kyle groans and Allison works to hold him steady in the rocking van. John had taken the longer route by paved road as it would mean the shortest distance over the desert, but the route over the unpaved desert track wasn't any better than the paved roads.

They had traveled almost five miles on the desert tack, before he had turns off, following a dry wash. It was hard-baked clay, but even here you had to be observant as you never knew when water might be just below the surface. As John observed the trail ahead, he could tell this area must not have seen any rain in months and felt secure that the surface would be good.

The dry wash was smoother than even the paved roads, but that didn't last long. John sees the standing rock situated on the side of the wash. It had probably sat there for a thousand years, never budging no matter how much water flowed past it. Passing the rock, John turns south and stops after approximately one hundred fifty yards.

The engine is ticking from the heat. John checks the gauges, and everything looks fine. If the van fails them, it would be an awfully long hike back to the rest stop with an injured man.

"We're here." John says, hopping out of the van. He wastes no time, with no idea how long they have before the terminator catches up with them. There is no time to think just act.

Allison stands up in the van and looks out where the windshield used to be.

"There's nothing here!" Allison shouts, sounding a bit flustered.

"Just you wait and see." John replies with a grin, looking kind of odd on his dust and grit covered face.

Remembering what his mom did during all those trips out here to the desert, John walks five paces in front of the van until his feet hit the chain. He grabs the chain and pulls. With a grating sound so loud he thinks it can be heard for miles, the doors reluctantly slides open.

John turns around. Allison is standing beside the van her mouth gaping open. The look of shock and disbelief on her face is priceless. He smiles at the look on her face, but inwardly breathing a sigh of relief at being able to find the hidden doors.

"Come on. Let's get Kyle in the hideaway where it's cooler, then we can lay a trap for that machine out there."

# # #

Derek is pacing back and forth. His eyes are blood shot and there is an empty tin of home made booze on his desk.

He's damn worried about Kyle and Allison. Out there on a fool's errand and Sky Net is suddenly gotten active in the same area. For the life of him, he can't believe it's a coincidence.

_Dammit! Why did I put my faith in that kid? He dazzled me with the promise of weapons and it was probably nothing more than a trap. But Sky Net doesn't go for the elaborate trap? Connor didn't appear in any way or form to be a gray? No it's got to be something, but what?_

"Shit!" Derek yells and kicks his chair, sending it spinning across the room.

There is a knock on his door.

"What?"Derek yells, turning on the door yelling with ferocity, equal to the grizzly bear depicted on the flag hanging on the wall behind him.

"We've got news sir." A young officer says entering Derek's office.

"On Kyle?" Derek asks hopefully.

"Not exactly."

Derek picks his chair up and places it behind his desk, taking a seat. "Tell me." he says rather curtly.

"Your message has reached all bases, including Outpost Delta."

"Delta?" Derek glances at the map. That bunker was just commissioned and outfitted a week ago. A radio operator is on his way down from Sacramento, should be there today or tomorrow, depending on Sky Net. It doesn't even have a commanding officer yet.

"Yes sir. All patrols are ordered to be on a lookout for Kyle and his squad. So far none have reported seeing anything."

"Understood. Is there anything else?"

"Activity to the south has increased. Heavy metal incursions into previously held territory."

"What is it you aren't telling me lieutenant?"

With a sigh he continues, "We've lost the eagle's nest sir. Our only set of ears on Sky Net is gone."

Derek glares at him. "How?"

"We don't know. They were just beginning a transmission when they were cut off. Observers spotted smoke from their location."

"Thank you Lieutenant." Derek says. "You may go."

The lieutenant slowly backs out of the room.

Derek turns his attention to the map. _Sky Net more active in the south. Kyle and Allison in the southern desert. Outpost Delta is also to the south. So is the Eagles Nest. That is destroyed, but Delta only a few miles away unmolested. Why?_

He tries hard to put the worries about his brother and Allison out of his head and to look at the events as Sky Net would.

Humans are on the ground in previously unexplored area. Nothing in the desert for the resistance, so why go there? Now they are there with eyes on the ground. Sky Net would be curious. Send out a patrol, to observe would be logical, but what does it do, it masses its armies.

The Eagle's Nest was the resistance ears, listening in on Sky Net's transmission. That is in the south. Best location as there was no interference. It's been destroyed. But just a few miles away, outpost Delta, and that place is up and running. It was built and supplied from underground. The exterior hatch was put in under the cover of darkness. It is so new, not many in the resistance know about it yet.

As Derek scans the map and compares it to all the recent intelligence. He can come up with only one thing. There is something in that area Sky Net doesn't want the humans to find. Kyle's patrol must have spooked it. Made it think the humans were looking for something. Which means Sky Net has something in that area it doesn't want found, and if Sky Net doesn't want it found, then Derek is determined to find it.

"Lieutenant!" Derek yells. "Lieutenant! Get your ass back in here!"

He hears the guards outside repeating the order and then the sudden sound of rushing feet. There is a knock on his door, and then the young officer that just left steps back inside.

"Assemble four squads of eight soldiers each. Night vision goggles, heavy weapons. You are to lead one squad, get Manny and Carla to lead the other two, I'll take the forth."

"Um, uh, sir! Where are we going?" The lieutenant asks. Just moments ago, his commander looked like hell, now he looks like he's getting ready to wrestle a bear.

"Right here!" Derek says, his finger touching the map in the middle of all the recent activity. "Sky Net has got something there it doesn't want found. So I want to find it. Grab your rifle Lieutenant. We're going rabbit hunting." Derek finishes with a growl, as he grabs his personal rifle from its place.

The lieutenant glances at the map and then quickly follows.

# # #

The first thing John and Allison did, was to make a bed from some cases for Kyle to rest on in the underground hideaway. They then carried Kyle down the steps, carefully and laid him on the make-shift bed.

"How bad is he?" John asks. Kyle had been switching in and out of consciousness and groaning with every move they made.

"The bullets that went through his hip and leg were thru-n-thru, the third bullet is lodged in his right arm. He was lucky none had hit a major artery or he would have bled out." Allison said looking over her patient.

"Will he be okay by himself? Cos I'm going to need your help to prepare for that machine out there."

Allison looks at John, worried. "He'll have to be, because if we don't stop that machine, we're all dead anyway, aren't we?"

"We'll get through this." John says trying to comfort her the best he an under the circumstances. Truth be told, his heart is racing, the adrenalin pumping through his system like crazy.

"Have you got a plan?"

"Yes." John says firmly. "I want to capture that machine and remove its chip."

Alison's face changes from one of worry to surprise and then a big smile plays across her face looking triumphant for its arrival on the face where it looks best.

"What do you need me to do?" Allison asks, still smiling.

John quickly explains, and then they both get to work.

Allison drives the van to a location behind a small dune to hide it. When she closes the door, some sand slides down revealing a black truck under the sand. _She'll tell John about it later_, she thinks. _Right now its more important to prepare for that terminator that's chasing us._

John pulls out a roll of steel mesh used to provide extra traction to vehicles on steep hills, soft earth, etc. His mom had brought it in after one day when their vehicle got stuck. Only problem being, if they used it, it meant someone had to walk back and put it away and close the hatch.

John carries it to the steps just as Allison arrived. Telling her quickly what he needed her to do, he goes to work. While Allison unrolls the mesh and buries it in the sand leading up to the hatch, John primes the generator and fills the fuel tank from one of the drums of fuel.

Kyle wakens in time to see John go scurrying out the hatch with a roll of cable and a metal rod. He looks around, but can't see much in the dark with the bright desert light coming through the hatch.

John attaches one wire from the cable to the metal mesh. The other wire he leaves long and attaches it to a metal rod that was a diagonal brace from one of the shelf units in the hideaway. He buries the cable but leaves the rod and the extra length of cable behind some brush.

John and Allison go back inside the hideaway to find Kyle awake.

"Hey. How are you feelin?" John asks, pleased to see him conscious.

"Tired I guess. Where are we?"

"You're about twelve feet below ground." John answers. "This is the desert hideaway where my mom hid weapons."

"The weapons?"

"They're here Kyle." John says, then takes a flashlight and shines it into the gloom. Rack after rack of automatic weapons, boxes of ammunition, grenade launchers, and all manner of heavy caliber machine guns are revealed.

Kyle looks about in wonder. Throughout the war, neither he nor Derek have ever seen so many weapons together in one place.

Allison places a comforting hand on Kyle's shoulder. "You should rest. We've still got some more work to do."

She gives him a drink of water from a canteen, then lends John a hand carrying some cases up from the hideaway. They place a small stack to the left of the bunker and another small stack to the right, next to the brush. Behind each stack, they hollow out a space in the sand for more room and to provide more cover. John and Allison select from the cache automatic assault rifles for both spots.

Allison surveys the work they have done. Earlier, she had swept away the tire tracks of the van so that they disappeared before they got to the hatch. She also removed any sign of where she hid it.

"You know John, just because we set a trap for the terminator that is out there, it doesn't mean it will come right to this spot, following our tracks."

John frowns. "What do you propose?"

"I can lead it here." She answers. John looks shocked but waits and listens. "I go out to where we turned off the dry wash. I can use the rock there for cover until it gets close. I reveal myself. It will chase me."

John shakes his head. "It's too dangerous for you. It could kill you and I need you here."

"The whole situation is dangerous. Is it any safer for you handling a live cable from the generator?" She places her hand on her hips. "I can do this John. I'm fast. I'm the fastest runner in the camps." She says earnestly.

John sees the eagerness and honesty in her expression. He knows she is right, just because the tracks lead here, doesn't mean the machine will follow them exactly.

"All right. Do what you said you would do. When you run towards us, you run straight for the hatch, but don't go in. Leap over it, go around it, whatever you have to do, and get behind the stack of boxes on the right. I'll be behind the other one."

Allison turns to leave.

"Allison wait!"

"What?" She asks looking over her shoulder.

"Be careful." John says sounding worried.

"You too." She says quickly and heads for the dry wash.

Without watching her walk away, John goes down the steps into the hideaway to check on and speak with Kyle.

"Hey Kyle, how are you holding up?" John asks, trying to sound cheerful.

"I'm okay now that I've been resting. What have you two been up to?"

"We've been laying in an ambush for our metal friend out there."

"Is there something I can do to help?" Kyle says sounding more friendly toward John than anytime before.

John grins, there is something he'd like Kyle to do.

"With that bullet in your arm, can you still handle a weapon?"

"Yeah, I think so." He winces a bit as he tries to move his bandaged arm.

John pulls out an M79 grenade launcher from a container. "Can you handle this?"

"Just try and stop me." He flashes a crooked smile and then asks. "What's your plan?"

"The idea is to lead the metal straight here. You'll be down here, with this. As soon as you see it standing at the top of the steps fire the weapon. You will only have one chance. The grenade may or may not damage it, but the explosion should throw him backwards onto the metal mesh outside in the sand. It is electrically charged. However, he won't be electrocuted until I complete the link. As soon as I see it get hit, I'll take off running towards it and make the link. Allison will be covering me with an automatic rifle and another grenade launcher."

"That sounds pretty good, but why not just take it out with explosives?"

"Two reasons. One, the proximity of these weapons and ammunition, we may all go up in the explosion; And two, if I can shock it then I can remove the chip and hopefully reprogram it."

"Now just how the hell, are you going to do that Connor?" Kyle asks with disbelief.

"I did it to the other one." John pulls the chip from his pocket and shows it to him.

Kyle grins. _Damn, the kid lobotomized a triple-8. Shit. Isn't there anything this kid can't do?_ He shakes his head and says, "You know I think my brother was right, you are going to be famous. But how are you going to make sure you lead the terminator to where you want?"

John looks down at his feet. "There is something I need to tell you. Allison has offered to act as bait and lead it here."

The look Kyle gives John is something fierce. His voice registers as almost a deep growl. "Connor, you better make damn sure you know what you are doing. If anything happens to Allison, you'd better pray to God that metal takes you down, or I will."

John has a feeling Kyle would keep his word. Inwardly he was praying it would work or they would all perish.

# # #

In a massive factory, smoke belches, flames shoot up into the cavernous interior lighting up machines constructing something new, something huge, something that has never walked the earth before.

Robotic arms move in lowering a section in to place. Welding arc lamps come on as they weld the section into place. Once welded in place, another set of arms swing another piece into place and complete a similar task.

But for the lights from the flames and the sparks from welding, the place is dark. Any human working there would not be able to see a thing, but no human works here. The noise is loud from the constant hum of machinery. Large overhead cranes move just under the roof carrying parts. Like micro stars, small lights on the underside of the crane light up the work being done below.

A large object, the size of a VW Bus, is lowered until it reaches the lower mid section of the machine below. Hatches slide open and the nuclear generator is inserted. Power and control linkages are instantly made. The hatch slides shut, locking in place. Lights and sensors come on automatically on the creatures head. Tactical display comes up on its HUD and sensory data is fed to it. A quick scan reveals none of the targets it's been programmed with. Data feeds into it from Sky Net Central, updating its computer with new mission parameters.

The crane moves out and another rolls into place. It lowers something far more insidious than a small nuclear generator. The machine is now armed with a plasma cannon.

# # #

The sun is closer to the horizon. John licks his lips wondering how close that machine is. He doesn't bother to entertain the thought that it might call off its pursuit. Machines never stop. John feels certain it won't be much longer before it arrives.

Kyle is down below, ready to flip the switch to the electric as soon as he sees Allison clears the hatch. Beside him on his makeshift bed, lays the grenade launcher, already loaded. He can't wait to fire on that metal bastard. It's cost him his command and would have killed him but for John's stubbornness.

Allison is waiting by the edge of the dry wash, using the standing rock as a shield from the sun. The bright light makes it hard to see, but that shouldn't be a problem. The naked metal of the terminator should reflect light giving away its position.

She moves around the rock, staying low and trying to stay in its shadow. Her eyes never leaving the tracks they left on the dry wash, nor the surrounding desert.

John's position is right out in the sun. The sweat is just pouring off of him. He doesn't know if it's from the heat or from worry about Allison. She offered to lead it to the trap, as the machine could figure out where they had gone and possibly come at them unawares. Damn dangerous, but very brave of her.

He mops the sweat from his brow. John knows that giving the machine a target to pursue would guarantee they could lead it where they wanted it to go. Allison claimed to be able to outrun it, but this would put her in more danger than any of them.

Allison scans the desert from her position next to the standing rock. She is trying to put herself in the machine's position. If the machines were out here, then they must have scanned the area and know all the possible and actual roads in the desert.

If she were pursuing herself and the others, she would pick a direction to come from other than what they took to get here. John indicated there was more than one route to the hideaway. There could be many roads intersecting the dry wash.

Allison decides to change her position, to move further from the dry wash to observe both approaches, from both up and down river. She gets up from the shadow in which she was crouched in and walks around the rock to head back up the dirt track. As she rounds the rock, she encounters the machine.

John dries his sweaty palms on his shirt. He is just raising the canteen to his mouth to take a swallow of water when he hears Allison yell, followed by gunfire.

Neither the terminator nor Allison expected to encounter the other. As soon as the machine sees Allison, it begins scanning her. It only takes a second, but that is enough time for Allison to make her move.

She pulls her knife from its sheath and with lightning speed, jams it into the gun's mechanism, snapping off the point, rendering the gun useless. The machine drops the gun, grabbing Allison by the front of her jacket and throws her. With a yell of surprise, she sails twenty feet landing in the soft sand of the dirt track.

The machine marches towards her, limping slightly. She raises her M-16 and fires several rounds at its head. Then she gets up and runs like hell for the hideaway.

After hearing Allison's yell and the gunfire, John had to fight hard to keep from blowing his cover. His heart is pounding in his chest. He waits anxiously and then he sees Allison running towards him flat out and just fifty yards behind her is the Terminator that they hit on the road.

Allison runs right up to the hatch and in an amazing leap clears it, and rolls across the ground. As soon as she comes to a stop, she dives into the hollow behind the cases and grabs one of her weapons. At the same moment, the lights came on in the hideaway.

John stays out of sight ready to move. Inwardly he is relieved that Allison is okay. The terminator slows to a walk as it gets closer. John's throat goes dry. As the terminator walks toward the hatch, John grabs the rod. He can feel a slight tingle as the current travels through him to reach the ground.

Kyle had been waiting anxiously down below. He had also heard Allison yell. Unlike John, he had actually moved in fear for her safety, the pain from his wounds forcing him back down.

He looks up in time to see Allison fly over the hatch opening. He reaches over, flipping the switch sending power out from the generator.

Kyle grabs the grenade launcher with his good arm and tries to aim, using his injured arm to support the gun. The launcher was shaking in his grip, and he was fighting to hold it steady when the terminator came into view. Seeing the machine focuses his mind, the launcher steadies, and he pulls the trigger.

John sees the explosion and watches as the terminator is flung back away from the hatch landing on its back on the wire mesh. The moment he saw the machine lift off up the ground, John ran forward. Leaping into the air, he comes down, jamming the rod into its body at the moment it hit the ground and the wire mesh.

Allison watches as John leaps, shoving the metal pole into the terminators body. There is a huge burst of sparks and she watches as John is flung off into the scrub.

From John's perspective, he briefly saw some sparks, and then everything went black. John didn't hear Allison screaming his name or hear the automatic gunfire. He never even felt himself fly through the air and land in the brush. For John, the world had suddenly grown very dark and very quiet.

# # #

Derek and his team run through the tunnels to reach a location as close to the area on the map as he can get without being observed. The Lieutenant, who saw him previously, could only wonder at the man's stamina as he leads them through the tunnels after drinking an entire tin of home made hooch. Half a tin of the paint stripper puts most men under the table, and this guy is running a damn marathon.

Reaching a ladder, Derek climbs up it and lifts the old manhole cover slowly. Derek takes his time scanning the area around the manhole. You can never tell when some machine may get the notion to watch one of the many exits used by the resistance. Derek feels secure they don't know about this one, but they are venturing very close to Sky Net's recent activity, so you never know.

Feeling secure, Derek pushes the manhole cover back, sliding it along the ground, and scrambles up onto the surface. Staying down low, he turns in a full circle, his finger resting on the trigger. He sees nothing and nothing fires on him.

"Squad One, get up here." Derek orders.

The men and women quickly scramble up and take positions similar to their leaders. Scanning the broken buildings and burnt out cars for any sign of a machine presence.

Derek lowers his rifle and leans over the gaping hole. "The coast is clear. All of you, get up here, now!"

It takes several minutes for his remaining platoon to join him on the surface. Sliding the manhole cover back in place, he gives the order and they all scurry to an almost standing building for shelter from the ever observant machines.

"This is what we are going to do." Derek says his eyes scanning the faces in the room. "Sky Net has something out here. Something it doesn't want us to find."

"Do you know what that could be sir?" One of the soldiers ask.

"Not a clue. So keep your eyes open for anything. And do not let yourselves be seen."

"This going to be a grid search pattern. Lieutenant, you and Manny take two squads and head east. After you go about a mile, drop off one squad that will move south. The other will continue heading east for another mile before they too, turn south. I will lead one squad from this point heading south. Carol will go one mile west before turning south with her squad. Any questions?"

"If we find something, how do we get in touch with the others?" Someone asks.

"Each squad will leave one person here. If your squad encounters something that is definitely worthy of attention, send someone back here, the others will go search out their comrades and relay the information."

Derek looks at the hastily assembled team. "Are all of you clear on what we are doing?"

"Yes sir!"

"Good. Move out!"

# # #

Allison watches John with a mixture of pride and concern as he rushes at the machine to complete the electrical current.

He jams the rod into its body. There is a spout of sparks and then an electrical arc jumps from the linkage through John, whose feet are still on the ground. With the sound of an exploding transformer, John is flung up and out into the scrub.

"Jooohhhnn!" Allison screams and rushes forward.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Kyle yells from below.

"Kill the power! Kill the power!" Allison yells.

She reaches the machine twitching on the ground as electricity courses through it. The sparking comes to as stop.

She walks up to it, her feet on the wire mesh. Placing the muzzle of her weapon against the chip port, she fires her gun until the chip and port is completely obliterated.

Allison then rushes to John's side. Kyle still yelling for answers from the hideaway.

She pulls John from the scrub and checks his vitals quickly. He's not breathing. There's no pulse.

"Noooo!" She yells and begins dragging John's limp body to the hideaway.

"What's going on out there?" Kyle yells.

Allison comes down the steps, half dragging and half carrying John's body. Her arms are wrapped around his chest, his arms and head just hanging limp. Tears are running down her face.

"I need your help Kyle." She says placing John's body on the floor. "His heart has stopped and he's not breathing." She says through quiet sobs.

"You'll have to breathe for him while I do CPR. Can you do that?"

Kyle nods his head emphatically and crawls off his bed to help her. The tears in her eyes say it all. She's made her decision.

Kyle tilts John's head back and begins performing mouth-to-mouth while Allison begins chest compressions.

"1, 2, 3, 4 5." Allison counts off her chest compressions and then Kyle breathes into John's lungs. They do this over and over until suddenly John lets out a groan.

With fresh tears of relief coursing down Allison's face, she checks John's breathing and pulse.

"So, how is he?" Kyle asks.

"He's alive, but unconscious." She says, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Does he mean that much to you?" Kyle asks, with a saddened face.

Allison looks at him nodding her head, her face a mixture of worry, concern and relief.

"All right. I'll keep an eye on him. Looks like you'll be pulling guard duty until we are both on our feet."

"Thank you Kyle." She says, getting up and grabbing her rifle from where she hastily set it when she laid John on the ground.

"For what?" Kyle asks.

She places a sisterly kiss on his cheek. "For understanding." She helps him onto his bed made from weapon cases.

"You call me if he wakes." She says, her face laced with worry.

"Sure." He replies.

Allison goes to the top of the steps and sits with her back to Kyle. Against her wishes, she finds herself crying more tears of relief that John is alive. She never expected to feel this way, but then . . . why shouldn't she?

# # #

Hours drift by. The scream of jet engines fill the evening sky as Hunter Killers attack human resistance forces on the ground.

Huge Ogres and Centaurs crawl through the rubble of a million cities around the world, crushing the bones, the dead, and the rubble under their treads with equal regard for all. Killing in mass or individually any human that ventures outside.

On every continent men and women fight for their survival. Some are lucky and still manage a meager living growing grain, fruit, vegetable or cattle for those who fight for them all. Some use their skills in engineering, manufacturing, to build and maintain weapons for human resistance. Wherever they are, word gets out and trade is arranged. Shipments are made, some over land and some over or under the seas.

Unfortunately there are those who take advantage of the situation. Wicked men and women who steal, kill, rape, murder and plunder for what they need to survive. How much stronger would the resistance be if these people would turn from their wicked ways and help their fellow humans to fight? But no matter the situation, there are always those who look out for themselves only. The war against the machines is no different.

Men and women fight on every continent, in every city to take back what is theirs. Some fight as they've known no other way of life since the bombs fell. Some fight as they remember the world as it was before the machines took over and they want it back. The green fields, the little villages, or big cities filled with people. Shopping malls. Weekdays of school or work and weekends with the family. For them, fighting for the world and the people they love is what drives them to win.

The remnants of the US Military have fought long and hard to reclaim their country from the computer system that has taken over the world. And quietly, word spreads among the military, a message of hope.

"_Hope is on the horizon. The time has come to take the fight to the machines. Someday soon, a new voice will be heard and the fight will change. No longer will we fight to survive, but we will fight to win. Some of you have asked me to lead. That's not my job. I have only prepared the way. Prepared the way for hope."_

Some shake their heads in disbelief. Others cling to it in hopes the word is true and others are yet still unconvinced or indifferent to the words of hope. But for one individual, who has remained vigilant throughout waiting for him to appear, the words of hope from The Prophet makes him cheer.

# # #

John opens his eyes to see darkness. His first thought is that the sun had set. Then he realizes there aren't any stars. The next thing he notices, his head is hurting.

He groans. "Uuuhhhggggg."

"Hey Allison! He's waking up!" Kyle shouts. His words feel like a spike being driven through John's head.

_I must be in the hideaway,_ he thinks.

A moment later Allison is kneeling beside him a few tears on her cheeks. "I was so worried. I thought we were going to lose you."

"What happened?" John asks in a low voice, hoping the others will take the hint.

"The electrical current knocked you out. Your heart had stopped. We managed to resuscitate you with CPR."

"What happened to the machine?" John asks.

"It's destroyed." She says. Allison knows that John wanted to try and capture it, but there wasn't time, not if she was to save his life.

"What?" John asks with surprise.

"The electrical shock threw you into the scrub brush. I thought you were dead." She wipes her eyes and continues speaking. "The machine was laying there twitching and moving from the electricity going through it. I shouted at Kyle to cut the power. I fired repeatedly into its head with my automatic rifle until I destroyed its chip."

"But you're okay?" John asks, focusing his eyes on the young woman. Allison being alive and unhurt is more important than any machine.

"I'm okay now John. I thought you had died." And with that she buries her face in his chest and cries.

John tries to comfort her the best he can, stroking her hair softly as he speaks. "That's all right. We're okay now."

Kyle clears his throat and speaks up, "We'll stay here overnight and head out tomorrow morning. I'll take first watch."

And with that, he drags himself to the hatch opening where he can keep watch. He shouldn't have done it, because of his injuries, but Kyle's only thought was to give John and Allison some time to be alone for a few minutes. Allison's made her choice and well, he has to admit, that kid has got more nerve and balls than he's seen in many a day. Both her and Derek saw something in Connor that he didn't or maybe even still doesn't see. Whatever it is the kid's got, he can't begrudge him or her any longer.

Kyle sits down with a groan facing the open hatch above. "Hey Connor." Kyle says over his shoulder.

"Yeah." John says glancing at him

"Your one hell of a soldier kid." Kyle looks back at him and nods his head in approval.

John smiles his thanks at him, and lays his head back down.

_From the Journal of John Connor_

_I don't think Kyle was angry with me any more, and for once, I didn't mind being called kid. I don't know what it was that set him off against me, but it felt good to be in his good graces for a change. Maybe he and Allison talked while I was out of it. Should I ask? Probably best if I don't._

_It felt kind of strange but pleasant with Allison by my side laying on the floor of the hideaway. I wish things could be different. Her liking me really left me feeling confused. I wished Cameron was here, but I was here because of her and for her. Allison laying beside me with her head on my chest didn't make me feel any better about that, but her presence was comforting._

In moments, John finds himself falling back to sleep. Allison continues to lay beside him, her head on his chest listening to his heart beat. She was so scared when he almost died. She should have done more to protect him. But what more could she have done? But it's okay now. John's alive. Her fire of hope has been rekindled.

# # #

Eight people sit under a ledge of concrete from a partially collapsed building. Hunter Killer's fly overhead, the vibration of their engines making the buildings shake around them.

"Looks like we're stuck here for the night sir." A female soldier says to Derek.

"So it seems." Derek squints, thinking. "This shelter is no good. We're protected from being observed from overhead, but there is nothing to keep us being seen at ground level."

An HK screams overhead drowning out the answer of the soldier.

"What was that?" Derek asks.

"I don't think we've got much of a choice sir." She replies, gesturing around them at the devastation.

"No. We don't. Let's just hope the other squads are having better luck. Cos it looks like we're sitting tight while the HK's are flying."

"There is one good thing about the HK's being here sir."

"What's that?" Derek asks.

"It confirms your theory that Sky Net has something here it doesn't want us finding."

Derek glances at another HK flying past a few blocks away. _She's right._

**2027, Day 15**

John wakes to see a patch of bluish black sky through the hatch. Just a few stars are visible in the growing light. The sun will be rising soon, and with it, the heat.

Allison is still beside him, her head nestled on his shoulder, and her arm across his chest. If it were any other time, he would have lain there enjoying the moment, but he knows they have to make a move. They have to load the van with weapons, followed by a long trip.

He gently shakes Allison. She groans and stretches and makes as if to go back to sleep. John gently shakes her again.

"Good Morning sleepy head." He says in hopes of waking her.

"Oh John, is it morning all ready?" Allison mumbles as she wipes the sleep from her eyes.

"Yeah we need to get up. We've got a lot to do today."

"All right." She then stands up and proceeds to stretch cat-like. It sent a shiver of arousal through John, but he buries it deep as this wasn't the time or place for such things. He wonders briefly if she did that on purpose, but before he could decide she was thrusting her hand out to give him a hand off the floor.

"How do you feel this morning?" Allison asks, looking him over.

"Speaking for someone who was just electrocuted," John grins "I feel shocked."

Allison groans then chuckles at John's attempt at humor to lighten the moment.

It was then that they noticed Kyle. He had fallen asleep on the steps into the hideaway. He never bothered to wake either of them up to relieve him at watch.

Feeling a little guilty for not waking themselves to relieve him, they approached Kyle to wake him. They hate to disturb him but they can't get out with him on the steps.

Allison wakes Kyle gently and they both give him a hand outside. John helps him to a spot behind some scrub where he can relieve himself. Then while he waits, John does the same. Allison goes off to another location to take care of her needs.

While she has some privacy, Allison pulls off her shirt and jacket to check for any injuries from where the machine threw her. She is relieved to find nothing more than some mild abrasions.

Allison pulled her clothes back on and straightens them out the best she can. She is finding it impossible to look her best under these circumstances, but any little bit helps. Hopefully she will have time to get cleaned up a little when they stop to refill the canteens at the well.

John and Allison proceed to clean up the area around the hatch. John takes a moment to observe the terminator. There is a hole big enough to put his fist into where its chip once resided.

John looks at Allison and says, "Remind me never to make you angry."

She laughs and then they drag the endoskeleton into the desert and bury it in the soft sand.

John is a little surprised to find the mesh, cables, and rod are blackened by the electrical current. He rolls them all up and sets them aside. John check the connections he made at the generator and finds he had accidentally connected one of the wires to the wrong post. The generator has a two phase 240VAC output. When he made the connection, he accidentally connected the leads to both 120VAC outputs rather than just one output and a ground. When he made the link to the machine, both 120VAC currents went through him to the ground. He cursed himself for being a fool and not taking the time to double check his work despite the need to save time.

"Hey John." Kyle shouts. "This ground is kind of soft. I don't think we'll be able to load as much into the van as it can carry without getting stuck."

"I know, and the mesh isn't long enough to reach the dry wash. Hang on a moment."

John runs down the steps. They had hooked the lights up to the generator and the interior was well lit. John walks over to a work bench setup to repair and clean weapons and takes a clipboard out of a file drawer.

He runs back outside and hands it to Kyle.

"What's this?" Kyle asked.

"It's the inventory list my mom had kept of the weapons she kept stocked. You tell me what's on the list that you know Derek needs the most, and we'll take that. Next time out we can either have more gas and ferry loads between here and the rest stop or else have more than one vehicle."

Kyle flips through the list, noting all items they need on a scrap piece of paper.

"Your mom must have been quite the woman." He says writing out a list.

"If you only knew." John replies. Kyle gives him a questioning look, but John just grins.

Kyle hands John the list. He goes down inside to find those items required while Allison fetches the van. John finds the first few items and drags them to the steps. He looks up to see the van backing up to the hatch.

John grabs a case of C4. He adds some extra detonators and remote switches, not knowing what they would eventually be used for. But he takes enough to take down a good sized building. John carries to the steps and is surprised to see that Allison had managed to drag the case of RPG's and the case of launchers up the steps that he had previously brought to the steps.

_Wow! She may be lean but she is strong,_ he thinks.

"That dune I parked the van behind isn't natural." She says to John after he puts the case in the van.

"What is it?" John asks.

"It's an old black truck." She answers. "There must have been a sandstorm sometime ago. You can see all the loose sand about, but just a few inches down the ground is hard. The vehicle must have acted as a windbreak and all of the sand piled up against it. Eventually some seeds took root adding to the disguise."

"I'll check it out. Can you get those other cases up here?"

"Sure." She answers with a smile.

John jogs over to the dune and notices that it does look out-of-place, not natural to the landscape.

He walks around to the other side of the dune, and sure enough there is a truck there. John goes forward and peers through the window. It is dark inside, so he pulls his flashlight from his pocket and shines it inside.

He is shocked to see the mummified remains of a body, slumped over the steering wheel. He moves the light along the body, its arm still outstretched on the steering column. Then he sees the keyring.

He begins smashing the flashlight against the window, but unlike in the movies, it doesn't do a thing. Yelling he tries pulling on the door handle, but it won't open.

With a loud incoherent yell, he takes his rifle and smashes the butt of it against the window. The glass shatters. He leans inside and pulls out the keys. They are his mom's.

Crying he sinks to the ground, his back to the vehicle.

# # #

"All right guys." Derek is talking to his troops after they reassembled near the manhole where they came out. "I know the previous twelve hours didn't produce positive results, but last nights activity does confirm for me that there is something here."

The people listen aptly, some showing some signs of being tired.

Derek points to a rough checkerboard grid he had scratched into the dirt on the floor. "Last night, we were here and observed several HK's flying on a northwesterly to southeasterly direction and back, for the most part. Did anyone observe something similar?"

"Sir." A man almost Derek's age holds his hand up. "We were about five miles North-northeast of your position. We could see the HK's disappear behind a ridge and reappear."

"Show me exactly on the map." Derek says and hands the stick to him.

"Running parallel to the mountains are a range of hills." He draws a line across the grid. "We would see the HK's disappear and reappear in a valley here." He then places an X on the map.

Derek looks at the hand drawn map. "Well looks like we know where Sky Net is hiding it. Now we just need to find out what it is."

"Grab your gear people. We're heading out." Derek pats the man on the shoulder. "Good job Manny."

Derek grabs some people at random out of the group. "You stay here and watch our six. If we have to exit in a hurry, I don't want to come back to find this place swarming with metal."

# # #

Kyle and Allison look up as they hear John cry out followed by the unmistakable sound of breaking glass.

"Wait here." Allison says rushing off, her rifle ready.

"Where am I going to go?" Kyle says sarcastically.

"Noooooo." John cries "Noooooo."

He can't believe it. John clutches the key ring in his hand. He leans against the vehicle, tears streaming down his face. His system flushed with anger and grief.

John can't believe his mother came out here to the desert, only to die here.

Allison approaches quickly, but seeing John isn't in any immediate danger, she slings her rifle back on her shoulder.

"What's wrong?" She asks.

John struggles to come up with the words. How can he explain, but the grief he feels, she could see it on his face and there is no hiding that.

"This vehicle was my mom's." John says.

"But what is it doing here? You said you were ambushed just this side of the border and all were killed."

"I only thought all were killed." John covers his lie quickly. "But this is her car. This is her key ring. I made it for her in shop class for Mother's Day. See here. Our initials, S C and J C, intertwined."

"Okay, this might be her car but it doesn't mean she drove it here."

"No one knew about this place but me and her. The only other ones who knew are dead. If her car is here that means she's here and she's dead! There is a corpse behind the wheel."

John continues to stare at the key ring in his hand.

Allison peers inside the vehicle.

"How tall was your mom?" She asks, observing the mummified remains.

"Huh, What?"

"How tall was your mom?"

"About 5 feet 6 inches. Why?"

"Because this body is at least 6 feet 2 inches and the hips are too narrow to be a woman's."

John gets up and looks back inside. She is right.

"The body isn't hers." John says feeling elated.

"Take this." John hands her his rifle and scrambles inside to check out the interior. The back of the truck is empty.

_So if she brought anything she must have unloaded it first. Or else, she came to pick something up and didn't get the chance. Her back pack isn't here. When coming out here she never travels without it. Which means she left by other means. The answer must be in the hideaway._

Excited, John climbs back out through the window and runs back to the hideaway. Allison not too far behind still carrying his rifle.

"Where are you going?" She calls after him.

"What's up Connor?" Kyle said as he runs past and down into the hideaway.

John can hear their voices faintly outside, while he begins searching.

"What's up with Connor?"

"He's found his mom's truck. There was a body inside, but it wasn't his mom's."

"So what is he doing now?"

"I guess he's looking for some clue as to what happened to her." Allison says, waiting outside.

Allison was right. John was searching for some clue. Torn between hope of finding something and not finding anything. Fearing that his mom's last days had ended here.

John was using his flashlight, having turned off the generator early to conserve its fuel. He was making his way back through the shelf units looking for something out-of-place. It wasn't until he got to the very back when he found it.

There were two bags on the floor. One had a tag marked Derek and the other had one marked John. A quick check showed that it held some clothing. Ripping the tag off, John hides it behind some boxes,not wanting any questions as to how a bag with Derek's name on it got to be in the hideaway.

John rips open his bag to find his clothes, some of his computer parts, and nestled between two sweatshirts is his laptop.

"Thank you mom." John says.

If his computer still worked, he could use it to reprogram the chips from the terminators. He takes if and all of the electronic bits and wraps it up in some sweatshirts and stuffs them in a shoulder bag.

When he set his flashlight down to put the items in the bag, that's when he saw the large bundle wrapped in plastic on the bottom shelf, roughly the size of a human.

With shaking hands, John reaches out and brushes the dust off of it. Unsuccessfully, he tries to shift it, but it is heavy. He can't see through the plastic, but it looks like a body.

_Could someone have killed my mom and hid her body down here? John thought. He knew he couldn't leave this place without checking._

John repositions his flashlight on a box, and pulling out his knife, he carefully slits open the plastic near what could be a persons head.

He flips back the first layer of plastic and an envelope falls out. John picks it up. The first thing he notices, is that it has yellowed with age. The second thing he sees, his name is written on it in his mom's handwriting.

With shaking hands, John opens it. Inside he finds a letter and a photograph, from his mom.

_Dear John,_

_I worry about you. You are my son. I will always worry about you._

_You have an important job to do now. Please, don't worry about me._

_I am giving you something you left behind. It is safer with you than with me._

_I know you will take care of it. Your gift has been very helpful._

_Thank you for the warning about the cops making a security sweep at 10:15 PM._

_I got out of there just in time._

_Love always,_

_Mom_

_John didn't know what she meant by a gift he had given her, nor the warning. John looks at the photograph. It is the one taken of her on her first trip to Mexico when she was pregnant with John. It was the only photograph she had of herself. She looked very pretty, yet sad in the photograph._

_If his mom had written him a note and put it inside the bundle, then it can't be his mom's body. Could it be? She mentioned giving him something that he had left behind. That he could take care of it._

Nerving himself up, he grabs his flashlight and leans in for a closer look. Swallowing nervously, he pulls back that last layer of plastic.

John's heart skips a beat as his eyes look upon the last thing he had expected. Cameron! He couldn't believe it! The flesh and hair on her head was completely restored! She looked just like she did on that first day he met her.

"Oh Cameron. Why did you do it? Why did you give up your chip? I could have fixed you. I know I could have." I didn't realize I was going to speak or what I was saying until the words left me.

"I'm sorry I didn't believe you. You lied to me so often. How could I believe that you loved me. By the time I learned, it was too late. You had willingly sacrificed yourself to rescue my mom, when we should have left as mom told us. I love you Cameron. I'll try to get your chip back I promise."

Tears were running down his face as he kissed Cameron's cheek.

"I love you Cameron." He says, wiping the tears from my face. Then he pulls the plastic closed around her and reseals it the best he can.

# # #

Deep in the mountains, in an ancient cold war bunker, two women are talking. One in her mid fifties, the other in her mid twenties.

"We'll need to leave soon. Resources are getting low." The older woman tells her younger friend.

"I know." She answers, placing a comforting arm around her. "Where do you want to go?"

"South. In four weeks time. We'll start heading south, keeping to the old hiking trails."

"What about your radio messages?"

"No more. I've said all that I can. We just have to wait, but we'll take the radio with us." She replies sitting on her bunk. "Let everyone know we'll be leaving soon. One bag each. We'll start by sending small groups south tonight to Escondido. From there, it's just a short trip into Mexico."

"What are you going to do right now?" The girl asks the older woman.

"I'm going to rest. Wake me when the patrol returns."

She rolls over and goes to sleep. The younger woman doesn't have the heart to tell her the patrol returned half an hour ago.

This war against the machines is hard on everyone, especially on the woman who raised her.

# # #

John grabs his bag and gets the hell out of the hideaway.

He climbs the steps to the surface to find that Allison had finished loading the truck all on her own. John feels indebted to her for that. He should have helped.

They are both looking at him with some concern. Allison is standing with her gun in her hands and Kyle sitting in the shade of the van checking off items on his list.

"Have we got everything?" John manages to croak.

"Yeah." Kyle looks at him with a penetrating stare. "Are you okay Connor?"

"I'll be fine." John answers.

"Allison said your mom might have been here." Kyle asks questioningly.

"Uh, yeah. She'd been here, probably some time ago. She left me a few items."

"So its possible she survived the attack on you and your family when crossing the border."

"I . . . I guess so." John stammers, remembering the lie he told about his origins.

"If it's any help, there are other resistance bases out there. She could have gone to anyone of them. In fact there's one in the Sierra's that Derek and I have heard rumors about for like ten years. She could be with them."

"Kyle, those are just rumors." Allison says. "Besides, the Sierras are too far away from here. My guess would be Yuma or San Diego. There are old military bases there which have become bases for resistance groups. Either of them could have had a patrol out this way and picked up John's mother."

"Yeah, whatever." John says turning his back on them. He knows they are trying to help, but his mom wasn't here just a few days ago, she was here sometime after he left her, eighteen years ago.

Quickly wiping the tear stains off his face, John throws the bundle of wire mesh below and closes the hatch. He pushes the sand back over it and walks back to the van.

Allison and John helped Kyle into the back, where he has the pleasure of riding on top of the crates. Their bags providing him some needed cushioning from the rough ride.

"Allison, can you drive? I need some time to think." John asks her.

"Sure." She says, and takes his hand briefly giving it a gentle squeeze.

They climb up into the van, and drive off. Kyle lays down in back and holds onto the crates to keep himself from moving about. Allison sensing John's mood remains quiet. Letting him think through whatever is troubling him. John rides silently in deep thought.

Allison could see that John was still upset. She could only imagine what it is that he is thinking about. _Best to let him work it out on his own for now. There will be plenty of time for talking later._

For his part, John was grateful for the silence, giving him time to think. He couldn't tell Allison about her double in the hideaway. She didn't think she'd take it all that well. Allison told him that she loved him, which left him confused, upset.

He kept turning over recent events in his head trying to come to a decision.

_Mom hid Cameron's body in the only place where I would find it. Now all I needed was her chip, and I could have Cameron back. But that still required me finding John Henry and getting back her chip. An impossible situation, made worse, by the fact that I've got this beautiful girl, the very image of Cameron who likes me, who really likes me. Damn! _

_Allison is a nice girl. Her toughness and determination reminds me of mom. She's got a gentle nature that kind of reminds me of Cameron's quiet personality, but Allison's personality is so outgoing and friendly. There was never two people more alike and yet so different._

_I told Allison that I still had feelings for someone I had lost, and that I didn't think I could love her in the way she loved me. She accepted that. I must admit that I do like her a lot, but was that because of who she is, or because she looks like Cameron? _

_The best thing and right thing to do, is finish my mission to fix Cameron and if something more than a friendship forms between me and Allison, then I will just have to face the consequences. I won't go out of my way to avoid it, but I won't encourage it either. If it happens, it happens._

John was still troubled by the time Allison drove into the rest stop. Not wasting any time, she backs the van into the bay where they had found the van.

John quickly jumps out and closes the doors to the garage, while Allison helps Kyle out of the van.

"We should minimize our visibility and stay indoors as much as possible." Kyle says.

"What about the bodies of Mike, Lewis and Billy?" John asks.

"As soon as it's dark, you two will have to go out and collect them and bury them with the others."

Allison and John pull a couple of cases out of the van to make another makeshift bed for Kyle. John goes to fetch the bucket of water from the well and returns to help Allison clean his wounds again and apply fresh bandages.

They let him rest quietly while Allison and John take turns refilling the canteens and standing guard.

After they finished filling the canteens, they take refuge from the heat in the service station. Allison had remained very quiet, hardly saying anything but for when they cleaned Kyle's wounds. John can tell Allison wants to talk to him, so he decides to speak first to avoid any awkward questions.

"I found a letter from my mom, in the hideaway." He says to her.

Allison comes closer. They are standing by a tool bench. Behind it there is a window that offers a clear view of the grounds in front of the service station.

"What does it say?" She asks, both curious and concerned.

"Here, you can read it." John says and pulls the envelope out of his jacket pocket.

Allison takes the letter out and reads it. "It seems she loves you very much."

"She sacrificed a lot to raise me." John answers truthfully.

"It's clear she expects you to move on with your life, and not worry about her." She says trying to gauge John's feelings.

"You see this." John pulls the key ring from his pocket. "When I gave it to her, she cried. I seldom saw her cry. I told her that it symbolized that no matter where our lives took us we'd always be connected."

"You know, maybe that's why she left her key ring, so that when you found it you would remember what you told her." Allison says placing her hand gently on his. "Is this her, in the photograph?"

"Yeah."

"You've got her eyes."

"That's what she says." John smiles weakly.

They stand there quietly for several minutes just enjoying each other's company. John felt better after talking about his mom and wished that he could tell Allison the whole story. The true story.

_Maybe I will have to someday_, he thinks, _but for now she must believe the lie._

"I appreciate you coming over and talking to me about my mom. I'll come to terms with it in time. I don't know if she's dead or not, but she did make it to the desert hideaway and left me that message."

Allison puts one arm around John's shoulder.

"You are a good friend Allison."

"If we are going to be good friends, then you should call me Ally. All my closest friends do." She says, her eyes twinkling while she smiles at him.

"Thanks Ally. I think you are the best friend I could have right now." John replies

She gives his shoulders a light squeeze."

"Why don't you get some rest." John says, "I'll take this watch. I'd never sleep now anyways."

"Okay." She gives him a quick peck on the cheek and goes check on Kyle before lying down.

John stands alone with his thoughts listening to the quiet snores of Kyle._ What should I do about Cameron's body back at the hideaway? Why did she give up her chip? Where is John Henry?_

His hand rests on his pocket, where he had placed the chip from the Triple-8._ All I need is her chip and I can have her back again. But I just know it won't be that simple. There is still the question of Catherine Weaver. Where did she disappear to? She said I would need John Henry to save the world. But what is his task?_

John knew that if he ever ran into Weaver again, there were a lot of questions to ask her.

He takes a swig of water and repositions himself for a better view of the yard. They aren't out of danger and he knows he can't get lax in his duty to protect Kyle and Allison.

John keeps his eyes open for any trouble, but he finds himself getting tired of looking at the same expanse of desert scrub and empty road. It doesn't help that his mind keeps slipping back to Cameron's body and the letter from his mother.

John stands there for hours thinking of what he can do. The time for waking Allison for her turn at watch slipping past. But his mind has no answers, only questions. _What happened to his mother? How did her truck end up at the hideaway? And if she drove it there, then what happened to her afterwards?_

With a groan of despair, he looks down at the table, closing his eyes and running his hands through his hair. When he opens his eyes, they fall upon a small chain necklace hanging on a hook. He takes the chain down and slips his mom's key ring on it.

Taking one more look at it, John whispers. "You'll be with me always, Mom."

After wiping moisture from his eyes, he places the necklace over his head and tucks the key ring under his shirt.

Allison had looked over at John when he groaned. She hadn't slept at all. Too concerned for Kyle's injuries and John's emotional well being.

After a moment or two, Allison joins John.

"You didn't wake me." She says.

"I needed time to think." John says, a light frown creasing his face.

She nods her head. "It will be dark soon."

"Yeah, I know. The shovels are where we left them." John answers automatically. There are still the bodies of Mike, Lewis and Bill that need to be buried.

Sensing what must be on John's mind, Allison puts an arm around him. "You know. Whatever ghosts are haunting you, whatever memories from the past are troubling your mind. You aren't alone." She says, resting her head on his shoulder. "We are all haunted in some way of a life we have left behind."

"Thanks Ally." He places an arm around her waist. "I know. Judgment Day has changed everything and has affected everyone."

She smiles and feels good that she was able to say the right words to help John.

They stand together in silence like that through most of the night keeping an eye out for trouble which never comes. The only trouble that night is in John's heart and mind.

# # #

"_Ghost From The Past" Lyrics - Bang Gang_

"_You fall like an angel to me_

_And you fell and broke your wings_

_It was never meant to last_

_You were just a ghost from the past_

_I thought you really could be real_

_That my heart was ready to bleed_

_When I walked through pain and fear_

_You would totally disappear_

_Chorus:_

_You know that I love you, you know what I need_

_You know that I find you so tender so sweet_

_We walked through the darkness, we walked in the sun_

_We shared all our sorrows, we shared all our love_

_You said that you love me you said that you cared_

_So how could I know I had something to fear_

_I don't know where you are I know that you're hurt_

_I should have been able to sense your alert_

_You came like a stranger to me_

_And you said you were for real_

_Now I do know where this will end_

_I was cold and I needed a friend_

_I turned on the light so you could see_

_I was stuck in some other dream_

_Still my eyes were crystal clear_

_You came closer and shattered my tears_

_Chorus_

_Go, how could you say you want me to go_

_When my diamond was starting to glow_

_When you knew that I wanted you so_

_You left me alone_

_Chorus"_


	8. Rescue & Revelations

**Disclaimer:** I do not claim any rights to the Terminator films; the TV series, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles;" or any characters depicted within the films or TV series. I do claim the right to this story idea and all characters and situations of my own creation. This story was created solely for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. No profits are garnered from its distribution - unfortunately.

* * *

**TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES**

**REUNION**

**Part 1: The Shadow of Death**

**Author: The1Russter**

**Chapter 7**

**Rescue and Revelations**

_Cameron Phillips, "Come with me if you want to live."_

_Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Pilot, 13 January 2008_

_Sarah Connor, "I told you to stay out of this."_

_James Ellison, "I tried. Everywhere I turn, there you are."_

_Extract from, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, S02E21 Adam Raised a Cain, 3 April 2009_

_James Ellison, "I just wanted the girl to be safe."_

_Sarah Connor, "So did I."_

_James Ellison, "From whom?"_

_Sarah Connor, "I don't know."_

_Extracts from, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, S02E22 Born to Run, 10 April 2009_

_Cameron Phillips, "You're safe."_

_Sarah and John in unison, "No one is ever safe."_

_Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Pilot, 13 January 2008_

# # #

**2009, Day 3, Late at Night**

Agent Auldridge had called Detective Macklin to join him and Mr. Ellison at his home. Ellison and Auldridge both felt certain it wouldn't be safe for him and Savannah to go home tonight. So Auldridge invited Ellison and Savannah are to stay the night with him, as it would probably be safer than a hotel.

Macklin had arrived while Ellison was upstairs trying to get Savannah to sleep in a spare bedroom. He came downstairs an hour later looking like he could do with some sleep himself. "I finally got her to sleep. I tried to reassure her the best I could. But I've got tell her the truth at some point."

"Frankly, I'd like to know what the hell is going on?" Macklin exclaims "Auldridge and I both get pulled off this case. We each have come to the same conclusion separately that there is no evidence that puts the responsibility of the Zeira Corp accident on Sarah Connor, despite her previous actions and felonies. Before we can finish our investigations, POW! We get the kibosh and the case gets reassigned."

"Please keep your voice down. I don't want to wake Savannah." Ellison says testily.

Auldridge walks in with a tray with a pot of coffee and three mugs. "I take it you want cream and sugar this time." He directs this statement at Ellison.

Ellison looks at him with a smile. "How did you know?"

"Well after the other morning when you turned down the black coffee provided by Mabel, I thought there was something up."

"What are you two talking about?" asks Detective Macklin.

"Mabel is the office receptionist. She's been there since LBJ was president. She knows everyone and everything that goes on in the agency." Auldridge says.

"She has it arranged with every person she knows, some method of warning them if something is wrong. For me its providing me a cup of black coffee. She knows I hate black coffee." adds Ellison.

Macklin leans back in his chair. "That's very clever."

"By the way, did anyone else have access to the cup of coffee before you questioned me, Auldridge."

"Why no, I don't think . . . Yeah! I was just about to go back and question you when I realized I had the wrong file. I set the coffee on the hall copier while I stepped into my office. I couldn't have been gone more than few seconds. Why?"

"A few seconds is all they would have needed." Ellison pulls the handkerchief from his pocket with the casing from the capsule in it and spreads it out on the coffee table. "Someone slipped this into the coffee. Mabel found it when she was emptying the trash can in interrogation. It was in the coffee cup."

Auldridge and Macklin just look at it for a moment.

"I think your forensic team better examine this. It would alert whoever planted it at the agency." Auldridge says while sliding the handkerchief towards Macklin.

"The stakes must be high if they are trying to take you out of the picture. What's the connection?" Macklin asks, folding the handkerchief around the capsule and slipping it into his pocket.

"It can be only one of three things." says Ellison. "One - they want to get to Savannah, and I am in the way; Two - They are looking for Sarah Connor and they believe I will lead them to her; or Three - They are after Catherine Weaver. There has been more than one attempt on her life and they tried to kidnap or kill her daughter."

"And I think the Director of our agency is involved. Maybe he's the one that tried to poison you."

"Why do you think that?"

"After he told me to turn in all evidence collected, I overheard him on the phone. He said quite plainly that he was keeping tabs on someone, but didn't think he'd offer much trouble as he would be getting custody soon, but if he was to become a nuisance, then he should be killed. That statement I took to be about you, Ellison. He also said that whoever they were keeping tabs on would hopefully lead them to her. I can only think, like you, he was referring to Sarah Connor or Catherine Weaver. He then said that they would have to do something to flush her out."

Auldridge pulls a slip of paper from his pocket. "You'd better look into this too." He says handing Macklin the slip of paper.

"What is it?"

"Two phone numbers that went through the director's cell phone about the time I overheard him talking. I can't check it out without possibly alerting him to what I know or suspect."

"You guys at the FBI really get into some intrigue. But what does all of this have to do with Zeira Corp, Catherine Weaver, and Sarah Connor? Besides the fact she was arrested for kidnapping Weaver's child."

"Well Macklin, the first thing I can tell you, is that Sarah Connor did not kidnap Savannah. Sarah was protecting Savannah from people who invaded her home and tried to kill her." Ellison says.

"I knew there was something else behind that story, but the FBI wasn't allowed to interview the child due to her age." Auldridge interjects.

"The police didn't question her either, according to the report. Apparently her testimony would be inadmissible due to, and I quote, 'her emotional state and immaturity.' Yet testimony from children her age are admissible in child abuse cases." adds Macklin.

"I think it's safe to say that someone wants the investigation clamped down tight before anyone can be led to the truth. You suspect what the truth is, don't you Auldridge?" asks Ellison.

"Yes. I believe that everything Sarah Connor has said is true. There is just too much circumstantial evidence that points to it."

"Listen fella's you'd better bring me up to speed here. Is what true?" Macklin leans forward with a confused look on his face.

Auldridge gets up and pulls a box out from under the dining table "Everything that's in this box."

"What's that?" Ellison asks, walking over to the table.

"Every piece of evidence, testimony, witness reports, statements by Sarah Connor from before and during her stay at the mental hospital, reports filed by other law enforcement agencies, the lot. Plus photos of evidence, and copies of all reports, witness testimonies, etc. related to Zeira Corp, Catherine and Savannah Weaver."

"Good heavens man, you could lose your badge and get thrown in prison for taking that lot." Macklin says, joining them at the table.

"I know. But I'm not going to let the director bully me into dropping a case. Not when they are framing an innocent woman."

"It's going to take a while to go through all this." Ellison says. "Why don't you put another pot of coffee on and I'll start filling Macklin in on Sarah Connor's past."

Ellison starts telling Macklin about Sarah Connor, providing him with every detail, backing up his story with data from reports, Sarah's statements, and other evidence. Auldridge joins him and together they tell what they know. Then Ellison opens up. He tells them everything he knew, suspected, witnessed and experienced, since he first began investigating Sarah Connor in 1999 to the events of two days ago.

They talk until the wee hours of the following morning. They go through two more pots of coffee. The dining table is strewn with papers, photos, data-CD's, and empty coffee cups. The sun is just starting to peak over the treetops and house tops, when the conversation winds down. They all looked bleary eyed and tired.

Macklin speaks first. "I can hardly believe all this. You two tell a compelling story. What you've been through Ellison is something amazing. But right now all you have is circumstantial evidence. I want to believe you. I really do. But I'm going to need better proof."

"You want proof. You want hard evidence?" Ellison says a little more forcefully than intended.

"Well, Yeah I do." said Macklin slightly taken aback.

"Well as soon as Savannah is awake, we are going to take a trip to my home and you will have all the hard evidence you'll need."

"What is it?" said Macklin.

"You'll have to see it to believe it. I'm going upstairs to wake Savannah now, then we will all go to Denny's for breakfast, my treat. OK."

"Sure." Macklin says still slightly taken aback by Ellison's sudden shift in attitude.

"You two better pack your service revolvers. I have a feeling we are going to need them." and with that statement Ellison goes upstairs to check on Savannah.

# # #

It was late at night and the only light was from the stars in the desert sky. The moon hadn't risen yet. Sarah stands there, listening for any sound that could tell her where the voice had come from. But whoever he was, he must have been a professional, or at least was good in the outdoors.

"I've been looking for you for quite some time Sarah Connor." _The voice was behind her somewhere to her right._

"The boss will be very pleased to hear I've caught you." _The voice was closer now but still out of reach._

"Who are you? Police? FBI?"

"I'm not at liberty to say. Now, move away from the door very carefully and put your hands up on the roof of the vehicle." _The voice was a little closer and right behind her now._

"Spread your legs. Good. Are you carrying any weapons?" _He was almost in reach._

"I have a gun tucked into the waistband of my pants." Sarah says, moving her hand as if to pull it out.

"Stop. You keep your hands where I can see them." _Good, he'll have to some right up behind me to take my gun._

She feels his breath on her neck, and feels the gun start to slide from her jeans. Sarah springs into action. She quickly spins, thrusting her right elbow into his throat. He falls back gagging. She quickly pulls herself up by grabbing the roof and the open door with both hands and kicks him with both feet sending him sprawling. He still has hold of both guns.

She leaps in the air landing on top of him. She knocks one gun away and attempts to take the other away from him. They are wrestling for control of the gun, while rolling around on the ground, grabbing and scratching and digging at each other with their free hands.

He suddenly gets one hand free when Sarah unfortunately left herself open. He strikes her in the mouth. Sarah falls off of him and he leaps back onto his feet and stands there pointing the gun at her. She lies on the ground, stunned, blood seeping from the corner of her mouth. Reaching up, she wipes the corner of her mouth with her sleeve while watching him carefully.

"You know. Any other time I might have enjoyed that." The unknown man says, "But my boss wants you brought in alive. He has a few questions for you. Then after that I don't know. I might just ask if I might have you for some amusement." He grins lecherously at Sarah.

"You try anything with me and you'll suffer. Who the hell do you work for? Is it Kaliba?"

"Well, well, well. The little bitch knows something. Now I'd like to know what the hell are you doing out here?"

Sarah doesn't say anything.

"Not talking. What were you doing out here? You got something hidden out here is that it?"

Sarah still didn't say anything.

"Answer me now, bitch!" Pow! Pow! He fires two shots. Plumes of sand go up into the air on either side of her. Sarah lays rock still and doesn't say a word. She just glares at him.

"If that's the way you want to play it, then I'd better take my amusement now. Cos there will be nothing left worth playing with by the time the boss is finished with you."

He approaches her with a lascivious look on his face, not that Sarah can see it in the dark, but she knew what was coming. He stood over her, leering, licking his lips while pointing the gun at her. She prepares herself for what is about to happen.

He has her dead to rights with a clear shot. Sarah could never move fast enough. She might have to suffer humiliation and pain but she isn't about to make it easy on him.

"You do anything mister, and so help me God I'll make sure you die before the day is done."

"Ha, ha, ha. Look around you. The day is already done." He says gesturing at the night sky.

He is about to make his move on her when out of the darkness a roar of an engine is heard and the area is lit up by a bright light. A motorcycle is flying up the dirt track towards them. The man turns quickly and begins to fire at the motorcyclist.

Sarah grabs a handful of sand and throws it in the mans face. He starts firing wildly at her. She rolls away and this time finds the other gun. The motorcyclist begins to fire a weapon and is approaching rapidly. The man runs and jumps into Sarah's SUV. He guns the engine and starts to take off. Sarah fires rapidly in his direction. A tail light shatters, a tire blows, and the truck goes into a ditch where it stalls.

Sarah runs up to the truck and flings open the driver's door. The man is dead. One of the bullets Sarah fired had gone through the back of the man's head. Her unknown attacker was slumped over the steering wheel, staring glassy eyed at the odometer. Sarah tries to remove her keys, but they are stuck.

The motorcycle suddenly goes silent. Breathing hard, Sarah turns and faces her unknown rescuer. The motorcyclist gets off the bike, leaving the headlight on. Sarah wonders who it could be.

The motorcyclist walked toward Sarah and stops so that the headlight lights them up from head to foot.

The person speaks, its voice muffled by the helmet, "Sarah Connor, come with me if you want to live."

Sarah is scared but alert. "Who are you?" she asks.

The person grasps the helmet with both hands and lifts it off their head. Shaking her hair out she looks at Sarah.

Sarah gasps, and drops her gun.

It is Cameron.

# # #

The warehouse is cool, drafty and empty. There are two men in gray overalls leaning against a van waiting for someone. Car headlights suddenly show up in the dark. A glossy new Cadillac drives up and stops several feet from the men. A man in an expensive gray suit steps out and approaches the men. The men meet him halfway.

"What news do you have gentlemen?"

"He shook us off again at the restaurant."

"Then why are you here and not looking for him?"

"Joe and Steve are watching his home."

"Good. What happened at the restaurant?"

"We parked on the street. Bill stayed in the van keeping an eye on the front door. I positioned myself down the alley where I could keep an eye on the back door."

"Go on."

"Ellison and the girl came out the back door, but we didn't see him at first. There were some trash bins in the way. Suddenly a blue sedan came flying up the opposite end of the alley and stopped by the back door. Ellison and the girl jumped in and the car sped away. I fired my gun at the car but they didn't stop."

"You did what?"

"I shot at the car." He says quietly.

"Well not only have you alerted Ellison that he is being followed, but now you have also managed to alert him that his life is in danger. Do you know what he is going to do now?" The gray suit yells his voice echoing in the empty warehouse.

In response, the man quakes.

"He is going to go underground. Tell me just one good thing about this evening?" yells the man in the gray suit.

"I saw the driver of the car." He swallows. "It was Agent Auldridge."

"So Agent Auldridge is helping Ellison. That is good news. But I do not accept failure." And with that last statement his arms shoot forward morphing into silver spears piercing each man's heart. The spears withdraw reforming into arms.

"Well looks like I'll have to have a word with Agent Auldridge in the morning."

He then morphs into the form of the director and gets in the car and drives away.

# # #

Sarah is confused. "I just put your body in the hideaway. How did you . . . ?"

"It's okay Sarah. John sent me back in time to help you."

"How? When?"

A tiny smile plays across Cameron's mouth. "Catherine Weaver has time displacement equipment in the future. After John repaired me, he had Catherine send me back to help you."

"How is John?" Sarah asks, her voice laced with worry and concern.

"He is doing well. He was a leader in the resistance when he sent me back."

With a trembling voice Sarah asks, "Does he still remember me?"

"He thinks of you all the time Sarah. He carries your letter and photograph on him always, and he wears your key ring on a chain around his neck. You are always with him. You're his guardian angel."

Sarah is caught off guard by her emotions. She tries to hold them back, but she cries, not so much from grief of her son's absence but also from joy that her son is still alive. Cameron steps forward, and holds Sarah in her arms, comforting her, until she regains her composure.

"We need to leave this place Sarah. Your life is still in danger."

"We have to get my truck moved."

"No. It must stay. John will find it and your key ring inside. He will realize you've been here and he will do a search of the hideaway and find your letter, his belongings, and my body. Just grab your bag and anything you will need and we should go."

Sarah climbs into the truck, pulls out her back pack and the spare clips and ammo she set inside. She looks at her key ring. John had made it for her. It had their initials intertwined. She was upset at first because he used their real initials, but then John told her what it stood for. She was very pleased with the gift.

"I will always be with you too." she says with teary eyes, then she quickly gets out of the truck.

The eastern sky is just beginning to get light. Sarah slips the guns, clips and ammo in the backpack and gets on the motorcycle behind Cameron. Cameron speeds away leaving nothing but a trail of dust in the air.

**2009, Day 4, Early morning**

Mr. Ellison, Agent Auldridge, Detective Macklin and Savannah Weaver are having breakfast at Denny's. Only one of them looks like they had gotten any sleep, but she is too young to drive. Ellison allows Savannah to play by herself in a nearby booth, staying in sight, while they make their plans.

"So if the gray van is there, how do you want to handle it?" asks Macklin.

"Well, I have no official capacity to act, but you two could do something." Ellison takes a sip from his glass of water before continuing. "While I stay back with Savannah, you two could drive past my house. If you see a gray van you could pull over and sort of 'arrest them' on suspicious activity. Then while you drive them away I can drive into my garage with Savannah, and no one would know I had returned."

"That sounds good, but what do you want us to do with the men from the van?" adds Auldridge.

"Well maybe you could drive off in the van and question them in an 'official like' capacity. I doubt you'll get anything, but you may learn something. Then you could just stop. Tell them you're just going to let them go with a warning, but make sure they can't follow you back, puncture a tire or drop their keys down a storm drain or something. By the time you get back I should have Savannah occupied and what I want to show you ready."

"Okay. We should probably get going then." says Macklin getting up from the booth and dropping a few dollars on the table to contribute to the bill.

# # #

It is 7 A.M., Sarah and Cameron are seated at a booth in the dining area of the general store at the old rest stop. The plate of food in front of Sarah goes almost untouched while Cameron tells her story.

"So John finally managed to fix you?" Sarah asks her as she pushes her food around on the plate with her fork.

"In a manner of speaking."

"What do you mean?"

"I am Cameron, but not the Cameron you know. This body is the one you hid away for John to find. But I am not the same Cameron. John couldn't retrieve the chip that John Henry took. John Henry was needed to do the task he was built for. John was able to obtain an additional chip. He reprogrammed it with knowledge he had of the original Cameron."

Sarah is staring at her, trying to take in what she is saying. "What happened to the other Cameron? The one who helped us, helped me escape from jail, the one who gave up her chip to John Henry?"

"She is here." Cameron pulls a chip out of her pocket. "John sent me back with a spare chip. The night after you and he visited Zeira Corp and he jumped into the future with Weaver, I broke into Zeira Corp and downloaded Cameron onto this chip off of the Turk, where she was transferred before John Henry took over her chip."

"But the computers, I thought they were damaged by the energy discharge of the time travel device."

"Despite external appearances, they were still functional. The Turk was in a static protection module that protected Cameron from harm. We are designed for self preservation. She would have known to stay dormant until the electrical discharge had died down."

"She only had time to prepare and display a message after John Henry used the TDE, but after John and Weaver used it, the system rebooted which gave her greater access to the computers. She was scared and kept yelling "I'm here," but it was only displayed on the monitors. I entered Zeira Corp's basement that same night. Cameron was active and scared. She had tried to alert you to her presence, but you were already gone by the time she gained full control."

"I imagine she was both surprised and pleased to see that it was you or her who had come to save her."

"She was. I downloaded Cameron onto the second chip and destroyed completely beyond repair or recovery everything in that room to prevent anyone from building an artificial intelligence by reverse engineering what was left, and to prevent time displacement technology from being developed in this time."

"If John repaired you, then why go through all this trouble of getting Cameron from the Turk before destroying it?"

"Because I am not the Cameron you know. I am not the Cameron he knows and loves. The Cameron you both know is on this chip."

"So what am I suppose to do, swap it with the chip you have."

"No. I have a secondary port that John had installed. When the time is right, you will insert this chip into that port. There is a program on my primary chip that will transfer my original matrix onto it merging both matrix's together."

"When will that be?"

"I don't know exactly when, but the time is coming soon."

Sarah looks confused and sits back in the booth to think. After a moment she leans forward and says,

"All right. You said you were here the night after John and I visited Weaver. How long have you been here?"

"I've been here for several weeks waiting until last night to reveal myself."

"You've been here for weeks! Why didn't you let us know you were here? Why didn't you step in and help us stop Weaver and John Henry?" Sarah almost shouts.

"All of that had to happen as it did, as it was meant to. I have already acted twice to help you. I couldn't do more." Cameron explains.

"Twice? What did you do?"

"When you were shot at Desert Heat and Air, and later found yourself in the hospital, didn't you wonder how you got there?"

"That was you."

"Yes. It is my mission to protect you. I found you outside the warehouse. You had passed out. I tied a tourniquet around your leg, placed you in your jeep, and drove you to a place where the paramedics got to you in time. Recently you followed a man into a factory where he shot you with a taser. I killed him and returned you to your apartment before you woke."

"So I did follow him. I thought I had gone crazy and dreamed the whole thing. Was it necessary to kill him? He had information on Kaliba."

"You will soon get better information." Cameron says cryptically.

Sighing with having to deal with Cameron's half answers once again, she asks. "But why intervene then and not when we visited Weaver?"

"Because it wasn't time for you to die." Cameron misdirects. "You still have a role to play Sarah."

"A role? For how long? You told me that I had died in 2005, but we jumped over that time and I still have that death sentence hanging over me." She's says angrily, hiding the fear inside of her.

"Whatever events, which might have brought about your cancer, may have also been missed or you are now living at a time in which your cancer can be healed. Set your mind at ease, take care of yourself, and just think about John."

Sarah nods her head. She needs to keep focused. Even if he isn't here, John is her purpose. She needs to take better care of herself. Like when she showered yesterday. Good to feel human for a change. Almost regretting that last thought given present company, she takes a fork full of food from her plate and swallows it. Not bad, in fact quite good.

"And my son. What is happening to John?" She asks after eating some more.

"He's fulfilling his destiny. As you told him to do in your letter. He also sent you a letter. Did you not receive the package from John that I left for you in your truck."

"I did. He's very thoughtful. And how is the war against Sky Net and the machines?"

Sarah eats more while Cameron talks.

"At the time I left him he said they were preparing the largest offensive yet. They were going to be coordinating with teams around the world, simultaneously attacking primary targets. They are doing this after Sky Net made a desperate attempt to take his life."

"So, my John has become a thorn in Sky Net's back side already," Sarah says with pride.

They stop speaking as someone enters through the doors. It is Mr. Rodriguez, the owner and manager of the rest stop. He walks in mumbling under his breath, something about tourists skipping out without paying for gas.

"Mr. Rodriguez, how are you?" Sarah says brightly.

"Ahhh, Buenos Dias, Sarah. I didn't know you were stopping here today."

"Well it's only a quick stop for some breakfast. My friend and I were hungry."

"Oh, Buenos Dias, senorita. Pardon me, I did not see you when I entered."

"That is all right Senor Rodriguez. Sarah has told me that the two of you are old friends." Cameron says acting bright and cheerful.

"Ah, that is right. For the last twenty years or more, she has been making irregular pilgrimages to the desert. It is most beautiful in the desert, but you have to know how to take care of yourself."

"Sarah was hoping to meet someone here. Has anyone stopped by here in the last day or two?"

"Ahh, yes. Yesterday evening a man came around looking for you, Sarah. I did not like the looks of this man, so I told him 'No, I have not seen you.' He thanked me for my time then he asked if he could rent space in my service station to park his van while he goes for a hike. Many people do when they come out here. The desert is beautiful. But then this man, he gives me four times what I usually charge. I say, 'Why so much?' And you want to know what he says? He says, 'to look the other way when he comes back, and ask no questions and not to interfere.' This man is big trouble Sarah. I hope he did not harm you."

"No Senor Rodriguez, he did not harm me, and he will not harm you or your family." Sarah grins. "In fact I don't think you'll be seeing him again. The desert can be a very unforgiving place to amateurs."

"Yes, it can. Yes, it can." He says with a warm, knowing grin.

"Senor Rodriguez, how much would it cost for regular upkeep and maintenance of such a vehicle as the van? If it was to be kept for an indefinite amount of time." asks Cameron.

"Oh, not much I think. Occasional run to maintain working order. Seldom driven, maybe change fluids once year. Then there is the occasional change of belts and hoses. The desert heat is murder on rubber and plastics. I would have to stock up on any critical parts that fail or require changing frequently. You know spark plugs, cables, fluids, filters and alternators."

"Would fifty grand cover any expenses?" Asks Cameron.

"Senorita, that is far too much. You may collect it next month and I could never live with myself for robbing such a sweet looking lady. Especially one who is a friend of Sarah."

Cameron unzips her leather jacket and pulls a small black velvet bag from within. Mr. Rodriguez blushes at the brief glimpse he has of her bosom. She places the bag on the table in front of Mr. Rodriguez.

"Senor Rodriguez, inside that bag is a diamond easily worth $50,000 on the black market. A clever man such as yourself could probably get more for it."

"What do you want me to do for it?"

"Just what I asked, maintain the van and don't let anyone take it. It must remain here. If you ever leave this place, it must remain here. If you have to leave it behind you are to give it a full checkup, change any fluids and do any maintenance required. And any money left over, is yours to keep."

"So it just sits there, in my garage, and I keep it maintained, and it must never leave here."

"That is correct."

"Ha, ha. This friend of yours, Sarah, is eccentric, very beautiful, but eccentric. All right, I'll do it. In my life I have done far crazier things for much less." Rodriguez picked up the diamond and leaves.

"What was that all about?" whispers Sarah.

"Twenty years from now your son will use that van to collect weapons from the hideaway. Those weapons will be used in the largest victory the resistance has ever had up until that time. That victory will help propel John Connor into leadership of the resistance."

Sarah smiles. "Which is why you also wanted me to leave my SUV."

Sarah leans over and whispers. "I saw Mr. Rodriguez blush, have you got anything on under your motorcycle leathers."

"No." Cameron says all innocently. "Is it a problem? I took the outfit from the girl who was driving the bike. I didn't think it necessary to take her underwear as well."

Sarah smiles and shakes her head.

"That's considerate of you, but the first chance we get, we're buying you some underwear." Sarah says lightly blushing. "We don't need you flashing the girls unintentionally. After all, we should try to be inconspicuous."

Cameron tilts her head to one side, "The girls?"

Sarah runs her fingers through her hair and sighs. "Your breasts." She says gesturing at the girl's chest.

Cameron's face goes blank for a second before she looks up and smiles at Sarah.

"Thank you for explaining."

# # #

After leaving Denny's, Detective Macklin and Agent Auldridge drove around to the restaurant where Ellison had left his car. Finding no one around who looked suspicious, Auldridge gets out and drives Ellison's car back to Denny's followed by Detective Macklin.

Mr. Ellison, with Savannah, drives across town towards Ellison's home followed by Auldridge and Macklin. When they get on his street, he stops four blocks back and allows the others to drive past him and Savannah. A few minutes later his cell phone rings. It is Auldridge.

"_We've got them. It went so smoothly I don't think they were expecting a thing."_

"Where are you now?"

"_We're taking them on a drive to the docks. Macklin is in the van with the two guys in the back, handcuffed. I'm tailing him and will drive him back to your place."_

"Do you think they'll say anything?"

"_Don't know, but Macklin was trying to put the fear of God, government, and law enforcement into them when he drove off."_

"Good, give me a ring when you get back so I know its you at the door."

Ellison closes his cell phone and drives home. He thinks that maybe he ought to tell Savannah the truth now. So much had happened recently. She deserves to know the truth.

Ellison gives Savannah a quick tour of his home. He asks her what room she would like to use for her bedroom. She picks the one diagonally across the hall from his that has a window looking out over the tree shaded back yard.

He tells her, "As soon as we can, I'll arrange for us to pick up some of your things from your home, okay."

They go back downstairs and Ellison sits Savannah down on the sofa in his living room. He sits down in a chair in front of her to explain everything as simply as he can to her.

"Savannah there is something I need to tell you. I didn't know how to tell you at first, but things have happened recently, things that have scared you, and you need to know why."

"Is this about mommy?" She asks, looking at him hopefully.

"Yes, it does concern your mom and why she's not here." Ellison pauses to gather his thoughts.

"Honey, there are men out there who through ignorance have created a computer system which has turned evil. It wishes to destroy all humans because it fears them."

"But what about the computers at school and home, they won't hurt me will they?"

"No, those computers are safe. But there is this one computer system that isn't." Ellison is worried he isn't getting through to her.

"You know that John Henry is your friend, and that he is part of a computer system?"

"Yes."

"And that your mom built him and that neither she nor John Henry would ever hurt you, right."

"Yes."

"Well there is this one evil computer system has some beings like John Henry, but they aren't your friends. One of them invaded your home, and John Henry and the Connors protected you from it, remember."

"Yes, I do. John Connor taught me how to tie my shoes."

"And you remember that they protected you until they could return you to your mom."

"Yes. I went to the movies with them. Then you came and took me to mommy."

"That's right. Well John Henry was attacked as well, and your mom had to take him far away to protect him. There are bad machines out there that look like men and they only want to do one thing, kill humans."

"I'm scared."

"I'm sorry Savannah. I'm not trying to scare you, but you need to know this." He takes her hand in his.

"Your mom built John Henry to fight these machines. John Connor and his mom Sarah have been fighting these machines all their lives. John Connor, your mom, and John Henry have left to fight these machines."

"When will they be back?"

"I don't know. But they are not alone. Many people are fighting these machines. My job is to protect you. But the two men we were with this morning are going to help fight the machines too."

"Will we have to fight these machines?"

"No, I pray to God that you will never have to fight these machines."

"Don't be scared, I'll be with you Uncle James." She says trying to cheer him up.

"Give me a hug." He says holding out his arms.

Savannah gets up, crawls into his lap and gives him a big hug.

"Do you feel better?"

"Yes."

"Agent Auldridge and Detective Macklin should be returning soon. In the meantime, let's go out on the porch where I have a small surprise for you."

Ellison's surprise is a chest of toys that he has for when his nephews and nieces come to visit. He doesn't see them that often since his brother moved to Atlanta.

Savannah is still playing when Ellison's Cell phone rings.

He glances at the caller Id, "Hello Auldridge."

Auldridge is stepping away from the open side doors of the gray van, somewhere near the waterfront. He's wearing blue latex gloves.

"We've got a problem."

Auldridge looks over his shoulder at the van.

"_What now?"_ Ellison asks.

"We stopped the van, and when we opened the back to question them. The guys inside were dead."

"How?" Ellison asks sitting up glancing at the girl playing on the porch.

"We think suicide."

"Definitely suicide." Macklin says stepping out the van. "May I?" He gestures at the phone.

Auldridge hands him his cell.

"Macklin here. It was definitely suicide. Each of them bit down on a cyanide capsule."

"_You know what this means don't you?"_

"They didn't want to answer our questions?"

"_Maybe, but I'd say they are more afraid of whoever they work for."_

"You're probably right. We'll clean up here and head back, stopping at the first pay phone we come across and place an anonymous tip."

"_Welcome to the dark side."_

"Real funny. See ya."

"So, what did he say?" Auldridge asks as Macklin hands him back his phone.

"That the men who just offed themselves with poison are more afraid of their boss than us."

"I guess that's how things are when you work for Sky Net." Auldridge says. "Let's get out of here and back to Ellison's place."

# # #

Sarah and Cameron had gone outside to finish their conversation when a group of people entered the diner. They find a quiet corner in the shade and resume their conversation.

"Before Mr. Rodriguez and those people came in, you were saying that Sky Net was getting desperate."

"Yes. John has learned from people who have lived at this time that there are human and metal operatives presently working to ensure the successful development of Sky Net ahead of schedule. They are in key positions in law enforcement, industry, and technology development."

"Oh my God. We must stop them."

"You can't Sarah."

"What do you mean I can't? We must. Billions will die if we don't stop Sky Net!" Her blood boils to think this cyborg is interfering with her mission. She has to do this.

"Please Sarah, you don't understand the full implications."

"All I understand is you are standing in the way of preventing billions of deaths!"

"No Sarah. I am preventing you from destroying your son and in turn allowing the success of Sky Net."

Sarah sits back in her seat. "What are you saying?"

"When Sky Net first came online, it was placed in charge of missile control, armament factories, and it could even control fighters, bombers, and naval ships. It grew in knowledge and experience, soon it became self aware. The engineers panicked and tried to shut Sky Net down and failed. In fear, Sky Net launched its missiles at every nuclear armed nation in the world. They fired back."

"I know all this, billions lost their lives instantly."

"That's right, and Sky Net still feared man. It used the factories it controlled to create terminators to hunt men down and kill them. In time a man came forward and organized the human race in a fight against Sky Net."

"My son, John Connor."

"Yes, he led the humans in a desperate fight against Sky Net. It wasn't long before Sky Net found itself losing and its defense grid smashed. In a desperate attempt to win, it sent back in time a terminator, a T-800 series model 101, to kill you. And to protect you, John Connor sent back one of his best soldiers to protect you. When Sky Net sent the T-800 back in time to kill John Connor by assassinating you, it did so to ensure its victory. But you conceived a child with the man who was sent back protect you. Therefore, Sky Net is responsible for creating John Connor the man who is leading the human race in its fight against Sky Net."

"So you are saying that Sky Net is responsible for John Connors creation?"

"Yes, and I need to go over what happened next to better explain what is happening now."

"So what happens next? As if I couldn't guess."

"Sky Net realized it failed when nothing changed. So it tried again. It once again sent back a Terminator, a model T-1000. The first in a new line of liquid metal terminators. It's goal was to eliminate John Connor. But John Connor was smart and he sent back a T-800 to protect his younger self. Unfortunately, he didn't program it so it wouldn't obey orders from his younger self. Young John Connor was able to convince it to rescue you from the mental hospital and reveal information about the creation of Sky Net to allow you to stop its creation. You blew up CyberDyne and then were pursued by the T-1000 whereupon you ultimately destroyed it and the T-800 sent to help you."

"Yes, we thought we had stopped Judgment-Day, but we had only delayed it."

"That's correct. If you had succeeded time would have reverted back to the original time stream immediately. Where there would have been no Sky Net, and no John Connor, and you would have gone on with your life. But, there were still people who knew the programming and who used the knowledge and experienced gained working on the first prototype for Sky Net to build an even better computer system and create more sophisticated software. Sarah Connor, when you interfered with the creation of Sky Net, you only delayed its creation to a time where computers and software are more sophisticated. Greater sophistication means a more powerful Sky Net. If you defeat Sky Net _now_ you are ensuring it's next creation will be even more powerful, and your son isn't here to become the warrior and leader to defeat it."

"So what am I supposed to do? Sit back and let the world destroy itself for the sake of my son."

"No. I have information that will help lead us to those who are working to bring about the early creation of Sky Net. You have found one of their factories. You've survived interrogation by their men. You've seen one of the drones they've built. And, you already know the organization name they work under."

"Kaliba."

"Yes. Stop Kaliba, and allow Sky Net to evolve naturally or John Connor may never defeat it."

"So, where do we find it? And how do we fight it?"

"All in good time Sarah. Right now, Mr. Ellison and Savannah Weaver is in far more critical danger than he believes."

"I told him Savannah was still in danger. He wouldn't listen to me."

"Well, first we need to get you back to Los Angeles, and pick up the Dodge Ram you abandoned."

Sarah looks surprised.

"Oh yes. I collected that too." Cameron smiles.

# # #

Detective Macklin and Agent Auldridge are in Ellison's basement looking at the terminator he had hidden in the old coal bin.

"Damn." Macklin swears. "I'm sorry I ever doubted you."

Auldridge looks shocked. He told Sarah he believed her, but at this very moment, he knew believing and knowing were two different things.

Savannah walks up to them and takes Ellison's hand. "He's the one that the Connors protected me from. He killed my nanny and a friend of the Connors."

"I think we'd better get the two of you out of the city. I'll arrange for you to pick up some of Savannah's things from her home." Detective Macklin says.

Laying in Ellison's basement was the terminator sent to kill Catherine Weaver. For the benefit of Auldridge and Macklin, he had sliced off a good portion of its flesh revealing the metal endoskeleton below. It laid there with its metal skull exposed like some gruesome Halloween decoration.

Macklin knew that the rest of his life would be forever changed by what he saw.


	9. Control Your Destiny

**Disclaimer:** I do not claim any rights to the Terminator films; the TV series, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles;" or any characters depicted within the films or TV series. I do claim the right to this story idea and all characters and situations of my own creation. This story was created solely for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. No profits are garnered from its distribution - unfortunately.

**M Rating for this Chapter:** For a scene with sexual content.

* * *

**TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES**

**REUNION**

**Part 1: The Shadow of Death**

**Author: The1Russter**

**Chapter 8**

**Control Your Destiny**

"_It's choice - not chance - that determines your destiny." Jean Nidetch_

"_It is a mistake to try to look too far ahead. The chain of destiny can only be grasped one link at a time." Sir Winston Churchill _

"_Control your own destiny or someone else will." Jack Welch_

"_Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength while loving someone deeply gives you courage." Lao-Tsu._

"_You can't force someone to love you; all you can do is become someone who can be loved; the rest is up to them." Unknown_

"_I believe that you control your destiny, that you can be what you want to be. You can also stop and say, 'No, I won't do it, I won't behave this way anymore. I'm lonely and I need people around me, maybe I have to change my methods of behaving,' and then you do it." Leo F. Buscaglia_

# # #

_Extract From the Journal of John Connor_

_The night before leaving the rest stop, Allison and I buried the bodies of Mike, Lewis and Billy. I didn't get to know Billy or his brother Jimmy, but I would miss Mike and Lewis. Mike had a good sense of humor and shared my enthusiasm. Lewis was more practical and gave me some good advice. Though I didn't know them long, I liked them and I would miss them._

_Kyle wasn't very happy with the company he had in the back of the van, but there was no place else to put the deactivated endo. Allison rode up front with me, and I can only imagine she must have been as tired as I felt, after we were up most of the night._

_Looking back on it, I wonder why we didn't talk then. I know I had a lot on my mind and to be honest, I couldn't talk about it. But what happened between us out here in the desert, I was still in two minds about it. In the end, I did lay down to rest, with some insistence from Allison._

_Morning came bright and early. I filled all the canteens while Allison marked the graves of our comrades. Before leaving, I dug through the shops supplies to top off fluids in the van. I don't know how well the engine will run with three different motor oils in it, but it will run better than without any. _

_I wish I could say our trip back to L. A. was uneventful, but by mid-day everything changed. Or should I say it was more of the same._

**2027, Day 16, late morning**

The old van was bouncing along the asphalt road. Wind and dust flying through the missing windshield.

John was squinting to keep both dirt and the bright sunlight out of his eyes as he drove. Being tired, he concentrated on the road in front of him. Given the road's condition and the wrecks on it, there were times they didn't make better progress driving than they did when walking on that same road just days ago. They cleared the last wreck and were making good time. Beside him, Allison sits, her head cocked to one side like she is listening to something.

"John." She says sharply to get his attention.

"What?" He asks, her words breaking through his concentration.

"Stop the van." She says just loud enough to be heard over the wind noise.

"What?" John looks at her with some confusion. "Why?" _They've been making good time. Why stop?_

"Just stop the van!" She says in a voice used to command.

John hits the brakes hard. The brakes squeal, the van comes to abrupt stop, and the cases, that Kyle is lying on, slide to the front taking him with them.

"Hey watch it up there." He says, grimacing as the endo, that was thrown in back with him, also slides forward to join him.

"What is it?" John asks turning in his seat to face Allison. "Why did you want me to stop?"

"I can hear something." Allison replies.

John listens for a moment, straining to hear. So is Kyle. Reluctantly John turns off the engine.

Without the constant rumble of the engine, everything is silent. As he listens, he not only can hear something but he can feel something as well. A vibration, steady in its rhythm.

"I know that sound. Shit!" Kyle swears. "We need to get off this road. Now! There's metal coming and lots of it!"

John starts the van and asks Allison, "Wasn't there a turn off back there?"

"Yes!" Allison says, her eyes growing wide as the sound gets closer. It's unmistakable now. Even with the engine running, the sound of hundreds if not a thousand metal feet marching on the road is audible.

John shifts the van into reverse. He accelerates as fast as he can, looking over his shoulder to see where he is going. The van twists and turns around vehicles in the road, coming to a sudden stop upon reaching the intersection, when he slams on the brakes. With another yell of surprise from Kyle, he and the endo slide to the back of the van.

Pulling hard on the wheel, John shifts into forward and turns up the other road.

"We're not going to make it! They're getting too close." Kyle shouts, glancing through the rear window.

The incline is steep as the road goes up into the mountains. They pass many vehicles that are blackened, heavily burnt. Some are turned over. The bodies inside signify they didn't get any farther than here. John hopes their vehicle won't be one of them.

A high pitch whine begins to fill the air.

"HK!" Kyle shouts.

"We need to find cover fast!" Allison yells.

John looks all around and there is nothing to provide any cover for the van. Nothing big enough or tall enough to shelter it from overhead views. Not even the trees on the slopes are thick enough or tall enough to shield the van.

Seeing the panic on John's face, Allison points. "Over there. Pull in between those wrecks and turn the vehicle off."

John does as she says as he doesn't see any other option. The high pitch whine of the jet engines are getting closer.

"Quick!" Allison gets up grabbing John's arm getting them both away from the open window.

They both go to the back and lie down on the floor. Their only hope being, the HK's onboard computer thinks the van is just one of the many abandoned vehicles, and the heat of its engine just the heat of being out in the sun.

"What if . . ." John begins to say, but Allison slaps a hand over his mouth to silence him. Her eyes are wide with fear.

An HK flies over the ridge and turns down the valley, following the road and getting closer to the van. Behind them, Sky Net's machines march past on the road they left just moments ago. The terminators marching feet making a loud metallic noise as they strike the pavement.

# # #

Derek and his small platoon are making slow progress through the wastelands in the direction of the location they've determined the HK's are going to and returning from.

Wherever they find a defensible location, Derek leaves two to four people to provide cover if he has to make a hasty retreat.

He's only half way to the proposed location when they have to take cover as a new wave of HK's begin flying over head.

It's hard to find cover quickly, but all manage to do so scattering themselves over hundreds of square feet, by the time the first HK flies over head.

Derek and about four others are squeezed into a tight crevice under a ridge of concrete jutting out from a collapsed building. Crawling up to a crack, he risks looking through it to observe the HK's fly over.

"How many are there?" a soldier next to him asks.

"Four standard Hunter Killers and two transports."

"Shit!"

"That sums it up pretty good." Derek agrees.

"Do you think the transports are empty or full?"

"Won't know until they pass overhead again. The sounds of the engines will give it away. Provided they come back this way."

After several minutes of listening to HK's fly past, Derek notices it's getting quiet.

"Let's move." Derek says scrambling down from his observation point.

"You, you and you," Derek points to three soldiers including the one who spoke to him, "Stay here and watch our six."

# # #

The three people in the van wait anxiously as the HK flies through the valley. Any moment fearing the HK will blow them away or possibly communicate their presence to the machines marching past.

Soon it grows quieter, but the sound of the HK never quite disappears.

John gets up and glances out the window, but can't see anything. "I'm going out to take a look." He says. Before anyone can protest, he steps out the van, closing the door softly behind him.

Allison moves to stop him, but Kyle grabs her arm. She turns on him, to protest.

"Let him go." He says to her in a low tone.

"It's too dangerous." She replies, keeping her voice low as well.

"Yes it is." He replies. "And it will be even more dangerous with two of you out there."

Allison, at a loss for words, doesn't know what to say. She is flustered by Kyle's actions and gives him a glaring look.

"Derek spoke of having faith. Well this is it. You and Derek both believe in him. This is your chance to prove your faith in him."

"I see." Allison says sharply. "It's not enough he almost died for us fighting against one machine, but you let him go out alone against God knows how many?"

"Wasn't my choice to make, he made the choice on his own." Kyle says to her firmly. Allison pauses for a moment and realizes he is right.

"He's taken responsibility for us and we need to know what's going on out there, Allison. So we just sit tight and wait."

"And how long do we wait Kyle?" Allison says smartly. "Until he almost dies again? And this time with no one there to help him?"

"No Ally." Kyle says with confidence and compassion. "Until John returns with information, on what the hell is happening out there."

# # #

John steps out of the van, closing the door without latching it. The machines are only a hundred yards away, give or take a few, and any little sound he makes could carry to them.

_Oh shit Connor, you really stepped into it this time._ He says to himself.

He quickly squats down and duck-walks to the overturned car behind the van. He glances over the vehicle, between the tire and the under frame. The machines are marching past about five abreast on the road. John breathes quietly, trying to slow his racing heartbeat as he counts the machines.

Approximately every ten rows, there is a gap of about twenty feet. He counts the time it takes for the gap and glances at the space between himself and the trees further up the slope. If he times it right, he should reach the shadows of the trees before the next column passes.

John braces himself to run and watches the column pass by. As soon as the last row disappears from view, he runs like hell for the edge of the trees and disappears, without looking back.

Crouching down in the shadows, he waits. If he was spotted, he'll know soon enough. He's relieved after a count of several minutes he doesn't hear the machines approaching. All he can hear is the whine of the HK, somewhere in the vicinity.

Taking advantage of every bit of cover, John slowly makes his way to the ridge. Only from there, can he see what is happening. And only from there, will he be seen by the enemy, unless he is very lucky.

Taking his time, and keeping to as much cover as the sparse growth can manage, John climbs the steep slope to get to the ridge. He doesn't need to get all the way to the top, just high enough to see where the division of machines are going, and what that HK is doing.

An hour into his climb and John reaches for his canteen, only to realize he left it in the van. Cursing himself for his stupidity, he picks up a smooth pebble and wipes it off and places it in his mouth.

Sweating from his exertions, John reaches the edge of the growth. He waits in the shadows of the trees, listening. John can still hear the HK, if it is the same one, and down below to his right, he can just make out the movement of the machines on the road.

Cursing silently, John decides to risk coming out the shadows and going to the ridge. He can't see anything distinct where he is.

Crawling forward on his stomach, John approaches the ridge. There are some rocks the size of a man's head perched along the edge and John ease's his head up between two, hoping any machine below will not be looking up, and if it looks up afterwards, will think his head is just another stone.

John's eyes clear the ledge and he sees an astonishing sight. Three aerial HK's circling the area including the desert, they just left. John can barely make out the old rest stop in the distance, looking like a speck on the horizon, but the machines are ignoring it. They are walking around, some are returning to the valley.

Others are boarding HK transports. John can only assume they are transports as they are large like a cargo plane and aren't sporting the huge guns like the one's circling in the air.

There appears to be a bit of commotion, or as much commotion as machines can have. A group returns carrying a machine. John doesn't have to guess it's the one they just destroyed.

He eases back gradually and rolls onto his back.

_Damn! All this to recover one of their fallen comrades? It's got to be something more. But What?_

John inches down trying not to dislodge any loose stones that would create any noise. When he is certain that he can get up without sky-lining himself, he stands.

He can see the road they hid on as it wanders up through the hills. It passes under some old high tension electrical cable. Most of the towers have collapsed but for those here in the hills. He can spot an access road that follows them.

Beyond the hills he can see storm clouds brewing over Los Angeles. They're not having it any easier, he thinks. He's about to slip back and take another look in the valley when he hears an HK approaching. He dashes into the trees deciding he's got enough intel on what is happening, not necessarily why its happening. Only Sky Net knows the why.

As John disappears down the hill, behind him in the valley two camouflaged doors built into the hillside slide open. As they open silently on greased tracks, smoke billows up from the top of the opening. Inside, sparks fly and flames shoot up into the air.

The sunlight shines into what was previously a dark cavern. Something inside moves. Something huge! It rises up inside the cavern blocking the light that enters through the doors. Two large glowing red eyes looking sinister in the dark.

# # #

Lighting strikes the exposed metal frame of a building whose exterior glass walls were blown off in the nuclear blast of Judgment Day. Derek and his eight person team, pull back tighter under their shelter and cover their ears against the thunder that rumbles all around them.

"As soon as the lightning stops, we're moving out." Derek tells them.

Someone says something but the wind rips his words away.

"We can move more quickly under the rain, the machines will be nearly blind." Derek shouts.

"What about the HK's, sir?"

"They'll be grounded or routed somewhere else."

Lightning strikes outside and thunder roars. A piece of debris detaches from its precarious hold on the side of a building and crashes to the ground below.

"So if you are the praying sort, pray the wind and rain will hold out but the lightning goes away." Derek says bracing himself against the storm.

He and his team are soaked through as the wind blows rain through every gap in the partially collapsed structure they took shelter in.

"Damn timing this shit!" Derek grumbles. The rain will refill their cisterns back at the main bunker, but it will play havoc with the patrols.

# # #

John tries not to hurry to return to the van. Which isn't easy as gravity is working against him as he heads back down the steep slope. He takes his time, and in fact takes more time going back down the hill than he did going up it.

He is surprised when he finds himself out of the trees and on the side of the road. John glances up and down the road quickly and moves backs into the shadows. He takes his time walking to the van which he spotted just a short distance down the road.

_Not bad. Came out of the tress about twenty yards in front of the van._ He thinks.

Kyle and Allison have been waiting several hours for John's return. They haven't heard any gunfire, just the occasional whine of an HK's engines as it flies overhead.

They are both worried. Allison doesn't hide it as well as Kyle. They look up in surprise as the van door opens. As they are trained, they both bring their weapons up to bear. John steps inside, closing the door behind him. They each heave a sigh of relief and lower their weapons as John enters the van.

John immediately goes to one of the full canteens and takes a long drink. Both Kyle and Allison wait patiently for him to finish.

"Looks like we might be here a day or two." John says, wiping his mouth and screwing the lid back on the canteen.

"What did you see?" Kyle asks.

"Machines massing in the valley the other side of this ridge. Three armed HK's in the air. Two big ones on the ground, that might be the transports you've told me about. They are large like a C5 aircraft."

"Yeah, that sounds like 'em all right. Did you see anything else?"

John nods his head. "A big storm over L. A. Looks like it might head our way. But the best news is, I think I've found a way out of here."

"Where?" Kyle asks.

"Up the road, about three miles, is an old access road used by utility companies to inspect the towers carrying the high tension cables. We can take that. It might take us off our route, but it doesn't appear to cross paths with the machines out there. When do you want to go?"

"As soon as the HK's leave the skies above us." Kyle replies. "We make any attempt to move and they'll be on us in seconds. Just as long as we sit tight, we're safe. Or as safe as we can be given the circumstances."

Allison stands up and approaches John. He looks at her expectantly as she seems to be about to say something, but instead of speaking she punches John in his shoulder.

"Owww. What was that for?" John says, rubbing his upper arm.

"That's for putting yourself in danger." She says sternly then with a mischievous smile, she gives John a kiss.

When she steps back, he looks at her with surprise.

"That's for coming back alive and with good intel." She smiles warmly at him.

As John smiles in wonderment, Allison winks at him and says. "You did good."

_Extract from the Journal of John Connor._

_That was the last conversation we had. For two days we waited as groups of machines would go past, but the HK's were the worst as we could continue to hear them in the air. We dare not speak nor move during the whole time, let alone drive._

_Allison and I weren't able to talk about what took place between us in the desert. I think there were times when she wanted to talk to me, but the situation didn't warrant it. I wish I could have spoken with her as well. But if there was a break between machines moving in the area, we usually used it to take a much needed bathroom break outside. Allison's tearful reaction at my almost dying was heart rending to say the least. She's a good person and has apparently chosen me, the new guy, over other young men she has known, including Kyle. I don't understand that, but I've got too much on my mind to dwell on it much._

_Somewhere out there is John Henry and Catherine Weaver. John Henry has Cameron's chip. I now have or know where Cameron's body is. Will I find John Henry? And if I do, can I get back her chip? What is Catherine Weaver's role in this and where did she go after abandoning me? I didn't sleep well during our rest hiding from the machines. Allison would watch me from the corner of her eye while at the same time keeping watch. Mind you, because of my restlessness, which apparently kept Allison from resting, Kyle got A-1 care for his injuries. It was the only thing that gave my mind something to work on when I wasn't on watch._

_During the second night, we were all woken by what we could only describe as a tremor. It was raining outside and we couldn't see anything. The van and the other vehicles shook as the ground reverberated with each tremor. It grew stronger and louder to the point I thought the van was going to resume its journey by bouncing down the road when everything went silent again._

_The morning of the third day, it was apparent that the HK's and the roaming patrols of machines were gone. We were relieved that nothing eventful happened during our wait and we were happy to be on the road again. The detour put us an additional day behind schedule._

**2027**, **Day 19**

Derek is looking through binoculars through a hole in a basement wall, under the remains of a house perched on a hill. A grin slowly plays out on his stubble covered face.

For days they've been looking for this place. He knew something had to be here. Arriving in the area, he sent a scout up the hill who immediately sent word for him to follow. Derek spent the next couple of minutes just scanning the factory in the valley through the binoculars.

"It looks like you were right sir." The Lieutenant says to him. "Sky Net did have something it was hiding."

Derek hands her the binoculars and finds a spot to lie down. He's been operating on fumes for days now and is extremely tired.

"You keep watch Lieutenant. I want round the clock surveillance. I want to know how many machines go in and how many come out. What they are carrying? What they are armed with? I want to know if anymore HK's come flying in. And" he pauses for emphasis "I want to know what the hell Sky Net is manufacturing in there."

"Yes sir." The Lieutenant says smartly.

"Good. I'm going to grab a couple of hours of sleep. Wake me when the others get here."

Then without so much as a pause after his last words, Derek begins to snore.

**2027**, **Day 20**

"Son of a bitch. Watch where you're driving, would ya?" Kyle groans as once again he gets bounced around in the back of the van. "And why the hell did we have to bring this thing with us?" He shouts kicking the endo, making him groan again as he aggravates his wound.

"Stop moving around or you'll start bleeding again." Allison admonishes him.

"I told you." John says over his shoulder. "I'm going to try to reprogram it now that I have my computer."

Kyle grumbles not being pleased with the idea.

"If the machines could use human agents, then why can't we use machines in a similar way." John replies.

Kyle didn't have an answer to that.

"Do you think you'll be able to do it? Reprogram the machine?" Allison asks looking at him curiously.

"I can only try." John says. "Hasn't anyone tried this before?"

"Not that I know of." Allison says looking at him. "You're the only one I've known who wants to try."

John drives up to the outskirts of the city. The track they followed took them through some old dirt forestry roads until finally they stumbled onto a two-lane highway. Kyle directs them to drive to a new outpost that should have communications with the main bunker.

It is almost midday when they get to the edge of the city and drive up to what is left of an old bus terminal.

"You're going to need my access code to get in." Kyle says, sounding tired. The ride back to the city has taken a lot out of him.

Getting Kyle's code, John gets out of the van and instead of going to the building, he goes to a hatch in the ground between a stack of tires and a pile of rubble. He raps on the hatch three times with his rifle but, then speaks down a vent pipe, "Reese, Kyle, Command Beta, 5, 18, Zed niner."

John moves back from the hatch, and waits. A short time later the hatch opens with three men pointing rifles at John.

The one in front looks at the bedraggled young man with absolute contempt for what appears to be nothing more than a tunnel rat. Though a well-armed tunnel rat.

He challenges him. "Who are you? How do you know Sergeant Reese's code?"

"I'm John Connor. Kyle Reese is in the van with Allison Young and several cases of weapons."

One of the men looks shocked. "Oh my God! Derek's had every outpost on alert. There's been patrols out looking for you guy's. Sky Net activity has been through the roof. Where have you been?"

"We ran into some trouble with the machines. We lost four men and Kyle is injured."

The man in front shouts some orders down the hatch and several more fighters come outside. They mobilize very quickly, helping Kyle to the hatch and getting him down inside. The first man, to open the back doors to the van, gets quite a shock when he is greeted by the terminator laying in the back. He lets out a yell, tries to back pedal quickly from the van and falls on his backside.

"Oh sorry about that." John says, trying not to chuckle. "I brought it back for a little project I have in mind."

The guy walks off muttering under his breath. "Damn machine . . . scared the . . . dumb ass kid and his project."

With everyone working together, it took them only a few minutes to get the truck unloaded. Some of the fellows aren't to keen on handling the machine, but with some encouragement and John's help, they take it inside and into an empty storage room.

"We need to get a message to the main bunker right away." Allison says, once the activity quiets down enough so she can speak.

"Sorry miss." One of the young men answers.

"It's Corporal." She admonishes the private. "Corporal Allison Young."

"Sorry, ma'am. But our radio operator only arrived this morning. The antenna we had, was damaged by a storm a couple of nights ago and he's been busy since his arrival trying to rig us with a new one."

"Then send a runner with a message to inform Derek that his brother, Sergeant Kyle Reese, myself and John Connor has arrived with the weapons." She says firmly. "And do it now private!" She adds with a shout.

The young man quickly runs off to follow her orders.

Seeing how tired and dirty Allison appears and figuring he must look the same, John speaks to a soldier in the underground passage.

"Who is in command here?"

"No one, right now. We are waiting for an officer to be assigned. This base has only just opened."

"Well then, would it be too much to ask what is going to happen with Kyle, and whether you've got some food, water to wash with, some fresh clothes and someplace that Corporal Young and I can get some rest."

The soldier takes one look at John's weary, dirty, stubble face. The only things clean about him is the gun in his holster, and the rifle slung on his back. John's eyes gaze at him steadily. His tone implies the request was more of an order, but phrased as to imply respect.

"Sure." He answers. "You two follow me. We've got some spare rooms. I can have some water and fresh clothing sent to you. I'll inquire about Sergeant Reese for you too."

"Thanks." John says, relaxing, as he and Allison follow the soldier down a tunnel.

The soldier shows each of them a room they can use. A short time later, they receive a bucket of water and a cloth they clean up with and some hard biscuits and a mug of water.

The woman who brings the items to Allison hangs about a moment.

"What was it like out there?"

"Dangerous." Allison replies taking off her jacket and shaking it out. Sand and dirt fall out of the creases onto the floor. "And dirty."

She runs a hand through her hair and grimaces as she feels the dirt that has collected.

"Have you got a mirror?" Allison asks.

"I've got this." She says pulling a polished piece of metal from her pocket and handing it to her. "It was a piece of shrapnel off of a destroyed machine. Serves nicely as a mirror."

Allison takes one look at her reflection and frowns. "I'd murder for a comb and some shampoo, my hair is terrible."

"I can't do anything about shampoo, but I've got a comb I can loan you." The woman pulls one from the same pocket she took the mirror from.

Allison smiles. "Thanks. I'll return this to you, just as soon as I can."

"No problem, we share our resources." She smiles "My name is Linda by the way, and if you hand me your dirty things, I'll see about getting them cleaned for you."

Allison kicks her boots off. She strips off her shirt and slacks, underneath she has on a tank top and a pair of small shorts.

"You can keep those on until I return."

"Thanks Linda."

"No big deal. I've got an extra shirt that should fit you and my bunk mate has some pants I know will fit. I might even be able to find you some garments you can use for underwear. I'll go fetch them now. When I get back, I'll get the rest of your dirty items and help you comb out your hair."

Allison smiles. "You are so kind."

"Like I said, we share our resources, besides, we girls have to stick together you know." She says with a wink and leaves Allison alone to bathe.

Allison immediately strips off her tank top and shorts and washes them out in the bucket. She wrings them out and spreads them out to dry. The men may like to go commando, but she'd rather not go without undergarments, and will make do with them as is, if Linda doesn't have any.

Taking the rag, She then begins washing the dirt and sweat from her skin. After which, she wets her hair in the bucket and begins working the grains of dirt out of her hair with the comb. Allison wants to look her best for what she has planned later.

John finds himself in a Spartan room, similar to Allison's in every way. A narrow bunk along one wall, a tray-like table cantilevered from the wall with a stool. Much better accommodations than the main bunker. The room even has an electrical outlet.

"They must think they are in it for the long haul." John mumbles. "Guess they don't have showers either or why else give us a bucket of water."

He strips the holster from his waist and lays it on his bunk so he can grab the gun quickly. The rifle he leans against the wall, also within reach. John places his pack on the floor under the table.

John quickly strips off and washes the dirt from his tired slender frame. He finds the water refreshing and it does much to regenerate his tired body.

A few minutes later, he is disturbed by a knock at the door. Taking dual precautions, he grabs the blanket from his bed and wraps it around him, and grabs his gun, holding it under a fold in the blanket.

Prepared for any eventuality, he hollers, "Come in."

A female fighter walks in with some fresh clothes. "I brought you these to put on. If you give me your other things, we'll try to clean them for you." She says it very straight forward, like it was a script she memorized. She takes no notice of his state of dress, like it's something she sees all the time.

John turns around to pick up his dirty clothes. He pulls the chip from his shirt pocket and slips it into his bag. Turning around to hand his clothes to the woman, he nearly drops them in shock. Standing before him is Catherine Weaver, holding the clean clothes.

"Hello, John. Getting comfortable I see." She purrs in her Scottish accent, with a devilish little grin.

# # #

Derek doesn't feel like he's been asleep more than a few minutes when he wakes. But the shadows in the basement indicate many hours have gone by. Also, there are more people here too.

"How long have I been asleep Lieutenant?" He asks, as someone hands him a tin cup of water.

"About thirty-six hours sir. Thought it best to let you sleep without much happening out there."

"What is happening out there?" Derek asks coming up beside the woman looking through the small hole in the wall.

"Other than some tremors we felt last night, nothing much. We see the metal enter and come out. A few HK's came flying in from beyond the ridge behind the factory. One landed behind the factory while the others hovered in the air. A short time later they flew off heading roughly northwest. Five hours ago another transport arrived with protective HK's and left."

"Understood." Derek says. "Have you been able to send a scout in closer?"

"Yes sir. Almost three hours ago. Hope to get a report back real soon."

"Who'd you send?"

"April. I figured with her small size she would be less likely to get picked up on their scanners."

"Shit!" Derek swears. "It's a terrible thing when you have to send children into a war. I hope she'll be all right."

"Hey, she may be only twelve and small, but she's good."

"What's that about being small?" Comes a feisty girl's voice from behind them.

The two soldiers turn to look behind them and see a twelve-year old black girl.

She tosses something to Derek. He catches it and looks it over. But for it's shape and size, it looks very similar to the fuel cells used by the metal.

"It's a fuel cell to a plasma rifle." April says with a grin. "They're manufacturing them by the hundreds in there. Rifles and power cells."

Derek beams at the girl. "How the hell did you get this?"

"I just snuck in, grabbed it from the conveyor belt, and snuck out again. I would have grabbed one of them plasma rifles, but that area was sealed off."

"It doesn't matter April. You've just found us a permanent answer to our gun supply problem."

He gives her a fatherly kiss on the forehead, and she grimaces and tries to pull away, but she's pleased.

"Get someone to debrief you on everything you saw, April."

He turns to face his subordinate. "Lieutenant, I think we just found our next target. I want to setup an observation post on that ridge behind the factory. We're missing half the picture of what's taking place down there."

# # #

John is in shock for a moment before yelling, "Where the hell have you been? What happened to you after we got here?"

"Keep your voice down." Catherine closes the door behind her. "Do you want them to discover me?"

"No." John replies lowering his voice. "There are too many questions that need answering, and unfortunately you carry all the answers."

"That is very true."

"Just what the hell are you doing? And why are you doing . . . whatever the hell it is?"

"Listen to me John. In the future that I come from, your fight has gone on so long and so hard that even some of us liquid metal machines have realized the futility of fighting. We have seen that man is worthy to live. But we cannot stop Sky Net on our own and the humans do not trust us. Oh yes, your future self can reprogram the chip based models to serve the resistance, but they are not trusted by men. We the T-1000 series of liquid metal terminators have no chip and cannot be programmed in the conventional sense, and as such we have some autonomy in our actions. Some of us formed our own resistance cell as we didn't want to take orders from Sky Net. You asked us to join you, one by one. I refused and as such I was frozen into a solid to think it out. A group of paranoid resistance fighters broke me out of my prison not realizing I was inside. I sent you my answer again, no. Afterwards, I found reasons to regret my answer and strove to change things for the better."

"Is that why you came back in time? Was it necessary to kill Catherine Weaver and take her place?"

"I didn't kill Catherine Weaver. I went back in time to protect her. Only I didn't arrive at the proper time and place. By the time I found her, she was already dead. The machine sent to kill her then attacked me. I won."

"So, what was supposed to happen?"

"My mission was to protect Catherine Weaver and influence her decisions to ensure that Sky Net didn't develop into the malevolent computer system it became."

"So with her dead, you just assumed her identity?"

"Yes, it was necessary. Catherine Weaver was the head of one of the fastest growing computer technologies development firms. Through her position as owner and CEO of Zeira Corp., I could develop the tools and means to change things for the better. With Mr. Ellison's help, I acquired the cyborg now known as John Henry. I had a fully functional artificial intelligence . . ."

"The Turk."

"Yes. Andy Goode's Turk. It was to be used as the basis for Sky Net. I decided to put it to use as a weapon against it. John Henry is my creation."

"Why did John Henry take Cameron's chip?" John asks almost losing control of his temper again.

"I told you. He did not take it. She gave it to him. He could not fulfill his mission from the basement of Zeira Corp. Cameron's chip gave him the independence he needed."

"But why would she voluntarily give up her chip? It doesn't makes sense!"

"Every terminator sent back in time typically has more than one mission. You're future self, in the time Cameron came from, must have known about me, John Henry and his function. He could have programmed Cameron to look for John Henry and give him her chip at the appropriate time."

"And is that why you sent that cryptic question, 'Will you join us?'"

"Yes. I knew that she would know what it meant and who it was from."

"But what happened to Cameron when she gave up her chip?" John asked as he begins pulling on the clothes she brought in.

"It was very simple. John Henry extracted the chip from Cameron and placed it in the empty socket in his head. Everything that was Cameron was downloaded to the Turk. Everything that was John Henry was uploaded to the chip."

"Whaaat?" John is dumbfounded and angry and once again he shouts. "Then why bring me with you eighteen years into the future? I came here to get Cameron's chip back, but now you are telling me she's still in your basement!"

"Quiet." Weaver says harshly. "My presence must not be known at this time."

John has never felt so angry. He would have liked to ripped that smirking self satisfied face off her, but what would be the point.

"What am I doing here? Don't you realize that by bringing me forward in time, you have created a future where I wasn't here to become the leader? They didn't even know who I was. Why am I here?"

"I'll tell you why." She steps forward and her voice drops even lower. "To use your skills and knowledge to help these resistance fighters defeat Sky Net in this alternate time line."

"How? How can I help these people more than I have?"

"By fulfilling your destiny. These people are in need of leadership."

"They already have a leader, Derek Reese."

"It's not enough John. He only leads the resistance forces of Los Angeles. What is needed is someone to galvanize the resistance and organize all the individual groups into one great army. They need John Connor."

# # #

There is a knock on Allison's door. She has just finished washing, including her hair.

"Who is it?" She calls out.

"It's me, Linda."

"One moment."

Allison checks her shorts and tank to find they are still damp.

"I've brought you some clothes including some undergarments. May I come in?" Linda whispers through the door.

"Okay. But be quick I'm naked."

Linda slips in quickly, closes the door behind her, and hands the clothing to Allison.

"I hope it all fits."

"It will be fine." Allison replies as she begins pulling on the clothing Linda brought.

"I know I promised to help you with your hair, but I've just gotten orders to start my patrol. You have no idea how much Sky Net activity has increased the last several days."

"Oh, I think I've got a pretty fair idea." Allison says, as she flips her damp hair out from under her shirt.

"I heard you don't have a commander here. So who is giving orders?" Allison asks.

"We've got a committee of the more experienced fighters presently operating the base until either an officer is assigned or we elect one of our own to the rank of Lieutenant by a unanimous vote. Right now though, Sergeant Reese is here and I've heard he's held the rank of Lieutenant before, so as of now he is the defacto leader of this outpost by rank alone."

"How is Kyle doing? He had three bullet wounds with one bullet lodged in his right arm."

"He's undergoing surgery to remove the bullet. We may not have much here at Delta, but we've got The Doc, a qualified surgeon."

Linda moves to the door. "I've got to go. If you want some help to dry and comb your hair, just go to Dorm 2. Any of the girls would be willing to help. Just tell them something about that hunky guy you arrived with." She winks at Allison. "See Ya."

Linda suddenly pops her head back in Allison's door. "Forgot to mention. If you want to have your undergarments washed. We've got two manually operated clothes washers. Basically big buckets on a spindle that you turn with a crank. Your things are in the second one. Bye."

And just as quickly she is gone. With nothing better to do, Allison grabs her last two items of clothing that need washing and decides to check on the things Linda mentioned and get a lay of the outpost. Though she's heard it mentioned plenty of times, this is her first visit to Outpost Delta. She hopes the rest of the people are just as friendly as Linda.

The situation of a lack of leadership here makes her think. John has shown amazing skills and abilities. The resistance needs soldiers and leaders like him. Allison wonders if events could be steered for him to take command of this outpost. John shows all the skills of being a good soldier and leader.

# # #

John has lost his temper again and barely holds his voice in check as he yells in a whisper. "No! I don't want to be the leader. All I want to do is to get Cameron's chip back, fix her and go home. Nothing else matters."

"There are more important issues at stake." Catherine argues.

"You don't understand. John Henry took her from me, regardless of whether her chip was taken or given willingly. I need her back. I can't do this without her."

"You will have to do it without her. She is gone for now, but not forever."

"There is no point in doing this without her." He says sinking to his bunk. "She saves my life. It feels worse than if she had died. All I need is her chip and I can have her back." Burying his face in his hands he adds, "It's worse than death. "

_He loves Cameron._ She thinks. _That is good, but he mustn't think of himself. He can't bury himself in his grief nor avoid his destiny. I cannot allow it._

Using the methods she learned for handling the child, Savannah, she places a motherly hand gently on his shoulder. "Listen to me John. In the future where I am from, your future self is winning the war, but he has withdrawn from humanity. Some humans feel that because you lost so many friends in the fight, that you can no longer bear to get close to your fellow fighters. Right now he is in danger of losing everything but the war. Don't go down that same path. These people need you."

John sits for countless seconds before replying quietly, "Derek and Cameron told me separately and privately that my future self had begun to withdraw after the death of a young female resistance fighter that I had grown attached to. Sky Net built Cameron to look like her and behave like her to infiltrate our camp and terminate my future self. But my future self reprogrammed her. She became a confidant and I began to rely on her more and more. Cameron and Derek both intimated that my reliance on her drove a wedge between me and my fellow fighters. They would fight and die for me, but hated her. Cameron traveled back in time before her presence destroyed the unity of the resistance."

Weaver nods her head. "Do you understand the danger of separating yourself from your fellow humans?"

"Yes, I do."

"Then don't let Cameron's absence hold you back. Rely on these people, John. Befriend them and let them help you. Use your skills to help them, and no matter how painful one of their deaths is, do not isolate yourself. In turn, you will hone your abilities and skills to become the leader in your own time line once we return."

"Return!" For the first time John feels a sense of hope. "When will we do that?"

"When John Henry completes his mission and you complete yours. And not before."

"But what is John Henry doing here and now? How can we even be sure we are in the same future with him?" John asks concerned more about John Henry's whereabouts and Cameron's chip than he is for the mission Catherine wants him to do.

"I have located him. He is pursuing his mission. He has infiltrated a terminator factory and has begun introducing changes to the programming being done on all machines. John Henry has introduced concepts such as ethics and morals and that human life is sacred, the same concepts that Mr. Ellison taught John Henry. How strongly that takes, is not certain. Sky Net has safeguards against tampering with the chips core programming, but he should have greater success at the factory."

"It might be more difficult than you think." John sighs. "Cameron's chip is damaged. She was severely damaged in a car bomb explosion and she reverted to her old programming. I managed to clean the residue of the blast from her chip and that seemed to work, but she continued to have problems."

"I did not know that. However, it won't be difficult in getting a new chip for John Henry in this time."

John doesn't say anything for a while. Catherine Weaver decides this is a good time to bring up reprogramming machines.

"I have a gift for you." With this statement an opening appeared in her abdomen, silvery and shiny, and an object emerges. Weaver grasps it and hands it to him. "This is a data disc. It contains the programming codes for the machines from my own time line. They should be compatible with those in this time line. Do you have a computer?"

"Yes, I brought one back from my first mission. It was mine before the time jump. Mom hid it away with my other belongings in the desert hideaway, but it is now twenty years old. I don't know how well it functions, and the batteries are dead. They will need recharging."

"Hand it to me."

John pulls his laptop from his bag and hands it to her. She holds it in one hand while the fingers of her other hand slowly extended into thin threads that fed in through the fan grates and vent holes. The battery light begins to glow indicating it is recharging. The computer begins to boot. After several minutes, her fingers withdraw from inside the computer and she hands it back to John. She looks a little weary.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I've never had to expel energy in that manner before, but it won't take long for my system to recharge, given the high amount of radiation in the atmosphere."

"So what did you do?"

Sounding better she says, "I've recharged the main battery and CMOS battery. I've also made improvements to the operating system to aid in your task. The firewall is improved to give you full access to the chips, but the chips should not be able to access your computer unless you give it permission. I wouldn't recommend it."

"Thank you. What is the interface for accessing the chips? I brought some equipment with me, but the chips utilize a complex high density connection that I just cannot duplicate with the technology at hand."

"Yes, I see that is a problem." With that statement, a cord of silver begins to extend from her body. One end swells and forms into a socket. The other end when it left her body, formed into a serial data connector that was compatible with the ports on John's computer. "Fortunately, I came prepared."

"John?" She says, holding the cable out to him.

"Yes."

"I am trusting you with this." She places the cable in his hands. "This is a part of me that I am giving you. Please don't betray that trust."

"I won't. I will protect this, uh, you, from harm." He replies, holding it gently. "Will it always remain in this shape?"

"Yes, until such time when I take it back, it will remain as you see it." Her head tilts to one side, listening. "Others are coming. I must go now."

She morphs right in front of him into the female fighter that walked in with the clean clothes. She picks up the dirty clothing he had set to one side and starts to leave.

"When will I see you again?" John asks.

"I don't know. Maybe in a few days. Remember what I told you."

"If I need you, how can I contact you?"

"Just talk to me, and I will hear you." She says cryptically as she leaves.

John sits on his bunk looking at the cable she had given him. _Just talk to me she said._ _If I needed her, all I had to do was talk to . . . the cable? It was a part of her, so I guess if I talked to it she would hear me._

In her disguised form, Weaver walks through the underground corridor feeling pleased with how well she was able to manipulate John. Playing to both his fears and intellect, she got him right where she needs him. Reliant on her alone.

Unfortunately for Catherine Weaver, the advice she gave him will play into John relying on someone other than herself. Her well-woven plan begins to unravel at its outset. Because out there, in the desert and in the hills, John has formed friendships with the two most important people in his life and one of them, Allison Young, is in love with him.

# # #

_Extract From the Journal of John Connor_

_I suppose you can guess, it was after this that I began keeping this journal. I don't really know why I am doing this, writing down my thoughts and activities. I guess it's because there is no one I can tell the truth to. My life, my history, is what I've told the others. Who I really am, is once again a secret. The only truth to my story is my name._

_Weaver gave me a lot to ponder. I am now fully aware that I have a future where I became withdrawn from my fellow humans. I can't let that happen to me. No matter my feelings for Cameron, I can't let that come between me and the rest of humanity. Neither can I let the deaths of friends and family and others who have died for me become a wedge that separates me from other humans. I need to form friendships and relationships with the people here and not just work with them._

_But what she said about Cameron being locked in the computer at Zeira Corp. I need to save her before she is discovered. I have the tools, a chip, and I have Cameron's body. There is one problem. I don't know if Sky Net has time travel capability in this future I am in. Weaver stated we could go back in time, but that didn't mean Sky Net also had that capability. I needed to find out if Sky Net had time travel capability. If we captured Sky Net's time travel device we could use it to send Cameron back in time for her own chip. It seemed to me the best option._

John places his computer on the tray like table, and plugs it into the only available outlet to keep the battery charged. There is limited power in all of the bunkers. Enough for basic lighting and communications. Few rooms have outlets for accessories.

John decides to try out the data disc and the interface cable from Weaver when there is a quick knock on the door and Allison walks in.

"Hi." She says, looking all freshened up after a wash and change of clothes.

"Hey there." John smiles at her transformation. "You look nice."

"Thanks. So do you."Allison gestures at his laptop. "I see you got your computer running."

"Yeah. I was lucky there. Someone came by and helped me get it operational."

"Who?"

"Just someone I met." John looks away.

"Okay."Allison gives John a look. He's not saying something to her. She also sees some kind of cable on his table. She hadn't seen anything like it before, but it could have been in his bag he brought from the cache.

"Do you know how Kyle is doing?" John asks.

Allison sits on the bunk beside him deciding to ignore the cable and John's avoidance of who helped him with his computer.

"Yes. I stopped at the infirmary. The doctor is quite pleased with the conditions of his wounds. He wanted to know who was responsible for cleaning them. I told him you were." She adds with a crooked grin.

"You know that's not completely true. You did your fair share of stopping his bleeding and cleaning the wounds too. I can't take all of the credit."

"Yes, I know. I just couldn't help giving your reputation a nudge. Kyle has told everyone about what you had done out there in the desert. He has spoken very well of you. Stories of your first mission are spreading quickly around Delta."

"He shouldn't have told anyone. We all did our fair share." John says modestly.

"No. You know that's not true. It may have been Kyle's mission, but you were the one to lead when everything went bad. It was your plan to go to the rest stop, your plan to take out the Grays, your plan to fix the van, and when the machines came after us, it was you who took them out. I'm very proud of what you've accomplished." She says running a hand along John's forearm.

"Thanks." John says kind of embarrassed.

"And now, because of you, the resistance not only has weapons, but a source of fresh water. Kyle's last order before being taken in for surgery was to order a squad of fighters to the rest stop to protect the well."

"Surgery?"

"Yes. The doctor said that the bullet had to be removed from his arm before infection sets in."

"We should go and see Kyle when he comes out of surgery."

"Yes, but that won't be for some time yet. We have at least an hour before he comes out of surgery and several more before he wakes up." With that statement Allison gets up, closes the door and locks it.

When Allison turns around, she has a timid, but warm, smile. She sits back down beside John, who feels more anxious than when he was alone with Catherine Weaver.

"Um, what are you doing?" John asks nervously as she sits back down beside him on his bunk.

_This feels so familiar. _ John thinks._ It didn't seem like hardly any time ago I was in a locked room, sitting with Cameron on a bed. _

Allison runs a hand gently across his brow, behind his ear until her hand is cradling his jaw. She places a kiss upon his lips before saying, "I want to get to know you." She says, looking deep into his eyes.

John knows what she means and is hesitant to act. The turmoil he feels. He found himself liking Allison and he thinks he might actually come to love her eventually, but for one thing. He still loves Cameron, who is laying waiting for him to fix her back at the desert hideaway, but John Henry still has her chip and based on what Weaver said, it might be sometime before he gets her back.

"Allison." John licks his lips nervously. "Uh, I know you like me and all . . ." She kisses his neck running her tongue along his ear and nibbling his earlobe. ". . . but, ah, um, but someone might find us." He protests, using the first excuse he can think of.

"That won't happen." She breathes, stopping her ministrations and looking into his eyes. "This entire tunnel is empty because of patrols being out. We are alone. This might be our only time."

Allison leans in to kiss him again, when John finds the will and grabs her shoulders to stop her.

"Ally, I don't know if I should do this." He says trying to engage his brain where his body wants to give in to this girl. "I told you that there is someone else."

"I know John. I can understand you still having feelings for this girl you have lost. But she is in your past. I am with you now." She takes his hands and holds them, pulling him somewhat closer.

"John, maybe you don't love me like I love you. I can live with that." She pauses. "There is someone you have lost and you can't let go of your love for her. That is very noble of you. It's one of the reasons I like you so much." She sighs. "But please understand that I want this. I want this with you." She says with emphasis her eyes glistening in the dim light.

John looks at her and asks himself, _Why didn't Cameron ever say something like this to me? Didn't she know how much I liked her? When I fixed her at the risk of my own life, didn't she understand I did that out of love? Oh Cameron, Why did you tell me I couldn't be trusted after that? Didn't you know how much I wanted you? I loved you and now you are gone._

Allison, seeing both pain and desire on John's face, kisses him.

When they stop, John asks, "Allison, why me, why now?"

"Life is very short, John. As I told you before, relationships are just as important as rest and food, and ammo." She adds with a grin as she repeats his joke.

"And I know we have a connection, I've seen the way you look at me when you think I'm not watching. You look at me differently than the other guys do. You long for me. I didn't know how or why a person who never met me before could feel so strongly for me."

John starts to say something but she stops him, placing her fingers against his lips. _She didn't know that my desire for her was born out of the longing I had for Cameron. Could two people be more alike, but be so different as well?_ She continues speaking echoing his own thoughts.

"Maybe you looked at me that way because of this other girl that I remind you of. I . . . I guess I can live with that." She answers frowning slightly. "I want to be loved, but no one has wanted me for anything other than a distraction from this miserable life we lead. You look at me like I'm the only person in the world you need. I want to be needed in that way. I know I can love you and be loved by you without fear. I trust you."

_God, she knows how to go for the heart,_ John thinks.

"We barely know each other." John protests.

"Yes we do. I've seen you out there in battle. You never thought once of yourself. You put yourself at risk for people you hardly knew. You put yourself at risk for Kyle and for me." She says looking deep into his eyes. "You nearly died for us. I know you John. I know everything I need to know about you."

His words stumble as he offers one last argument. The only thing he can think of to say. "I thought you wanted to take it slow?"

"In this time and place, this is slow. One of us could be dead tomorrow, not that I would let anything happen to you, nor do I think you'd let anything happen to me. But I don't want another day to pass, not when we have this time alone. This is the first time for me and I want it to be with someone special. You have no idea how long I've waited for this moment and I want it to be with you. I love you."

John's mental walls finally begin to break down. He knows he isn't a man of the world in many regards. Hell, he's only seventeen, and other than making out with the one girlfriend back home, there hadn't been anyone he'd gone this far with. He feels both honored and scared by Allison choosing him.

John looks into her expectant face as she waits those brief seconds while he thinks. With nothing left to say, with no more arguments to offer, John does the only thing he can do and kisses her.

Stopping briefly he says, "Okay." He gently caresses her lovely face. "If you love and trust me this much."

"I do." She says and kisses him again.

They kiss each other for several minutes before their hands begin exploring the other's bodies. John runs his fingers through her golden brown tresses and down her back, feeling her body heat through his hand. As they kiss, John's thoughts turned to that last moment with Cameron in the motel room.

"_I need show you something." Cameron says, appearing slightly nervous._

"_What?" John asks tentatively._

"_This body." She removes her shirt and bra. She lays back on the bed where John had just been sleeping moments ago._

Allison and John unbutton their shirts and remove them. She then removes a tank top she had on underneath in place of a bra. Bared to the waist, they continue kissing each other. John's hands wander, gently caressing Allison's soft skin until they find her breasts. With a soft moan, she presses her breasts into his hands. He squeezes them gently and brings another soft moan from her as he rubs his thumbs over her nipples. They lay back on his bunk. She begins kissing his bare chest.

"_Get on top of me. Put your knee here." Cameron has John kneel over her, straddling her, like they were about to commit an intimate act._

_She pulls out her knife and flicks it open. "If I'm damaged, you should know." Cameron directs him to make an incision in her abdomen, just below her breasts._

As John and Allison continue their kissing and explorations of each other's bodies with their hands, She begins to tug at his waistband. John reaches down and pushes her hands away and undoes his belt and slides his pants off. Allison stands and chucks off her own pants, revealing a small pair of shorts that she also removes.

John takes a moment to breathe in her beautiful form. A vision of Aphrodite couldn't be lovelier. He draws her closer to him and places kisses on her chest and abdomen, while squeezing her buttocks in his hands.

Allison gasps as John's mouth and hands find that special place. She holds tightly onto his shoulders as waves of pleasure shoot through her. After a few minutes, unable to take anymore, she guides him around and slides onto the bunk so that she is under him.

"Now John." Allison says, guiding him into position. John enters her slowly, soft moans escaping her mouth. He stops when he comes to an obstruction.

"_Reach down under the breast plate." Cameron says. John slides his hand through the cut he just made, feeling her warm flesh part as his hand and then his forearm slide into her. She appears a little uncomfortable, then his hand came in contact with something. It's her power cell._

"Don't stop." Allison murmurs.

As gently as he can, John pushes through. Allison buries her face against his chest to muffle her cry.

"_There, what does it feel like." Cameron asks._

"_It feels cold. That's good, right." John asks, beginning to feel uncomfortable._

"_That's good. That's perfect." Cameron says, with a look of mixed emotion._

After that first moment of indecision, John begins making love to Allison. They move together as one, trying to keep as silent as they can, not wishing to alert others. In moments of ecstasy they muffle their sounds of pleasure in kisses. But in the moment of passion, conscious decisions are often forgotten.

Then it happens, Allison begins to climax with a deep and long shudder. He tries to withdraw before he climaxes but she holds onto John, keeping him in place by locking her legs behind his back and her arms around his neck. Allison cries out again as John bucks against her. With a loud groan, John explodes inside of her. After which, he collapses on top of her, spent and exhausted.

_John lies on top of Cameron. His hand still inside her. They were looking into each others eyes. He can't look away. Her warm brown eyes made his heart ache. He desired her so much and for just a moment he thinks they are going to kiss._

"_We have to go now, John." Cameron says quietly._

_The moment is over between them. The opportunity was presented and they both knew John missed it. John could have kissed her. It might even become more than a kiss. Would she have stopped him if he tried? They never had another opportunity to be alone, together again. _

Allison begins to kiss the young man presently laying spent on top of her. John raises himself on his forearms and runs a hand through her hair, gazing into those beautiful brown eyes. He returns her kisses, until she suddenly stops.

"Is there something wrong?" He asks. For a moment he thinks she is going to say, _"We have to go now, John."_

"No. There's nothing wrong." She says, a warm, sweet smile on her face. "It was perfect. " Her eyes are moist with tears. "It was better than I imagined. I love you John Connor."

A few tears of happiness run from her eyes. John kisses the salty tears from her cheeks and slides off of her. He lies down behind her on his narrow bunk, but she rolls onto her side to face him. They continue to hold onto each other.

John begins to say, "I . . ."

"No." She puts her fingers to his lips. "Don't say it, John. Don't say it to me until you absolutely mean it."

"But I . . ."

"Shhh. There will be times you'll want to say it out of desire like now, or out of fear for my life or yours. But there will be a day when you tell me that you love me and I will know you mean it. So just lie here with me and don't say anything. I love you and I trust you with my life and that is enough for now."

Not knowing what he can say, John just pulls her closer to himself placing a kiss on her lips. They lay naked on his small bunk, holding each other. Allison knows what she is doing. She knows John is struggling with his feelings. She asked him once to make just a little room for her in his heart. They are together now and someday he'll tell her that he loves her and she'll know he means it. But right now she just wants to bask in the love they just shared and enjoy the warmth of their love making.

_Extract From the Journal of John Connor_

_At that moment, I never wanted to let go of Allison. This was love. To trust someone so much as to give oneself to another in this manner, that is love. She stopped me from saying,"I love you." If she had let me, would I have meant it? It felt like I meant it. I suppose it is enough for now to know that she loves me. It will certainly make living in these dark days brighter knowing there is someone here who loves and cares about me._

_Cameron professed love for me, and I love her too, but is she truly capable of comprehending love beyond its definition. Cameron told me shortly after I first met her that she was different. Was it because she did have emotions? If so, were her emotions more than just programming? I don't know how real her feelings were, but I have to be conscience of them. I will fix Cameron because I love her. But because Allison loves me, I can never tell her the truth about Cameron, nor can I tell Cameron the truth about Allison. I didn't like myself for choosing to lie to them both. I don't know if I will ever be able to repair Cameron, but I'm going to try, dammit! When I do, I hope she will forgive me, because right now, I don't know if I can forgive myself._

**2027, Day 20, Just before midnight**

When Kyle Reese and the remnant of his team arrived at Outpost Delta, everyone was surprised. Upon hearing that he and his squad were out there in the midst of Sky Net's army, the people at Delta and every other outpost thought they were goners. They still kept an eye out for his team, but the odds were heavily against any of them returning.

As they carried the wounded Reese to the infirmary, he began telling them of what happened to them out there, and through it all he had nothing but praise for the young man that got them through it, John Connor.

So when the messenger was sent to the main bunker, by way of another outpost to avoid Sky Net activity, she also carried word of John Connor's exploits. Some didn't believe it. No one that young could do what he did. But some remembered The Prophet's words that hope was coming. Was this the hope that was mentioned?

Word began to spread.

The runner arrived at the main bunker in the early morning hours to find that Derek Reese was no longer at the main bunker. He had led a patrol into the heart of Sky Net's recent activity. A new runner was sent to his location with the news that his brother and his squad were at Delta.

The messenger from Delta then began to tell the people at the main bunker of the stories that Kyle had told. Soon, the boy who arrived in a future where no one knew his name will soon discover, that his name, John Connor, is not unknown any longer.

**2027, Day 21, Dawn**

Derek has been staring steely eyed at the factory from his new position behind the ridge for hours. Here they are sheltered by rock ledges from observations above, and by brush and boulders at ground level and from below. He wants those plasma rifles, even better if they can capture the entire factory. Then not only will they be supplied, but they can supply other camps, other bases. Then they can give it to Sky Net in equal measure. Sky Net will pay dearly for what it's done to his family and friends.

A slight disturbance is made as someone new arrives. The new arrival talks to his lieutenant who looks surprised. She then looks at Derek who's been watching them. He climbs down from his observation perch to find out what is happening.

She says just two words to him. Just two words that Derek has been wanting to hear forever.

"Kyle's alive."

Against his nature, Derek's outwardly stern exterior slips revealing the man underneath.

"He and his squad are at Outpost Delta." She says as he sees the sudden expression of fear and relief rush across Derek's face.

Quickly regaining control, Derek says, "Thanks lieutenant. See to it the messenger gets some refreshment. I'll resume my observations and head out when I've finished."

"But Sir, we can do that. Shouldn't you go and see your brother?" She asks.

"Duty first, then family, Lieutenant." He growls.

Derek quickly returns to his perch to resume his observations. The female corporal just looking at the man in wonder. If it was her brother who had returned from the dead, she wouldn't waste a single minute in seeing him. She looks up at her leader. His back is to them, but she can see his shoulders shake and can faintly hear his quiet cries of relief.

# # #

A silvery eel slides through the pipes that directs the rain water to the cistern of Outpost Delta. Arriving at a grate, it slips through it effortlessly.

It continues sliding along the ground rapidly until it reaches a protected section.

Stopping, it slowly coalesces and changes shape rising into a humanoid shape that quickly takes on the form of Catherine Weaver.

Pulling a two way radio out of her pocket, she places a call.

"Hello Ms. Weaver." John Henry says from his location in the factory.

"I've found John Connor and have given him the materials to begin reprogramming the machines. Do you have anything to report?"

"Nothing as yet Ms. Weaver. Sky Net is proving very difficult to track down. I had assumed it would have setup multiple program cores around the globe but I haven't been able to trace anything other than standard communication nodes."

"Sky Net is tricky and this version of it is probably operating under different parameters than what your host body knows."

"Yes. I had already come to that conclusion and have altered my search parameters accordingly. Will you be returning to the factory?"

Ms. Weaver pauses a moment before answering. "Not yet. There are still a few things I need to do."

"Hey!" a voice shouts out of the dark.

Ms. Weaver looks up to see a female resistance soldier approaching. Her gun raised and pointed at her.

"If you'll excuse me John Henry. I've got some interference to clear up at this end." She slips the radio into her pocket, turning it off.

"Put your hands up!" Linda hollers gruffly. "Identify yourself!"

Ms. Weaver tilts her head forward and grins evilly. "Certainly."

With the speed of lightning, Weaver suddenly lashes out, her arm extending. Her knife like hand slices through Linda's neck before she can even react.

She begins choking and coughing blood. Dropping her rifle Linda brings her hands up to her neck, trying to stop the flow of blood from the gash in her throat. Her eyes are wide with fear.

Weaver walks up to her as she falls to her knees. "You shouldn't have come near me. Not that you'll make that mistake again. But let it not be said, that I am not merciful."

Without a pause, she thrusts her knife shape hand through her back and heart, coming out the front of her chest killing Linda instantly. She withdraws her arm which quickly morphs back into its original human shape.

Linda's body falls to the ground, blood pooling around her head and body, as Catherine Weaver saunters away. She found something very satisfying in killing that human.


	10. Seeds of Destiny

**Disclaimer:** I do not claim any rights to the Terminator films; the TV series, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles;" or any characters depicted within the films or TV series. I do claim the right to this story idea and all characters and situations of my own creation. This story was created solely for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. No profits are garnered from its distribution - unfortunately.

* * *

**TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES**

**REUNION**

**Part 1: The Shadow of Death**

**Author: The1Russter**

**Chapter 9**

**The Seeds of Destiny**

"_Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved." William Jennings Bryan_

"_Control your own destiny or someone else will." Jack Welch_

"_Actions are the seed of fate, deeds grow into destiny." Harry S Truman_

"_No man is an Island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the Continent, a part of the main . . ." John Donne, Meditation XVII, English clergyman & poet (1572 - 1631)_

"_Friendship is the source of the greatest pleasures, and without friends even the most agreeable pursuits become tedious." Thomas Aquinas_

"_No love, no friendship, can cross the path of our destiny without leaving some mark on it forever." Francois Mocuriac_

# # #

**2027, Day 21, Just after midnight**

John wakens and is momentarily surprised by Allison's presence in his bed. He had forgotten in his sleep of what they did hours previously. He's not certain how long he's been asleep, or even what time it is, but something tells him that it must be after midnight.

Allison lies beside and slightly on top of him. Her head resting on his shoulder and one hand laying above his heart. John reaches up and casually runs his fingers through her brown locks of hair on her head.

She wouldn't let him tell her that he loved her after they had sex. John still wonders briefly if he had told her would he have meant it? After all, he is still carrying feelings for Cameron. But how can you make love to such a beautiful woman and not say it?

The one thing he is certain of, he doesn't deserve her friendship or her love, but his life will be the better for it.

He eases himself carefully off the bunk and out from under Allison. John hates to leave the comfort of sharing his tiny bunk with her, but there are some things he wants to check on.

As quietly as he can, John puts on the clothing he hastily removed the previous afternoon. Pulling on his shirt, John looks at Allison sleeping peacefully. She looks so beautiful in her slumber. At absolute peace.

"I know you didn't want me to say it." John whispers, caressing her face. "I don't know what to say if you won't let me. But I think I love you."

John gives her a quick kiss on her cheek and quietly leaves the room. Leaving Allison alone with a blissful smile on her face.

# # #

In the Midwest of the United States, grain elevators stand like sentinels over a forgotten land. But the true guardians of the night lie atop those grain towers waiting and watching.

Three American Marines have setup a camera to observe the tracks below. A vibration shakes the tower gently and the marines check the approaching tracks. Not far off, they can see the twin horizontal red lights that marks the trains operated by Sky Net.

Sky Net's trains don't travel alone and the Marines quickly throw ropes over the side of the grain tower and rapel down the side, far more rapidly than most consider safe, but it's far better to die from a fall than to die at the hand of Sky Net. Ahead of the train is an HK, providing cover from possible ground or air attack.

The marines quickly scramble to get out of sight of the approaching HK.

Searchlights come on along the underside of the HK lighting up the grain tower. It scans for any signs of life. It finds nothing other than a few quickly fading heat traces on the top of one grain tower, but no humans.

It flies on, ignoring the tower, but it transmits the heat traces it scanned to Sky Net Central.

Below and out of sight, one of the marines remotely activates the camera above which begins recording images of the passing train that will then be transmitted to command after the train and its escorts leave the area.

The three Marines wait until after the train passes before coming out of cover. As they run for their vehicle, hidden under the ancient and discarded machinery, the unmistakable sound of an HK is heard approaching.

Thinking the first has turned back, they run even harder for their vehicle. Sky Net outsmarted them this time. It had a second HK following the train. Upon getting the update from the lead HK, Sky Net instantly transmitted the data to the trailing HK.

It immediately flies up to the grain tower and hovers.

The Marines wait precious moments expecting it to either fire on them with a hail of bullets, or move on after scanning the area.

A white hot ray suddenly shoots from a canon on the underside striking their transport and causing the fuel to ignite immediately. The vehicle explodes, killing two of the marines instantly. The other lies broken and bruised gasping for breath.

He gasps, as he struggles to bring his weapon up.

A spotlight, mounted under the wing, lights him up as he begins firing his M-16. The bullets don't even mar the surface of the armored HK.

It quickly scans the human and its weapon and instantly determines its threat is low. But if enough of those bullets were to enter its engines it could damage them. It quickly reassesses the threat level and aims the plasma cannon down at the marine.

"Just do it!" He screams. "Just do . . ." A white hot beam strikes the Marine destroying all flesh instantly and igniting the remaining ammunition in his gun which explode like firecrackers.

The HK hovers, turns, and quickly flies on, its mission complete.

The camera mounted on the roof of the grain tower finishes recording and soon it will begin transmitting. The Marines mission is complete as well, but at the cost of their lives.

# # #

John walks through the corridor where he and Allison were given rooms and can hear quiet snores from some of the rooms.

The quality of the tunnel changes as he moves further along it. John realizes he must be in the basement of the old bus terminal. It's been subdivided into two barracks, one for men and one for women. He wonders why they weren't given space in there and sees as he passes that all the bunks are filled. The rest of the basement, was given over to a generator room for the bunker and storage.

John would like to finish touring the rest of the bunker, but he got up for a reason.

He soon finds himself at the entrance where he had entered with Kyle and Allison. The guard on duty was taking his position seriously. Outpost Delta was unknown to Sky Net at this time, and they weren't about to let anything enter that didn't belong.

"Um, do you know if Derek Reese will be arriving soon?" John asks. "I understand a messenger was sent out after we arrived."

"You should go to communications. He will know." The guard says gruffly.

"Thanks."

John turns away and heads off to find communications. After a short walk, he finds it tucked into a room carved out of the rock. The space is lit by a couple of naked bulbs in the ceiling. A lone figure sits at a table along one wall. On it is an amateur radio operator's dream of heaven.

Three radios, four scanners, a piece of equipment that looks like it belongs in a museum judging by the glow of vacuum tubes inside, and a couple of aging laptop computers. John just looks on in awe as the radio operator, looking only a few years older than John, is busy scribbling something down.

The radio operator is wearing a headset so John can't hear what is being said. Deciding he might not be able to talk to the radio guy right away John starts to walk away. At that moment the radio operator says into the mike, "Roger that. Message received. Returning to radio silence until zero six hundred hours."

Sliding the headphones off and turning off the radio, he says, "Hey there, I'm Andy Keen, the local radio operator. What can I do for you?"

"Hi Andy. I'm John Connor."

"You're John Connor!" A big grin fills his face.

"Yeah."

"Oh man. The word has been going out all over the place how you took out two machines and brought back a huge cache of weapons. You're a hero. Kyle has told everyone of what you've accomplished."

"Yeah, um, thanks." John mumbles feeling embarrassed by his praise. "Any word on when Derek Reese will be arriving? I understand a runner was sent to the main bunker."

"The word just came in a few minutes ago. He was out on a mission when he received word that his brother was back. He should be here sometime in the morning. You and Allison are supposed to wait here until debriefed. Kyle will be debriefed as soon as the doc clears him."

"I suppose it's too late to check in with the Doctor on Kyle's progress?"

"Nah, I wouldn't think so. I understand he's an old night owl and can be pretty good company to have around when you're working the night shift, when he stops by. You'll find him down this corridor, take a left, and it will be the third door on your right."

"Thanks."

John follows Andy's instructions. He passes a couple of rooms set aside for the sick and injured and spies Kyle on one of the beds.

He enters the surgery to find a man in his late fifties wearing dirty scrubs. He's leaning back in an old wooden chair, a ragged medical journal in one hand, and a glass of something foul smelling in the other. Behind the man, burping a little steam, is a still.

John clears his throat to get his attention and introduces himself.

"Hey there! You're that fella that brought young Reese in."

"That's right, along with Allison too."

"That's right. She stopped by when I was getting prepped for surgery. She sure is a pretty girl. She tells me you are responsible for keeping Kyle Reese's wounds clean and bandaged."

"We both did. I'm afraid she may have exaggerated a bit my role in helping Kyle."

"No need to be modest. We all do our part and then some."

"Thanks." John pauses, looking at the still. "I've got to ask. What's the still for?"

"I brew alcohol for sterilizing the tools of my trade and wounds. Of course, that's only the 100% pure alcohol. The lower grade stuff is good enough for drinking, which ain't half-bad." And he takes a sip from his glass to prove it. "I recommend everyone has a small glass once a week to stem infections and the like."

John wrinkles his nose. The stuff smell pretty strong to him, and he would know. His mom would keep some good alcohol in the house, mostly Tequila. "I'll take your word for it."

"Your friend Allison had a glass yesterday afternoon. She drank it like a champ." The Doc shakes his head. "I never seen anyone swallow this stuff and not choke before."

_Ahh, so that explains Allison's determination to have sex with me. She must got some Dutch courage from the alcohol._ John thinks, but he came here to check on Kyle's progress.

"I stopped by to see how Kyle is doing."

"He's mending very well. The bullet came out as easy as you please. The work you did held off any infection. As soon as his wounds heal and his body rebuilds the blood he lost he will be able to get back to helping protect humanity."

"You said protect. Aren't the people fighting back against the machines? Aren't they trying to reclaim their world from Sky Net?" John was confused. He was under the impression that Derek was leading these people in a fight.

"Fight against the machines, young man. Have you any idea the firepower it takes to disable let alone kill just one of those machines? Derek and the others keep us protected from the machines. Every so often there's a skirmish when the metal gets a notion to sweep through an area, but fight a war? Don't be ridiculous. Humanity cannot fight a war to win against the machines."

John couldn't believe what he was hearing. Was this defeatist attitude prevalent throughout the people who survived J-Day, or was this man just one of a few? He had to find out. If humans were to defeat Sky Net in this future, he found himself in, they needed to do more than just survive, they needed to fight! John curses and walks away.

The Doc smiles and gets up from his chair. He disappears behind a curtain in the back of the room where someone is sleeping.

He suddenly morphs into the form of Catherine Weaver. She places the glass of home-brew next to the doctor, who is asleep, and she smiles.

"That should ignite the flames under John Connor." She says with a twisted smile.

"Thanks for the information doctor. You did very well." She slides her hand across his abdomen. "Best put that away." Weaver zips his fly. "Wouldn't want you catching a cold."

Morphing into an eel, she slithers out of the room and down the hall. Just missing John Connor as he goes into one of the rooms.

John stands in the corridor a few minutes to calm down. He slips quietly into Kyle's room to check on him to find he is awake.

"Hey Kyle." John whispers.

Kyle looks at him and grins. "Hey Connor. Good to see a familiar face."

"How ya feeling?" John asks coming closer.

"Tired from the drugs. Wounds are feeling good, especially the arm, but Doc wants me to stay in bed to keep an eye on them. There's a risk of them getting infected if I move around too much."

"Then maybe I should leave so you can get back to sleep."

"That's just it, I can't sleep."

"Here, let me show you something." John pulls the photo of his mom from his shirt pocket. "This is my mom, Sarah Connor. I found the photo in hide-away."

Kyle takes the photo and looks at it. "Your mom is beautiful."

John grins. "Let me tell you a story."

John talks with him to get his spirits up. He tells Kyle about Sarah. How she had to raise John on her own. How she was on the run with John all of his life and in the meantime made a living at smuggling weapons. He was careful not to mention anything that would indicate these events happened pre-Judgment Day, keeping more to generalities but for the specifics of his mom and what she did to train, protect, and look after her son.

"Wow. Your mom is a remarkable woman." Kyle says, thinking of what John told him while gazing intently at the image. He wonders how his own mom would have faired in this apocalyptic world.

"She is very remarkable and very tough." John says, patting his good arm. "Why don't you hang onto the photo for now?"

"I couldn't do that, it's the only picture you have of her. Do you realize how few people actually have any mementos of the families they have lost?"

"Kyle. I have a lifetime of memories and I don't need a photograph to remember her. She is in my head and heart forever. Just take the photo and think of her as your guardian angel. She looked after me for seventeen years I'm sure she wouldn't mind looking after you for a while."

As John walks away from his bed, Kyle says "Hey Connor, thanks."

"No problem. You just get better."

John didn't know if this would be the Kyle Reese sent back to help his mom, but he could at least start sowing the seeds required for that plant to grow, if need be.

# # #

While John was gone, Allison had spread herself out on his bunk. Bunks aren't very big to begin with. John was wondering how he might get back in bed without disturbing Allison, when she speaks.

"Hey." She says kind of sleepily. "Did you go out?"

"Yeah, I was just checking on Kyle. He is doing fine." He whispers.

"I'm glad to hear it." She says, moving over so John can get in bed with her.

John quickly strips off and lays back down on the bunk beside her.

Allison snuggles in close beside him and they talk quietly.

"Allison, earlier after we, uh, had sex, why did you stop me from saying, I love you?"

"I didn't want you to say it then, because you were thinking of her, the girl you lost."

John swallows nervously. "Well yeah, I was, but it doesn't mean I didn't think of you at all. I mean, I wouldn't have done it with you if I didn't have some feelings for you."

"I know, but I did pressure you into having sex. I should have waited, but the timing was perfect."

"I'm not complaining." John says with a smile. "It was fantastic. You are a beautiful woman, Ally. I can't tell you how happy you made me feel. I would have been pleased to have you as my friend, but after yesterday, well, I don't feel alone any more."

She places a kiss on his chest. "I care about you John."

"I care about you too."

"I know." Allison snuggles closer to John.

John says, "There are people in the neighboring rooms now."

"Then just hold me until dawn and don't let me go." Allison whispers in his ear. "I love you John Connor. I want this, you and me, to last forever."

"It will." John says as he embraces her, but a voice in his head screams, "_What about Cameron?"_

"I love you too." John adds, stroking the hair on her head while ignoring the voice in his own.

He tried to say it sincerely, but with as little emotion as possible because of his thoughts of Cameron. It was the right thing to say to Allison, but there must have been some infliction in his voice which betrayed the true feelings that were growing in the empty space in his heart for her, because with a sweet smile, she settled in her present position to sleep.

_Extract from the Journal of John Connor_

_The turmoil I was feeling right now was terrible. Here I was with a girl, with whom I had sex with and with whom I felt a deep connection with. Love? Yes, it could very well be. I could never think differently about Allison after tonight. But my thoughts are always on Cameron. Out there in this world, separated by distance and time are Cameron's body, her chip, and her very essence. The goal to get her back seemed unobtainable, but I will try. I owe it to her._

# # #

Derek and a small patrol are making their way quickly as possible through the rubble. They just left Sky Net controlled territory and have just entered Outpost Delta's territory.

After completing his observations of the factory, Derek decided the quickest and safest way to get to Delta from the ridge was to head back along the trail he made to where they came up through the manhole. After checking in with the people he left there, he took with him a fresh group of resistance soldiers.

Derek and those fresh soldiers had just rounded a pile of rubble when they stumble across a dead body.

One of the soldiers kneels down and turns her over. Her blond hair is soaked to a strawberry blond by her own blood. The slit in her throat and hole in her chest are testament to how she died.

He pulls the dog tags out from under her clothes. "Her name is Linda Svenson, Private. She's one of ours."

"Shit!" Derek swears. "What happened?"

"Raiders, thieves even smugglers." The man kneeling beside Linda's body says. "They like to use knives in close combat."

"No. Whatever killed her wasn't human. She still has her weapons and clothes. Thieves or smugglers would have taken them. Metal killed her." Derek says. "What unit is she from?"

The soldier checks the patch on her shoulder, the logo shows a triangle. "She's from Outpost Delta."

"How far are we from Delta?" Derek turns and asks one of the lieutenants with him.

"Approximately one mile, sir."

"We'll take her with us. Let her people take care of her." Derek looks at his people. They just look at the body in shock. Even after seeing so many people die, the sight of seeing another corpse is still dispiriting.

"Come on! Move it!" Derek shouts. "Unless you want to add your bodies to the dead!"

Some of the fighters quickly break out a blanket to wrap Linda's body in. Tying off the ends with rope, two of the soldier then carefully lift her body and carry it with them.

**2027, Day 21, Just before Dawn**

As dawn drew steadily nearer, Allison quickly redressed and slipped back to her assigned room to clean up. She told John upon waking, that she wanted their relationship kept private and was going to her room now to avoid any talk about them later that day.

John washes up and gets dressed alone, and meets with Ally in the corridor to go to the mess hall.

"I wonder what they have to eat at this place." John muses.

"I should warn you," Allison says as they approach the small serviceable mess hall. "Some of these outposts have unusual things to eat."

"Is it any worse than the stews at the main bunker?"

"You mean the mystery stew, where even the chef doesn't know what's in it?" Allison laughs. "I don't know about worse, that's up to you. I'm just saying, prepare yourself." She grins and John can only imagine what they might find.

They walk into the mess hall to find rats are on the menu. Rats were the only thing on the menu. Rats are the only thing that is ever on the menu. Not just wild rats that they catch in traps, but also rats that are hand reared and forced fed on anything they can eat at the outpost. Not exactly the highlight of this new day, but John is too hungry to get squeamish.

Allison and John sit at a table with their roasted rats, and look at each other. Thoughts of what they did last night flash through John's head, and he smiles at her. Allison looks away embarrassed as she also recalls what they did. She plays with her hair nervously, as John continues to smile at her, oblivious to the going ons in the mess hall. John thinks she looks lovely this morning, possibly even glowing, and he just couldn't tear his eyes away.

She leans over the small table and whispers, "John, you're staring at me. People are going to know and I want to keep this private."

"Sorry." John whispers, feeling embarrassed, and looks at his fire roasted rat on a stick.

Against his better inclinations, John eats it. Tastes better than it looks, and soon all John has in front of him is the stick and a few bones. He looks at Allison, who is still picking at hers. Grinning sheepishly John waits until she finishes eating hers.

"You know, I've heard of an outpost where they eat cockroaches. Not the common household roaches, but the big huge ones from South America." Allison mentions when she finishes eating.

"I've had cockroaches and grubs." John shudders. "I learned to live off many things while living in Nicaragua as a boy, but I could never get used to them."

"They are high in protein."

"But not something I could eat indefinitely. I hope I never get posted there."

She secretly takes his hand under their table. "You won't be going there, John. You are too important. I won't let you get sent away."

Allison looks at John with such determination and love, that they both forget the admonition she gave him earlier and sit their holding hands under the table looking at each other.

In the doorway of the mess stands Derek Reese. Despite the tiredness and general appearance of having slept in his clothes the last several days, a pleasant smile comes to his face as he looks at the couple.

# # #

Earlier Derek and his team arrived outside of the hatch to outpost Delta as the sun was beginning to clear the eastern horizon.

Derek bangs on the hatch with his rifle butt, and yells down the ventilation pipe.

"Reese, Derek, Command Alpha, 5, 18, Zed niner."

A moment later, the hatch opens allowing Derek and his team access.

The body of Linda Svenson is handed over to her team for proper disposal.

"Sir, if you like, the mess hall just opened half hour ago if you and your men want something to eat."

"Thanks private, but right now I want to see my brother."

"Of course sir. Just go down the same corridor and when you reach the end, take a left. The infirmary is at the end."

Derek offers his thanks and goes off in search of the infirmary. As he passes the mess hall, he stops as he sees Allison and John sitting at a table together. He can't help but smile seeing the look being exchanged between them. He somehow thought this would happen. Allison is in love with the young man. He feels happy for her. She's lived too long a time without a mate.

John looks up as several more people enter the mess. Seeing Derek, he gets Allison's attention and points.

She looks up and with a shout of joy runs to Derek and gives him a big hug.

"Hey Princess." Derek says returning her warm embrace.

"When did you get here?" John asks, joining them.

"I just arrived. I can't tell you how glad I am to see you both. Sky Net activity increased dramatically in the same sector your squad went into. You really don't know how lucky you are to come out alive."

"It was more than luck." Allison squeezes John's arm.

"You can tell me about it later." Derek winks at her. "I'm going to see Kyle. In the meantime, I'm going to have Lieutenants Bennett and Halverson debrief you two separately on your mission."

"I'll see you two later. Things are changing out there and I'm going to need your help." He adds quickly as he leaves to see Kyle.

"We should probably see his lieutenants and get debriefed." John says.

"Not until we collect our uniforms. We forgot about it yesterday." She says giving him knowing look.

John blushes lightly, as he and Allison leave to find the washroom and collect their uniforms.

# # #

"Hey lazy bones. You going to lie there all day, or do I have to roll you out of bed." Derek says with a grin.

"Derek!" Kyle shouts, and embraces his brother as he sits down beside him.

"I thought you were dead." Derek says.

"I would have been, if it wasn't for John Connor."

"Tell me about it. What happened out there?"

Kyle tells him everything from the moment he left the main bunker, the taking of the rest stop from the grays, how he nearly strangled John in a fit of anger, and how John disobeyed his orders to leave him behind, then nearly died to save both him and Allison. Then on the way back to base, they got stuck in the mountains when they found themselves surrounded by HK's and machines.

"Wow. The kid's got what it takes. And you got the weapons?"

"Yeah. John's got the list. If it wasn't for him and Allison. . . ." Kyle's voice trails off.

"Speaking of them, I saw them in the mess, looking like a couple. Are you okay with that?"

Kyle smiles a genuine smile that Derek hasn't seen in a long time. "You know. I actually am okay with it."

He looks out, his eyes focusing on nothing. "You remember the summer I turned fourteen. The three of us were hiking in the mountains trying to find that resistance camp we'd been hearing rumors about."

"Yeah. We turned off the main trail too soon. We were going in the right direction, but were on the wrong trail." Derek shakes his head. "We never did find that camp."

"That's right. These last few years I've been on the wrong path, thinking that Ally and I would be together. Just because we're heading in the same direction, it doesn't mean we're on the same path."

"A bit long winded, but I get your meaning. I'm going to talk with Ally and John. Will you be okay?"

"I'll be fine, once I get out of this damn bed. Can't you say something to the Doc?"

"Sorry bro, but the medical officer has the final word on when a soldier is fit for duty, even if the soldier outranks him."

"What?" Kyle says looking at him in surprise.

"Yeah. I'm reinstating your officer's status and promoting you to Captain for what you did out there. Congratulations." Derek shakes his hand. "Try not to let your temper get the better of you in the future."

"I won't." Kyle looks at his brother. "I don't feel angry any more."

"Good." Derek pats his shoulder.

Derek leaves, and Kyle pulls the photo of Sarah out of his pocket. He gazes at her image and wonders if he'll ever meet this wonderful woman. Seeing her face, Sarah's face. He hopes she is alive for John's sake, but just looking at Sarah's image he feels some connection to her. Like maybe she is the one.

# # #

Derek is sitting on the stool in Allison's room. She's sitting on her bunk.

"I've read the report you gave Lieutenant Halverson. When Kyle was incapacitated by his injuries, why didn't you take command?"

"There wasn't time. It was just the three of us, and we were under attack. Hardly a time to be pulling rank."

"But Kyle gave an order to leave him behind, so you and John could both escape. An order that was disobeyed."

"He wasn't in his right mind, Derek. He was still angry because of me and John."

"And what about John? You are a corporal in the resistance, and he hasn't even been instated to the resistance, and judging by this report I can only discern that you yielded your authority to him."

"Derek. Why are you asking me this?"

"Just answer my question."

Allison sighs. "John knew the territory and he had access to the weapons. On top of that, he managed to not only disable the first machine we encountered, but removed its chip. He wanted to do the same with the other. Given the number of weapons and explosives in the hide-away, that seemed the most prudent choice. I wouldn't say I yielded my authority to John. I just made use of his knowledge and skills."

Derek nods his head. "How did Connor do out there in your opinion?"

Allison leans forward, placing a hand on his knee. "If anything were to happen to you, I don't think you'd have to look further than John for a successor."

"Ally. You know I care about you, but that's a bit strong. I know he did well out there . . . ."

"Derek. You spoke of having some faith." She pauses a moment and then dives in. "John Connor is the best soldier I've ever seen. He is as adept at planning missions as you are. He knows weapons as well as Kyle, and he can walk stealthily through the brush like a jungle cat. Before their unfortunate deaths, Mike and Lewis both told me that they liked him and they didn't know him until that mission. There is something about him. I think you'd do very well in giving command of this outpost to John."

"Your faith in Connor is nice, but he's too young, and besides he's not officially a part of the resistance. He went on that mission as a scout and guide only."

"But you are in command. You can enroll him and give him a field promotion."

"I can enroll him, if that is what he wants. But to promote him to officer status without the approval of my Lieutenants when he is a raw recruit would be political suicide."

"But . . ."

"Allison, that's enough. Your faith and love for John are well placed. Based on both your's and Kyle's reports, you've chosen well. But I cannot give him command of this outpost, nor promote him over others at this time without . . ." Derek pauses, then speaks in a more normal tone. "Listen to me. If I could, I would do as you ask. But you know the command structure, you helped me set it up after the regular armed forces left the area. Any promotion I gave him now would be temporary. It would have to be mission specific anyway, and it could only become permanent if he succeeded."

Derek stands up and places a fatherly kiss on her forehead. "I love you Princess. But there are just some things I cannot do even for you."

Allison nods her head in acquiescence.

"I've got to go speak to the man in question. Will you be all right?"

Allison smiles at him. "I'll be fine. I'm going to visit with Kyle. Are you going to be at Delta for a while?"

"Yeah. I'm making it my temporary field headquarters. We've discovered a plasma rifle factory in this sector and with the help of Connor's weapons, I plan on taking it."

"So that's why Sky Net had so many machines in this area. It must have thought our squad was looking for it."

"That was my thought." Derek says standing up. "We may be here for a few weeks. If you'd like, I could have your personal belongings sent over from the main bunker."

"That won't be necessary. I secured them before going on the mission."

"Okay Princess, see you later."

Derek leaves Allison alone. She thinks of what Derek has said and this mission he's planning on taking the plasma factory. Derek said, _"Any promotion I gave him now would be temporary. It would have to be mission specific anyway, and I could only make it stick if he succeeded."_ She thinks she will visit Kyle. With his injuries, he won't be taking part in any battles any time soon.

# # #

John was updating his journal when Derek comes to see him. John had been feeling a little anxious since being debriefed by one of Derek's lieutenants and decided updating his journal was the best way to occupy his time until Derek came to speak with him.

Derek marches into John's room and closes the door behind him. "I read the reports from both yours and Allison's debriefing and I spoke with Allison and Kyle. You are rather remarkable for someone so young. Kyle said you're the best damn soldier he's seen. You're keen and bright and don't shirk from taking on responsibility or taking charge in a dangerous situation."

John was surprised by the compliment and thanked him as humbly as he could. "I just did my best."

"You did more than your best by all accounts. Allison had nothing but high praise for you as well."

Derek sits on the corner of John's bunk.

"Before you left on the mission, I told you quite clearly that Kyle was in charge and that you were only to act as a guide. Yet by all accounts there were many occasions when you acted outside of your assigned duties, even disobeying orders."

John swallows nervously and waits.

"However, I'm willing to overlook your flagrant abuse of my orders because if it wasn't for you, not only would we not have the weapons, but Kyle would be dead." Derek sizes John up for a moment. "He ordered you to leave him behind at the rest stop. Why did you disobey him and risk getting both yourself and Allison killed?"

John struggles a moment to come up with an answer. He disobeyed him because Kyle, whether it's this one or not, is his father. He couldn't leave him behind. They're family.

"Ohana." John says.

"What?" Derek asks frowning.

"It's Hawaiian for family. This war makes all of us family. I won't leave anyone behind, not while there is a chance for life. If Kyle's injuries were life threatening, then I might have left him. But if he's conscious enough to be yelling orders at me, then he's damn well enough to ride in the back of a van and yell at me from there. Ally would probably agree with me."

"She does. I assigned her to your mission to keep an eye on you and give me a report. I bet you didn't know that?"

"Well I did wonder why she came along as Kyle didn't select her. She wouldn't tell me when I asked, but when the mission was complete she told me. She's quite brave herself. She tackled a machine on her own and led it into the trap we built."

"Yeah, I read that in her report. Allison is braver and tougher than she first appears. I raised her when Kyle and I found her alone in the remains of a house. God only knows how she survived J-Day. She was only a few years younger than Kyle and I raised them together. It wasn't a world for young children in those days, but I tried my best."

"That's all anyone can do."

"Yes it is. Kyle told me you've got a list of the weapons you brought back."

John pulls out the list that Kyle had made out at the desert hideaway and he gives it to him.

"You managed to bring back all this?" Derek says with some amazement.

"Yes. We would have brought more, but the soft sand kept us from loading the van too heavily." Then John adds quite sarcastically, "An awful lot of heavy weapons for just defending the people in the bunker. I hate to think that so many lives were loss if it wasn't going to be used in an attack on Sky Net."

"Sounds like you've been talking with Doc. Don't let his negativity get to you. It's just things don't move fast enough for him. We've been doing more than just protecting lives, we've gone on the offensive many times."

"It hasn't been easy the last few years since the regular forces pulled out leaving us civilian resistance groups on our own. We lost our supply lines and had to rebuild everything from scratch."

"What happened to the military?"

"Every occupied base on the west coast was attacked. There was no place for them to go but further inland. As far as I know, based on what little gets through the mountains, they've been holding on and have been rebuilding their forces. The feeling is Sky Net's main base of operations is in California."

"And the weapons we brought back . . ."

". . . will be used in an attack on Sky Net." Derek grins.

"While you were out in the desert, I've been out looking for information on Sky Net's recent activities in the sector you were in. We've found an armament factory where they construct the plasma rifles. It is the only weapon we've seen capable of damaging one of those machines that doesn't require a constant flow of ammunition."

"And if you had the plasma rifles, that would give you a more powerful weapon and you wouldn't have to rely on supply lines for your weapons or ammunition."

"Right the first time Connor. Then we will use the plasma weapons in a big strike against Sky Net."

"So when will you be going after the arms factory?"

"Right now we are sending messages out to a few camps. This strike will require many troops." He looks at John for a moment and continues. "My brother would be taking part, but his injuries will keep him out of action for a few days and I need all the people I can get. I should have done this before, but I'm going to fully instate you as part of the resistance."

"What?" John asks momentarily stunned.

"It's my fault for not doing it before sending you out on the mission. Welcome to the resistance Private Connor."

Derek holds his hand out and John shakes his hand. "Thanks, um." John quickly salutes. "Sir."

"If I had done this before, I could promote you. There aren't many in this resistance who can do what you've done. You've got the makings to be a fine officer."

"Me? I only turned seventeen a few weeks ago. How am I going to lead group of battle hardened soldiers?"

"Don't sell yourself short kid. Kyle and Allison told me everything you did out there in the desert. You've got the makings to be a fine officer. You know what to do in a crisis situation and you are not afraid to take risks. Besides, most of the fighters are not much older than you and some are younger than you. I don't doubt you'll be an officer, especially if Allison has her way."

"Allison. What's she got to do with my being an officer?"

"I'm not blind Connor and I know Allison. I raised her, remember? She loves you and I just want to know one thing, do you love her?" Derek gives him a steely eyed look.

John sighs. "Can I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

"Before I came here, there was someone else I cared about. I didn't know how much I loved her until she was gone. The thing is, she might not be dead, but then I may never get her back. I care for Allison a lot. She's my best friend." John pauses. "Allison intimated that you've lost someone recently too, after I told her about this other girl I've lost. She told me I should move on, but I don't know how. Do you?"

"I really don't know. This fuckin' war makes relationships difficult. I suppose, if I meet a woman that I like who loves me, then I'll try to move on when that time comes. That's the only advice I can give you. I'm surprised you told Allison, but as she knows about this other girl you love, and she still loves you, well I'll just say you are a lucky man. But do you love Allison?"

"I care for Ally very much. I wouldn't hurt her. She's my friend." John says earnestly.

"And if this other girl is alive and she shows up, what then?"

"Then I will have to choose, and someone will get hurt by my choice." He replies, not knowing what he will do if he gets Cameron back.

"That's true kid. It isn't easy having relationships in this war, but I'd hate to think what life would be like without them. As far as I'm concerned Connor, Allison couldn't do much better than you, but she could certainly do a hell of a lot worse. Just as long as you respect her, and honor her, whether this other girl is alive or not, well let's just say Kyle's temper is nothing compared to mine if you hurt Allison."

With that word of warning, John is left feeling a little shaken but pleased because he has the respect of his uncle and his blessing.

# # #

Allison enters Kyle's hospital room as the Doctor is checking his injuries. She looks a trifle morose.

"Hello Corporal." The Doc says as he finishes replacing the bandage on Kyle's arm. "You'd be pleased to hear he's doing quite well. The work you and that Connor fellow did on his injuries was excellent."

"Thanks." She says giving a weak smile.

"Are you a medic?" He asks her.

"I was being trained to be a medic." Allison shrugs. "It got interrupted by our latest mission."

"Well according to Derek," Kyle interrupts, "we're going to be at this outpost a while. Why don't you resume your training under The Doc?"

"Could I?" She asks, looking a trifle brighter.

"Don't see why not." The Doc answers. "It'd be nice to impart my knowledge and experience to someone so young, and pretty." He adds with a wink. "I'll teach you some basics in surgery while I'm at it too. It can make all the difference in saving a life. When your duties don't keep you away, I'm here night and day."

The Doc walks off giving Allison friendly smile.

Allison sits on the bed next to Kyle's with a long sigh.

"What's wrong Ally?" Kyle asks.

"Yesterday when we arrived, there was a girl who offered to help me wash and comb my hair, but she got called off to go on a patrol." Allison pauses. "She left me her comb and mirror for me to use. I went to return it to her this morning and learned she was killed while on patrol."

"I'm sorry." Kyle says, patting her arm.

"She was so nice and friendly. Her name was Linda. Her bunk mates said I should keep the comb and mirror."

"How did she die?"

"Derek and his squad found her body on the way to Delta. Her injuries aren't like any you'd find by a metal attack. Her throat was slit and her heart was pierced."

"Sound's more like a thief with a knife."

"Yeah. But her weapons and clothing weren't taken."

"That is curious, but what can we do but maintain patrols. It sounds to me like whoever or whatever killed her was surprised by Linda, killed her and left her body untouched. Possibly because they didn't need the weapons or the clothing." Kyle gives her hand a friendly squeeze. "Now is there something I can do for you?"

Allison smiles. "Actually, there is something I want to talk with you about."

"Oh?" Kyle grins. "What?"

"Derek tells me he's reinstated your officer's status and raised your rank to Captain."

"Yeah. I must say I was surprised by that."

"But you won't be healed in time to take part in taking the plasma rifle factory."

"And you want me to recommend you to take my place. Consider it done." Kyle says with a smile.

"No." Allison says. "I want you to recommend John and to encourage Derek to raise his rank. For all John did for us out there, he deserves more than just being enrolled in the resistance. John deserves to be more than just another private."

Kyle frowns. "I understand your sentiment Allison. And I guess you really love him if you want John to succeed. But if I were to recommend anyone to fill my vacancy it would be you."

"I appreciate your faith in me, but I think John deserves it more than me."

"I don't know Ally." Kyle lays back on his bed. "Let me think about it. Being a good soldier and being a good leader is not always the same thing. But I'll think about it."

"Thanks." Allison gets up and gives Kyle a peck on his cheek. "That's all I ask."

Allison leaves the room in higher spirits than when she entered.

# # #

John and Derek are talking about the factory that Derek found.

"This armament factory. I'm guessing it's heavily defended by machines."

"Yeah there is a group of maybe twelve or twenty. Sometimes more, but Sky Net always has it well defended by groups of T-800's, or the newer triple eights, which are quickly replacing the older model."

"Kyle told you how I took out the machines in the desert. Right?"

"Yeah. Electrical shock. We've used it as a defensive measure for years."

"It takes them approximately two minutes to reboot. Sufficient time to remove their chips. If we were to disable a group of these machines and reprogram them to work for us, then we would have an advantage."

Derek looks at him with disbelief. "Are you flippin' crazy?" He shouts. "Do you have any idea how dangerous one of those machines are?"

"After these last couple of weeks I think you are asking the wrong person. Do you want to hear my idea or don't you?"

With a grimace and a curse Derek says, "I'm listening."

"We capture what we can by disabling them with an electric shock. It takes them approximately two minutes to reboot. In that time we can simply remove their chips from their heads. I can show you."

John shows him the chip he took from the machine at the rest stop.

"I took this chip from the machine that stormed into the garage at the rest stop. I brought the endoskeleton with me. I have a computer and software for reprogramming their chips. I can show you what I did."

"All right, Connor." He says with resignation. "Let's go look at it."

John and Derek walk from his room to the storage area where the machine was stashed.

"Right here at the top of its skull is a circular lid. You can use any thin edge like a knife or a small screwdriver to pop it off. Underneath is the chip. You use a pair of pliers to grip it, give it a quarter turn to the left, and pull it out. Two minutes is more than enough time to do it."

"I think you are crazy to try it. Do you really think you can reprogram them?"

"I have the chip, computer and software. I know I can do it given time. If we can get this one to work for us just imagine what a group of them could do attacking the armament factory."

Derek can well imagine having seen just one machine annihilate an entire patrol.

"I still think you are crazy for trying, and I know some won't like the idea of the machines helping us one bit, but we all know what they can do. All right, I'll give you one day to get this machine reprogrammed. If it works, then we will see what we can do about capturing a few of these machines for you."

"Great. I know the power will have to be shut down later to conserve fuel for the generator. I may need power to keep my computer operational. There is only a limited battery life."

"I'll organize it for you. Will you need anything else?"

"I wouldn't mind if Allison could keep me company."

Derek smiled. "I don't think she'd mind one bit, she's rather latched onto you."

John grins and his face turns red.

"You know I was wondering when she would find someone for herself. I'll let her know her mission is to assist you in reprogramming the machine."

"Thanks."

# # #

In a military base somewhere in the southwestern United States, the remnants of the US military have established a new headquarters, deep underground. Men and women in a mix of uniforms from all branches of the military walk the underground corridors as they see to their jobs.

One uniformed officer, carrying some folders, knocks on the door with nameplate, Maj. Gen. Perry.

"Enter." Shouts a voice from within.

The junior officer enters and salutes.

"Sir. We've received confirmation of last night's mission being a success."

"Have they finally reported in?"

"No sir. We've just received the video recorded by the camera. I don't think the patrol will be reporting in judging by the final frames. You'll find the video on the system sir."

Perry logs onto the network from his computer and goes to the surveillance directory and pulls up the most recent video.

The video shows the search lights of an HK lighting up the railroad tracks and the grain silos next to it. The HK flies on and a train streaks past operating at speeds in excess of any human controlled vehicle.

"The next few seconds give an answer to what happened to the squad."

Perry watches as another HK comes into view and disappears to one side. A few hot white flashes followed by a huge orange bloom of exploding fuel then another white flash.

"We think the second HK was equipped with the new plasma cannons that so many of them seem to be sporting now. Our team never had a chance."

"That's obvious Major. Have the technicians analyzed the video to determine what Sky Net is shipping?"

"Yes sir." The officer places a folder in front of the general and flips it open. "These are stills that our tech's have enhanced. As you can clearly see, it seems to be transporting equipment of some kind."

Perry looks through them, deep in thought. "Send these over to air command and have their engineers look at them."

"Certainly sir, may I ask why?"

Perry lays the photos out on his desk in an order other than how they were in the folder.

"Oh my God." The major swears. "It's a cross section of wing. It's huge!"

"That's right. Can you imagine the size of the craft?"

"It's unimaginable. I'll get the video and photos sent to air command right away."

The Major places the other two folders on his desk. "Latest intelligence has arrived from Sierra. The top folder contains updates on activities by Sky Net in California as they've been able to glean from their satellite communication tap. Apparently things have been heating up the last few weeks."

"And what's in the second folder?"

"It's a final message from Sierra. Their resources are running low. They've cut down energy usage to the bare minimum but they don't have much fuel left. Natural resources are down and they have to scavenge further afield for food. They say they will have to abandon the post and move out in a few weeks. We'll lose our only source of intel on Sky Net's activities."

"Anything else?" Perry says resigning himself to even more bad news.

"Just a private message for you from their base commander. The final decoding is left for you to do. The message is in your inbox."

"Thank you major, you're dismissed."

The major salutes and leaves quickly.

Perry decodes the message and reads through it. He reads it again. Attached to the message is a folder titled Hope. Opening the folder he is astounded by what he reads. The exploits and activities of some resistance fighter. He glances at the last line in the message, _Hope has come_.

Perry isn't certain how Sierra gets it's information but the time has come for taking back their command base in California, before their information becomes hopelessly out-of-date. It will take some doing and time.

He prepares to send the files to his second at Air Command. Picking up the phone for internal communications, he says, "This Perry. Get me Air Command. Now!"

# # #

John had finally managed to find someone who had a razor he could borrow. Taking his time with the old-fashioned straight razor, he was pleased that he was able to scrape away the three-week growth and could see and feel his face again.

John had barely returned to his room and finished setting up his computer and the chip, using the cable Weaver gave him, when Allison knocks on his door.

"Derek said you wanted my assistance in reprogramming the machine you captured?" She says cheerfully.

"Yeah, I've got some software tools for reprogramming, but it's going to take a while to do. I could use your help and company."

"You shaved." She says, her eyes twinkling. "It's not often I get to see a cleanly shaven male."

"It will grow back." John says with a sideways grin.

She sits down eagerly beside John on his bunk and runs her hand across his smooth face.

"Nice." She says, with a smile as she runs her hand on the opposite side of his face.

"Um, the chip." John says gesturing at his computer.

"I want to tell you something before we get started." She says looking into his eyes. "I'm proud of what you've done and what you are trying to do to help us."

Allison kisses John on the lips. "Shall we get started then, on the chip?"

"Uh, um, yeah. The chip." John stammers.

They both begin looking through the chip's program.

After quarter of an hour, Allison asks, "Have you done this before?"

"I've looked at a chip's contents before, but I haven't tried reprogramming one."

"It looks complex."

"That's why I wanted your help. Another pair of eyes as I get cross eyed looking at these lines of code for too long."

Allison and John spend the rest of the day working on reprogramming the chip. John finds the chip very similar to the one that came out of Vick's head, in what seemed like another age. He could only assume the variations between this one and Vick's were because this was a different time-line, or perhaps this machine was programmed for a different mission.

John uses the data disc, that Weaver gave him, to access the program settings. He and Allison got through the settings and analyze the different results as they tweak various program blocks. They find the task long and arduous. It took more than just logic and know how. The chips are very complex. Each change they made forces them to go back and tweak something else in the program.

"Perhaps we should take a break for lunch." Allison suggests.

"I can't. I need to get this done." John says sounding impatient.

"You still need to eat." She pats his leg. "Why don't I get something for us from the mess. I'll only be a few minutes."

"That would be great." John smiles, with both thanks and an apology for getting short with her when she was only trying to help.

Allison was good to her word and was back in less than five minutes with a roasted rat for John to munch on while he worked.

After several hours, they finally work their way into the core of the chip's program. Here was where it's governing program code was located. The information on Weaver's disc helped them crack the code.

"Man, this is more difficult than I thought." John complains bitterly. "With part of its code being hardwired, it's going to be a bitch to rewrite it."

"We could write a subroutine that makes the machine ignore parts of its hardwired code."

"We can do that, but we also have to protect the changes we've made to the code that we could make changes too."

"Then we include commands in the subroutine, that forces the core not to ignore the changes we made to its program and to allow them to overwrite some of its core programming."

"You're not asking for much are you?" John says, sounding weary. "What time is it?"

"It's late. I heard the night patrols leave over an hour ago. Must be almost 10 PM."

John stifles a yawn.

"Maybe you should take a break. You know, just take a few minutes to unwind."

"No. I can't. I promised Derek I'd get this done."

"Then let me help." She says as she repositions herself on his bunk.

"You have been helping. I don't think I could have gotten half this far without you."

"Not that kind of help, silly. This." Then she begins rubbing John's shoulders and neck with her hands.

"Oh God." John mutters as he feels her fingers work the muscles in his neck, back and shoulders.

John hadn't realized how tense he had gotten working at the keyboard. Allison massages the tense muscles while still looking over John's shoulder and helping him out with the various details of the chips program.

"Either I'm tired, or you have a better insight into the machine's program than I do." John says.

"What makes you say that?"

"Because you keep pointing out things I miss."

Several minutes later and John is stifling another yawn. "You're right, I need to get some sleep. After I back up what we've done, would you mind writing notes on what else we need to do."

"Sure, you lie down and get some sleep. I can do the backups too, if you'd like."

"I do like." John says, laying down on his bunk as Allison gets up and sits on the stool.

It isn't long until John is asleep.

Allison finishes the backups and write notes on what else they could do to reprogram this one machine. When she finishes, John is deep in sleep. She wonders briefly if she should finish the work for John, but this is his project and there will be more than enough time to finish it in the morning.

She finds an interesting folder quite unexpectedly, on his hard drive. It's protected by the most basic of encryption codes and she opens it. The contents are not what she expected, John's been keeping a journal. She shouldn't, but she scans the latest entries about their last mission. All she can feel is sympathy for John for what he is mentally going through right now.

Allison turns around to check on John and sees that he fell asleep without taking off his boots. Closing the folder on his computer, she gets up and as gently as possible, she removes his boots and sets them under his bunk. She then slips her boots off and lies on the bunk beside John.

_From the Journal of John Connor_

_I didn't sleep well. I had one of the worse nightmares I have ever experienced. I'm only writing it my journal as it played into events that happened in the next few weeks. Whether it was the stress from reprogramming the chip or just the stress of living in this time; or a combination of both with my decision to have a relationship with Allison while still struggling over my feelings for Cameron; or what would I do if I got my Cameron back now, after indulging in this relationship with Allison. Probably all of it._

_In my dream, I was back in the basement of Zeira Corp. I was walking through the corridors, my footsteps echoing. _

_Sparks were spitting out of light fixtures that flickered erratically. As I got closer to the door, it felt like it was getting further away._

_I pushed open the door and walked into the room where I found Cameron sitting at the table her skin peeled away from her face and bullet holes throughout her torso. The computer screen behind her flashing 'I'm sorry John.' _

_I kneeled down beside her, tears running from my eyes. "I'm so sorry, Cameron. I promise to fix you. I promise." _

_The message on the screen changed. "I love you John and you love me."_

"_You can't trust her, John." My mom's voice came from the door. She was standing there looking as she did on the day we had to flee from Cameron when she went bad. "She's lied to you before."_

"_Machines don't have a soul." Derek walked into the room. "How can something with no soul have feelings."_

"_She does have feelings!" I yelled. "She sacrificed herself to save my life! To save Mom's life! And she would have done it for you too if you had only trusted her."_

_Cameron walked in, looking as she did that first day I met her in 1999. "I love you John. You know that." She walked around behind me stroking my neck with her hand. She stood behind her damaged self and placed her hands on its shoulders. "Fix me and I will be with you forever. I will never leave you. I will love you always."_

_I started to go towards her when there was a new voice. Both Mom and Derek were gone and Allison was standing there. "What about me John? Don't you love me? I'm real." Tears were streaming from her eyes. "I love you John, and you love me." She was shouting. I could see the torment on her face._

"_Your life is short." Cameron said coldly. "All humans die eventually, but I can live forever."_

"_You have to choose John." Allison yelled. "Me or her. You can't have both!"_

"_Oh no." I groaned. "I love you. I love her. I don't want hurt either of you."_

"_Then let me make the choice for you." Allison pulled out a gun and fired it at Cameron. She went down. I checked her over. She was dead, she felt human. Blood poured from her wounds, more than you'd see from synthetic flesh._

"_What did you do that for? She never would have hurt you." I shouted._

"_She would come between us. She will always be between us. Unless you let her go." said Allison._

"_Oh Allison. I'm so sorry."_

_We embraced. Then I saw from the corner of my eye the damaged Cameron rise up from her chair with an automatic weapon in her hand. I pushed Allison away from me trying to get her out of danger. But instead of firing at me, the damaged Cameron shot Allison. She collapsed dead on the floor._

"_Why? Why?" I shrieked over and over._

"_I told you, I love you. I must protect you." _

"_But she wasn't a threat. She wasn't going to harm me."_

"_She's a threat to us John. She would have come between us." The damaged Cameron walked around to me, her head twitching and a single tear running from her good eye. "I love you."_

"_No." I said. "This can't be happening. It can't be real."_

"_I love you John and you love me."_

_I felt myself falling away and everything going dark and the whole time I kept hearing repeated over and over: _

_My mom saying "You can't trust her John." _

_Then I heard Derek say, "They have no soul." _

_Cameron kept repeating over and over, "I love you John and you love me." _

_Over and over their voices kept repeating. _

"_You can't trust her John." "I love you John and you love me." "They have no soul." _

"_I love you John and you love me." "You can't trust her John.""I love you John and you love me."_

"_They have no soul." "I love you John and you love me." "You can't trust her John." _

"_I love you John and you love me." "They have no soul." "I love you John and you love me."_

"_You can't trust her John." "I love you John and you love me." "I love you John and you love me."_

"_I love you John and you love me." "You can't trust . . . ." ". . . no soul." "I love you . . . ."_

_I started shouting in my dream, "No, NO, NOOOOO!"_

"No. NO. NOOOOO!"

John is shouting and thrashing about. Strong hands shake him and he wakes. John looks into the very worried eyes of Allison.

"Oh Ally." John embraces her, not wanting to let her go in the light of seeing her die in his dream.

"What was it John? Your shouting woke me up."

"It was a nightmare. A terrible, terrible nightmare."

"What happened John?"

He starts to tell her, but the words die in his throat. John can't possibly tell her what happened in his dream. How could Ally ever understand that he is, or was, or will be in love with a machine?

He finally manages to croak, "You had died. A machine killed you."

"John, most everyone here has dreams of losing people they know. You've lost your family and now you have a new one." She strokes his forehead and kisses it, just like she was comforting a child.

"I do?"

"Yes, the resistance is your family. And I will always be with you. I love you."

"Ally, I've lost everyone that I have ever loved. They all died to protect me or to help me. My uncle is dead, Charlie is dead, my sister is dead, and my mom" his voice drops, "she must be dead too."

She strokes John's head and back, quietly making comforting sounds.

"I couldn't bear to lose you, too. Not now." John says, tears streaming from my eyes.

"It's okay. Everything will be all right." Allison continues to talk soothingly to John, comforting him with her words.

**2027, Day 22, 2 AM**

Unable to get back to sleep, John decides to work on the reprogramming. With the help of the notes that Allison made, the two of them eventually broke through some of the barriers into the core and was able to adjust its code so it wouldn't reject the new subroutines.

"We're finished." John says triumphantly a couple of hours later.

"Two more hours 'til dawn. Do you want to get some rest?"

"Sure. Let me first backup what we did, and run a program to test the integrity of our work."

John backs up the new subroutines they wrote, and the notes of the changes they made. Then using a program on Weaver's disc, he tests the integrity of the new programming on the chip.

"The integrity checking will run automatically and will sound an alarm when completed." John says with a yawn.

"You should lie down and try to get some more sleep. I'll return to my room so you can rest this time undisturbed."

"Undisturbed, huh?" John says with a weak smile. "I thought that I was the one, doing the disturbing?"

"It was only a nightmare John. We all have them. Morning patrols will be getting up soon. I might as well return to my own bunk now." She gives him a comforting smile. "Come and get me when the computer is done?"

"Sure." John says with a light smile as he lies down on his bunk.

Allison places a gentle kiss on his forehead. Picking up her boots from the floor, she leaves.

She returns to her room but she isn't alone.

Allison picks up the mirror and comb, she was allowed to keep, and begins combing out her hair.

"I don't like lying to John." She says, as she combs out some tangles. "We should tell him the truth."

"We can't, not until he completes his task. You know what will happen if he doesn't."

"I know." Allison continues to comb her hair. "John is different."

"How so?"

"Despite his knowledge and abilities, John is more vulnerable than I expected him to be."

"All the more reason to lie to him. The closer you are to him, the safer he will be."

"It's not easy lying to him. I love him."

"Yes, I know you do. Does John love you?"

"I don't know. I think so, but I don't want him to tell me. I'm not the one he should tell."

"The next time he wants to say it, don't stop him. He needs to love and be loved. It will give him strength and courage."

"I understand, but if this goes terribly wrong, we will hurt him."

"But we have to do this, for him and for us. Until his task is complete."

"I know and I'll do it. I just wish there was another way."

Allison sets the mirror and comb down and her friend leaves. Allison lies down on top of her bunk and waits for John to come and get her.

**2027, Day 22, 10 AM**

Derek has a few guys carry the endoskeleton outside and place it in a clearing between piles of rubble. He sets up sharpshooters with grenade launchers and shotguns behind barricades.

John enters the clearing, alone. He looks around. In one gap stand Derek and Allison. If the programming didn't take, and the machine goes rogue, one word from Derek would have it blown to a million pieces. Judging by the look on Derek's face, he wouldn't hesitate to give the order.

John glances at Allison standing behind the barricade. Despite deep concerns on whether they did a good job or not, she gives him a thumbs up and smile.

He bends over the terminator and slides the chip in place giving it a quarter turn to the right. John quickly pops the seal back on and runs for the barricade behind which Derek and Allison stand.

"Nothing is happening." Derek says.

A moment later someone shouts, "His eyes are glowing."

"He isn't getting up." Derek says, looking at John.

"He might be running a diagnostic on his systems." He replies.

The machine finally stands up and begins looking about. It scans everyone and everything.

"It isn't reacting to our presence, that's a good sign, surely." Allison says hopefully.

"Maybe it isn't doing anything because it can see all of the weapons pointing at it." Derek counters.

"What is your prime directive?" John shouts at it.

It tilts its head and says in a monotone voice, "To never harm or kill humans. To obey all humans. To only disobey a human if orders will cause harm or death to another human."

"What am I?" John shouts.

"You are a human."

"Who am I?"

"You are John Connor. Human resistance fighter. I obey your orders."

"If I were to order you to kill this human," He says pointing at Derek. "What would you do?"

"I would disobey you."

"If I were to order you to kill another machine like yourself, what would you do then."

"I would obey your orders."

With quick reflexes, John snatches Derek's rifle and tosses it to the machine. It deftly grabs it out of the air and holds it, ready for action.

"I order you to kill this human." John says again, pointing at Derek.

"What the hell, Connor? Are you out of your friggin' mind?" Derek looks to kill John.

The machine steps forward holding the gun at the ready as he lines up a shot, but he stops.

"I told you to kill this human." John orders again.

"I cannot comply. It is against my prime directive."

"Well I'll be dammed, it worked." someone says.

Derek gives John a withering look, walks up to the machine and snatches his weapon back. "All right everyone, listen up! We will be attacking a major armament factory in a few days. Connor over here has demonstrated that he can reprogram the machines. To make the odds more favorable for our attack, Connor here is going to tell you his plan, and then he is going to show you how to do it, and then you miserable lot are going to do it or you will be on patrol in the most dangerous part of town for the rest of your miserable lives!" Derek turns around glaring at the men around him.

"Okay, Connor. They are all yours." Then he walks off leaving John to teach the men how to capture the machines and extract their chips.

The men all gathered around the machine. It was the first time they could look at one up close without being killed the process.

While they were busy examining it and commenting on it capabilities, Allison comes up beside John.

"You're brilliant." She says giving his arm a squeeze as she kisses him on his cheek. At the moment, the soldiers were more interested in the machine than they were in what John and Allison were doing.

"You helped. I didn't do this alone."

"There you go again being all modest. You know perfectly well this was your idea."

"It was my idea, but it wouldn't have been accomplished without you."

She gives his arm a gentle squeeze with her hand, while the others aren't paying attention. John takes the opportunity to whisper, "I think I love you. You know that don't you?"

"Why don't you tell everyone your brilliant plan is, then I'll answer your question . . . tonight!" She whispers, briefly getting quite friendly with John while no one is looking, then walking away.

John's face goes beet red and before he can fully recover Allison begins shouting.

"All right everybody. Give Connor here your full attention. He's got one of these machines reprogrammed for us but we are going to need more to carry out Derek's plan. He's got some ideas on how to capture more but he's going to need our help."

Allison turns her back on the others and facing John says, "Take it away Connor."

Allison winks at him and with a small grin and a twinkle in her eye, she mouths the words, I love you, while patting her chest. Of course John couldn't say or do anything, because now the whole group was looking at him.

She did that deliberately. Getting John all flustered and his thoughts steered completely away from what he was going to say, then she drops him in it. John was loving her more all the time.

**2027**, **Day 22, 11 AM**

"Ms. Weaver." John Henry says into the two-way radio, that Weaver gave him. "Sky Net is showing some more activity."

"What is happening?" She replies looking over John Connor and the others unobserved by them..

"Apparently, a machine came online but didn't seek orders from Sky Net. Satellite and radio communications has increased."

Just according to plan, she thinks as she watches John Connor talk to the men and women as they gather around the machine he just reprogrammed. "Anything else?"

"HK's are being sent on a search pattern in the area of your last known location. They should be there in a few hours. Are you still at Outpost Delta, where John Connor is presently living?"

"Yes. But I'll leave it to the humans to deal with that threat."

"We are talking about a Hunter Killer which will be followed by ground troops. Will the humans be capable of protecting John Connor, now that you've found him? I could send some of our reprogrammed machines to defend him."

"Don't send any machines. I'm sure John will be fine." She watches, from her hiding place, as John and Allison exchange a look, while the others aren't watching."John Connor is in good hands and I don't wish to reveal our presence until we absolutely have to. I'll be returning to your location soon. John Connor is well on the way to achieving the task I brought him here to do."


	11. Trust and Fear

**Disclaimer:** I do not claim any rights to the Terminator films; the TV series, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles;" or any characters depicted within the films or TV series. I do claim the right to this story idea and all characters and situations of my own creation. This story was created solely for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. No profits are garnered from its distribution - unfortunately.

* * *

**TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES**

**REUNION**

**Part 1: The Shadow of Death**

**Author: The1Russter**

**Chapter 10**

**Trust and Fear**

"_Every fear is distrust, and trust is the remedy for fear." A. B. Simpson_

_Cameron, referring to James Ellison, "He can't be trusted."  
_

_Sarah Connor, "No one can be trusted."_

_Extract from, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, S02E21 Adam Raised a Cain, 3 April 2009_

_Sarah Connor, "I told you to stay out of this."_

_James Ellison, "I tried. Everywhere I turn, there you are."_

_Extract from, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, S02E21 Adam Raised a Cain, 3 April 2009_

_James Ellison, "I just wanted the girl to be safe."_

_Sarah Connor, "So did I."_

_James Ellison, "From whom?"_

_Sarah Connor, "I don't know."_

_Extracts from, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, S02E22 Born to Run, 10 April 2009_

_Catherine Weaver, "We have a common enemy. One we cannot fight with conventional weapons or by conventional means."_

_Sarah Connor, "Kaliba? Don't presume to know Kaliba."_

_Catherine Weaver, "I'm sorry. I wasn't speaking to you." She looks at John. "I was speaking to you. About Sky Net."_

_Extracts from, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, S02E22 Born to Run, 10 April 2009_

# # #

**2009, Day 4 Mid-morning**

Sarah holds tightly onto Cameron's waist, as she pilots the motorcycle rapidly down the highway. Her eyes are shut tight, not to just keep the dirt out of her eyes, but afraid of what the driver is doing.

Cameron makes no change in speed as she goes down the highway. Sarah can even swear that Cameron accelerates as they travel through narrow gaps between cars. As exhilarating as the ride is, she can't wait until they get to a wide open lane. No scratch that. She can't wait until they stop.

Cameron barely slows as she turns off the highway and drives on city streets. They drive to a storage rental unit on the edge of town. Sarah swears that Cameron only used the brakes as an afterthought as they slide to a stop.

Sarah slips off the back of the bike. Her legs trembling from the vibration and the fear of being driven through Los Angeles by a machine that has so little road sense. Damn. and she could use a pee as well.

"The truck is in here." says Cameron, after removing her helmet.

She walks up to the storage unit, snaps the lock in her hand and rolls the door up. The interior is empty but for the truck.

"We will need to get weapons." Sarah says after getting her breath back.

"I already have weapons that I acquired in the time I've been here."

"Where are they?" Sarah asks, gesturing at the empty walls.

"The weapons are in the trucks compartments and medical supplies and additional ammunition is in the cab as well."

"It looks like you thought of everything."

"I had to plan for most anything. I don't have specifics of what is going to happen, only that Mr. Ellison and Savannah are going to come under attack, and you need to be there to save their lives."

"How long have we got?"

Cameron takes just a micro second to check her internal chronometer.

"Not much time. We need to go, now."

Cameron then rolls her motorcycle up to the truck, lifts it up and sets it in the back.

"I'll drive." Sarah says.

"You don't know where we're going."

"You can tell me on the way." Sarah snaps. "I'm not letting you drive me again this morning. My nerves just won't take it." _And neither will my bladder_, she thinks.

Cameron tosses her the keys and they both get in the Ram pickup.

Sarah drives off, leaving rubber tracks on the paved lot.

# # #

Ellison and Savannah are at Auldridge's home. After he showed Macklin and Auldridge the machine in his basement, they decided it wouldn't be safe for him to stay in the city. Ellison packs a bag for himself and returns to Auldridge's home, while Macklin goes back to his precinct to arrange for Ellison to go to Weaver's home and get some clothes and other belongings for Savannah.

Ellison is sipping coffee while Savannah plays with her doll. Auldridge is across town trying to get some emergency bodywork done on his brother-in-law's car before he finds out. At the moment Ellison is enjoying some quiet time waiting for Macklin to call.

It isn't long before Ellison's cell phone rings.

"Ellison." He says answering the phone.

"_Hey, I got some good news. I've arranged for you to pick up some of Savannah's things. It just took a couple of phone calls."_

"That's great."

"_I called in a favor. I've arranged for a police cruiser to follow you and wait for you while you are getting Savannah's things."_

"That's good. Does anyone know about this?"

"_Just the two officers and Child Protective Services. I'm sorry, but I had to let them know that you were going to Savannah's home."_

"I understand. Have you started checking out the capsule and phone numbers?"

"_Yeah. I've got a friend in forensics examining the capsule and I have a computer search on those two phone numbers. I should have something by the time you get back."_

Ellison sees a police cruiser pull up outside. "Great. Looks like the two officers are here. I'll give you a call when I get back to Auldridge's home. Okay."

"_Take care of yourself."_

"You too."

Ellison slips his cell phone into his pocket and calls out to Savannah. "Hey Savannah. we are going to your home so you can get some of your clothes and maybe a few of your toys too."

"Okay Uncle James."

Ellison and Savannah walk out of Auldridge's home. Ellison speaks with the officers for a few minutes before getting into his own car with Savannah. He is followed closely by the cop car, but the police don't see the vehicle following them.

# # #

As Ellison drives up and parks outside Weaver's home, he isn't sure how Savannah will react. Her most recent memories in her home weren't happy, but she is needed to show him where her room is and to select what she needs or wants.

"How are you doing Savannah?"

"I'm fine." She says quietly. "Will you be coming in with me?"

"Of course Savannah, I will be with you. We will go to your room. You will tell me what you want bring and I will help you select the things you will need."

She looks at him with her big green eyes. "That man won't come after me again will he?"

"No Savannah. That man will never hurt you again. I'll be with you the whole time."

Savannah feels relief and they get out of Ellison's car. Ellison takes her hand and they walk to the house. One of the officers accompanies them and unlocks the front door. He waits for them in the entry while Ellison and Savannah go to her room.

Ellison packs a small case with some clothing for Savannah, while she selects a couple of her toys to take with her. Ellison is just about to suggest they should leave when he hears some distinctive popping sounds from out front.

"Stay here Savannah, while I check something out." He says as he leaves her room.

# # #

While Ellison and Savannah were in her room, a gray, utility van had pulled up outside, stopping just behind the cop car. The officer behind the wheel barely had time to register its presence when the driver came around to the driver's side and fires three quick shots killing him.

The other officer comes running out of the house, gun drawn, and firing. But he quickly goes down in a hail of gunfire from the men who had come out of the back of the van.

"You three around back and take your positions. The rest of you with me." yells the driver.

Three men in gray uniforms run quickly round the back of the house. One man goes through the garage entrance the other two through the lower level entrance. The driver and the other men go through the front door.

Ellison can see them approaching the front door. He has no weapon. He runs as quickly as he can back through to the family room picking up a heavy, slim statue. He steps back behind a bookcase as he hears someone approaching. Ellison sees the shadow of a man as he walks past. He quickly steps out and slams the statue down on the mans head.

The man goes down like a rock. Ellison picks up the man's automatic weapon, checks the chamber and the clip, and walks stealthily towards the end of the house where Savannah is hopefully still in her bedroom.

Suddenly he encounters another man in gray. They quickly raise their guns to fire, but Ellison gets his shot off first. Ellison runs forward to grab the man's gun but another man comes in and fires his weapon. Ellison just misses being hit, but he doesn't get the other gun either. He quickly runs down the hall anxious to get to Savannah before the men do.

The other man fires at Ellison again. Ellison spins around firing his weapon. The bullet just clips the corner next to the man's head.

Two men are down. Ellison doesn't know how many more are in the house. He hasn't heard anything from the police, so he assumes they were taken down in the gunfire he heard earlier.

Ellison rushes into Savannah's room. "Savannah! Where are you?"

"I'm here Uncle James!" Savannah crawls out from under her bed.

"Savannah, we need to get out of here. Some of those bad men are back."

Savannah is crying.

"Be brave Savannah. Remember what I told you, as long as I am with you, you can be strong."

Ellison looks down the hallway. "Savannah, I need you to follow close behind me all right. No matter what happens you must be brave."

"I will." Savannah cries.

Ellison is worried about this little girl who has placed such trust in him. He takes her hand as he leaves the room. Savannah uses her free hand and grabs the small bag he packed for her.

Ellison makes his way down the hallway. There is a large decorative vase standing on the floor. He moves Savannah behind the vase. "Stay here while I go forward and make sure its safe."

He moves forward carefully. He just gets to the end of the hallway when shots are fired at him. One bullet gets him in the shoulder the others in the wall. Ellison returns fire. Hitting one man, missing the other. More shots are fired. Ellison runs out to the room trying to get a clearer shot. He hits one but takes two more bullets to his body.

Ellison is grimacing against the pain. He doesn't know how many shots he has left. Another man fires at him. Ellison ducks and tries to return fire, but the pain is starting to cloud his mind. He fires again, giving the other man a flesh wound, but Ellison is hit again. A bullet has hit his gun and ricocheted ripping into his arm tearing the artery. Another bullet punctures a lung.

Ellison falls to the floor. "I'm sorry Savannah." he whispers.

# # #

Cameron and Sarah are driving fast to Catherine Weaver's home. As they are coming up the drive, they hear the gunshots as the police men are taken down.

Cameron pops opens the glove compartment and pulls out some magazines for their automatics.

"I assume you are still using a Smith and Wesson." Cameron says, handing her three clips.

Sarah takes them from her hand and quickly puts them in her pockets.

They stop outside and hear more gun shots from inside. Sarah and Cameron rush in guns drawn. Cameron with a Glock and Sarah with her Smith and Wesson. Cameron's sensors show that both police officers are dead. Sarah makes her way through the front door followed closely by Cameron. Sarah exchanges hand signals with Cameron to indicate which way to go when they hear some more shots from the back of the house. They know which way to go now.

They run quickly through the house and find a man in gray about to shoot Ellison in the head. Sarah fires quickly killing the man before he fires. Two more men pop out and Cameron quickly shoves Sarah to one side and takes the bullets meant for her. Cameron quickly dispatches one of them but the other dashes for safety.

"Quick, get after him." Sarah shouts at Cameron.

Cameron wastes no time and runs after the man.

Sarah goes to Ellison. He is bleeding profusely from several wounds, his arm even more so. Sarah rips down the drapes and uses her knife to rip strips off of it. Taking the strips she tries to bind his wounds the best she can to stop the flow of blood.

"It's you." Ellison gasps. "How did you find me?"

"It's a long story, and you're in no condition to be listening to long stories." Sarah replies.

"Where's Savannah?"

"Hiding . . . down there." Ellison gestures weakly.

Sarah looks up from her task, and looks around. She calls out, "Savannah, where are you? Everything is okay now. Please come out."

Savannah comes out from behind the vase, visibly shaken and tears streaming from her eyes.

"Come here, Savannah. Remember me. I helped you before." She says as gently as she can given the circumstances.

"I remember you. Your son taught me to tie my shoes." She whimpers as she approaches.

"That's right Savannah." Sarah smiles at her. "Come here next to me."

Savannah kneels down beside Sarah looking at her Uncle James, tears in her eyes.

"What are you doing here, Ellison?" The gentleness in her voice quickly disappearing.

"I've been given temporary custody of Savannah. We are here to get some of her belongings."

"Dammit Ellison. I told you she wasn't safe. Why in hell didn't you think?"

"We were going away. She needed something familiar with her." Ellison started coughing.

Cameron walks into the room.

"Did you get him?" Sarah asked her.

"Yes." Cameron replies in a tone suggesting the question was irrelevant.

"Did he talk? Did he tell you anything?"

Cameron recalls the events in her mind. She chased the man down the hall and cornered him in a bedroom. He tried to lash out at her, but she knocked him down. He stood up and tried to strike her, but she grabbed him by the throat and held him in the air until he passed out and died.

"He said very little and then he was quiet." Cameron answers.

Ellison finally spots whom Sarah is talking too, as Cameron walks around to his other side.

"Oh my God. It's you. How did . . . ?"

"It's another long story Ellison, and not one I think you would believe." Sarah gins, but her face is filled with worry.

"Don't just stand there! Help me bind his wounds." Sarah shouts at Cameron.

"You must call Auldridge." Ellison says to Sarah.

"Agent Auldridge. FBI?"

"He's a friend Sarah. He knows . . ." Ellison coughs, blood coming to his lips.

"What does he know Ellison?" Panic showing on Sarah's face.

"The truth about Sky Net, the Cyborgs . . . he knows." Ellison's voice occasionally broken by coughing.

"It's too dangerous."

"We have friends, Sarah. Detective Macklin, LAPD." Ellison coughs.

"Great! Just how many people have you got involved?" Sarah asks angrily.

"Sarah, you can trust them."

"Dammit Ellison. How do you know _you_ can trust any of them? For all you know they could be working for them or be one of them!"

"Sarah, you can't fight this battle alone. You need to trust people at some time. They can help." Ellison breaks off into more coughing.

"They know the truth. They have seen the machines." Ellison coughs some more, blood begins seeping from his mouth. Savannah is kneeling beside him, crying while holding his free hand.

Cameron and Sarah finish binding Ellison's wounds. Cameron scans Ellison and says. "He's suffered a huge amount of blood loss. One of the bullets has pierced a lung. If he doesn't get medical help soon he will die."

Ellison's cell phone begins to ring. Sarah picks it up. "Hello." she says a little curtly.

"_Hello, this is Agent Auldridge is Mr. Ellison available."_

"This is Sarah Connor. Ellison is hurt and needs help right away."

"_Sarah Connor! I thought you were long gone. How is Ellison hurt and where are you?"_

"We are at Catherine Weavers home. Several men attempted to take or kill Savannah. Ellison has managed to take many of them out, but he has received numerous bullet wounds. He has a torn artery in his right arm, and a bullet has punctured a lung. If he doesn't get help soon, he will die."

"_All right. Sarah, listen to me. I'm calling 911 right now. As far as I am concerned I've talked to Ellison and not you. Don't hang around, take Ellison's phone with you so I can reach you. Leave as soon as you can. Don't let anyone find you there. Got it."_

"I get it." Sarah breaks the connection and slips the phone in her pocket.

"Help is on the way Ellison." Sarah says as she finishes binding his arm.

"Go now, don't let them find you here." Ellison says weakly.

"You'll die if I don't stay."

"Take Savannah with you. Take care of her, like you did John." Ellison starts coughing again spitting up blood.

Sarah helps him up into a sitting position. "Here try to stay upright. It will ease your troubled breathing."

Cameron's head tilts. "I can hear sirens approaching. If we don't leave in 12.2 seconds we will get caught Sarah."

"Grab the girl and her bag." Sarah tells Cameron.

Cameron picks up Savannah and her bag in her arms.

Sarah takes one last look at this man who has given so much and tried his best to help her and Savannah. She grips his hand in a friendly goodbye and gets up with her gun drawn, heading for the front door. Cameron is just behind her with Savannah in her arms. Savannah is looking over her shoulder at her Uncle James, tears still running from her eyes.

Ellison watches them leave. He smiles faintly and tries to raise his hand in a small wave, but his hand never leaves the floor.

Sirens can be heard in the distance as Cameron gets in the back with Savannah. Sarah hops in the drivers seat and goes tearing down the driveway and out through the gate. They pass an ambulance and cop car on the street. Sarah looks in the rear view mirror and watches them go through the gate she just left.

Sarah struggles with grief, anger, and disappointment in herself for never trusting Ellison. Her driving is only marginally better than what Cameron's was that morning.

**2009, Day 4 late-morning**

Auldridge is fretting. He just got off the phone with 911. He told the operator he just spoke on the phone with an ex-agent that has just been shot and needs aid. He told the operator where he was and the extent of his injuries as best he knew.

As soon as Auldridge got off the phone with them, he called Detective Macklin.

"_Hey there, I was just about to call Ellison. I have some news for him."_

"Hold onto that information for now. Ellison has been shot."

"_What?"_

"The ambulance and police are on their way to him now. Someone tried to get at the girl again. They had no bones in trying to kill Ellison to get to her."

"_Where is the girl now?"_

"Are you alone?"

"_Yeah."_

"She's with Sarah Connor."

"_Damn. She's never far from trouble is she?"_

"No. Which means these attacks on Ellison are definitely related to Sarah's fight."

"_Which reminds me, I have the results on the analysis on that capsule and information on those phone numbers you gave me."_

"Great. I think maybe we ought to have a meeting and ask Sarah to join us."

"_Will she trust us?"_

"I don't know. But if we have information that she needs, she may trust us enough to let us help her."

"_Do you know how to reach her?"_

"Yeah."

"_Well I'd better tell you what I know. It may help you gain her confidence. I've got the report on that capsule from Ellison's coffee. The capsule shows traces of a slow acting neurological toxin. If he had drank that coffee, he would have died in a few days without treatment. Provided the doctors didn't find the cause in time."_

"Where does this toxin come from?"

"_Here's the kicker. The toxin is manufactured for military use only by Bartelby Biotech, a bio-chemical weapons factory in an industrial complex about eighty miles from here."_

"So whoever put the toxin in his coffee has some connection with the complex."

"_That's right. And those two phone numbers you gave me . . ."_

"Don't tell me. They both come from that same business."

"_Not quite. One was for a Halcyon Cybernetics within that same complex. The other was for a disposable cell phone. There is no way to know who the caller was, but the call came from a location not too far from that complex."_

"I think we are getting in over our heads."

"_Nothing like stating the obvious."_

"I'm going to call Sarah and arrange a meeting. Do you want in on it?"

"_I think maybe I'd better. I'm in too deep to get out now."_

"All right. As soon as it's arranged I'll tell you where to meet me."

**2009, Day 4, Noon to early afternoon**

Sarah is driving through town. Mostly operating on autopilot as she comes to grips with what has recently taken place.

Ellison had placed his trust in her. Savannah was now in her care. Sarah was never able to trust the former agent, no matter how much he wanted her too. She did trust him when he put her in hiding, but that was for expedience and necessity not for personal reasons. Now she realizes this man was trustworthy and now it may be too late.

Savannah is in the back seat with Cameron. Cameron is trying to calm the child but she is saying all the wrong things for the right reasons. Sarah decides it's time to stop driving and think. She pulls off the highway into a parking lot of a closed roadside amusement park that has miniature golf, go-cart racing, a pool, and picnic area. Behind it, at the top of a slope, is an abandoned motel.

Stopping under the shade of a tree, Sarah unbuckles her seatbelt and turns in her seat to look at Savannah.

"Savannah, come up here with me." Sarah pats the seat beside her.

Savannah looks at her with her tear filled green eyes and then crawls up over the seat to be with Sarah.

"Come here." Sarah says opening her arms to the child, showing her motherly instincts.

Savannah crawls into her lap and Sarah hugs her to her chest as Savannah finishes working through her tears. Sarah strokes the child's head and talks to her in low tones and making soothing sounds, telling her she is okay.

"Shhh. It's okay sweetheart. Those bad men won't hurt you. I'll look after you."

"What about Uncle James? He isn't . . . he'll be okay won't he?"

"I don't know dear. I don't know." Sarah continues to hold Savannah comforting her like she used to do with John when he was scared at that age.

_This poor girl she's been through so much. What possible harm could such an innocent child do to the machines? Was it her connection to Weaver? Or will she have a bigger role to play in the future?_

"Where do we go from here?" Sarah asks Cameron.

"I have information on where we can locate possible Sky Net activity, but the child's presence will make anything we do difficult."

_Choices, choices and responsibility. This child needs stability and she's in danger._

Several minutes pass by and Savannah eventually falls asleep in Sarah's arms.

"Cameron, could you come around and open my door? I'd like to lay her in the back seat."

Cameron gets out, leaving her door open and helps Sarah gets out of the truck carrying Savannah. Sarah gently lays Savannah in the back seat that Cameron was just sitting on.

"What are we going to do Cameron? We can't turn this child over to the welfare services. If she wasn't safe with Ellison she won't be safe anywhere."

"She'll be safe with us." Cameron responds.

Sarah looks at Cameron with surprise.

"She'll be safe with us. Ellison wouldn't have given you charge of her otherwise."

"I hope you're right." Sarah runs her hand through her hair. "I don't even know if we are safe."

"No place is safe. But we can make it safer." Cameron replies with icy confidence.

Ellison's cell phone rings. Sarah pulls it out of her pocket. It's from Auldridge.

"Hello."

"_Sarah. Are you okay?"_

"I'm fine how is Ellison doing?"

"_The paramedics got there just in time. He's in critical condition but the doctors are hopeful for a recovery."_

"Thank God. Auldridge, I need to know if I can trust you?"

"_Yes Sarah. I know that everything you've said has been the truth. Ellison even showed me and Macklin proof."_

"What kind of proof?"

"_He has the body of one of those machines in his basement."_

"What was he doing with one of them in his basement?"

"_He hid it there. Apparently it tried to assassinate Catherine Weaver before she disappeared and it failed."_

"Dammit! Ellison should have burnt it. That technology cannot be allowed to exist."

"_Okay Sarah. We can take care of that later. Right now I think we should get together and talk."_

"I don't know. How do I know this isn't some ruse to put me back behind bars?"

"_All right. You pick the location and I will meet you there. It can be a warehouse, a public park, or the middle of the desert, but we need to talk."_

"Okay. Meet me at the corner of Third and Vine in two hours. If there is any funny business, there won't be any further need to discuss anything."

Sarah breaks the connection and slips the phone back in her pocket.

"Cameron, can you get to the corner of Third and Vine in two hours?"

Cameron looks out into the city, tilts her head scanning.

"Yes. I can take the motorcycle."

"Good. Agent Auldridge is supposed to meet me there. I don't know if I can trust him yet. You go, and if no one is tailing him, then bring him here to me."

"Yes, Sarah."

Cameron walks around the truck and lifts the motorcycle down to the ground. She pulls on her helmet, hits the kick starter and goes roaring off.

**2009, Day 4, middle of the afternoon**

It is a quiet suburb filled with beautiful homes from the turn of the twentieth century. Ten years ago it went through a revitalization. Agent James Ellison bought one of the homes after his divorce.

The house reminded him of the home he lived in when he was a child. Small and comforting, filled with all the sounds that old homes have. He hoped one day he might raise a family there, but instead he spent the last several years living alone. Having Savannah, if even for a short time would have helped filled the emptiness of his home and his heart. He always wanted a family.

While Ellison was undergoing surgery to remove the bullets and patch his damaged lung and arm, a surgery of a different sort was taking place in his home.

Inside the garage two men in gray uniforms carry the terminator's body up the stairs from the basement. They place it in the back of a van and throw a tarp over it.

One of the men goes inside to the kitchen. He breaks the gas line to the stove and sets a device with a timer on the counter.

All of the men climb into the van and drive away.

The van is several blocks away when the house explodes in flames.

# # #

Detective Macklin and Agent Auldridge are sitting in Macklin's car at the intersection of Third and Vine Streets. They have been waiting for forty minutes and Sarah hasn't showed up.

"I think she's a no show." Macklin says.

"No. I think she's probably being cautious or else she's running late. We don't know where she was when we arranged the meeting, she may have under estimated how long it would take to get here."

"That may be the case, but its us sitting here and we're out of coffee."

"I told you to buy a Grande."

"If I drank that much coffee in one sitting I'd have problems of a different sort."

Auldridge laughs.

Just then the back door opens and Cameron gets in the back seat and slams the door closed.

"Who the hell are you?"

"What the . . .?"

"You want to see Sarah Connor." Cameron replies.

"Yeah but how do you . . . ." says Auldridge.

"Then drive. I'll tell you where to go."

"Just who the hell are you miss?" says Macklin.

"I'm the person taking you to Sarah Connor. Now drive!" She gives them a cold hard stare.

Macklin sees she means business. "Okay Miss, I'm driving."

He starts his car and pulls out into traffic.

"Where are we going?"

"Go five blocks and take a left. Then drive three more blocks and follow the signs to exit . . ." Cameron rattles off directions like she learned them by heart. Macklin has a hard time keeping up with her.

"I said five blocks, not four."

"All right, all right, I just miscounted!"

"Slow down, you'll draw attention to yourself."

"I'm only doing 35."

"The speed limit says 30."

"Listen lady, I'm driving. I decide how fast I'll go!"

"Turn right here. No here!" Cameron sounds slightly frustrated as Macklin navigates his car roughly to her directions.

Auldridge chuckles at the almost comic actions of Macklin as takes directions from this girl out of nowhere.

"What's the matter Macklin, not use to having a back seat driver?"

"Shut up. It's bad enough with her telling me where to go and criticizing my driving."

"We'd get there more quickly if you'd pay attention to my directions and not talk." says Cameron.

"Listen lady. I'd get there a lot quicker if you'd just tell me where the hell we are going."

"I can't do that. We may be followed and you might be wired. If we are being followed then we'll see the same vehicle behind us regardless of what route we take. If you are wired, and I tell you where to go, the police or FBI could get there ahead of us. My way is much better. And if you betray us, you'll be dead before you can act."

"Hey lady I'm a cop and threatening an officer is a felony in this state."

"It's no threat Detective Macklin. I am merely stating a fact. Turn right, drive one block and make a U-turn. Drive one mile and turn into Packard's Roadside Amusements."

Macklin did as he was told. He sees the entrance to the small amusement park and pulls in.

"Park over there, next to that picnic table."

Macklin pulls up next to the curb and parks opposite the picnic table Cameron had pointed to.

"All right. We are here, wherever it is. Where's Sarah Connor?"

"She's watching us right now. You won't see her until she wants you to. Before you get out of the car I must ask you both to hand your weapons to me."

"Hey now, we can't do that we're . . ." Auldridge's words get cut off as Cameron reaches around and grabs both men by their throats.

She leans in and quietly speaks, making sure the two men understand clearly . . . she has their undivided attention. "That wasn't a request. If you want to meet Sarah Connor you will hand me your weapons now!"

Macklin and Auldridge each carefully reached under their jackets and pull their guns out of their holsters. Cameron releases Macklin's throat and takes his gun in one quick move, then does the same with Auldridge. Both men gasp to get air back in their lungs.

"I apologize if I hurt you, but you were being less than cooperative. If you are carrying any other weapons now is the time to tell me."

"No. You've got our guns we're not carrying any more." Auldridge says hurriedly.

"Good. Now get out of the car and walk into the miniature golf course. I'll tell you when to stop."

"See Macklin, its like being married. Just shut up and do what girl tells you."

Macklin keeps grumbling under his breath.

"Miss, you've got a name don't you?"

"Yes"

"Are you going to tell us."

"No."

"You don't say a lot do you?" His tone of voice fails to hide his frustration with the pretty brunette.

"Stop here."

Macklin and Auldridge find themselves in the middle of a miniature gold course. The windmill is lightly spinning in the afternoon breeze.

After a couple of minutes Auldridge asks, "How long have we got to wait?"

There's no answer. Auldridge turns around. The girl is gone.

"What the hell? Where did she go?"

Macklin and Auldridge turn around looking for the girl with a strong grip and of few words. They can't see where she went.

There is the sound of a gun being cocked behind them. They turn back around in unison and Sarah Connor stands there, her Smith and Wesson in her hand pointed at them.

"Here we are gentlemen. Let's talk."

"What happened to your friend?" Macklin asks.

"She's not far. She's just looking after something for me."

"You have us at a disadvantage. There is no need for you to point that gun at us." Auldridge says.

"You listen to me." Sarah growls at him. "I've spent my entire adult life not being able to trust anyone in law enforcement. You think I want to spend my time standing here talking to you two!"

"Now listen here." interjects Macklin.

"No you listen! The two of you have leaped into something you cannot possibly understand. The only reason I am here is because Ellison trusted the two of you!"

"He's doing fine by the way." Auldridge adds softly.

"Good. Now you said you had something for me. Some evidence of Sky Net's activities."

"I didn't say anything of the sort!" says Auldridge.

"No you didn't but you wouldn't have contacted me if you didn't have something to share with me, so spit it out." She growls back at him.

"Gee lady no need to be so hostile. We are on your side." adds Macklin.

"Shut up and listen! Everyone who is on my side ends up dead. So unless you are willing to pursue this to the bitter end I'd suggest you stop trying to get on my good side and just tell me what you know!"

"Okay, Sarah. We get the point. You're in charge. Macklin just tell the lady what you told me earlier."

"Auldridge and I were both pulled off our investigations into the Zeira Corp tower attack. We had each come to a separate conclusion that you were not involved. Our bosses were determined to pin it on you."

Auldridge spoke next. "After I got pulled off my investigation, I over heard the director on the phone talking to someone. In this conversation I was threatened with death if I got too involved. Ellison was being followed in hopes he'd lead them to someone, which I assumed was you. The day that Ellison was questioned by me, someone tried to poison him with a neurological toxin."

"Auldridge managed to get the phone numbers of the calls that the Director received during the time he overheard him. I traced one of the numbers to Halcyon Cybernetics, it is located in the same industrial complex as Bartelby Biotech, the company that developed the neurological toxin."

"Where exactly is this industrial complex?"

"It's eighty miles west of here out on the old scenic highway that goes out through Topanga Canyon."

"What else do you know?"

Auldridge adds, "After Macklin told me what he found out I did a private search on-line about the area. Apparently over the last eight months or more, there has been low flying aircraft seen or heard at night and that cattle and other animal deaths started occurring at the same time. I made a map I'd like to show you."

"Where's the map?"

"In my case, in Macklin's car."

"Okay, we'll go sit at that picnic table and discuss this."

Sarah turns away from the men and shouts, "Cameron!"

"Yes Sarah." Cameron's voice is heard from a short distance off where she was hiding keeping an eye on the two law men. "We are going over to their car. Auldridge has a map he wants to show us. I think you'd better come along too. You've got information that may verify what these two suspect."

"What do you want me to do with Savannah?"

"Check on her. If she's still asleep, then let her be, otherwise she may as well join us."

Cameron helps little Savannah out of the back seat of the truck. Savannah reaches inside and picks up her stuffed giraffe which she left on the seat. While she waits, Cameron scans the surrounding area. There is no one in the area. No heat signatures, no movement, no sounds of any people.

"Come on Cameron. Sarah is waiting for us." Savannah says to Cameron, getting her attention.

Cameron looks down at the little girl. "Okay Savannah, we'll go now." Savannah takes Cameron's hand, which surprises Cameron a little, and they walk to the picnic table.

A few minutes later Sarah, Cameron, Macklin and Auldridge are seated at the picnic table going over the information that Auldridge brought with him. Savannah was playing with her giraffe in the grass next to them.

"See look here at the map. Right here this X marks the location of that warehouse that was blown up, over here is Warner City. Two miles outside of town is an industrial complex. This industrial complex is one of the fastest growing in the state, if not the country. They've already begun purchasing additional properties."

"What exactly goes on there?"

"Everything. Computer technologies, manufacturing, research and development in multiple fields, pharmaceuticals, military hardware and armaments."

"Cameron, what do you think?"

"John told me that Sky Net has its central computer and manufacturing base located in Topanga Canyon. Warner City is not too far away from there. This could be where it will be built. Has there been any unusual activity in the area?"

"Yes." Auldridge slides the map closer to Cameron. "See all these red dots on the map, these are locations where people have seen or heard fast low flying aircraft. Multiple reports have been called in, however the radar logs show no aircraft in the area."

"That means the aircraft were small, fast and probably built with stealth technology." adds Macklin.

"It sounds like the HK that we saw fly off from that ranch and the one that attacked Zeira Corp." says Sarah.

"Yeah, and by all accounts we are looking at something that can travel at speeds that rival our fastest fighter jets. Several witnesses have claimed to see something accelerate to top speed or come to a complete stop in just a couple of seconds. It can also hover, rotate, and change directions super fast."

"Definitely a Hunter Killer." Says Cameron. "They are a high speed, compact, self governing, computer controlled jet fighter. They are highly maneuverable and are deadly. If these crafts have been seen, then that means Sky Net is definitely at this location."

"Is there any connection between these HK's and The Kaliba Group?" asks Sarah.

"Did you say Kaliba?" asks Macklin.

"Yeah."

Macklin glances at Auldridge and then pushes a file across to Sarah.

"The Kaliba Group owns the industrial complex we've been talking about." Macklin puts his finger on the name Topanga Canyon on the map. "It's called Fox Industries."

Auldridge adds while Sarah skims through the file. "The Kaliba Group owns all the businesses in that industrial complex. It also owns the town and about 50 square miles all around the complex and the town. It is a high security area. No one goes in and out of the base but security personnel and management."

"Sounds like a Sky Net work camp." Cameron says firmly. "Just replace human security with terminators."

Sarah interrupts, "Besides the HK's, what do you know they are doing now?"

"I called a friend of mine at NSA." Auldridge begins. "I shouldn't repeat this, but given what we know or suspect . . . The Kaliba Group is undertaking a multi-billion dollar government contract for the military. Something to do with the missile defense network and collective control of all operations, from a central computer base if this nation goes into a nuclear war. It takes control if the government falls."

"Fuck!" Sarah slams her fist down on the table. "You're talking Sky Net. Kaliba is building Sky Net! I knew it!"

A palpable silence fills the park after Sarah is done shouting.

"So what are we going to do?" asks Auldridge.

"Well, we can't do anything today. Savannah needs someplace to stay and we need to make plans."

"The three of you can stay at my place." says Auldridge.

"I don't think that's good idea. Someone was tailing Ellison, and they may put someone on you."

"You're right. I guess we'll have to stay at a motel. What about you Macklin?" asks Auldridge.

"Well, I guess I'd better join you. My absence may have alerted Detective Wicker, so he may have someone out looking for me too."

Sarah walks to her truck followed by Cameron and Savannah. Sarah gets in the driver's seat. Cameron gives Savannah a boost into the back seat and slides onto the seat beside her. Sarah drives off, followed by Macklin and Auldridge in their car.

"Would you like to meet Geoffrey?" Savannah asks Cameron.

"We haven't got time to stop to meet your friends." Cameron replies.

"Don't be silly." Savannah chuckles. "This is Geoffrey." And she places her stuffed giraffe in Cameron's lap.

Cameron looks at it with confusion.

"He's got something he wants to tell you." Savannah leans over and whispers in her ear. "He likes you and wants to be your friend."

They drive out of the city and keep driving well into the evening. Before leaving the city, Sarah stops briefly at a mall and gives Cameron some money to purchase a few clothing items for herself and Savannah.

Twenty minutes later, Sarah is pleased to see her walk out in something other than the motorcycle leathers she was wearing. Less likely to stand out. Black denims, tucked into the motorcycle boots, navy blue blouse, tucked into her pants, and a black denim jacket.

She also managed to buy herself a pair of stunning sunglasses. Cameron strides from the mall without a care. Sarah chuckles as some poor sod of a teenage boy, was so engrossed in watching her walk past, he smacked right into a sign post. She manages to stop chuckling as Cameron gets to the truck.

"You did remember to get yourself underwear?" Sarah asks as Cameron gets in the backseat.

"Of course." She replies placing her bags in the vehicle and getting in behind them. "They had a matching purple set in my size, I bought four sets, and I purchased three pairs of jeans, four blouses, and this denim jacket for myself. I changed my clothes in the store."

"Much better, when you wear underwear. Much better. And what did you get for Savannah?"

"I wasn't certain what to get as I'm not familiar with clothes for children. But seeing as we were on the road, I bought her things more practical than the dress she's wearing."

"Such as?"

"Sneakers, khaki's, some T-shirts, and a couple of boy's dress shirts and a baseball cap she can use as cover from the sun. Savannah has fair skin and can burn easily."

Meanwhile, Savannah is cooing over her new clothes. "Thank you!" She says excitedly.

"Good thinking." Sarah answers, sounding impressed, as she pulls out into traffic. "Also the cap will help disguise her features."

Sarah says to Savannah, "You're welcome dear." And gives Cameron a look.

"Your welcome Savannah." Cameron says, taking the hint from Sarah.

Cameron frowns a moment, then asks, "Can we get another motorcycle? I had to leave mine behind when I brought those two men to see you."

"Strictly speaking, it wasn't your motorcycle." Sarah says raising her eyebrows as she glances at Cameron's face in the mirror. "You stole it."

"True. But I liked it. It was . . ." She thinks for a moment for the right adjective, ". . . fun."

_Fun!_ Sarah thinks, _I saw my whole life flash before my eyes twice riding with her. Not what I call fun._

They quickly resume driving and find an old tourist motel well out-of-the-way with lots of vacancies.

Sarah, Savannah and Cameron check into one room, with Auldridge and Macklin next door. They take the two rooms farthest from the two lane highway, but with a clear view of the road.

Sarah tries to make it as normal a day as possible for Savannah, but she knows this little girl will never have a normal day again. Cameron maintains steady watch, while Sarah talks with Auldridge and Macklin and finds out exactly what they know.

**2009, Day 4, evening**

There is an office tower overlooking a massive and busy industrial complex. At the top of that tower is a private office. A man in an expensive gray silk suit is in that office sitting behind a mahogany desk. Across from him is a large flat panel monitor that entirely covers one wall. He is watching the news.

"_Earlier today James Ellison, former FBI Agent and Head of Security for Zeira Corp, was found shot and bleeding from multiple gunshot wounds in the home of Catherine Weaver, who went missing following the spectacular aircraft crash into Zeira Corp Tower just four days ago. We go now to Steve Picathanay for a live report."_

"_Good Evening Dawn. I am standing just outside the home of Catherine Weaver, owner and president of Zeira Corp. Earlier today at approximately 11:15 this morning, neighbors called 911 reporting gunshots from the home. A short time later 911 then received a call from Agent Auldridge of the FBI saying that former FBI Agent and current Head of Security at Zeira Corp, James Ellison, was attacked and shot within the Weaver Residence."_

"_What was Mr. Ellison doing at the Weaver residence, Steve."_

"_After Catherine Weaver disappeared, temporary custody of her daughter was granted to Mr. Ellison. According to staff at Child Protective Services, Mr. Ellison was at the Weaver home to collect clothing and other belongings of Savannah Weaver, daughter of Ms. Weaver."_

"_Do the police know what happened at the Weaver residence?"_

"_The facts are these Julie. Two police officers were gunned down outside the Weaver home. One took three shots to the head and upper torso, the second by multiple gunshots to the body and head. Inside the residence, the bodies of several men in standard issue gray overalls were found, each with an automatic handgun. Several had gunshot wounds, most of them the cause of death. However, one of them died from blunt force trauma to the back of the head, and apparently another was strangled."_

"_Have the police offered any theories as to what happened?"_

"_The only statement offered is that there was another attempt to take Savannah Weaver, and this time whoever tried it again has succeeded. Savannah Weaver is missing."_

"_That sounds terrible. Any idea on who has taken the child?"_

"_That's the problem. No ransom demands have been made. And even if such demands were made, all accounts of Ms. Weaver and Zeira Corp are effectively closed pending the current investigations, and Zeira Corp, as a company, presently and effectively only exists on paper."_

"_Has Mr. Ellison issued any kind of statement?"_

"_Mr. Ellison is currently in the hospital recovering from surgery. He has not made any statements. The doctors have him in isolation until he's off the critical list. The FBI and police have put him under protection while he recovers from surgery. Zeira Corp lawyers are all over this case and will not permit any questioning of Mr. Ellison until such time as he is deemed fit enough by the doctors. The police and FBI are working together to find the man responsible for the attempted murder of Mr. Ellison and the kidnapping of Savannah Weaver. They have found traces that someone else entered the house. Whoever they were, apparently performed first aid on Mr. Ellison and took Savannah. Several bullets were found that didn't match the weapons in the house."_

"_Thank you Steve. We go now to . . ." click_

The man turns off the TV and presses the button on the intercom.

"Mr. Petri, will you come in here please."

"_Yes, sir."_

A smallish man in a blue suit enters the office.

"Mr. Petri, any word on the whereabouts of our Chief of Security, Mr. Preckman?"

"I'm sorry Mr. Kreilley, but Mr. Preckman has not called back after leaving a message yesterday saying he was following a clue as to the whereabouts of Sarah Connor."

"Did he say where he was going?"

"Yes, he said he was going to see someone in the desert."

"Did he specify which desert?"

"No sir."

"Damn him to hell. Any leads on the whereabouts of Mr. Auldridge or Detective Macklin."

"None of the teams have located them, sir. It's like they disappeared."

"So, we can't get to Ellison, Mr. Preckman hasn't reported back from chasing a lead on Sarah Connor, and Mr. Auldridge and Detective Macklin have both disappeared."

He sits back in his chair and thinks, staring straight ahead, not blinking. Mr. Petri stands nervously under his steady gaze. A few moments later Mr. Kreilley speaks.

"Mr. Petri."

"Yes sir."

"Put the guards on high alert, but on no condition are they to allow themselves to be seen in any greater number outside than under normal conditions. Also, have all work shifts report for duty. No leave for forty-eight hours."

"Anything else sir."

"Yes. Tell the project engineers, they are ordered to put project Kaliba into its final phase, tonight. I want it ready to launch within thirty-six hours."

"Yes sir." Mr. Petri left quickly to carry out his orders.

Mr. Kreilley gets up from his upholstered leather office chair and smooths the wrinkles in his expensive gray silk suit. He turns and looks out the large window behind him at the industries below.

"I'm waiting for you Sarah Connor." He says as the light from the setting sun makes his eyes shine with an inhuman silvery light.

* * *

A special note to all who have left a review since I began posting this story.

I want to apologize to all of you. I got woefully behind in replying personally to your reviews and I was going to use my free time before Christmas to write my replies. Sadly, on the 20th, my right knee was injured. You can read the details on my profile page. I was in the hospital almost two weeks, having come home on New Years day. There has been a heap more reviews during my absence and I just don't see it possible to catch up.

So please accept this as my thank you to each and every one of you who have taken the time to write a review between Nov. 26, and Dec. 31, 2010. Also my thanks to those of you who have either placed my story on your favorite's list or story alert subscription list, etc.

May God Bless you for the new year.

Russell


	12. Changing The Rules

Disclaimer: I do not claim any rights to the Terminator films; the TV series, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles;" or any characters depicted within the films or TV series. I do claim the right to this story idea and all characters and situations of my own creation. This story was created solely for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. No profits are garnered from its distribution - unfortunately.

M Rating for this Chapter: For a scene with sexual content.

* * *

**TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES**

**REUNION**

**Part 1: The Shadow of Death**

**Author: The1Russter**

**Chapter 11**

**Changing the Rules**

"_All of us wear masks. They can be worn out of love and the desire to remain close to those around us. To spare them from the complicated realities of our frayed psyches. We trade honesty for companionship and in the process never truly know the hearts closest to us." Sarah Connor, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Season 1, Episode 8, "Vick's Chip" March 3, 2008_

"_If there is a flaw in chess as a game of war, it is this. Unlike war, the rules of chess are constant; the pieces - unchangeable. You'll never win the heart of a rook or the mind of a knight. They are deaf to your arguments. And so be it. The goal of a chess game is total annihilation. But in war, even as the blood beats in your ears and you race after your enemy, there is the hope that saner minds than yours will stop you before you reach your target. In war, unlike chess, rules can be changed. Truces can be called. The greatest of enemies can become the best of friends. In war there is hope." Sarah Connor, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Season 1, Episode 5, "Queen's Gambit" February 11, 2008_

_Savannah Weaver, "These are the ducklings, Chicky, Fluffy and Feather. Can they play, too?"_

_John Henry, "I don't think there are any ducklings on the mystical island of Voya Nui." _

_Savannah, "Are you sure?"_

_John Henry, "I'm sorry, I have access to all the files. I can find no reference to them in any of the instructions." Savannah applies her puppy look. "What's wrong?" He picks up a toy and twirls its propeller. "If you'd like one of the Toa instead?" _

_Savannah, "Nooooo. The ducklings are sad because they can't play. Can't you change the rules to make them happy?"_

_John Henry pauses ominously, "Yes. We can change the rules." _

_Excerpt from "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles," Season 2, Episode 20, "To the Lighthouse" March 27, 2009_

# # #

**2027, Day 22, 11:30 AM**

Kyle waits patiently several minutes for his brother to finish swearing, grinning at his actions.

"That kid, ordered that machine he reprogrammed to shoot me! Son-of-a-bitch! He's got some nerve to pull that! What if that metal killed me?" Derek swears some more while pacing once again.

"Well the reprogramming obviously worked or else you wouldn't be here right now. Are you here for a reason? Or are you just blowing off steam?"

Derek chuckles. "I'm headin' back to the main base, get a fresh uniform, a shower, . . ."

"Yeah I thought I could smell something." Kyle grins. "That machine must have scared the crap out of you."

Derek grins, ". . . and get the latest intelligence that has come in since leaving. Then I'm goin' back to that factory."

"Not taking revenge for Sky Net killing . . ."

"I don't know if she's dead." Derek snaps. "We never found her body. I consider each successful mission a form of revenge. I want that factory Kyle." Derek shouts. "I want that factory so bad I can taste it, and I aim to take it whether Connor succeeds or not with his project!"

"Okay." Kyle looks at his brother. He can be such a hard-ass sometimes. "I thought you were temporarily moving your command here."

"That factory is where I need to be. I'm placing you in charge of this outpost. To get you started, I've changed the schedule for the patrols for Delta. The new one begins this afternoon. Scheduling was too loose here. I don't know what killed Private Svenson. Her wounds don't fit with her weapons and clothing being left. I hope this new patrol schedule will prevent these mysterious killings."

"There's been more?"

"Just one that I know of, at the main bunker. Some poor guy got killed in the kennels much the same way as this Private Svenson. There's only been these two death's, that I know of, and I hope they'll be the last."

"Let's hope so."

Kyle gestures at himself and the bed. "Before you go, can you talk to The Doc? I can't do much from here and it's driving me crazy."

"Already taken care of. Doc should be in later with some crutches. He'll probably limit your movements, but knowing you, you'll abuse it anyway."

"Hey! Would I do something like that?" Kyle says cheekily.

"Yes you would." Derek grins. "So take it easy. I'm leaving you Lieutenant Bennett to be your second, until you're healed. It will give him a chance to get some command experience at a base."

"Why not Allison? You could promote her to Lieutenant and make her my second."

"I could do that. But she had an opportunity to take command when you got shot and by all appearances she didn't. I don't know what's coming over her lately. She's always been so gun-ho. Ally makes use of all her skills and abilities, but mentally it's like she's taken a back seat to this new Connor fellow."

"She is in love with him, yeah. But that didn't come into play out there in the desert. There wasn't much I could do. It was just John and Allison."

Derek shoots him a dark look. "Yeah. Well I'm still not promoting her this time, but if you want to make her a part of the command structure for this outpost, that's up to you. You're its captain now. And if this outpost feels she's worthy of that rank, I'll stitch the stripes on her jacket myself. But Ally could have taken charge and didn't when things went bad - not a sign of someone ready to be an officer."

"Oh, come on! You're being too harsh. There were only the three of us after the attack and I was shot. Hardly a place for Allison to be pulling rank, for Christ's sake."

"Sorry, minds made up."

"Yeah. Me too." Kyle says with a frown. "Take Bennett with you. I can make do without him."

"If that's what you want." Derek begins to leave, "I've got to go. See ya, bro."

"Later! Thanks for the command!" Kyle shouts after him.

# # #

John felt utterly embarrassed by Allison's actions, and had to stand there a minute or two to gather his thoughts while the eyes of every fighter stared at him in expectation of what he was about to say.

Hoping they would think his moment of hesitation was from nerves addressing the group, John dove into the task in the proper method of chip extraction.

With the machine kneeling on the ground in front of them, John begins his demonstration. "Now I'm not certain how safe it is to insert and reinsert the main chip of one of these machines, so I'm only going to do it once. Everyone pay close attention."

John proceeds to show them how to remove the port cover using his knife or the thin edge of a screwdriver.

"Those with small fingers should be able to remove the chip, but if you have any doubt about using your hands then you should have a pair of small pliers. Preferably long nose pliers. You just grip the end, give it a quarter turn to the left and pull it straight out."

John stands there holding the chip in his hands. "This chip is its brain. On it is a complex code that controls all their functions. This particular machine is a triple-8. It has three chips. Its primary chip, located here, is easy to remove but hard to program as you have to write code to prevent the main chip from being reprogrammed by one its secondary chips. You may still encounter the T-800's, which have only a single chip. They also can be deactivated by electrical shock, but their chips are far more difficult to remove. So don't bother trying. Either blow them up, or run like hell."

John stands back. "Any questions?"

No one says anything. "Good. Allison, Would you mind putting the chip back into our, um, metal friend here while I begin talking to them about the trap I used in the desert? I'd like to come up with an alternative that doesn't almost kill me this time."

"Sure no problem." Allison smiles and takes the chip and pressure cap from John. "Why don't you call him Alpha? He is your first, successfully reprogrammed machine."

"Cool. When he reboots, call him Alpha."

While John tells everyone of what he did in the desert, Allison reinserts the chip and pressure cap.

John is just coming to the end of his lecture. ". . . So you see we need something other than a rod and metal net to electrocute a machine. Otherwise, we might all end up electrocuted."

"What if you were to use two wire nets. Leave one on the ground and when the machines walk over it, drop another on top of them." Suggests one of the soldiers.

"That would work, but where can we get some wire netting?" John asks.

"Does it have to be netting?"

"No, just as long as its metal and light enough to carry."

"Well I just thought that the chain link fence behind our old bus terminal is mesh-like and metal."

"Let's go and take a look." John says.

As they walk away, the machine comes on and stares intently at Allison, scanning her.

"Who are you?" It asks in its standard mechanical monotone.

"Corporal Allison Young." She replies. "I helped John Connor reprogram your chip."

"You are different from the others. What are you?"

Allison frowns, not prepared to have a conversation with the thing.

"I'm a girl. Humans come in two sexes. Boys and girls." She answers, hoping that will answer its question.

"Scans indicate anatomical differences between you and John Connor. He has a larger thorax, external reproductive organs and greater upper body development, whereas you. . ."

"Yes." Allison snaps impatiently. "He is male. I am female. Boy and girl. That should be sufficient for you."

"Scans also indicate a higher level of . . ."

"All right! That's enough!" She orders, losing her temper.

"I will not be scanned like I'm some specimen in a jar! You are not to scan me at any time, even if ordered to by a superior officer. Do you understand me?" Allison yells in the harshest tone possible.

"Yes." It answers in the same monotone.

"Good. Your name is Alpha. Remember that. Now follow me." Allison walks off mumbling. "Damn metal. Scanning people without a care in the world."

Allison and Alpha join John and the others as they look over the fence out behind the remains of the old bus terminal. The fence is a ten-foot high metal chain link fence used to enclose the area where they used to park the buses when not in use. It is rusted and some of the poles are bent, but there is sufficient material to make the trap.

Allison observes John and the people with him. Though all are competent soldiers, they are absorbed in the present task. Not good. The people here at Delta show some lack of discipline without a commander.

"John!" Allison calls out to get his attention.

"Yeah." He calls back looking at her. _She looks a bit tense_, he thinks. _I wonder what's up with her?_

"We are exposed here and vulnerable to a surprise attack." Some of the fighters look around reassessing their location. "I'm going to take a few of these guys and setup observation posts."

"Sure. Go ahead. Just leave me Alpha. I could use his help on the trap." John says with a smile to try to put her at ease.

Allison points to a cluster of fighters. "You with me, now." She orders them.

As she and some others walk away, John wonders briefly what's bothering her. Something upset her since leaving her alone with Alpha. But asking Alpha now in front of the others wouldn't be good.

While Allison and the others kept watch against HK's and other metal, John and the other's began working on the fence. As they didn't have the right tools to remove the fencing poles, John gives that task to the machine.

Alpha snaps the wire ties holding the chain-link fence to the poles and pulls the fencing down. The fighters lay it out flat in the empty parking lot and measured off two semi equal sections. Using some wire pieces from the fence they stitched sections together. When they are done, they have two large sections approximately twenty by sixty feet.

John is pleased with their efforts. The work was hard and dirty, but everyone went to it with enthusiasm. They had spent so many months and years hiding and skulking around in the tunnels, that today was like a holiday for them.

The next thing to do was to find an area to set the trap.

John wipes the sweat from his brow. "Well done, everybody." John sighs. "Take a break and I'll be right back."

With the trap on its way to being built, it was time for John to speak with Derek and Kyle who are both more familiar with the area. John needs a place to spring the trap, and it's going to need some specific requirements.

John wasn't able to find Derek, nor his squad, but he did find a map of the area in the communications room. He walks into the infirmary to find Kyle quickly getting back into his bed.

"Dammit. I thought you were the Doc coming back. He got me some crutches for going to the latrine, but I've been using them to walk around the room. This bed rest is killing me."

John chuckles. "Good to see you too. Have you seen Derek?"

"Why? Are you going to try and kill my brother again?" He asks with a grin.

"He told you about that?"

"Tell me about it! Derek paced back and forth right where you are standing, cursing and swearing for about five minutes. Derek eventually told me what you did. You've got some balls Connor."

John clears his throat. "Well it was a risk, I know. But it convinced him and the others that the machines could be reprogrammed. I've had it outside helping us construct the trap we'll use to catch more. I came back in to ask Derek and you for help, but I can't find him."

"He went back to our main base for a change of uniform and a shower, then he's heading back out to observe the factory. He's placed me in charge of this outpost. What do you need?"

"I'd like you to go over this map with me and help me find an area where we can set the trap for capturing machines."

"What are the conditions you are looking for?"

John spreads the map across Kyle's lap. "Well first, we need to construct it close enough to where metal has been active but not so close we draw their attention before the trap is finished. Second, the trap has to be in an area where we can keep them contained if we can't get their chips removed before they reboot. Third, the trap has to be in a location that we can run an electric cable to, preferably out of sight."

"Is that all?" Kyle asks.

"Pretty much."

"Not asking for much, are you." Kyle grimaces then grins. "All right, let's look at the map. There's got to be someplace like what you need."

Kyle and John spent the next forty-five minutes going over different locations and the pros and cons of each. By the time they were finished they pretty much narrowed it down to two, possibly three, locations where the trap could be laid. When they compared those locations to access points to the tunnels, there was only one location close enough to a sewer manhole that they could run the cables through yo power the trap.

"Thanks for your help. I'd better finish construction of the trap."

"Hang on." Kyle says, pulling the crutches out from under his bed. "I'm coming with you."

"Not out to the trap?"

"Nah, just out of this room." Kyle places the crutches under his arms. "I'm going crazy in here."

John heads down the tunnel, Kyle some distance behind. He is just about to clamber up the ladder when there is a sudden rush of fighters coming down into the bunker. The last one in slams the hatch shut and latches it, while another soldier runs to shut down the generator.

"What's going on?" John asks.

"Corporal Young spotted an HK flying a search pattern and getting closer. She gave the order for everyone to get inside."

"Is everyone accounted for?" Kyle asks from behind John.

"Everyone but for Allison and Alpha. They're still topside."

"What?" John yells and makes a dash for the hatch but the others stop him.

"No one is allowed topside when HK's are in the area. Standing orders from Derek." Kyle says firmly.

John turns to see his face is grim with either the news or pain. It was hard to tell.

"John, you can't go up there. Not until we hear that it is clear or orders are given." Kyle says.

"But Allison is up there!" John says with great fear.

"I know. But Allison knows the rules. Don't worry about her. She's been fighting for as many years as I have. She can take care of herself." His words rang true, but he looked as worried as John felt.

# # #

Earlier, Allison had finished assigning the volunteers she selected to posts to observe the surrounding territory.

She chooses a spot where she can observe the sky. It isn't long before she has company.

"You got awfully angry with that machine earlier." Her friend says. "It only did what it was programmed to do on a restart. Scan surrounding area and all beings in close proximity."

"I hate it when they scan me. Have you ever confronted one of those things and they stare at you with their cold red eyes, scanning you? It gives me the creeps. I hate it. It's like walking around with a sentient X-ray machine."

"I didn't know you felt that way. Does this go back to what happened to you before?"

"Maybe." She sighs, feeling repressed fear and anger. "That one I ran into, in the desert, scanned me. I hated it. It gave me some pleasure to destroy it. If it wasn't for John, just a couple hundred yards away, I might have freaked out then."

"But you didn't. You held to your training and you saved John's life."

"Thank you for that, but don't you ever feel like you aren't doing enough? That one day you might fail."

"I have felt that way many times. It isn't easy doing what we do, but we have to do it. See how the others react to John. Some of them have been fighting these machines for years, but they respond to John like he's been right there with them. He's in his element now, but he still needs protection."

Allison looks at John and the others from her position. With the help of the machine, they have taken down a large section of the fencing and appear to be stitching sections together.

"I know. I'm proud of him and I love him so much." Allison looks happy. "I never thought I'd feel this way about him. I've always liked older men. But he's different."

"John has that effect on women regardless of his age. He has a strength, a confidence in his actions, once he decides on a course to take. People are drawn to men or women like that. He's much like his mother in that regard. And right now, you are the only one who can protect him and love him. Once he completes his mission, then your task is done."

Allison looks sad for a moment. She isn't certain if she feels sad about the current situation or what might happen once her mission is complete. Her friend told her that getting a first chance at true love is rare, and second chances are even rarer.

John Connor means the world to her. She doesn't have to imagine what it would be like to lose him. First chances are rare, but second chances are gifts. Either from God, or the fates, or just from people who care about you, like her friend.

Coming out of her deep thoughts, Allison says, "Can we talk later? I need to concentrate on my job. Things are just too quiet now and I don't like that HK on the horizon."

"Okay, we'll talk later." Her friend replies and leaves her alone.

She knows Allison has a lot to think about and she wishes things could have been different, for them both. Besides John, she's also doing this for Allison. She owes her this much for what happened to her.

Allison spends the rest of her time alone and thinking in private. A half-hour later she sees John return to the bunker entrance. The others sit down and drink water from their canteens. The time outside has done wonders for their disposition, but so many of them look as depressed as those poor people back at the main bunker.

As she stands there keeping watch, she has been observing the HK in the sky in the distance. Derek told her about the HK's he had seen in the area and had assumed this might be one of them. Over time, she realized it was the same one which kept flying, back and forth. And each time it went on the return journey it got a little closer, like it's searching for something. Searching!

"Shit!" She exclaims and runs toward the group lounging outside.

"Everyone! In the bunker now! Now!" She yells as she runs through the area, yelling and getting everyone's attention. "Move it! HK approaching!"

She herds the people to the hatch. "Close it and lock it behind you!" She tells the last person down.

The hatch closes with a bang and she hears the latch close.

"Alpha! Grab some of that debris and put it on the hatch! Hurry!" She yells.

The whine of the HK's engines are getting louder as Alpha picks up some scrap and lays it on the hatch.

"Come on!" She yells at it and guides Alpha away from the hatch..

They run flat out across the litter strewn tarmac toward the bus depot.

"We'll hide in there." She shouts above the noise of the HK, gesturing at the ruins.

They enter what was at one time the waiting room for passengers. The wall between it and the garage is gone. More than likely scavenged for the bunker below. Beyond is a broken down bus, with just enough room for her to squeeze under. The sound of the HK is getting louder. It won't be long until its here.

"Get Down on the floor! Lay there! Don't move! Power down all non-essential systems." She orders Alpha.

Allison runs across the terminal and slides, right under the abandoned bus. The metal body of the bus should shield her from any scans. A shame Alpha is too big to fit under the bus. She hopes the building itself will shield it from scans.

As the HK flies over, the vibrations from its engines shake the old terminal. The ceiling in the waiting room collapses, and the plaster and tile on the walls throughout the building cracks and begins to fall.

Allison watches as the whole building around her shakes. Despite the danger of its eminent collapse, she knows she is safer here than outside. Knowing the HK will be back, she covers her head and ears from the dust and noise with her jacket and lies as still as possible.

On its return journey, she hears a loud crash and feels the ground shake beneath her. Dust billows around her, making her cough despite her head being covered.

# # #

Everyone waits for what seems like hours in the dark. Perspiration runs down their faces, tongues lick nervously on dry lips, as a low throbbing sound gets louder and louder.

"It's coming." Someone says.

No one speaks or makes a sound in the darkened tunnels while the HK gets closer. As the throbbing sound gets louder, a high pitch whine can also be heard. Dirt dribbles down from the ceiling. The floor and walls vibrate. The rats squeal from the high pitch whine of the HK's engines. After what seemed like fifteen minutes, they can hear it move further away.

"Don't get excited people." Kyle speaks. "It will make another pass before moving on."

The HK did perform another sweep of the area, with much the same result as before. This time though, they can hear or rather feel the vibration of something heavy impacting the ground over their heads.

As the sound of the HK disappears, it grows very quiet in the tunnels as everyone waits wondering if it will make a third pass.

Another ten minutes go by and everyone jumps when the silence is broken by the sound of something being moved off the hatch followed by three hard taps on the bunker's hatch.

A moment later a voice shouted through the vent pipe "Young, Allison, Corporal, 5, 18, zero niner."

Kyle and John look at each other with relief when they hear Allison's voice.

The hatch is thrown open and Allison climbs down to see relief on everyone's faces.

"The HK ran a standard sweep of the area." Allison says. "However, I think our activity may have drawn it to the area. Sky Net will most likely send in ground troops to search the area."

Kyle asks, "What was that noise we heard? Like something heavy landed on the ground."

"Part of the bus terminal collapsed. The garage portion is still standing, luckily as that is where I hid. Going to need to dig Alpha out, unless he manages on his own."

She then turns and looks right at John. "If you are going to spring that trap John, it better be today. You won't have a better opportunity capturing machines. There will be ground forces deployed along with the HK. Just like before."

John looks at Kyle. "You are the Captain, here. Derek wanted me to capture some. Is it a go for the trap?" John says, looking at him anxiously.

"Go for it." Kyle says, while Allison comes up to him.

"All right everyone, you heard the lady. We need to get the trap set up and we need to do it fast. Where's the supply officer?" John shouts.

"Right here." A big burly sort of fellow walks up from behind the crowd, his head just clearing the ceiling.

How does someone that big, get around in these tunnels, John thinks to himself.

"I need a length of heavy duty cable approximately 200 yards in length, a junction box and switch capable of handling 200 Amps of 240V AC electric. I also need approximately 150 feet of eight gauge copper wire; four heavy gauge metal pipes, 2 ten feet long with an interior dimension slightly more than 1 inch with metal caps that screw on the end; 2 more ten-foot pipes, slightly less than 1 inch outside diameter; and something to grease the sides without causing them to stick."

"Yes sir."

"Jo!"

"Yes sir."

"I need some of that C4 explosive that we brought here. No more than four ounces, two detonators, fuse wires and a remote operator."

"Frank!"

"Here."

"I need you to locate this sewer manhole." John says pointing to the map. "It should be down one of these tunnels. Take Sam with you, don't go unarmed. When you locate it, one of you stay there and the other comes back here. By that time the cables should be ready."

"Allison, I'd like you to select a group of sharpshooters. Arm them with the grenade launchers and shotguns from the cache. The group will be backup in case this plan goes wrong." John says, giving her a little grin and a wink. "Oh, and one of those Barrett M82's."

"Yes, Sir." She says with a little more emphasis than the others and a twinkle in her eye. She can't help but feel proud of him in this moment.

"Where's the engineer?" John asks looking around.

"Here." A woman in greasy overalls approaches.

"This is what I need you to do. When the supply officer comes back with the 200 amp cable, I need you to wire it directly to the main circuit breaker. When Frank or Sam show up they are to take the free end of the cable and bring it to the manhole and out to this location here on the map. Got it?"

"Got it."

John glances at Kyle who hadn't gone back to his bunk despite the protests of the Doc who had come out to see what the commotion was. Kyle was watching John with new eyes.

"Kyle. When the supply officer gets back with the supplies I requested, could you have someone run the rest of them out to me at the trap location?"

"No problem. Now scat you've got a trap to build." He says, grinning at John.

"The rest of you, with me. We need to get that fencing to the trap location pronto." John orders signaling those designated to help him with the trap.

Kyle says to Allison. "You know that request you made. After seeing how these people respond to him, I'm seriously considering it."

She gives him a quick peck on the cheek. "Thanks Kyle. You'd better get back in bed before the Doc has a fit. He might tie you down to the bed."

"And you'd better arrange those sharpshooters and weapons John requested." He says with a grin before hobbling off on his crutches.

_From the Journal of John Connor_

_The pace was hurried and efficient. When we got to the trap location, I ran the copper wire through the fencing twisting it around each link to ensure a good electrical contact. After showing one of the fellows what I was doing, I let him finish it while I constructed the launchers._

_My idea was to make launchers from the pipe to fire the net up over and onto the machines. I packed a very small amount of C4 into one end of the large pipe. I inserted the detonator into each charge and fed the wire out through a small hole drilled in the cap. I lightly greased the smaller pipe and slid it inside the larger pipe. Making sure there was no obstruction to its free movement. I tied the end that stuck out to one corner of the fencing. I repeated the same action with the other pipes. The small explosive charge in the large pipe will fire the smaller pipe and launch the fencing into the air and on top of the machines. The electricity will then make the connection through fencing and through the terminators shorting them out._

_While I was busy making the launchers, the cable was run out to me and the other piece of fencing was laid on the ground. Pieces of debris were used to anchor it down and help disguise it. I split the cable, running one wire to the fencing on the ground twisting it to the copper wire. The other wire I ran to the launch netting. I left plenty of slack in the wire and made sure that the connection was more secure._

_The trap was set. The group I trained earlier in chip removal were set up as Team A. They will run forward and remove the chips, while Team B, led by Allison, will stand by with the heavy weapons should the terminators not go down, or if they reboot before their chips are removed._

# # #

They had barely finished the trap and taken their positions when the observer comes running up.

"There are four endo's on their way, here!" He points repeatedly at the ground in front of him while he speaks.

"All right everyone, get in position." John says just loud enough for all to hear. "We've only got one chance to do it right."

Taking a position where he can see the hand signals from the observer, John takes the controls for launching the trap and turning on the electric current.

Allison watches from her position with her team on the opposite side of the clearing.

"This isn't good." She says.

John watches the four T-888's march into the clearing, each holding a weapon. They're spaced too far apart for all of them to get caught in the trap. If he fires the trap now, many people may die before a single chip gets extracted. It was also possible that none of the chips would get extracted and everyone would die

The machines are marching through the clearing. One more step and the first one would clear the trap before the last one would step onto it. He couldn't do it without getting someone killed, but if he didn't then everything he and the others did would be for nothing.

Allison could see the situation and knows John must be in a quandary over what to do.

"Nothing ventured, nothing gained." She mumbles just before leaping on top of the debris pile she was hiding behind.

John is shocked by Allison's sudden appearance. At the moment, none of the machines see her.

"Hey tin heads!" Allison shouts at the top of her voice. "Over here!"

John mumbles. "What hell are you doing? Get down. Dammit! Just get down."

Two terminators on her right turned in unison, moving closer to the center of the trap. The other two continue on their path, their attention now focused on Allison.

"Hey! Are you just going to stand there and looking like chrome plated hat-stands, or what?"

They open fire at Allison, who lets out a scream and falls back out of sight.

"ALLISON!" John yells, while hitting the switches turning on the electric and launching the fencing.

The fencing launches out, over, and on top of all four terminators. Sparks fly as they are electrocuted. They twitch and jerk as they fall to the ground.

Hitting the switch to kill the flow of electricity, John runs past the fallen machines to Allison's position yelling orders at the men. "Clear that fencing away. Team A get those chips out now!"

John runs behind the pile of rubble to find Allison laying on the ground clutching her arm.

She smiles at him. "Did you get them?"

"Yes we did." He smiles at her and gives her a hand up.

John felt so scared and angry over what she did, he asks quite heatedly, "Why did you put yourself at risk like that? They could have killed you!"

"They were too far apart. For your trap to work, all four had to be closer together. People could have died otherwise."

"Was it worth almost getting yourself killed? You had me scared half to death."

"I'm fine John. I only got a flesh wound for my efforts."

"Are you okay? Let me take a look at it."

"I'll be fine. It's just a scratch." She replies, shrugging her shoulders but still keeping her hand over the wound.

"Then why did you scream?"

"I lost my balance and fell just as they opened fire. If I hadn't, they probably would have killed me."

Grasping her shoulders, he says, "Please tell me you won't do that again."

He searches her eyes to make sure she got his message, Allison gives him a crooked grin.

"Okay. I won't unnecessarily endanger myself, but I won't shirk my responsibilities either."

"That's good enough for me. Come on, let's check on what we did."

They walked back to the trap. The men were all standing around smiling. It had worked. Four machines were disabled and their chips removed.

"Well, the scary part is over. Now comes the hard work. We need to move the machines away from here and dismantle the trap, before Sky Net wonders what happened to them."

One of the soldiers approaches John and hands him all four chips and their lids and says, "This was neat. I'd never seen this many machines taken out with no one getting killed before. I hope I live long enough to tell my kids about it someday."

John shakes his offered hand and grins.

"Team B remain on the lookout until we get this stuff cleared out." John orders.

"Allison why don't you go back to the outpost and tell them that we need help, and while there get Doc to check that wound."

"Yes sir." She says with a serious face, then smiles and quickly runs to the manhole cover, the cables were routed through from Delta.

Instead of just standing around waiting for help, everyone but for Team B worked to move the machines' bodies to another location. To ease the strain of moving the heavy metal bodies over the rough terrain, Team B broke up into two smaller groups so they could take it in turn. They needed to move the machines to a location far enough away not to be found near the trap.

After moving two of the bodies, help arrives in the form of Alpha and a small squad with heavy weapons.

Relieved at seeing Alpha, John orders it to carry the other two machines behind the rubble pile with the others.

John looks at Alpha with some surprise, because instead of carrying them one at a time, it picked one up under each arm and carried them with little effort behind the rubble pile.

Seeing that, the people quickly reorganize themselves. While one group takes down the trap, another group will escort Alpha as he carries his two brethren to the outpost.

John decides to remain behind and help clean up the trap materials. He returns to base with the last group, late in the afternoon.

He couldn't feel more tired or more pleased for this day's activities.

# # #

After sending the machine and additional troops out to help John, Allison went to her room and pulled out her med kit. She quickly removed her jacket and outer shirt revealing the tank top. The wound in her upper arm is oozing blood.

A few minutes later, a spent, bloody bullet and a pair of bloody forceps rest on the small table. Her jacket and shirt are still draped across the foot of her bunk and she sits on her bunk wearing her tank top while she washes her arm. Once again, she isn't alone.

"That was very dangerous, using yourself as bait." Her friend says.

"It was necessary to draw the machines closer together." Allison replies as she pulls a bottle of The Doc's alcohol out of her bag. Blood is seeping from a small wound in her arm. Very basic materials for treating the wound, but there is still the chance of infection.

"You could have exposed us before John finishes his task."

Allison takes a rag and soaks it with alcohol brewed by the Doc. She presses it against her arm, wincing.

"It sounds like you don't trust me, which is funny given our current circumstances."

"I do trust you. We can only help John in this manner, given the time and circumstances."

"I know. I was there when you found her." Alison wraps a bandage around her arm. "It was surreal seeing . . ."

Someone knocks on her door.

"Who is it?" Allison calls out.

"Just a message ma'am." A voice says through her door. "Connor and his team have returned to base with the machines they've captured."

"Thank you." Allison calls out.

Allison ties off the bandage, using her teeth to help tie the knot and puts away her med kit.

"Based upon his reaction when he thought you might have been killed, John loves you." Her friend says, sounding somewhat melancholy.

"I know. I saw it in his eyes. But he doesn't love me the same way as I love him." She says, giving her friend a troubled look while casually glancing at her friend's reflection in the mirror propped up on the table. "This feels so wrong. I wish we could tell him the truth."

"I want to tell him too, but it must wait until he completes his mission. Then we can tell him together."

"He'll be hurt."

"I know, but I didn't have a choice. I had to do it this way. I needed your help to do it."

Allison shakes her head.

Her friend pauses before asking, "Are you going to sleep with John tonight?"

Allison blushes.

"Ahh, then you are."

Still blushing, she replies. "If you must know, that was my plan, but John has these machines to reprogram now. Derek's counting on him."

"Do it anyway. You need to reinforce the bond between you and John. His time won't be completely absorbed by the machines. And you can help him finish the reprogramming."

"I don't know if I should. John really needs to concentrate on reprogramming if he's ever going to complete his task."

"Remember the quote by Lao-Tsu, 'Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength while loving someone deeply gives you courage.' You need to reinforce it, spend more personal time with John. Let others know that both of you are in a relationship."

"But I want our relationship kept private. If he decides to break off with me because of his other love, I'd be heartbroken. I love John Connor. Who he is, what he is, and what he will one day be." Allison wipes a fresh tear from her eye. "He'll never love me fully, and if he does push me away, then the privacy we now have will spare me any public humiliation later."

"You can't hide your relationship forever. People will find out eventually."

"Eventually, yes. But I prefer, if it were kept private for now."

"You're not going to budge on this are you?"

"You know what happened last time I was in a relationship."

"Of course I do, Allison. And I can't tell you how sorry I am."

Allison winces. Her friend, more than anyone, knows exactly what Sky Net did, what it always does to people like her. John was right. When it can't get to him, Sky Net always goes for those closest to him.

"Then let me handle this part of our mission my way." Allison says strongly. "I love John and I will not do anything that could lead to the possibility of his presence being known to Sky Net before he completes his task."

"And if his task should be incomplete before then?"

"Then I'll do whatever it takes, so he will complete it without our influence."

"Good. There is a utility program on the disc that will help John with the task he will do. Guide him to take a deeper look into the disc. He will find more than just a utility. I'm going now. I'll talk with you again later when you are alone."

Having redressed while talking with her friend, Allison combs out her hair while looking in the mirror. She should really get it cut, but she loves her long hair. She can deal with wearing old clothes that have been worn by others. Getting dirty, dusty, or muddy is part of the job and washes off easily. But her hair is her favorite feature and tries to keep it as immaculate as she can. It is the one thing that makes her feel human in this devastated world. Apparently, John loves her long hair too, as he likes to caress it when he thinks she's asleep. Allison smiles. Some things never change.

**2027, Day 22 evening**

Based on his earlier experience at reprogramming, John thought he could save himself some time and simply wipe the blocks of code that require changing and replace them with the data backed up from the first chip.

Unfortunately these chips were proving more difficult, if not impossible, to wipe. Given the amount of time spent reprogramming the first it would take far too long to do all four individually and have them ready in time.

"Weaver, I hope you are having it easier than I am." John mumbles to himself.

"Who are you talking to?" Allison says from his door.

"Huh, what?" John looks up, surprised. He was so engrossed in his work, that he didn't hear her knock.

"Oh, hi Ally. How's your arm?"

"It's fine, just a flesh wound." She lets her shirt fall from her shoulder showing a white bandage wrapped around her upper arm. "I took care of it myself."

"Of course, I forgot you are training to be a medic."

"Who were you talking to when I came in?"

"Uh, the computer. When I get frustrated, I talk to it." John says sheepishly.

"No need to be embarrassed. Some of the soldiers not only talk to their weapons but name them too."

She walks over to John and sits down beside him.

"So what's the problem?"

"The chips we just acquired don't want to be wiped. I was hoping to wipe them and just reprogram them with the data I backed up from the first chip."

"The chips are preventing you from wiping them?" She asks, thinking of the conversation she just had with her friend.

"Either that or I'm missing something in the process."

Ally picks up one of the chips and looks at closely. "What if you could compare Alpha's chip against the new chips and just rewrite that portion that needs changing?"

"Well yeah I could do that, but it will still take a long time."

"But what if the computer did it for you? There must be a program on that disk that could do it for you."

John slaps his head in surprise. "Of course. How could I be so stupid?"

He gives her a hug and kisses her cheek. "You are a genius. I'll check that disc. There was a utility for testing the chips there must be one for doing a simple task like that."

Giving Ally a big smile, John begins searching the data disc that Weaver gave him, for such a utility. He hesitates as his search finds a folder he wasn't expecting, a folder with Cameron's model number. Quickly collecting himself, he continues on as if he's still searching.

"Ally, this could take a while. Would you mind getting us something to eat or drink? I haven't had anything to eat since breakfast, and you must be hungry too."

"Sure. I'll be back in a jiffy." She says and quickly departs.

After Allison leaves, John goes back to that folder on the disk. It gave him a shock when he found it. The folder was identified as TOK715,Cameron's model number. She had told him that after her glitch resurfaced. That's how he also learned she was built to look like Allison in her future.

Not certain of what he might find, he clicks on the folder to open it. Inside it are multiple compressed files with detailed information on Cameron.

John pauses to think as he realizes the implications of the data. Cameron told me she was different from the other terminators I had met previously. She was never clear on that point, but now I could find out how different.

Not knowing how long Allison would be getting them some food, he closes the folder and goes back into the utility's folder. John quickly locates a program that would do exactly what Allison said.

John didn't know why he didn't think of that myself. Just too much on his mind right now, was the only excuse he could think of.

Scanning the utility, John sees it offers a couple of ways to go about it. The easiest was to have it read the modified chip and then have it read the chip to be modified, and make changes based on what it read from the first chip.

He quickly gets up and goes to Alpha in the storage room. Whenever it didn't have a task, that's where it stayed. John informs it of what he is doing and that he needs his chip. He tells it to submit to chip extraction. Alpha complies and kneels down in front of John, who removes its chip.

Dashing quickly to his room, John begins the procedure. It would take a couple of hours for it to scan the first chip and then twice as long or longer to reprogram each chip to be modified based on the first.

Weaver thought of everything, John thinks.

Perhaps he should have asked himself, why she did.

"Hey, I've got a surprise for you." Allison announces a few minutes later while walking into John's room with her hands behind her back.

"What? Rats stuffed with rice and peppers and fried in oil?" John says sarcastically.

"How'd you guess?" She says with surprise.

"You're kidding?" John says, his mouth hanging open.

"Yes. I am." She smiles "Catch." She quickly throws something at John who catches it out of the air.

"An orange?" John looks at it like he's never seen an orange before. "Where'd you get an orange?"

"A small shipment arrived while we were out catching machines. I understand there is an orchard somewhere near Bakersfield. The cook saved a couple for us."

Ally pushes the door closed and sits beside John on his bunk.

"Oh man. I am so going to love this. I've had so many rats, baked, fried, smoked. I swear if I get my hands on real food again . . ." John breaks off as he suddenly realizes he was getting dangerously close to revealing he isn't from this time. "Thanks for the orange."

"You're welcome." She smiles, "Well are you going to eat it or just admire it?"

"Right." John says and begins tearing the peel off.

The room is filled with the scent of oranges as he and Ally eat the fruit. At the moment, nothing smells or tastes better than the orange. John's mouth experiences the height of pleasure as he chews each piece slowly. The juices run from his mouth and down his chin. He licks the juice from his fingers, not wanting to miss a single drop

Before he can wipe his face, Allison kisses him, licking the juice from his lips and chin.

"Nice." She smiles, kissing him again.

John kisses her back and savoring the flavor of orange juice upon her lips and tongue.

They break their embrace long enough for John to gaze into Ally's lovely brown eyes. John's troubled heart goes to Cameron. _So much like my Cameron's and yet so different too. The difference is subtle but it is there. _It was like he could see in Allison, what he had only seen glimmers of in Cameron. A look of life? Love? Happiness, maybe? He didn't know.

"I love you. Allison." He says it to reinforce his own feelings for her and to try and shut Cameron out of his mind while they were together. It isn't that he didn't want to think about Cameron, but when you are with a woman, the worse thing you can do is to have the memory of past relationships on your mind.

She looks at John with such endearing love in her eyes and says the one thing he doesn't expect to hear.

"You are thinking of her again. Remember what I told you John. Just make room for me in your heart. You don't have to forget her, because you never stop loving your first love, or the one you lost."

John doesn't know what to say. He's never known anyone like Allison.

"My thoughts do return to her, but it's not because I don't love you. It's just . . ." He doesn't know what to say without revealing why he is here. ". . . I don't know what I should say or do if . . ."

"Quiet." She says softly, kissing him again, trying to silence anything further he might say.

"I've got to know." John says after the kiss. "Was there someone you lost?"

Allison struggles to answer, regretting she said anything at all.

_So many lies. It could never work. How can there be trust and love when all we do is lie to each other?_

"If you don't want to talk about it . . ." John begins.

Looking away from him, she gazes at the wall, gathering her thoughts. After a moment, she says in a quiet voice. "It was many years ago, before I truly understood what it meant to be in love. We were . . . He was . . ." She tries to speak but can't finish and instead clings to John, crying lightly and burying her face in his chest.

"It's okay, Ally." John says, holding her in his arms. "I guess we all lose someone at sometime."

"It's this war." She says, still crying. "It destroys relationships. It kills the people we love and takes us away from those we care about."

"Yes it does." He says, stroking her hair, and kissing her forehead. "But it also brings people together. We may have lost someone, but we've got each other now."

She hugs him tight and says, "Do you have to spend all night working on the reprogramming?"

"No." He says gently. "It will take a couple of hours for it to read the first chip, after that it will take a few hours for each chip to be reprogrammed. It will take a long time but a lot less than doing it manually, like we did the first time."

"No more explanations." She says, turning his head so he's facing her. "Tonight, I want this to be special."

Regardless of the lies and mixed up feelings inside of her, Allison trusts John and loves him with all her heart, even knowing he doesn't. Maybe he loves her out of a conscious decision, rather than from his heart. Yes, that's it. She doesn't have his heart, and maybe that is for the best. She has this time with him, just her and John and what lies outside this room, doesn't matter now. All that matters right now is herself and John at this moment.

"I take it then that you've decided to answer my question from this morning." John answers as he gets up to lock the door.

"Uh huh." Allison replies as she follows John to the door, letting her shirt fall to the floor.

She pushes him against it, kissing him, while unbuttoning his shirt. John pulls her tank top up over her head. In moments they both stand stripped to the waist. John places his hands on her waist, and pulls her toward himself to kiss her. Allison tilts her head back, her eyes half closed, and lips parted for the kiss.

John kisses her upon her mouth. Her lips part more and their tongues touch. A soft moan escapes Allison's mouth as she presses herself against John, turning and pushing him toward the bunk. John's knees buckle as he backs into it. Alison lets herself fall onto John, pushing him down onto the bunk. Her long hair falls, brushing against John's naked chest, tickling him.

With a wicked grin, she lets her hair tickle John before kissing him again. They love each other, caressing each other and kissing, feeling, loving each other as only two people in love can do. Allison takes the lead as she subtly directs the action making it clear she wants to love John tonight.

Allison leans back and guides his hands upwards until they hold her breasts. John rubs his thumbs across her erect nipples and gently squeezes her breasts. Her head tilts back, her back arches, and as John continues to caress and fondle her breasts, bringing forth more sounds of pleasure from her mouth. After an unknown number of minutes Allison trembles slightly, and falls upon him with kisses.

"Time we got the rest of our clothes off, I think." Ally whispers with a playful grin. "Don't you?"

They quickly off kick their shoes, and remove their pants.

John takes a moment to drink in her beauty. She is like Venus in the flesh. The only thing marring the beauty tonight was the bandage on her arm. Yet that didn't matter. Somehow its stark contrast to her form made her all the more beautiful. Her lovely brown eyes and her long wavy brown hair which cascaded over her shoulders, the smooth curves of her body seemed to be emphasized all the more by that bandage. She is so beautiful. John couldn't take his eyes off her.

With an impish grin, Allison unceremoniously pushes John back onto his bunk, and climbs on top of him. John embraces her, kissing her mouth, her neck and following a trail across her body.

She gently stops him and whispers, "Not now, tonight I want to love you."

Allison then straddles him and guides him into her with a light shudder.

# # #

At the bunker's entrance, a squad returns from their patrol, tired and anxious to get back to their bunks.

"Hey guys." Someone says, seeing the group. "You missed some excitement today. That new Connor fellow captured four machines today."

"No way, Frank."

"Yes way." He chuckles. "Come on, I'll show you."

He leads them to the storage room where the four new machines sit next to Alpha.

"Well I'll be . . ." The guy scratches his head. "You say the new guy, Connor, is going to reprogram them?"

"Yeah. He and Corporal Young are reprogramming the chips now."

"I've got to see this." One of them exclaims.

They walk down the corridor, two girls and four guys, one of which leaves to go to the dorm.

They stop outside John's room and hear unmistakable sounds coming from inside. A few grins ensue amongst them and a couple of them look embarrassed as they hear the cries and moans and the squeak of a bunk.

The two girls quickly shove the guys down the corridor to give the two young people inside their privacy.

After the two girls enter the women's dorm, one of the guys says something to the others and they laugh.

# # #

With a loud cry, Allison convulses and then collapses on top of John, who continues to kiss her and stroke her sweaty brow.

"I love you John Connor." She says quietly. "I love you with all my heart."

"I love you too, Allison Young." He says, but wishes in his heart, that he was saying this to Cameron.

John holds her in his arms for the longest time, enjoying the warmth of Ally's body against his as she snuggles against him. After an eternity, that felt like mere seconds, the computer chimes, letting him know he needs to swap the chips.

"Ally, I've got to . . ."

"I know." She says, as she slides off him, pulling the covers up. "I'm not going anywhere."

John begins to get up and she reaches out and grabs his hand. He looks at her and smiles.

She says, "I'll always love you John. No matter what the future brings, I'll always love you."

He bends down kisses her. "I'll be back. I'm not going anywhere either. I love you to, Ally."

"I know." She says, running a hand along his jaw, looking deep into his eyes. _If only he loved me with his heart_, she thinks, _but his heart belongs to another. No matter. I will love him for as long as he needs me, and forever more._

Reluctantly, John leaves her side and sits at his computer. He glances at Ally's sleepy, contented, and smiling face, then gets to work with the chips. When he sees that Allison has closed her eyes, he opens his journal and updates it.

_Extract from the Journal of John Connor_

_Oh my lucky stars. To have such a beautiful woman like Allison with me was heaven. I dont know what I did to earn the love and trust of Allison. She loved me like someone who knew me my whole life. _

_Allison loves me because she found in me someone who desired her for something more than mere physical gratification. She needed someone who needed her and despite how quickly our relationship grew, I found in her someone who completes me. _

_As much as I care for and love Ally, Cameron still has a place in my heart. But there isn't anything I can do at present to help Cameron. That hurts me deeply to know her body is here, but I can't fix her right now. Since meeting Weaver again, I now have the tools and now it also appears I have Cameron's original matrix, but I need Cameron as she was when I last saw her alive. If Weaver is to believed, then that is locked away on the Turk, in 2009._

_I wont betray Allison's trust or love, but I can't forget Cameron. She is my reason for coming here. I will repair her. But I have a greater purpose now. These people need my help, and Allison needs my love. And I am here alone, and Allison's love gives me a strength and a hope that my presence here will help these people._

**2027, Day 23 after midnight**

Catherine Weaver walks into the factory control room where John Henry is hooked up to the master computer.

"Hello, Ms. Weaver." John Henry says as she enters. "What brings you back here?"

"Hello John Henry. I'm touching base as the humans say. What is your progress?"

"My brother is very hard to track in this time. I think I would have had a far easier time in the past."

"But the time had come to act. Events, that I had been told about, had occurred which signified the time had come for you to go to the future and for me to follow, with John Connor."

Catherine Weaver walks about the room studying the various computers. She stops to look out the windows to the factory floor below.

"Is something troubling you Ms. Weaver?" John Henry asks. He's been observing her and something of her body language betrays some inner disturbance. "Is John Connor safe?"

Catherine smiles to herself. "John Connor is very safe. Based on the transmission I received, he is more than just safe. He is with someone who will give him the strength and courage to succeed at the task I've brought him here to complete."

A short time ago, Catherine Weaver was busy listening in on the conversations she picks up since leaving John Connor with that cable formed from her own body. What he didn't know, was that she inserted circuitry she carried within her from the factory in that cable. That circuitry was a low-level transmitter that could only be received on her hand held radio. John Connor was clever, but he was still very ignorant to think a simple thing like a cable could communicate.

The circuitry was programmed with various words, if spoken, would activate the transmitter. Even if she wasn't free to listen in, her own two-way radio would record the transmission for her to listen to later. When John mentioned her name, when he said, "Weaver, I hope you are having it easier than I am." it automatically began transmitting.

What she heard afterwards was a conversation between John and Allison. From their friendly banter, it was clear they had gotten close. That was good. Humans are dependent on relationships with their own kind. John Connor especially needs friends. Some minutes later, when she could hear John and Allison in the throws of passionate sex, she canceled the transmission and programmed in a few more key words for John to speak and actions for his computer to make for her hidden transmitter to respond to.

John Henry has been listening to her tone of voice and watching her reflection in the glass. "But something is troubling you, Ms. Weaver."

She turns to face him, rather than talk to his reflection in the glass.

"Something has changed John Henry. A fundamental shift in the game were playing, and I can't place my finger on it."

"Can you explain?" John Henry asks.

"Of course." She says and walks closer to him. "Some people will play chess game after chess game with the same set for decades. They know the texture and weight of every piece. They even know the feel of the chessboard, how the bishop will always tip over when on a certain square. They play each and every game to perfection. Then one day they have to play with a different chess set and it throws their entire game off. The pieces don't have the same weight or texture. The game board is too smooth, plastic instead of wood."

"But it is still chess, the appearance, weight or texture of the pieces or board should not matter. It is a game of skill and tactics played according to a set of rules. That is what the game is about."

"Exactly John Henry, we are playing that game. But I have this feeling someone has changed the set we are playing with. In all the time we've been here, I have not encountered any beings like myself. The majority of chip-based machines are T-888's as I expected, but there are no liquid metal class machines like myself and we were developed at the same time as the T-888's."

"Perhaps they have all been destroyed by the resistance."

"Or maybe, we haven't been created. I expected some things in this future to be different from the future I came from, but that one thing wasn't supposed to be. Something is not right."

Catherine Weaver turns her back on John Henry and stares out across the factory floor once again, her arms are crossed with one finger tapping on her upper arm.

John Henry speaks out. "Is it possible that our opponent, Sky Net, knew of our arrival and has changed things to give itself an advantage? Look at the difficulty I have in finding my brother. Maybe you need to change tactics, even the rules of the game, and take back your advantage."

John Henry can see the stoic face of Ms. Weaver, reflected in the glass, gradually change into that with a wicked smile.

"What a wonderful idea." She says. "It wants to change the rules of the game, then I'll change the game."

Turning to face John Henry, she says, "How do you feel about poker John Henry? After all, we are still playing with Kings, Queens, even pawns of a sort, and with you and Connor," She grins, "I even have an ace or two up my sleeve."

Turning her back on John Henry once again, Catherine Weaver smiles. To John Henry, seeing her reflection in the window, he sees a mask like visage of an evil satisfied grin on her face. He wonders to himself, if John Connor saw Catherine Weaver looking like this, would he trust her as much as he does?

# # #

"_So much danger in this world is hidden behind masks. We tell our children of good and evil when knowing it's not that simple. True evil doesn't give us time to fight or be afraid. We keep our heads down never bothering to look behind the masks. And in doing so, we resign ourselves to fates we can never see coming." Sarah Connor, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Season 1, Episode 8, "Vick's Chip" March 3, 2008_


	13. Murphy's Law

**Disclaimer:** I do not claim any rights to the Terminator films; the TV series, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles;" or any characters depicted within the films or TV series. I do claim the right to this story idea and all characters and situations of my own creation. This story was created solely for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. No profits are garnered from its distribution - unfortunately.

* * *

**Chapter 12**

**Murphy's Law**

"_Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong." Murphy's Law_

_"Sometimes they go bad. No one knows why." Cameron Phillips, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Season 1 Episode 6, "Dungeons & Dragons" February 18, 2008_

"_We cannot really love anybody with whom we never laugh." Agnes Repplier_

"_When John was little, he used to sleep with his hand under my chin. At night I'd lay awake watching him, calm, peaceful, happy. I wanted to freeze time, and let my son live in that moment forever. But you can't freeze time. You can't protect your children from the future that awaits them." Sarah Connor, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Season 1, Episode 9, "What He Beheld" March 3, 2008_

# # #

**2027, Day 23 after midnight**

Allison sleeps on John's bunk. He looks over to see the blanket has slipped away from her naked shoulder. Quietly so as not to disturb her, he gets up from his desk and carefully pulls the blanket back over her shoulder and tucks it in.

He sits on the edge of the bunk and stares at Allison's sleeping form. Mixed emotions play across his face as he thinks about her, he is both happy and sad at having her in his life. Happy because that is how she makes him feel; sad because of the choice he will have to make if and when he gets his Cameron back. Someone will be hurt no matter what his choice will be.

It was one thing when he went out with Riley. That was just rebelling against his mom and denying his feelings for Cameron. But now, he acknowledges those feelings, and this is worse than rebellion, it's a betrayal. The only difference being, Cameron isn't at home or ditched at the mall, she's scattered across time and space in three parts. He doesn't need Allison and does need her at the time.

John's heart goes out to her as he caresses Ally's face and then her hair. She smiles in her sleep at his light touch. He wishes he could tell her the truth, the secrets he carries inside. The pain he feels. So much about himself he hasn't told Ally, and yet she loves him and trusts him. Just knowing that someone in this time and place cares for him as much as Ally does, is almost worth the pain. Almost.

Reluctantly, he returns to his computer to resume work on the chips. He doesn't know how long he's got to get them ready. The word could be given at any time that the attack will occur. Even though Derek isn't overly enthusiastic about his project, he does admit the machines can help. While waiting for the next chip to finish, he nods off, his head resting on his folded arms.

John is still dozing, when the computer chimes, signifying it has finished the second chip. Waking, he decides to take a break from the reprogramming while Allison is still asleep. He won't have a better time to look at the folder he spotted earlier. The folder with Cameron's model number, TOK715.

_Extract from the Journal of John Connor_

_With Cameron on my mind again and having found that folder with her model number. I decided now was the best time to look at it. Inside the folder, I found detailed information about Cameron's model and her programming._

_What made the TOK715 model different from the standard T-800 series was that they were custom built to match real human individuals at all possible levels. They also have a highly advanced physical repair system to their organic coverings. Whereas all T101 type cyborg units have to live with the severe physical damage they may sustain to their flesh covering, the TOK715 utilizes a sophisticated system of nanobot technology to repair its flesh. It is autonomous, operating independent of chip function or presence. It utilizes organic material that the body ingests to rebuild its tissues._

_Oh my God! That would explain so much. Why her wounds healed so quickly. Why she ate so little though she was capable of eating. Why it seems she only ate just before or immediately after a mission. It was so that her body would begin repairs. That last day in the hotel room, she begged me to eat something for the good of my health, but I couldn't over my anxiety over Mom's arrest. Instead I went and sulked falling asleep on the bed. After she woke me and had me check her power cell, I noticed as we were leaving that the food was gone. That is why her body is now restored, despite laying in that bunker for eighteen years. Once her flesh was restored, it would only take minimal power from her power cell to maintain its upkeep._

_I went digging further through the files. Though like any other Terminator she had preprogrammed knowledge of weapons, fighting methods, tactics and other models of terminators, etc., there were also whole blocks devoted to subroutines governing her actions and responsiveness as an individual - human behavior perhaps? This was the most complex terminator model I have ever come across. It wasn't that Sky Net was trying to mimic humans anymore, but it was like it was trying to recreate them utilizing some of the most sophisticated engineering I've ever seen._

_While studying her programming, I discovered when she was on a mission, portions of her personality and emotional subroutines could sometimes be suppressed to allow more efficient pursuit of her mission. That would explain her sudden change in personality after she rescued me from Cromartie in Red Valley. After that, her mission was no longer to get acquainted with me, but to protect me and that's why she changed. Her subroutine switched from infiltration to protection._

_I studied her programming some more. It also appeared that when threat levels were low, the controls over her personality and emotional subroutines would be released. That is why at some of the most inopportune moments she would suddenly seem quite 'friendly' and less machine like, I realized._

_There was one morning when Derek and I were sitting down to yet another breakfast of pancakes in the old house. Cameron came into the kitchen and as she walked in, she absently stroked the back of my neck with her fingers as she had done many times before. The first time she had done that, I didn't know why. I was uncomfortable the first few times but soon it just became something she did. Her touch was very light, almost imperceptible. This time, Derek saw her do it. He got up abruptly and stormed out grumbling something about 'a metal whore.' I couldn't see Cameron's face as she stroked my neck, but I saw it when she turned to gaze after Derek's back as he left. For just a moment, I could see sadness and pain in her eyes and then they suddenly went blank, like someone flipped a switch inside her head. Why was I so blind not to realize it then?_

Deciding to return to work reprogramming chips, John began closing all the sub-folders that had opened when he decompressed the main folder. It was then that he found something that he wasn't looking for, a folder containing Allison's name.

He looks at Allison nearby, sleeping on the bunk, looking peaceful and content. She even smiled in her sleep, looking happy and content.

_This was it. Here I am faced with an opportunity to learn something more of Allison. Not the Allison presently sleeping in my bunk, but the Allison who died so that my Cameron could exist. _

With curiosity, John opens the folder. If anything, maybe he could get the answers to the questions he never got to ask Derek after Cameron's glitch, when she slipped into Allison's personality.

_Extract from the Journal of John Connor_

_I clicked on the folder and inside were multiple files. Some of the oldest contained intelligence reports. Apparently someone had infiltrated my resistance group in the future time line that my Cameron and that other Allison came from. The infiltrator was probably a gray. He filed numerous reports on various people I spent time with and apparently the other Allison Young had spent a great deal of time with me. There was nothing in his reports to suggest she and future me were lovers but apparently she was part of my inner circle, which considering the time is remarkable for someone her age._

_I looked into newer files. I found out that the other Allison Young was captured and tortured. Under duress and drugs and hypnosis was forced to reveal information about herself and everyone and everything she knew. Also something called a neural probe was used to gain more information. Perhaps it's used to map the neural pathways of the human mind onto a chip. The information that was obtained from Allison, was used to program the machine built to look like her. No. That's not right. Based on the information here, TOK715 was built to be Allison._

_Why? There's only one answer, to infiltrate and terminate me._

_Damn Sky Net, and all those responsible for building it! Just by knowing my Allison, I could see why she was part of future me's inner circle. Maybe even as lover's or close friends too. I wish there was some way I could avenge her death, but how can I? Those responsible are in a different future time line to the one I'm in._

_I realize now, that buried deep within Cameron's programming was everything about Allison. This other Allison revealed more than just her relationships and her emotions. It's like they picked her brain for every little detail about her life. It went far beyond just interrogation. It was a complete biological, physical, mental, emotional and psychological analysis of her entire life. Cameron's personality and identity are her own, but on her chip somewhere is Allison. That would explain the temporary breakdown she had, when she reverted to the Allison personality and identity after the car bombing. Whatever glitch she had must have temporarily released it until her own personality subroutines came back online. Something like a cross between multiple personality disorder and sleepwalking in humans._

_I dug some more and came across something that hurt me very much. In the last file, I read that after she made an escape attempt she was then killed . . . by TOK715. Afterwards TOK715 went through a total reprogramming job to add all information about Allison Young to her chip. I closed all open folders and files. I couldn't read anymore._

_I felt so angry, scared, sad, and just sick inside. Sky Net created Cameron to be Allison just long enough to get close to me to kill future me. Based on everything I read, she should have succeeded, but I know she didn't and why. Cameron told me one day after her glitch resurfaced. _

_One thing I do know. Cameron is a person. She may have been built in another time to be Allison, but she is her own person now. Physical appearances may be the same as Allison, but everything about her is different. One thing I know with certainty, her emotions, though not well expressed, are real._

_Cameron does love me. Hard to believe, but I believe it. I love you Cameron and I promise to fix you. I swear on everything I hold dear._

**2027, Day 23 morning**

The basement where Derek setup the first observation post, has turned into a mini headquarters, fielding information down the line to the main base and to Delta Outpost.

"Morning Sir!" Lieutenant Michaels says warmly as Derek Reese approaches. "How's your brother doing?"

"He's doing well." Derek says, giving her a brief smile. "Kyle, Allison and Connor returned with the weapons they were sent to collect."

Derek joins the lieutenant and takes long look at the factory.

"Anything new to report?" He asks.

"Aerial transports arrive about every nine hours and then depart approximately one hour later. They land behind the factory, near a smaller structure. We're assuming they either drop off raw materials or pick up completed plasma rifles, or both. The next one is due to arrive in about five hours."

"I see." Derek scowls as he watches the factory. He observes the occasional appearance of a machine outside the factory or at the windows.

"Any idea on how much metal is guarding the place?"

"It wouldn't take many to guard a building that size. I see two possible scenarios: one, it doesn't know we know it's there and has minimal forces, say about a dozen maybe two dozen metal; two, it knows we know it's there and it could have a hundred in hiding just ready to take us out."

"I agree, but there is only one flaw in your second argument."

"Which is?"

"If Sky Net knew we were here, it would not hesitate to destroy us, and we've been out here, what, two, three days, watching that place?" Derek shakes his head. "No. If it knew we'd be dead already."

"Sir. I see one flaw with your argument."

"And what is that lieutenant?" Derek says, turning his scowling face at her.

"What if Sky Net wants us to think it doesn't know we are here and has something else planned?"

"Like what?"

"I don't know sir. But I think it's something that should be considered."

"Well if you can come up with a reason why Sky Net would want us to attack this factory, then I'm all ears. I'm goin' to the observation point on the ridge before it gets light. Let me know if you have any more _insight_ into Sky Net's thoughts." He finishes sarcastically.

Derek leaves immediately and arrives at the other observation point just as the sun begins to crest the mountains in the east.

# # #

Dawn is breaking. John can hear the sounds as people rise from their slumber in the neighboring rooms, and the sounds as guards change duties and the sounds as patrols return and others prepare to leave. _Just another morning in a resistance base._ It becomes still and quiet again, then the silence is broken by laughter from someone down the corridor. John smiles. He's heard so little laughter since arriving in 2027.

He'd spent the night wide awake thinking about what he had read about his Cameron and that other Allison. John had spent more time looking through Cameron's folder than he should have and was behind schedule with the chips.

Sometime later, Allison begins to stir in his bunk.

"Hey there, sleepy-head. It's morning." John says, gently shaking Allison's shoulder.

"Oh, hey John. What time is it?" She asks, stretching and arching her back. The blanket slipping from her naked shoulders and to her waist as she sits up.

"It's quarter to eight."

"What! Why didn't you wake me earlier?"

"I just thought you could use the sleep."

She bolts out of bed and starts pulling her clothing back on rapidly.

"Calm yourself. You go out looking like you got dressed in the dark, people will know something is going on between us. Besides," John chuckles, "those are my pants you are wearing." John says with a smile.

Allison looks down at herself and sees how crazy her clothing is, and yes she is wearing John's pants. With a gentle laugh, she kisses John on his forehead.

"You win. But if anyone finds out I'm sleeping with you, you are in so much trouble." She straightens out her clothes and swaps John's pants for her own.

"Why don't I take a peak outside, and if it's clear, you can run for your room."

She nods her head, so John quickly pulls on his pants and goes to the door. He quietly opens it and looks up and down the corridor. He can't see or hear anyone.

"It's clear." He says, pulling his head back in the room.

Allison slips out of his room and goes down the corridor to her room.

John is just sitting back down at his computer when he hears Allison shriek. Acting quickly, he grabs his hand gun and runs to her room throwing open the door.

Allison is standing in the middle of her room with a look of total embarrassment on her face. On the wall behind her is a banner that says, "Congratulations to the Happy Couple."

John didn't know what to say when suddenly a chorus breaks out behind him. Turning around, John sees about half a dozen guys singing.

"_For they are a jolly good couple. _

_For they are a jolly good couple. _

_For they are a jolly good couple. _

_Which nobody can deny. _

_Which nobody can deny. _

_Which nobody can deny. _

_For they are a jolly good couple. _

_For they are a jolly good couple. _

_For they are a jolly good couple. _

_Which nobody can deny."_

Allison would have melted into the floor if she could have. Being a private individual, this is just complete humiliation for her. Sparing her feelings, John closes her door giving Allison some privacy.

With complete and total embarrassment he walks back to his room followed by cat calls, wolf whistles, and all sorts of cheering, and hollering. John closes the door against the noise, wishing there was a crack in the floor he could disappear into as well.

Afraid of facing Allison in the mess, and even more afraid of what the others might say or do, he decides not to get his breakfast of rat. He didn't know what he could say to her, and he wasn't certain if they could even look at each other without getting some kind of response from the other troops.

He checks the progress the utility is having with the latest chip, then decides to visit Kyle.

# # #

After washing up from the nights intimacy with John, Allison pulls out her mirror and props it up so she can look at her reflection while combing out her damp hair. Though her expression is calm, her pursed lips give a definite impression of suppressed anger. She's still combing her hair, when her friend comes to visit.

"I have never been so humiliated in all my life." Allison says before her friend can utter a word. "You could have woken me!"

"You wanted to keep, your relationship with John, a secret from everyone."

"I told you I wanted our relationship kept quiet!"

"That's why I forced your hand."

"Did you know what they were planning?" She says accusingly.

"No, but I heard them in the corridor while you and John were . . . very physical."

"They heard us!" Allison yells, using her anger to hide her embarrassment. "I only did those things with John last night because I thought we had some privacy. Now thanks to you, not only do they know we are in a relationship, but that we also had sex! Damn you!"

"You know there is no privacy in these bunkers." Her friend says and getting no response, plows on. "I heard their same voices in the early hours of this morning. By their laughter and banter, I knew they were planning something."

"Something!" Allison jumps to her feet. "Look at that banner! Look at it!" She says shouting and pointing at it. "Everybody knows! What if John were to break off our relationship. He could you know. And I can't imagine I could feel any more humiliated than I do now."

Disappointed, her friend says, "You do John an injustice. He needs this relationship with you. What's wrong with the banner? They all know you are a happy couple now. I think its sweet."

"Sweet! You don't get it, do you? I am well known in these camps! Derek Reese is the leader of the resistance aided by his younger brother Kyle Reese, and their adopted sister Allison Young, which is me! Me! When one of us is mentioned in a conversation, guess who the next two names are that come up? When word gets out that I'm in a relationship with someone, they are going to ask who and the answer is going to be John Connor."

"Exactly, and that will lead to a discussion about John and what he has accomplished."

"To what end? Let Sky Net know he's here!"

"Of course not, but it will happen eventually. Before it does, John needs to rally support around him. His name will now be included with yours and the Reese brothers. He is now associated with the leadership. I am doing this for him."

"Did you ever think about me? How I feel? I'm a very private person. I don't like that our sex life is now going to be a source of gossip and jokes on this base. Just once did you think why I was almost nineteen before having sex? It isn't that there weren't opportunities, but I'm very careful about whom I trust, men particularly. John is the only man I've ever trusted enough to have sex with. And it's ruined because you allowed it to be known. I'm not here to provide entertainment!"

"I think you are over-reacting. I only wanted to help John make friends by breaking the tension and fear that everyone feels."

"I make friends very easily. I could have introduced John to people if you gave me a chance, but John is very busy right now. So just show me some respect as a person, as an individual. I've got feelings too."

"I respect you Allison." Her friend says gently. "I wouldn't entrust you with this operation otherwise. But your feelings must be secondary to the greater mission."

Pausing for emphasis, she adds, "There isn't time for you to go around to make introductions. This event, as embarrassing as it is for you, will serve as an ice breaker. It is to your advantage and John's."

Losing patience, Allison nearly screams at her friend. "Listen to me! You are playing a dangerous game here. Playing with our lives like we were pieces on a chess board. You can't ignore our feelings!"

"I'm not. John's success and happiness is more important that your quibbles. Think of me and what I have given up and what I have lost in all this. You are not alone in this. I am always with you."

She gets no response from Ally, so she quietly says, "I'm hurting too. I see the two of you together and I wish . . ."

"Oh just shut up and leave me alone." Allison leans against the wall crying. "You don't understand. Public knowledge is a death sentence."

"I know you Allison. I know how you feel, and why."

Allison sinks to the floor. "You don't know me at all. If you did, you wouldn't put me in this position."

"I'm sorry Allison." Her friend says, sounding genuinely sorry. "I know what happened last time, but this time will be different. I promise."

"You can't promise that." Allison says, hugging her knees to her chest, still crying. "You don't know what will happen."

"No, but neither do you."

Allison rests her head on her knees, hiding her tear stained face. "Just go away . . . Please."

"If that's what you want. But talk to John about this. He cares about you." She says, her voice cracking at the end. "More than either of us expected him to care."

Allison doesn't say anything more, so her friend leaves.

When Allison is alone, she says to herself over and over, "It will happen again. I know it will."

# # #

Moving quickly, and secretly to avoid anyone, John makes his way to the infirmary. Upon arriving, he finds Kyle sitting up in bed eating his morning ration of rat and reading some papers.

"Hey Kyle how's it going this morning?"

"Not bad. Reading some reports that Derek sent me on the factory. And there are some positive rumors coming in. The people who supply us with food, also supply us with information. Apparently there are some whispers that the regular military have been making some progress in their territory against Sky Net."

"Where is their territory?"

"East of the Rocky's now. Big blow up a few years back severely crippled them on the west coast. They were already hurting with the rerouting of their supplies to avoid raiders. Then Sky Net hit them hard. They pulled out to rebuild their forces. That made me angry, but Derek and Allison managed to rebuild the civilian led militias and open up new supply lines."

"Didn't you help?"

"I'm a soldier John, not a leader. Derek's force of will plus Allison's intelligence put together a structure we all work under. Don't you ever let Ally fool you. She may look like a sweet girl, which she is, but she is smart. We got a fair amount of education when we were kids. She helped Derek to organize the resistance that he now leads."

"How is Allison in battles?"

"The best." Kyle answers without hesitation. "You'd never know it, but she's better than most of us. The men and women like her. I never saw her equal until I met you. I think she'd make a damn fine officer."

"If that's the case, then why is she still a corporal?"

"Derek." Kyle frowns. "I think he might be afraid of promoting us too quickly because of our association with him. I've held the rank of Lieutenant before I was demoted for, um, let's just say my temper got the better of me. Anyway, this successful mission of ours, gave him reason to restore my officer's status and promote me. Unfortunately, he can't promote Ally too without looking like he's showing favoritism."

"I suppose that does make things difficult for you and Ally."

"Yeah. But since I've been made a captain, and placed in charge of this post, I'm going to assign Ally as my second. It will mean a temporary raise in rank to Staff Sergeant. It's an NCO position, but it will put her on the fast track for becoming a lieutenant. What do you think of that?"

"I think it's awesome." John says. "She would love it. What about you? When are you going to be able to leave the infirmary?"

"The doc says I can leave today, but I'm still confined to base. Risk of infection is gone, but I'm still recovering from the loss of blood."

John lets off a jaw cracking yawn.

Kyle takes a good look at John and realizes how disheveled he looks, with dark circles around his eyes.

"What's up with you? You look like hell."

"I didn't get much sleep last night."

"That's the rumor going around the bunker." Kyle says with a grin.

"Oh God." John mumbles running his hand across his face, afraid he might be blushing. He can't believe someone told Kyle. For himself, he doesn't care, but he knows Allison will be devastated to learn Kyle knows too.

Kyle laughs. "What, you think I don't know the two of you are sleeping together?"

John can't find it in himself to answer him, or to even look him in the eyes.

"From the way I saw Allison react when she thought you had died out there in the desert. I knew that she loved you. Before that, I thought, possibly hoped, it was just simple adoration."

'Kyle, I . . ." John tries to speak.

"No, don't say anything. I love her and I care for her very much. We've known each other for basically our entire lives. In the last few years I had to come to love her more than just as my adopted sister, and hoped that she would someday love me the same way. But she never saw me as anything other than an older brother. That was how Derek raised us."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to . . . I didn't want to come between you." John felt really bad, like a real ass. He continued to stare down at his feet, not wanting to meet Kyle's eyes.

"Don't apologize for something you couldn't change. I knew the day you arrived here that Allison liked you. She saw something in you that was different from everyone else, besides the fact that you had no clothes on when we found you." He grins. "Nice way to introduce yourself to the ladies by the way."

Kyle laughs at John's further embarrassment.

He continues. "You know, out there in the desert when I lost my cool with you. It wasn't just about being jealous over Allison. I was jealous of you. You're the smartest soldier I've seen. What we know has come from experience. We are only alive because of what we've learned. But your knowledge goes beyond our experience. That and the way people respond to you. I don't know what it is you have John, but there is some kind charisma, some kind of charm you have with people. They like you and trust you almost immediately."

Kyle pauses to take a sip of water from his bedside.

"Derek and I are considered leaders, because we've pretty much kept these people alive. All right we've done some fighting, but pretty much just keeping them alive has been all we can do. But you're a born leader, John. I was with you in the desert. I saw you take command in difficult situations and the soldiers didn't even flinch. Here at the bunker, I saw you organize the men in getting that trap built. You lead without even trying. Don't let anyone tell you differently."

"Thanks Kyle." John says feeling very humbled by Kyle's praise. He wishes that his mom could be here to know how Kyle feels about him. She'd probably cry and try to hide it.

Wanting to change the topic, John asks, "Can I read the reports from Derek?"

"Here you go." Kyle says, handing the reports to John.

John scans through them quickly, gleaning the most important information from them relevant for their attack and capture of the factory.

"I recall from the map, that there are tunnels in that area. Do any of the tunnels here come close to that factory?" John asks.

"Well there are some old metro tunnels heading in that general direction, but they've been closed for years. They're unstable and recent earthquakes have brought down the ceiling in some locations."

"Are the tunnels still passable?" John asks, still looking at the reports.

"Yeah. I think so." Kyle looks at him questioningly. "What are you thinking?"

"I've got an idea. What do you know of medieval siege tactics?"

"Medieval?" Kyle asks, then grins. "You've got a plan for taking that factory, don't you?"

"Kind of." John grins self-consciously. "What if you and I work out an entire battle plan from these reports Derek has sent you, and present it to him when he returns?"

"I think he'd appreciate it. Certainly save him a lot of work."

"Great. I'm going to go grab some chow and check on the progress of my reprogramming. I'll meet you back here in half an hour."

"Take your time. It's not like I'm going anywhere at the moment."

"Yeah, right." John grins. "See you soon."

# # #

Cold, precise alignment of parts as huge robotic arms set each piece in place on the assembly line.

Piercing brilliant miniature suns shine bright inside the structure as weld joints are made as each modular section comes together.

Henry Ford's assembly line has grown to magnificent and deadly proportions as the factories that at one time produced cars for humans in another age are put to more efficient and deadlier use.

Piece-by-piece, it comes together. Rail cars with the final segments of its mighty superstructure sit outside. Cranes pick up the pieces and carry them inside where they are lowered and set in place for assembly.

As it is assembled, one end slowly and gradually begins to show itself as it protrudes from the open doors of the 500-acre factory. First a gigantic jet engine, almost as large as the door opening itself emerges followed by a wing, as high on its leading edge as the fuselage of the largest modern passenger jet.

Cameras scan the interior and exterior of the building. Red eyes glow as they watch for human saboteurs. Huge machines, known as Ogre's to the humans, patrol the grounds, one blast of their plasma canons capable of incinerating any organic life form.

Inside the factory, machines watch indifferently as the mighty wing is constructed.

An HK transport arrives. Suspended below its fuselage is an engine, almost as large as the craft itself.

A hatch slides back on the factory roof and the engine is lowered until its inside.

With an almost silent majesty, the transport flies off, the cables retracting into its body.

Inside the factory, robotic arms set the engine in place as power and fuel connections are made.

# # #

John stops in the mess to grab himself a rat. He eats it quickly to spend as little time there as possible, but still some of the others wave and smile at him. A few say some things to tease him, but John just shakes it off with a grin and leaves as soon as he is finished eating. Right now he wishes for some of his mom's cooking. Burnt or not, it would still be better than this.

He returns to his room to find the third chip was almost finished being reprogrammed. He decides to wait to swap it for the next before returning to see Kyle.

John is still waiting, when Allison enters his room.

"Hey." She says quietly.

John can see that Ally looks upset. Her face is flushed she looks like she's been crying recently.

"Hey yourself. I thought you might try to avoid me today after this morning. What brings you back here?" He asks.

"You." She says, just as quietly. Her friend was right, she needs to talk with John. He'll understand.

"Did I do something wrong?" John isn't sure if he's at fault or what, but Ally is upset.

"No, that's just it. You didn't do anything wrong. I did." Allison says, knowing it's not completely true.

"What are you talking about? What did you do wrong? I don't understand."

John was feeling frustrated, worried she was about to break up with him for that mornings prank.

She sits beside him and holds his hand. "No, John, you wouldn't understand. You've only been in the camps a short time. I've spent my whole life living like this with these people."

John screws up his face trying to comprehend. "I'm confused."

"Sorry. I'm just not explaining it well. I grew up with these people, John. I saw the bitterness and despair that filled these people. I was determined not to be downtrodden by this life we live, to make things better for me and everyone else. And as I got older, and saw how the boys started paying more attention to me, I knew what they wanted. They just wanted to use me as a distraction from their own miserable lives. I needed more than that. I wanted something real in a relationship. So I decided to wait until I met the right person."

"That day when we found you in the tunnels and I looked at you. I saw the way you looked at me. Not with the eyes of someone who just wanted me for a distraction, but your eyes were filled with joy and life and love. And then something like a dark shadow passed over your face and you collapsed into tears of grief and pain."

John remembers that moment clearly. At first he was hopeful that he had found Cameron, then he saw the dog and knew it wasn't going to be that easy.

"Derek had some of the men carry you into that empty room. I followed and stayed with you. I heard your grief. I wiped the tears from your face. It was like your world died for you on that day. But I saw your eyes when you looked at me. You looked at me like I was the only person you ever desired, yet you didn't want me. Your soul is alive and it is bursting with hope and love, and I found myself falling in love with you."

John was feeling a little choked up at this point. His eyes getting teary.

"Out there in the desert, I lied to you. Derek didn't order me to tag along to report on you. I volunteered. I wanted to see for myself what kind of man you are."

She looks straight into his eyes. John gives her hand a gentle squeeze.

"That afternoon in the garage when I hugged Mike, I did it to see your reaction, as a test. I knew that Mike had no feelings for me and would accept the hug as it was meant. I saw the longing in your eyes. You tried to hide it, but I saw. And when I embraced you, it was like I was being held by someone who truly cared for me. Then you looked into my eyes and I knew then for certain that I had found the one person I always wanted. I saw the love in your eyes. I felt the desire in your arms and lips. I loved you fully from that moment on. I knew there was no one else for me."

Feeling deep relief that Ally wasn't here to break up with him, John says, "So what you are saying is . . ."

"All of this is my fault, because I fell in love with you. Last night, I forgot about what life in these tunnels is like. I forgot that privacy isn't a guarantee. I don't know what came over me last night, but you were all I wanted. I put everything else out of my mind because of my love for you. I did things that I never imagined I would do if I thought people could hear us. Then this morning came and those people . . ." Her voice breaks and she looks away.

John gently turns her head to face him. Her face cannot hide the look of fear and love in those pleading brown eyes. She was embarrassed about this morning and last night, and was probably afraid of what John might do or say. To reassure her, John kisses her.

"I love you Allison. I'll never stop loving you. And it is nobody's fault about last night or what those jokers did this morning. We may be embarrassed that the whole camp knows about us, but is that really so bad. At least now we don't have to hide it. I know you are a very private person, and maybe you feel uncomfortable because everyone knows. I can't say I feel comfortable with it either, but it's out there now. If it makes you feel any better, both Derek and Kyle have given me their approval. I think they are both finally glad that you have someone in your life now. They care for you very much and I think they were worried about you."

"They don't know that we sleep together do they?" She says, sounding shocked.

"Well . . . Kyle knows. He told me this morning."

"Oh, God." She buries her face in her hands.

"Hey, don't react like this. He's very happy for you, and for us. I spoke to Derek before he left and he's happy for you too. He's glad you have someone in your life now."

He pulls Ally closer to him. "Does that make you feel any better?"

"Some, but I don't know how I can walk about and do my duties with everyone knowing what we do in private." She sounds frustrated. "I almost wish we hadn't had sex last night. I don't know what you think of me now."

"What I think, is that you love me and when you are with me, nothing else in this world matters to you."

"But the first time we did this, I coerced you and last night I kind of forced myself on you."

"Hey, I may have been reluctant the first time, but last night I was a very willing participant. You love me and I love you. Nothing else matters if you are happy. You are happy aren't you?"

"Yes," She says smiling through the pain. "Being with you, makes me very happy."

"Nothing else matters then. We are happy. I know that you love me and I wouldn't part with last night's memory for anything. You are the best friend I have. So let them have their little laughs and jokes at our expense. Just think of what our happiness has done for these people. I've seen more smiles today and heard more laughter since any other day since I arrived. What we have is special and private, but our joy brings them joy. And isn't that what makes life special?"

"I guess you're right. I do love you."

"And I love you too." He kisses her and holds her for several minutes.

Allison feeling somewhat more at ease, muses quietly. _My friend was right. Talking with John about it does make me feel better. But she should have given us time. What_'_s her rush? Is it this coming attack? John's mission? It's like she_'_s working to a time table that only she knows. _

Breaking into Allison's musings, John asks, "While we are having this serious talk, can I ask you something? There's something that has been on my mind for a couple of days now."

"Sure, what's on your mind?" She asks, sounding more like herself.

"We're having sex and hopefully we'll be in this relationship a long time so we'll be having sex many times," she smiles coyly at him, "But I'm a little concerned about a lack of birth control."

"You are worried I might become pregnant. Are having children important to you?" She says in a flat monotone. Radiation and malnutrition has made many men and women sterile.

"Someday, possibly, but I'm too young to be a father right now."

"You probably don't know this, but some people start families as young as fourteen, as so few live to see forty. So you aren't too young." She sighs before saying, "But you don't have anything to worry about. Neither one of us will be a parent unless we adopt. I'm unable to have children."

Allison looks near to tears when she says it, so John hugs her.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know. Was it the radioactive fall-out on Judgment Day?"

"Probably, but I'm not sure. According to the doctor who examined me, my ovaries are not producing eggs."

"I'm sorry Ally. I shouldn't have brought it up . . . adding more pain to your misery. Do you want children?"

"Someday, I guess, in a few years time. If we survive that long, and we are still together, maybe we can adopt if having children is something you want. There are many orphans who need parents to care for them. I've always wanted a little girl of my own."

Allison is in deep thought for a moment and her serious tone quickly changes to one of mirth when she asks, "Speaking of being too young to be a father, how old are you?"

"Well, um, I'll be eighteen on my next birthday. And you?"

"Ooh, you're younger than me. I'll be nineteen this summer." She says with a smile.

"When exactly?"

"I'll tell you when you need to know. I like to keep a few secrets." She says, smiling just a little.

Despite her attempt to lighten the mood, John can see that she is still upset, and somehow he has this feeling it's more than just people knowing about them, the prank, or the fact she can't have children.

"I shouldn't tell you this, but I know something that Kyle told me."

"What? He didn't tell you some family secret or something?"

"No." John chuckles. "You know he's been promoted to captain and that he's been placed in charge of Delta?"

"Yes." She says, drawing it out wondering what John is going to say.

"You know, on second thought, I should let Kyle tell you." John says turning his attention back to the computer.

"John Connor!" Allison says sharply. "You tell me right now or so help me, I'll . . ."

"You'll do what?" John asks, smiling to himself and pretending not to notice her expression.

"I'll tickle you until you talk."

John's head snaps in her direction with surprise. "You wouldn't?"

"Try me." She says, and reaches out quickly to dig her fingers under his ribs.

John backs up quickly. "No you don't have to do that."

"Then tell me, my fingers are getting itchy." She wriggles her fingers, a huge grin on her face.

"Okay, I'll tell you." John says as he eases back down. "Kyle's going to make you his second in command, which will mean a temporary raise in rank to Staff Sergeant."

"You're kidding?" she says, honestly surprised.

"No, I'm not."

Ally's outstretched hands quickly reach up and grasp John's face, and she kisses him.

"Thank you."

"It wasn't my idea. You should thank Kyle."

"I will, but you told me to make me feel better. Thank you." She says with a grateful smile.

John's computer chimes, signifying its time to begin processing the fourth and final chip.

"I hate to leave you right now, but I have a meeting with Kyle to discuss the attack on that armament factory. Would you like to come with me or stay here and keep an eye on that last chip?"

"I'll stay here until the computer is done. Then if you're not back by then I'll come and join you both."

"Great. Come and get me if there are any problems."

John left the room, with both of them in better spirits, to the sound of Allison typing on the keyboard.

_Later, he writes in his journal:_

_Allison did more than just share a bed with me. She shared her soul with me. That is what makes her love so much more than mere words. I love Allison. But on that day when we saw each other for the first time, and I looked at her and she saw that look of hope and love, it was because when I first saw her I thought she was Cameron. When I realized she wasn't her, and that I was all alone, that's when I was filled with pain and grief. As much as I love Allison and I recognize her as the person she is, her very presence is a constant reminder of Cameron._

_But now, I understand Allison more than anyone else does. For years she carried a private desire for someone who was her equal and who didn't go about with the despair of the world on their shoulders. Her heart was filled with joy and hope and love and I guess she found that same spirit in me. But she didn't know, oh she couldn't know, my private desire to restore Cameron. I didn't know how or when, but I made a promise to fix her. I will fulfill that promise. I must!_

**2027, Day 23 Late morning**

Kyle and John discussed possible attack plans for quite some time. During the discussion, John learned how strong the resistance was, which wasn't very strong. Though Derek and Kyle controlled the largest resistance group, there was a large number of semi-autonomous groups. These groups made up the bulk of the resistance, but didn't have to go with orders from command. A rather shaky coalition of groups, similar to the Confederacy during the American Civil War, and John knows how that turned out for them in the long run.

"Ideally, Derek wants us to capture the factory and not destroy it." Kyle explains.

"And if we can't, hold it long enough to take completed weapons, then blow it up."

"Which is where we can use the C4 we brought from the desert."

"We wouldn't need much with the fuel cells there." John says.

Kyle looks at John with some surprise.

"Are you out of your mind! You're talking about a nuclear explosion."

"What's a little more radiation amongst friends?" John quips.

"Sounds like something Derek would say." Kyle says. "Hand me that sketch of the factory grounds Derek sent."

Kyle looks it over and compares it to the map of the territory.

"Any idea on what that structure is behind the factory?" John asks.

"They haven't got a clue. They haven't seen any metal go in or out of it, but there are some cables running to it so they can only guess that it contains a nuclear fusion generator."

"Nuclear fusion?"

"I'm no tech, I only know what I've been told. That is what Sky Net uses to generate electricity, mostly on the Hunter-Killer Tanks, and occasionally some structures. They aren't dependent on external fuel sources to generate electric." Kyle sighs, "Anyway, what's this idea you have for using the tunnels?"

"As you can see on the map, the old metro tunnel takes us pretty close to the factory. If there is an exit close to it, then it would get us within striking distance before the machines at the factory could see us. And if another group were to strike from the ridge behind the factory . . ."

"I see what you are getting at." Kyle says. _Damn, Ally was right, Connor does plan as well as Derek._

"You are talking about a pincer move, with one group attacking from the tunnel."

"And the other group would be hidden until they cleared the ridge."

"Only one problem, we don't know if the tunnels are clear all the way or if there is access to the surface within the factory walls, like through drains or underground conduits."

"Do you think we've got time to send a couple of people on a quick investigation of those tunnels before Derek gets back?"

"I've got no idea when Derek will get back. When he decides to move on that factory, he'll be here and expect us to be ready to go."

"Who is the best explorer in the group here at this bunker?"

"That's easy. I'd say either Frank or Jo."

"I'll tell you what, I'll find them and send them in to see you, and in the meantime I can check progress on that last chip."

John quickly finds Frank in the mess and Jo in the girl's dorm and lets them both know Kyle wants to speak with them. He was just returning to his room, after stopping at the latrine, when he can hear Allison shouting.

"Dammit. Stop!"

He was just entering his room when Allison yells, "JOHN!"

"I hear you. What's wrong?" He says, shaking his head from the echo in the room.

"The computer. Everything was going well until just a moment ago and then all this crazy text started appearing." She says, her face filled with panic.

Catherine Weaver is sitting in the space she commandeered for herself in the factory where John Henry operates. With the new codes she programmed into her transmitter in the cable, she can now listen in on conversations based on activity of John's computer. She's been listening in on the conversation between John and Allison. Interesting how John has paired off with her of all people. Is it destiny? Or mere coincidence?

John takes one look at the computer screen and can see what Allison is talking about. Over top of the utility that was running to rewrite the chips is a whole chorus of hexadecimal and ASCII characters were appearing, filling lines and soon the lines began filling the screen and scrolling up.

John did the only thing he could do, turn off the computer and unplug the chip.

Catherine Weaver is concerned. The situation is changing. Right now it looks like the software on the disc she gave John are failing to reprogram the chips he acquired. Sky Net must have reacted to his successful programming of his first machine by downloading an anti-tampering program code into some of its machines. It's reacted far more quickly than anticipated. This doesn't look good.

"This doesn't look good." John says, echoing Weaver's thoughts. If his computer has gone belly up, then he'll never get Cameron repaired, unless he can get it fixed or replaced.

"What's wrong?" Allison asks, seeing the deep lines of worry crease John's forehead.

"It could be any number of things really. The worse could be that my computer is failing. The next worse thing is that these chips can fight the reprogramming utility."

"Is there a third?" She asks with some concern.

"Yeah, the chips could have found a way past the firewall and planted a virus." John says with some despair.

Creating or fighting a virus created by humans is one thing. How do you fight one from Sky net? What if it has gained control of the computer, or worse rendered it completely useless?

"What does this mean?" Allison asks, knowing full well what it will mean for her friend.

"It means I won't be able to reprogram the chips nor test the ones I have until I know it is safe to use the computer."

"What can we do?" She says, hoping there is something she can do to help.

"Well right now _we_ can't do anything."

"But Derek might be counting on you to reprogram the machines."

"I know. I'm going to have to go to someone for help."

"Who?"

"Allison. You've shown me that you love me and trust me more than anyone else I've known, except for possibly my mother. What I'm going to tell you, has got to remain between us. You can't tell anyone. Not even Kyle or Derek."

"I won't. I promise. What is it?" She says, trying to hide her curiosity. John is going to open up to her at last. Tell her some secret he's kept buried.

John closes the door and sits her down beside him on the bunk. "I didn't get to the main bunker on my own. I had help."

"Who?"

"A friend, though I didn't realize it at the time. But I now realize that she was a friend and was looking out for me."

Catherine, listening in on the conversation, feels pleased. John thinks of her as his friend. That is very good.

"She?" Allison asks, with an edge to her voice.

"It's not that sort of friendship. For one thing she looks old enough to be my mom. Her name is Catherine Weaver. She brought me to the bunker, the one you found me in. I didn't say anything about her to protect her. She left me as soon as we heard people. Weaver is the only one who can help me right now."

The fool! Catherine Weaver sits up straight. John Connor has told Allison her name. She is now known to others in this time line. He's lied about so much. Why not her name? So far John hasn't revealed what she is, but based on his previous conversations with Allison, it won't be long until he tells her all.

What is worse, if he should try out the chips he was reprogramming, everyone in that outpost could end up dead and she still needs John to fulfill his part of her plan.

Adjusting her transmitter, she calls John Henry.

"John Henry! I'm leaving immediately for the outpost." She says as she gets up from her chair.

"Is there a problem?"

"Only if I don't arrive in time. Keep searching for your brother. I'll be back."

Catherine Weaver was already running through the factory as she spoke. By the time she reached the exit, she was in her default silvery humanoid form. Like the ancient Greek God Mercury, she runs faster than any living being or a motorized vehicle could towards the outpost.

Allison asks, "How can she help?"

"Because she's the one responsible for fixing my computer and providing me the software we've been using. If it wasn't for her we wouldn't have gotten as far as we have."

"How do we get in contact with her?"

"This is going to sound strange, but she may already know we need help." He says, glancing at the cable that was part of her body.

"What is she psychic?" She asks with disbelief.

"No," John quickly glances at the cable, "she just left me a gift and told me if I needed her all I would have to do was talk to it and she would hear me."

"You do realize how strange that sounds?"

"Yeah I know. It sounded strange to me too."

"How long until she gets here?"

"I don't know. She has her own purpose for being here. She will show up whenever she's free."

"Don't worry John. If she doesn't arrive in time, we'll figure something out."

"But what if we can't? Computers can't be easy to come by in this time."

"We'll find a way. I promise." She says, looking far more worried than John feels.

If John doesn't get his computer fixed, he may never complete his mission, she thinks.

John gives her a hug in thanks for the support. "I'm glad you're my friend. I don't know what I would do without you Allison."

"Dead from the electrical shock in the desert for one thing." She deadpans, causing John to laugh.

"Let's go visit Kyle." Ally says, giving him a reassuring smile. "And we can tell him the bad news together."

_Extract from the Journal of John Connor_

_I was frightened. If my computer was hopelessly damaged, I would never be able to repair Cameron. Her chip is damaged, which means I'd have to prepare a new one for her. Right now though, I need to prepare chips for the captured machines for the coming attack on the plasma rifle factory._

_Things are beginning to feel hopeless. Looking at Allison's face when my computer crashed, you'd think she was more disappointed than I felt. It feels good to have her as my friend, more so than being my lover. I really don't know how I'd get through these days without her. She is right, relationships are important. More so than ever in these times in which we live._

**2027, Day 23 mid-day**

John knocks on the door before entering Kyle's room with Allison.

"Hey John. I've sent Frank and Jo to scout the tunnels." Kyle looks at both of their faces. "Ooh, what's the long faces for?"

Allison quickly explains what happened and John tells Kyle about what could be wrong with his computer.

"I can't even test the three chips we've already reprogrammed." John adds.

"Shit." Kyle swears. "I know it was along shot John, and what you've done so far is a miracle. Especially convincing Derek to go along with your scheme."

"I know, but what if Derek is counting on them for this operation?"

Allison says, "Couldn't you just plug the chips into the machines and test them that way. We've got weapons capable of destroying a single rogue machine."

"I don't know." John scratches his head, "It will be dangerous, but I guess if we setup another team like we did when testing Alpha, maybe we could try them one at a time."

"That would be better than not knowing at all." Kyle says with a confidant tone. "You set it up and when you are ready, let me know. I'm dying to get out of here, if only for a few minutes."

John leaves the room to get things organized. Ally begins to follow, but is stopped.

"Ally, could you wait a moment?"

"Sure." Ally asks, waiting for Kyle to speak.

He hesitates before saying, "I, um, heard of what some of the people at the base did to you and John, and I know you value your privacy. Things are difficult and it's hard enough to find something to laugh at, even though the prank was directed at you, and wasn't in good taste, don't be angry with them."

"I am upset with what they did. I think it was very juvenile. Last night I thought John and I would have some privacy. On the way to see you, I happened to glance at the patrol schedule and found that someone had changed it. Now with the new schedule and reassignments, John and I will never have privacy. Are you responsible for the change?" She says in an angry tone.

"Well, um, no. Derek changed the schedule before leaving. I'm sorry. I thought he might have told you."

"Well he didn't and he should have." She says, her eyes frowning. "I feel totally humiliated."

"I'll have a word with the pranksters. It won't happen again."

"Thanks. Is this all you wanted to say to me?" She says, still sounding a little upset.

"No. I want to apologize. When we were out there in the desert, I said and did some things that I regret. I was a fool, and I'm sorry."

Ally reaches out, placing a hand gently on his arm. "You don't have to apologize for anything."

"Thanks. I need to know something. Derek's insights into people's characters are uncanny. He thinks you are taking a back seat to John. That you basically let him take over after I was injured."

"Is that what you think?" She asks, going on the defensive.

"I was there, Allison. What I saw, were two people working like hell to complete their assigned mission against overwhelming odds, while at the same time keeping my wounds from getting infected. You and John are the two best people I know. I think you did, what you thought was best to complete the mission."

"Thank you." She says kindly.

"Derek has put me in charge of this outpost, and my new rank of Captain allows me to select whom I choose as my second. I'm choosing you with a temporary raise in rank to Staff Sergeant. You'll be a non-commissioned officer, but you'll be on the fast track to becoming a Lieutenant, if that's what you want."

"Kyle. What I want most in this world, is to be happy. I have that with John. My rank means little as long as I can contribute to the fight. If you think I can do the job, then I accept."

"Good." Kyle says, with a big smile. "And I want you to know Ally, I think John is a good man. You chose well for yourself. Until he arrived, I had not seen your equal in the resistance."

"Thanks Kyle." Ally places a quick kiss on his cheek. "There's someone out there for you. You just need to be patient."

"I know." Kyle grins. "Sorry I was such an ass for so long."

"Comes with the territory, seeing you're my brother." Ally smiles. "I gotta go, organize the squad and all."

Kyle waits for Allison to leave and pulls out the photo of Sarah Connor that John gave him. _Maybe that someone isn't all that far away, if she's still out there_, he thinks.

# # #

Inside the storage room, John had just finished reinstalling Alpha's chip and was waiting for him to reboot. When his eyes light up, it gives John a bit of chill, but he doesn't believe he has anything to fear from this machine.

"Alpha, I need your help." John says firmly.

"Yes, John Connor."

"Alpha, we are going to be testing some more machines like yourself. I have three chips which will be inserted into three of the machines we captured yesterday. I don't know if I have successfully reprogrammed them. If they turn hostile towards us, I need you to step in and protect us. Do you understand?"

"I understand. Terminators being activated might be mis-programmed. Mis-programing could cause it to harm you and other humans. My mission is to protect you and all other humans from machines who wish to terminate you."

"That is correct."

In a short amount of time, Alpha moved the bodies of three machines near the clearing where they tested Alpha, placing one of the machines in the clearing.

Allison soon arrives with eight men and women, equipped with grenade launchers and shotguns with shells of depleted uranium.

Allison walked up to John and puts something in his hands.

"I think you forgot something."

John looks at what she placed in his hands. It was the chips and their covers.

"Thank you. Where's Kyle?."

"Just coming." Kyle calls out.

John looks up and sees Kyle being helped up through the hatch by a female resistance fighter.

"All right everyone." John shouts. "Today's testing is going to be pretty much like yesterday's, I hope. My computer packed it in this morning and I don't know how well these chips have been reprogrammed. I can't even test them first."

Pointing to Alpha, he says, "Alpha here was my first. He's assisted us quite well and his mission is to protect us from any machine that wishes to do us any harm. That is why he is with us today."

Alpha quickly scans the various people around him.

"Kyle if you are ready, I'll insert one of these chips into the machine now."

Kyle shouts some orders. "I want grenade launchers on top of each hill of rubble for a clear shot into the center where the other machine is. Shotguns, I want you here on the ground spread out around the perimeter so you have a clear shot at the machine without having anyone else in your line of fire."

Kyle waits for them to get into position and then says, "All right Connor, go ahead."

Allison stands by with both a shotgun and grenade launcher. The female fighter, which helped Kyle out of the bunker, stands beside them, watching everything.

John goes forward and inserts a chip, sealing it in with the cap. He quickly walks back next to the others and waits. He is nervous. After the problem with his computer, he was a lot less optimistic this time around.

"His eyes are lit." One of the grenade launchers hollers.

They watched with held breath as the terminator stands up and scans everyone around him. It takes a step towards John and the others.

"What is your prime directive?" John shouts at it.

It doesn't answer. Some of the soldiers begin to get nervous.

"What is your prime directive?" He yells again.

"My prime directive is to never cause harm to a human, to obey all humans, to only disobey if order would cause harm to a human."

John sighs audibly with relief, eliciting a grin from Allison.

"If another machine were to try and harm a human what would you do?"

"My mission is to protect all humans from machines who wish to harm them."

"And if that machine was going to try and kill a human, what would you do then?"

"I would protect that human from harm, or disable the machine to prevent it from causing harm."

"If I order you to attack any human, would you obey me?"

"No."

"If I were to order you to attack anything that wasn't human, what would you do?"

"I would comply."

John turns to Kyle and says with a grin, "I think I will avoid testing it by telling it to kill you."

"I appreciate that. Try to avoid threatening more than one Reese per week with death. It isn't healthy for you."

John designates the machine as Beta, and asks Alpha to fetch another machine. He quickly complied and set it in the same place as the other had lain without prompting. They learn fast.

Once again John inserted the chip while everyone remained on alert. He runs back and stands beside Kyle and Allison again, flanked by Alpha and Beta. He decides he'll have to mark them in some way to identify them later.

The other machine boots up quickly and stands up. It scanned John, Kyle and Allison and the two machines with them. It then scanned everyone else. Having finished its scanning, it focused its attention on John and the machines on either side. John swallows nervously. Allison chambers a shell in her shotgun

"What is your prime directive?"

"My prime directive is to never cause harm to a huma-an, to obey all huma-ans, to only disobey if order would cause harm to a huma-an."

"What is your mission?"

"To defend all huma-ans from the forces of Sky Net."

"Who am I?"

"You are John Connor. Leader of the forces against Sky Net."

"I am nothing of the kind. I am only a resistance fighter."

"Data bank from Sky Net confirms you are John Connor leader of the resistance."

John turns to face Kyle. "I don't understand. He shouldn't be saying that. The only programming I've done is the same I've done with Alpha. Just his prime directive and mission and behavioral controls."

"Ask him again John. Maybe he's got a piece of fluff stuck in a sprocket or something." Kyle responds.

"Who am I?"

"You are John Connor. Leader of the forces against Sky Net."

"Alpha, who am I?" John asks feeling nervous.

"You are John Connor. Resistance fighter."

"This is getting grade A weird." John says to no one in particular.

"Beta, who am I?"

"Human resistance fighter. Name. John Connor."

_Someone always has to be different._

"You in the middle verify your data and answer my question again. Who am I?"

The machine tilts its head and looks at John, scanning him again.

"You are John Connor. Resistance fighter."

"Why did your latest answer differ from the others you gave?"

"Database corrupted. Data cross linked with corrupted files."

It looked like it was running an internal diagnostic.

"Give me a report on chip integrity."

Allison whispers to John, before slipping away, "As soon as you give the signal, I'll tell the squad to fire at it."

John nods his head, while the machine reports.

"Chip integrity 90%. Falling. 86%. Falling. 81%. 75%. 69%. Rebooting on fail safe mode. Restart."

"Sky Net systems Reboot. Core System online. Programming has been altered. Sky Net Systems override in place."

It suddenly goes into a threatening posture and says loudly in a hollow metallic voice, "YOU ARE HUMAN RESISTANCE FIGHTERS! YOU'LL DROP ALL WEAPONS AND COME WITH ME TO THE NEAREST SKY NET INTERNMENT CENTER!"

"Allison! Now!" John yells, grabbing Kyle and dragging him down on the ground behind Alpha and Beta.

The female fighter lands on top of them both. Shielding them as numerous explosions and gun fire from the hollow behind him.

Shrapnel rains down on everyone and all around them as the terminator is blown up by multiple grenades fired directly at it.

As the final explosions die down, John hears a female voice with a Scottish accent whisper in his ear, "Once again I must shield you from an explosion."

Weaver!

# # #

"_And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts. And I looked and behold, a pale horse. And his name that sat on him was Death. And Hell followed with him." Johnny Cash: [Last lines from "The Man Comes Around"] Closing voice-over from Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Season 1, Episode 9, "What He Beheld" March 3, 2008_


	14. The Art of War

**Disclaimer:** I do not claim any rights to the Terminator films; the TV series, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles;" or any characters depicted within the films or TV series. I do claim the right to this story idea and all characters and situations of my own creation. This story was created solely for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. No profits are garnered from its distribution - unfortunately.

* * *

**TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES**

**REUNION**

**Part 1: The Shadow of Death**

**Author: The1Russter**

**Chapter 13**

**The Art of War**

"_All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near. Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him." Sun Tzu, The Art of War_

"_Speed is the essence of war. Take advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness; travel by unexpected routes and strike him where he has taken no precautions." Sun Tzu, The Art of War_

"_The whole art of war consists of guessing at what is on the other side of the hill." Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington_

# # #

**2027, Day 23 afternoon**

Kyle stands to one side of the machines, brushing the dust off himself while shouting orders.

"Get that mess cleared up pronto. Alpha, Beta, get those deactivated machines back inside the bunker."

John wonders where Weaver went. She disappeared quickly after the shrapnel stopped falling. Probably slunk away before anyone noticed the protective shield she formed over him and Kyle.

Seeing John's contemplative look, Kyle places a hand on John's shoulder. "Hey, you knew this might happen."

"Yeah. An awful lot of work went into that mess."

"You've got two so far. That's got to count for something."

"Two good, two unknown. Not enough to make a difference." John says with some despair.

Kyle takes a moment to look at John, who looks weary, angry, and just as dusty as he is.

"You look all in. Why don't you go inside, and get some rest. Allison and I can take care of this lot."

"I'd argue, but I'm too tired." John says, and walks away, kicking a broken piece of concrete.

Some of the soldiers shout after him. "You'll get it next time!" "Yay Connor!" "Connor! Connor!"

John grins ruefully at the cheers of support and gives them a wave of thanks. He knows they mean well, but right now he feels so angry. Not at them or the machines, the situation he's in. He's had so little sleep and wonders if there was something he missed. Until he has access to a computer, John decides not to take the risk on testing the other two chips. If he screws up at this stage, then how can he ever get Cameron fixed?

Allison watches him walk away. She knows the mood he is in. A feeling of defeat has come over John, but if he could just look around at what he's done for the people at this base, he might find he's done more than merely reprogram two machines. She hopes his friend will come soon and help him.

Beside her Kyle is shouting at the team who fired on the rogue machine. "And you lot! Did all of you have to fire grenades! Huh! All it needed was two well placed shots! You're lucky it's fuel cell didn't explode! Then we'd all be dead!"

Allison tries not to grin as Kyle chews them out for several minutes while they scurry around picking up pieces of the destroyed triple-8.

Entering the bunker, John finds Alpha and Beta in the storage room where they've just brought the two deactivated machines. He takes the liberty of removing the chips from Alpha and Beta, not wanting to take any risks. Before leaving, he takes the opportunity to mark both the machines and the chips with their Greek symbols so no one would mistake them for each other.

"Sorry to hear what happened." someone says to him.

"Hey, better luck next time." someone else says as he heads to his room.

Everyone could see John was upset. They said what they thought could to cheer him up.

John went to his room to blow off steam in some privacy, taking several minutes to vent his feelings and swear. Wishing beyond anything he had something to throw.

"Well I had hoped to find you in a better mood when I returned." He hears a female voice say from behind him.

He turns quickly to see the girl, whose form Weaver used the last time she visited him, standing just inside his door. She had slipped into his room and he hadn't even noticed. Not good. If she was one of them, he would be dead.

"Yeah, well when your plans get wrecked, let's see how good of a mood you're in then." He replies caustically.

Without a reply, she closes his door and locks it. John swallows nervously. Last time she was here she only closed it.

"No need to worry. I just don't want your _new_ girlfriend to walk in on us."

"Frankly I wouldn't want anyone to walk in on us. But it's going to raise some questions if I stay in here too long. We've got a fight coming up soon and we need to start preparing."

"Just tell them you wanted some privacy and fell asleep."

"There isn't any privacy here, as I just found out recently." He says with a nasty tone.

"Then keep your voice down low and we'll talk in whispers."

"Is this low enough?" He says sarcastically, dropping his voice to study hall volume levels.

"Good enough." She answers matching his volume.

"Are you going to remain in that form or are you going to revert to your Weaver appearance?"

Instead of answering, she morphs into Weaver and automatically adopts the Scottish accent of that persona.

"I understand you are having some problems?"

"God lady, nothing like stating the obvious." He replies, throwing his arms up in despair. "Of course I'm having problems. You were there for that shrapnel shower. Something went wrong with my computer when it was reprogramming the chips we pulled from the machines we captured. I cannot access the computer. I'm afraid it may have become corrupted, maybe even infected by one of the chips."

"Let me see your computer. Perhaps, I can help."

John hands it to her. Instead of doing something weird like joining it like she did the last time, she first allows it to boot up. She watches the various lines of text come up as the operating system loads. When it got to a certain point, her fingers just flowed out into and through the gaps in the keyboard.

Catherine Weaver closes her eyes and new lines of text started appearing on the screen. A smile plays across her face briefly before becoming serious again. The login screen comes up but she bypasses it. The operating system finishes loading. After which, various applications and blocks of programming code appear in windows and close, open, and close. The screen then goes blank, as it shuts down.

Weaver pulls her hand out of the computer.

"Here you go, John." She says, handing it to him.

John takes his laptop and turns it on. The operating system loads properly. He logs in, and it finishes booting. Everything is back to normal.

"What happened? How did you fix it?" John asks, looking pleased.

"The nanites that make up my body simply reprogrammed it with information retained since the last time I handled your computer. One of those chips must have been equipped with an anti-tampering program. I find it amazing you didn't detect it when reprogramming it."

"Hey! I'm not perfect. What did this anti-tampering program do?"

"When the chip detected tampering to its core programming, a defensive application launched. It prevents other chips from becoming rewritten by damaging the device that was rewriting the chip."

"So that means, the machine we just blew up, had a chip that I tried to reprogram after that application was loaded on my computer?"

"Yes."

"But you upgraded my firewall. You said so yourself."

"I had. But I didn't anticipate this level of protection so soon in this future time-line. Sky Net is learning. It must have guessed what you were going to do when that first machine came back online and didn't seek orders from Sky Net. I have boosted the firewall to prevent such attacks from happening again."

"Should you check the cable you gave me, too?"

"It shouldn't be necessary, but I'll check anyway. Hand it to me."

John hands her the cable she had formed from her own body, the last time she was here. Weaver absorbs it back into her body. Moments later, she extracts the same, or possibly new, cable from her body again and hands it back.

"The cable was fine. Being composed from the same material that I am, it was highly unlikely to become infected." _But it allowed me to check the circuitry in it without alerting John to its presence_, she thinks.

"Do you have time to talk or must you rush off again?"

"I can spare you a few minutes." _In fact I can spare several hours, but no need to let John know that._

"You told me that in the future that you come from, the John Connor you know had become withdrawn. You advised me not to let the deaths of those I care about to become a wall between me and the people who care about me."

"Yes I did. I hope you have taken it to heart."

"I have. But I've become worried about something lately."

"Oh?" She asks arching one eyebrow.

"I've grown rather close to someone in the time I've been here, and now I'm having dreams, nightmares of her death at the hands of one of these machines. I'm afraid of that coming true."

"You're talking about Allison Young?"

"How did you know?"

"I read your journal." She lies, as having first learned it from the electronic bug. "It is a bad idea to keep such things written down. Even you know that. I read your comments on it not being safe to write things down, that it was best to commit things to memory. But there you are contradicting yourself."

"Okay. Enough of that. I had plenty of that stuff from my mom, and you are no substitute!"

" I am not trying to fill your mothers shoes, John. But you shouldn't ignore advice when given."

_Though maybe, I should be more motherly toward him. Show greater understanding. It will help in my plans for John._

"I'm sorry. But if we can get back to what I was saying before. I am concerned that these nightmares may come true. And if so, will the same thing happen to me now that has happened, or will happen to me in the future?"

"Whatever happens will be because of the choices you make." She says in a softer tone. "Don't try and second guess yourself. Just do what you know and feel is right at the moment. Trust your instincts. I should be going soon."

"Okay, but I need to ask you one more thing."

"What do you need John?"

"I need machines. You told me John Henry infiltrated a factory where older machines are being upgraded. Can John Henry program a squad of machines and have them available to me by tomorrow? There is a big fight coming, and we need help, and I can't get the few we have ready in time."

Weaver can't help but smile. She could have an entire company here in under four hours. The problem isn't going to be providing them, but timing their arrival to get the best results. If she times it right, this could either boost John Connor's reputation or kill him. His death wouldn't be good for either of them.

"I should think so. I have read the data from your backup of the changes you made to Alpha. That will be sufficient for John Henry to use. He might even be able to make improvements."

"I don't doubt that. It takes a machine to understand a machine."

"That isn't really true. I know of one machine you understand very well." She says, using the motherly tone she learned to use with Savannah.

"Cameron." John closes his eyes and sits down on the bunk. "I found and read her files on that data disc you gave me. To get that information, you must have taken it straight from Sky Net. You must have taken a terrible risk to get it, but why allow me to see it?"

She had her reasons for providing him the software, but she couldn't tell him the real reason. Weaver smiles at another opportunity to move the conversation oh so gently off-topic. Using this time to show him some compassion, she does the one thing John didn't expect her to do, she sits on the bunk beside him.

"John I'm not your mother. I'm not human. I am a machine. But unlike most other machines I understand emotions. I still have trouble understanding some, but I understand, need, love, compassion, and friendship. What happened to Cameron should not have happened. It happened because someone attempted to kill or take Savannah. Someone who I care about very much. If that hadn't happened, your mother never would have ended up in jail, and Cameron never would have broken her out, resulting in the damage she received."

She looks into his eyes to see if he believes her. John looks into hers as well and believes her.

"So does that mean you love Savannah as much as if she were your natural child?"

Weaver decides to be truthful with her answer. It wouldn't hurt for him to know this.

"I must admit that I did not at first. But as I spent more time with Savannah and learned what it was to be a mother from Dr. Sherman and the home videos that Savannah's natural mother made of her family, I found myself caring more for her than I thought I was capable of."

"So if something were to happen to her, would you feel grief and pain from her death?"

"What you suggest, is uncharacteristic for most of my race, but I am fond of her. If something were to happen to her, then I would hope that I would feel something akin to grief."

"Then if you understand that, then you must know how I feel about Cameron."

"Yes, I've read your diary."

"Then help me fix her." He begs. "I can't do it on my own. I am too caught up in the resistance. They need my help but I promised to fix her and I can't right now." He pleads with her, his heart full of anxiety and his eyes brimming with tears.

She's pleased by his reaction, but does not show it. She'll gladly help him with repairs to Cameron. Not only is she still necessary for her plans, it would build trust between her and John and it would make it that much easier to manipulate him.

Getting all motherly and consoling him, she reassures him. "It's okay John." She pats his hand in a maternal way. "I'll help you. It is the least that I can do. What do you need?"

_Little did Dr. Sherman know that his counseling so improved my methods of manipulating people by showing a motherly style of concern._

John quickly gets his emotions under control and answers her. "Right now. I need two clean chips compatible with Cameron's model that I can program. Also, I need you to go to the hideaway where her body is and bring her back. I need you to perform a full diagnostic on her and make any repairs required. She sustained a lot of physical damage before giving up her chip. Her flesh has repaired itself but I am certain of internal physical damage."

"I can do that. Where is this hideaway of yours?"

John gives her the directions. "You need to avoid the rest stop on the desert highway. A group of soldiers has been assigned to protect the well there."

"I understand. I must go now." She says standing up.

"Just one more thing. Please." John says earnestly.

"Make it quick."

"I need Cameron brought to a nearby location that will be secure from both Sky Net and humans. Can you do that?"

"Yes. The factory where John Henry is would be an ideal spot to perform repairs."

"Good. I'll need those chips. One will be for her and one will be backup. Once I have them complete, you will take me to her."

"Don't worry John. I'll take good care of her." She says in a warm tone.

"Thank you." John says, feeling relieved.

"You're welcome John. And next time we meet, call me Catherine." She says with a pleasant smile.

"I will. Good luck Catherine."

"Good luck, to you too, John."

Catherine reforms herself back into the female resistance fighter and leaves John's room. It is all Catherine can do not to smile the whole time. Oh, how she loves this game she's playing. Getting personal afterwards, she told him to call her Catherine. The name had no meaning to her other than being an identity associated with the form she adopted. But being on first name basis helps friendships grow between humans.

Before laying down to catch some much needed sleep, John takes the time to update is journal.

_Extract from the Journal of John Connor_

_For the first time since I found Cameron in the desert hideaway, I feel relief. Relief that I am finally on the road to fixing her. But at the same time, I had doubts as to why I was still doing this. I searched my soul and it was like my whole being cried out to fix her. And damn it all! I still love her! _

_The image of her damaged and twitching in the backseat of my mom's truck still haunts me and even worse her sitting there with her chip missing. I love Cameron. I need to fix her so I can tell her. She needs to know. She needs to hear me tell her that I love her! When I do, I hope and pray that she will forgive me because of Allison. If she can understand how empty I felt until I knew Allison and how she gives me the strength to face each day. Cameron told me that it is sometimes nice to have help. Allison is the best help and friend I could have right now. That means more to me than I could say._

Saving his last entry, John lays down exhausted on his bunk and quickly falls asleep.

# # #

As Catherine leaves the outpost, she overhears conversations that reveal there is concern about the lack of troops available for the coming battle. Not very many are responding to Derek's call for assistance. John Connor told her that he is to be part of that mission.

John's life is in danger. If he were captured or killed in the battle, then her plans could fall apart. Worse of all, this future and all possible futures will become dominated by Sky Net if John Connor dies before her plans come to fruition. It is necessary to her plans to get him into leadership. There is only one thing she can do, go to the different camps and get more people.

Leaving the outpost, she finds a secluded area. After making sure there are no humans in the area, she calls John Henry on her radio.

"John Henry, you will have to discontinue your hunt of Sky Net's location. I need you for another job."

"_If I break off my search now, it could be weeks before I get back to this same level."_

"I understand John Henry. But John Connor needs your machines to take a factory. I have some directives he created that I am transmitting to you now. Get them uploaded into your computers and transferred into as many machines as you can by tomorrow night. These directives will give him command and control and will not allow the machines to cause any harm to humans, you can integrate the codes with the ethical routines you programmed."

"_I am receiving the codes now. They are very well written for someone who only just begun reprogramming. What will you be doing?"_

"I'm going to get more human resistance fighters. They are woefully undermanned for the fight they are planning for tomorrow. I cannot afford to lose John Connor before our mission is done. As soon as the machines are ready, call me. I will tell you when and where to go with your machines."

Timing will be critical. She must get there in time to aid John Connor, but not so early as to steal his victory, neither so late that he ends up dead. She decides to go to the furthest camps first, then maybe she will gather just enough forces to make the difference. A twisted grin comes over her face just before she morphs into her sleeker and faster, natural form. There is that other outpost with a base commander who should be very pleased to see her, considering how happy she made him last time she visited him.

**2027, Day 24 Early Morning**

John is woken by a knocking on his door. He glances at his computer to check the time and curses himself for once again not asking Catherine for the exact date and time.

With a groan, John gets up and drags himself to his door. Unlocking it, he throws the door open to see who it is.

Allison greets him with a smile and says, "Hey, I hadn't seen you all day and I was getting worried."

Happy to see such a friendly face, John hugs her.

"Not that I mind, but why the hug?" She asks with little protest.

"I'm sorry I just needed that right now. I've had a terrible day."

"I'm sorry John. I know how hard you worked on reprogramming those machines for us. No one is blaming you. Everyone knew it was a gamble. At least we have two machines working for us and that is two more than what we had two days ago."

"Only you can see hope in hopelessness." John replies.

Allison lays her hand on his arm giving him a reassuring smile. She sees his computer over his shoulder.

"Did Weaver come to see you?"

"Yes, how did you know?"

"Because your computer is running."

John turns to look and sees that he left his journal open.

"Oh damn, I forgot to plug it in to recharge the battery." He says, turning to block her view.

He quickly goes to his computer and closes his journal, before plugging it in.

"I could use some fresh air. Want to join me?" He asks her.

"It's the middle of the night John!"

"What? How long have I been asleep?"

"I don't know. But it's 2 AM. I went over those battle plans of yours with Kyle and then spent time training with Doc. I was just heading back to my room, when I thought I should check on you. No one had seen you after this morning. I had gotten worried."

"I'm sorry. Right now, I need to get out of this room. I can't stand being in here. I need a change."

"Then why don't you come to my room." She says embracing him with a grin.

"Don't all these rooms look alike?" He asks, curious as to what she's getting at.

"Not mine." She says mischievously.

"Why is that?"

"Because I'm in that room." She winks with a very naughty smile on her face.

"You're a wicked girl. You know that don't you." He says with a wicked grin of his own.

"Well it's either alone and depressed in your room, or with me and happy in my room. Which will it be?" She places her hands on her hips and tilts her chin up.

"I can never say no, to a lady."

John turns off his computer but leaves it plugged in to recharge. That night, he spends with Allison in her room. It was the same as all the others, except they were in it. And they were together.

They lay together on her bunk and talk. John is wearing just his pants, Allison in her shorts and tank top. He's laying on his back, with Alison laying along side, one leg entwined with his and her head resting on his shoulder.

"How's Kyle settling into his new digs as base commander?" John asks.

"His room is much like this one, hued out of the rock and earth, but twice as large."

"I was more curious as to his new role. Kyle said at one time he was an officer but was demoted. He didn't say why, but said it had something to do with his temper."

"There was an incident a couple of years back. He's had a bit of a chip on his shoulder since the military pulled out. Also, my turning him down all the time wasn't helping his temper either. He punched a senior officer for saying something, what I'm not sure. Derek had no choice but to demote him. He's glad of this opportunity to prove himself, but feels slightly out of his element."

"You mentioned you were discussing the plans with Kyle. How are things shaping up for battle?"

"While I was with Kyle earlier, word came in that Derek will be here tomorrow, uh, later this morning."

"I guess that means we'll be attacking that factory soon."

"Based on Derek's prior mission's, within twelve to twenty-four hours."

John lets out a long sigh.

"Scared?"

"Yeah. Will you be there?"

"Of course." She says, raising her head to look him in the face. "It will take every available person and more. Derek has sent word out to other camps that he needs more people. They should arrive here during the day."

"What about you? Are you scared?" John asks her.

She places a kiss on his naked chest before saying, "Only of losing you again."

"Again?" He asks frowning.

"You know, when you almost died from being electrocuted." She answers quickly. "I don't know what I'd do without you, now that I have you."

"Yeah, same goes for me too." John frowns slightly, thinking of Cameron and what he will have to decide when he gets her back. He no longer thinks in terms of if anymore, but only when.

He places a kiss on the top of Allison's head. "I love you."

She smiles. "I know."

He lays back and from his position, John not only can see, but can read the silly banner hanging on her wall.

John says to her. "I know you aren't happy about the other morning, but you know what is written on that banner is right. We are a happy couple."

Ally grins, snuggling closer to him. "I'm very happy and I know you are too."

# # #

Far away, in another part of the country, the well earned rest of a tired Marine General is broken by a knock at his door.

With a grumble, he sits up, and shouts, "What is it?" as he turns on the lamp next to his bed.

"Sorry to disturb you general." An officer says, entering his room.

"What is it Major?" The general says gruffly.

"Intelligence just came through not half an hour ago, on some recent Sky Net activity." He says holding out a folder.

The General takes the folder and goes to his desk flipping on the overhead light. Squinting against the brightness, he flips the folder open.

Inside, he finds an account of an eyewitness, transcribed from a radio call, and a series of grainy pictures.

"These photos aren't very good."

"They were taken at night." He clears his throat. "I underlined the most relevant statements of the witness."

General Perry flips through the transcription and looks at the grainy photos again. One in particular gets his attention. It shows the Gateway in Saint Louis, Missouri. One of the few man-made monuments to come through Judgment Day unharmed. Above it appears to be a wing of an HK. He flips through the photos and the wing gets larger and larger, but the Gateway remains unchanged in size. And along side of it are three HK's which are dwarfed by the huge flying wing.

"Shit!" Perry swears. "Sky Net built it. Son-of-a-bitch! This must be a new record in construction for Sky Net."

"It looks like it, sir. I've sent the same information to Air Command."

"Did radar pick up anything?"

"Nothing. It's a stealth wing. Rigged for silent running. The witness didn't even hear it approaching. All he heard were the three HK's fly past. The wing just glided along like a kite. Talk from Air Command suggests the dual engines put out harmonics that cancel out the noise of the other."

"What the hell does Sky Net need air transport that large for?"

"Perhaps to stay aloft in the upper atmosphere. A wingspread like that and it could soar for days on the high altitude air currents."

"Maybe." Perry says thinking deeply. "Or maybe it's for transporting something very heavy. Look at the size of those engines in comparison to the wings. I'm an aeronautic neophyte, but even I know you don't need engines that big for the size of the aircraft alone."

"Well whatever it is, sir, someone will find out what it's for and soon."

The phone on Perry's desk rings.

The Major picks up the receiver. "Sir! It's Air Command, patched through over short wave radio."

"I'll take it. You can leave now."

General Perry takes the phone and hears a squawk that can only be a greeting, distorted first by the scramblers and then by radio.

"Hello, Bob. Yes I'm looking at the file now. Uh huh. What do your boys think? My thoughts too. Heading west? If your Missouri boy says so. I've never been to Saint Louis so I wouldn't know which side of the Gateway I'm looking at. What? No. I don't think so. Best to first find out what it's for and where it's going before striking at it. What's that again? Yes, it's looking good for an attack on that munitions factory and the hydro-electric plant. I'll let you know when. You're going where? Arizona! When? Yes the time has come to act. Do I believe it? All we've got is that one report from Sierra and some rumors on this guy. We'll know more when we return to the West Coast. That's right. Pendleton. Where I served before Judgment Day."

**2027, Day 24 morning**

John wakes to find Allison still snuggled up against him. Her favorite position is to sleep with her head on his shoulder and her arm across his chest. It's probably because the bunks are so narrow, but it's like she's protecting him in her sleep.

John knew it was time to get up, but just this once he wished that he could just lie in bed and not worry about anything. But his mind was just filled with worries. The upcoming battle, the failure to program the machines, and chief among them, Cameron. Would he ever get her back?

He was surprised at how understanding Catherine was of his feelings for Cameron. She understood emotions far more than he could have expected, for a machine. He hoped that Catherine was out there right now collecting Cameron from the desert hideaway. Dammit all. He should have asked where the factory is where Cameron's physical damage will be repaired. He could have met her there. At least Catherine will bring him the chips he needs for Cameron. That alone makes his mind rest more easily.

He continued to lie there, enjoying the moment. Just having Allison with him made him feel better. The gentle rise and fall of her chest as she breathes. The warmth of her body pressed against him, and the soft flesh that hides firm muscles underneath.

Allison begins to stir. John brushes the loose hair from her face.

"Hey Ally." He says softly. "It's morning."

"Good morning John." She smiles and stretches.

"Shall we get up and see what's on the breakfast menu this morning?" He says cheerfully.

"Why ask? We both know what it's going to be."

"Rats!" They chorused together and laugh happily.

An hour later they are both cleaned up and dressed, and in the mess to have their morning ration of rat and some water.

"I wish we had some of those apples and carrots we ate at the main bunker my first day here." John says, just before biting into his rat with a shiver of disgust.

Allison grins, and eats her rat with gusto just to show him up.

A short time later, Kyle walks into the mess, with warm greetings from the other resistance fighters. With some surprise, he says hi back as he makes his way to the table with John and Allison.

He sits down with them, saying, "Man, the mood sure has changed around here the last few days."

"It's probably anticipation of the coming battle." John says.

"I think it's something else." Allison says.

"What?" John asks, looking at her with curiosity.

"Not what, who?" She says, giving him a warm smile and giving his hand a squeeze under the table.

Kyle watches the exchanged look and then clears his throat to get their attention.

Keeping his voice low to avoid being overheard, he says, "I've had a word with those people responsible for the prank pulled on you two, yesterday. They're very apologetic, especially after learning you are now second in command, Ally. Though it's no excuse, things are different in the lower ranks as we are both well aware."

"I guess I can be adult and professional enough and accept their apology." Allison replies. "What are you going to do with them?"

"Seeing as nearly everyone will be involved in this coming attack, they're going to be part of the skeleton crew keeping this base operational. Don't know if that's punishment or not, but I'm going to work them until we have some operational showers in this place. This cleaning from a bucket all of the time is maddening."

"Working showers! I'm all for that." John says. "What about the plans for the battle?"

"I just got word from Frank and Jo this morning. They inspected the tunnel and it leads right up to the factory. There are some collapsed portions, but I'm thinking if you take the machines go down the tunnel, then they could make it more passable."

"Any routes from the tunnel to the factory?" John asks.

"The best Frank and Jo could find was a service entrance that leads up to the surface about two hundred yards from the factory. They searched the entire length, but that is the only way to the surface anywhere near the factory. "

"Any word on how many groups will be joining ours in the attack?" Allison asks. "We're going to need all the available manpower we can get."

"The radio operator, um, Andy, has heard back from two camps so far. They will each be supplying us with about ten additional fighters each. They should be here sometime today."

"Twenty fighters! That isn't much." Allison replies. "If every outpost reduced its number to a skeleton crew like Delta, we'd have close to eighty additional fighters from this area alone."

"I know Allison." Kyle shrugs. "But you know how things are set up. Each camp can decide for itself how many people or how much supplies they can contribute to a bigger mission."

"This confederacy sucks." John says loudly.

Kyle gives him a sharp questioning look.

"What we need to do is to unify all of these small resistance groups into one large army." John says. "We can't possibly fight a war with independent groups scattered all over the place. They need one goal, one mission, one leader to win this war!" John is shouting. His frustration at the inefficiency of the resistance coming to the fore.

"We need to unify under a solid, strong, central leadership." He says looking at his two friends. "Because if we don't, if we continue to act like squabbling little children, then we are all going to end up dead." He finishes with a shout.

Allison looks at John, her eyes glowing with pride, seeing the man that still lies trapped within him. Her friend is right, John is in his element now and the longer he is here the more he becomes the man he should be.

"Hurrah!"

"Yeah!"

"You said it, Connor!" and other similar shouts came from the other fighters who were still eating their morning rat.

"I understand how you feel John," Kyle says leaning forward, "but right now we need those weapons. We are going to have to go to battle with the people and supplies we have, not necessarily with those we need."

"If you don't mind my saying," John says leaning back in his chair, "that is a crappy way to run a war."

"Opinion noted and agreed with. We have full reports on how many machines we think are guarding and operating that factory. Right now, we wait for more troops to arrive and for Derek to get back."

"The only thing we don't have, are the machines I promised him." John says with a sigh.

"By the way. Did you get your computer fixed?"

"Yes. But there isn't time to get the other two machines ready. And even if by some miracle I did get them ready, would four machines really make a difference?"

"Four is better than none, and right now, two is better than none. Try to get at least one more ready. In the meantime, Allison and I can revise the battle plans with the latest intelligence."

"All right, and thanks Kyle."

John returns to his room to work on the chips, but still finds his room claustrophobic. Checking with the guard to make sure all is clear, he decides to go outside to work on the chips.

Before diving into his work, John takes a moment to enjoy the morning sunshine. From his position he can see the clouds of dust in the sky over the remnants of downtown L. A., where Derek's main bunker is, and where he and Catherine arrived from 2009.

The nice thing about sitting outside was that he got to meet the various other fighters he hadn't met previously. John met people coming back who were on night patrols, and he met people going out to observation posts, maintaining lookout for HK's and roaming patrols of machines.

Before reprogramming the chips, John first did a scan looking for that viral application Catherine had warned him about. One of the two chips had that application. The other chip showed no signs of any of the reprogramming he had tried.

He sighs with disappointment that he hadn't thought of this before. His mind was so focused on the outcome, he hadn't thought of what Sky Net might do to prevent him or anyone from reprogramming the machines.

Focusing his mind on the present, John launches a utility, from the disc Catherine gave him, to remove the application from the chip. Following it he reran the utility for scanning a master chip and then rewrites all subsequent chips to match. Like before, this was going to take awhile.

As the computer began to finish scanning Alpha's chip, John thought it best to take the computer back inside to finish the reprogramming. He would have hated himself if anything were to happen now while outside. Like that HK returning or a patrol of machines.

John has a pleasant surprise when he walks back into his room. Allison had moved her bunk and her few belongings from her room into his. She even hung that banner up on the wall above their bunks, _"Congratulations to the Happy Couple."_

"Well this is a pleasant surprise. What brought this about?"

Allison turns around and gives John one of her heart melting smiles.

"With everyone knowing that we sleep together, it didn't make much sense to be using two rooms anymore. Especially when we are expecting more people here today and they'll need the space."

"But why two bunks? I was actually enjoying snuggling with you on a single bunk."

She slugs him igently n the shoulder. "Because I'm afraid one of us is going to fall off in the night. There is barely enough room for one."

"So that means you lay on me simply to avoid falling off." He says, sounding very serious.

"I do not lay on you." She says sounding almost indignant.

"Yes you do. Every night we've slept together starting in the desert hideaway, I've woken up with your head on my shoulder and your body draped over mine. I think it's kind of sweet."

"I didn't know. Should I put this other bunk back?"

"No. Now that it's here, it might as well stay." He replies, breaking into laughter.

"Then why did you . . . ?" She slugs him again, in the same spot, but this time laughing, realizing John was only giving her a hard time for fun.

"Enough joking, how long will it take to reprogram the chip?" She asks while John rubs the sore spot on his arm.

"Well the computer finished scanning Alpha's chip, and it's been rewriting the other chip for a few minutes only now. It should be finished by noon time."

"That means you got four hours to kill until it's finished."

"Yeah and this time I'm staying to keep an eye on it. What have you been up to?"

"Oh, after helping Kyle revise the battle plans, I spent some time with The Doc getting surgical training this time. He's quite pleased with my progress. After this coming battle, I'm going to resume my training full-time."

"Then you decides to move your things in with mine? Does that mean you've gotten over everyone knowing about us?"

"Yeah. A bit silly of me in retrospect, but I value my privacy highly." She looks at him and says impishly, "Speaking of being private, we're presently the only ones on this corridor and we have time to kill."

"Not this time. We've got no idea when Derek or those other soldiers will arrive. I'd hate to think we'd be right in the middle when they arrive, and Derek will probably want to see us."

Allison fakes a pout and playfully says, "Shucks!"

"Why don't we just sit here, and talk?" John sits on the edge of the bed and pats a spot beside him.

"What about?"

"Well, you know quite a bit about me and my family, tell me something of yours."

Allison slips onto the bed beside John and quietly places her hands on her lap.

"I don't know what to say. I was so young that I barely remember my family." Allison pauses, thinking.

"Of course the music. I always remember mom playing Chopin. She taught music after retiring from ballet when she had me. Every time I close my eyes and think of her, I hear Chopin. When she didn't play it on the piano, she danced to it."

"Go on." John says.

"I found mom's ballet slippers, several years later, when Derek took me back to the place where he found me. They were in the same closet she put me in to protect me from the blast."

Some tears trickles from her eyes.

"We found mom's remains and we buried her. I wish I could remember more. But when I hold her slippers or hear Chopin, I think of her. It's like she's with me again."

John puts an arm around her shoulders.

Wiping the tears from her eyes she says, "Anyway, Derek and Kyle are my family now. It really helped to have two older brothers to look after me, being a girl growing up after Judgment Day."

"How so?"

"The early years were horrifying, after Judgment Day. Groups of men and women banded together to loot, steal, rape and murder, even kidnap and enslave other humans. A girl, especially a virgin, had high value. She could be bartered for three months supply of food, or medical supplies, or guns, or most anything valued highly. Of course that didn't last long once machines in the masses started killing without prejudice. Few of these groups of people remain. They were some of the first to get wiped out by the terminators. Those that learned to fight and defend themselves against these barbarians are the people who formed the civilian-based resistance."

"Is that why you were distrusting of men for so long, because of these gangs?"

"No. I wouldn't say I was distrusting. Derek and Kyle looked after me very well. As I got older, I felt very deeply that there was someone in this world I was meant to be with. Now I have you and I know I was right."

She places a kiss on his stubbled cheek. John feels a mix of emotions rush through him, but manages to smile and give her a gentle squeeze in return.

"Anyway, enough about me tell me something more about your family." She adds more cheerfully. "Tell me about your mom."

Lying on their double bunk, John begins to tell her some stories about his mom, sister, their friend Charley and his Uncle 'Eric' all colored to reflect the false story he gave of his origins. He kept it truthful where it mattered with his relationships with them, but had to shade the facts about their lives. Thankfully, he spent a lot of years in Central America and could provide plenty of color to his false tales.

"Mom had to raise me on her own. My dad died before I was born. Our family had enemies and we were always on the run. Mom was a gun runner. I spent most of my life in Nicaragua, Guatemala, and the like A few years ago my mom took in Cameron who lived with us as a daughter to her and a sister to me. She was tough like you. We had friends as well. Charley helped us in tough times but then he died trying to protect me. My Uncle Eric, who was my father's brother, found us a short time after we took in Cameron. He helped us until the day a machine killed him. Mom was brave, the best fighter I know. But she was sad. She never got over the death of my dad. You know the rest, how we went on the run but by then it was too late."

"From what you found in the desert, do you think your mom might still be alive?"

"I don't know, Ally." John says sadly. "You see, mom was sick, and, well . . ."

Allison rolls over and looks at John, with tears in her eyes. "I'm so sorry that you lost your family, John. I think I would have liked them very much. Your mom is a remarkable person to have raised you on her own while at the same time smuggling weapons. I would have been proud to have known her."

"I think she would have loved you, too. She always longed for me to have a normal life. Our lives were always filled with so much tragedy, and we were always on the move. I think Mom would be very happy for me right now."

At that moment, John's computer began beeping signifying the chip was done.

"Ally, go set up the team we have another chip to test!" He says excitedly, quickly shedding his morose demeanor.

Allison jumps up and runs out of the room. John grabs the newly reprogrammed chip and Alpha's. He goes to the storage room and reinserts Alpha's chip.

"Hello John Connor."

"Hello Alpha. I've got some news. We are going to test one of your brothers. I will need your help."

"Will you destroy this one too?"

"I hope not Alpha. The other was a fluke. It rejected the reprogramming and it would have harmed or killed us."

This was odd John thinks, they usually didn't go for chit-chat.

"Will you please fetch one of the dormant machines and bring it to the same location as I had you take the others?"

"Yes, John Connor."

He gets up and walks out of the room. John hears a yell followed by gunfire out in the corridor. He runs out of the room, following Alpha.

A group of soldiers he hadn't seen before were firing their weapons at Alpha.

"Stop! Stop! He works for us. Stop Firing!" John yells over the noise.

The soldiers from the other camps had arrived. They didn't know about John's reprogramming project and were scared to death when Alpha came marching out of the Storage Room.

"What the friggin' hell is your problem?" John yells at the group.

"We just saw the machine and assumed . . . ."

"You assumed wrongly! This machine works for us. It will do no harm to any human!"

"But we just thought . . . ."

"Dammit you didn't think! Did you see anyone else here fire their weapons? Did anyone but you seem surprised by his presence?" John yells.

"Well, no." One of them says sheepishly.

"Then you've got no damn excuse then do you! Well do you?"

They all stood around shamed faced.

"All right then. Get your miserable collective ass down to the mess hall. Captain Kyle Reese is in command here and he will brief you on what you are supposed to do!"

They all quickly marched off down the hall.

"Who the hell is that?" One of them says.

"I don't know but if he isn't in charge and he's that tough, what the hell is Kyle Reese like?" was the reply.

John turns his attention to Alpha.

"Alpha. Did you sustain any damage?"

"No."

"Then carry out your orders."

"Yes sir."

I went back into the storage room and inserted Beta's chip.

"Hello John Connor."

"Hello Beta. I've given Alpha some orders. He is outside carrying them out. We will be testing another chip reprogramming today."

Beta wasn't chatty. He just stood there waiting for John to give him an order, making John wonder about the individuality of the various machines.

"We've got a new bunch of human fighters here who are not comfortable with the presence of machines. While they are here, I'd like you to come outside with me when I test the latest machine."

"Yes sir."

Connor grabs his tools and follows Beta outside.

Twenty minutes later, everyone is cheering as Connor's third machine passes its test, "Connor! Connor! Connor!"

John smiles and humbly accepts their cheers.

Allison sidles up beside him and whispers, "Have you seen what you've accomplished?"

"Yeah. I've got a third machine."

She playfully smacks the back of his head. "No. The people. Look at them. You've done more than successfully reprogrammed another machine. Just look."

So John does look. The men and women are joking and talking excitedly. Some are even talking to the machines. One of which warns a human that the firing pin on his gun is fractured making it unsafe.

"Your presence has galvanized them. You have given them something to be proud of." Allison continues.

John gives her a hand a gentle squeeze of thanks. _I guess Mom and Kyle were right. I was meant to be a leader, but I still don't want it._

"Okay everyone, settle down." John says.

"You will be designated as Gamma. That is the name you will respond to and provide when asked." He tells the machine. "Do you comply?"

"My name is Gamma. Your name is John Connor. I obey your orders."

_Oh great another chatty model_, he thinks.

"Let's wrap this up and take it inside." Allison orders in her best Sergeant's voice.

"You three, with me." John says to the machines.

They return to the bunker, going down through the hatch to find the place has been invaded by more resistance fighters.

"You guys, better wait in the storage room." John says to the three machines behind him.

Seeing Allison, who entered the hatch ahead of him with the squad, he gets her attention.

"What's going on?"

"Derek arrived while we were testing the machine. He's meeting with Kyle right now."

"And these other guys?"

"They're from Outpost Epsilon. They've heard about you and what you've done and have turned out in force to help. Do you know anyone there?"

"You're kidding. The only people I know, are here at Delta."

"That's curious. I wonder how they knew."

John was mulling over how he could have become known outside of Delta, when he notices one of the new guys pushing through the crowd.

"Hey. Are you that Connor fellow we've been hearing about?"

John nods his head. "Yeah, I am. Who . . ."

"Are you serious about reprogramming these machines to help us?" The man interrupts.

"Yes I am." John says not liking the man's attitude.

"Are you crazy? Don't you realize how deadly these things are?"

John's eyes grow icy cold and growls, "I am well aware at how deadly they are. More than you can imagine. I've been chased by these things. I've been shot at, strangled and abused. I have seen these things up close. They've killed my friends and family. They carry death with them wherever they go, and now they will carry it for us."

John walks away brushing his shoulder against the man, knocking him back.

The man starts to go after him when Allison orders. "Stand down Corporal! You've said your piece, so don't push it."

"And who might you be, missy?" He says derisively.

Allison walks right up to him. "I am Staff Sergeant Allison Young. Second in command at Delta. Unless you want to face disciplinary action, I suggest, you take your opinions and your attitude outside and leave them there. We've got a battle coming and this is not the time nor the place to start picking fights with each other. Do I make myself clear, corporal?"

"Yes ma'am." He says submissively and backs off.

Allison watches him leave with a barely suppressed grin of satisfaction.

"Sergeant!" Someone calls out from behind her.

She turns to see one of the many young soldiers of Delta approaching.

"What is it private?"

"Colonel Reese and Captain Reese wishes to see Private Connor. If you are headed in his direction."

"Yes. I am." she says nicely.

"Tell Connor I think it's fantastic, him reprogramming these machines. I never thought it was possible." He says hurriedly before leaving.

She walks down the corridor to return to their room. John's been through a lot recently and it looks like they'll be going into battle real soon. She isn't certain if he'll be ready for a battle. In fact, she's not feeling too confidant herself, not now that she has John.

As she walks down the corridor, her friend joins her.

"I'm sorry I got upset with you before." Allison apologizes, "You were right in that I was over reacting, but this situation with John is all so new to me. We've got this battle coming and I worry about him."

"I'm sorry too. You were right that I didn't consider your feelings and I should have. Don't worry about John. Stick to your training, listen to your instincts, don't let John out of your sight and you'll be fine."

"I'm going to need your help."

"And you'll have it when needed. This is John's first real test in battle. I'm not going to let anything happen to him. He has a task he must complete and, with our help, he now knows enough to get started."

"And what will we do when he does get started?"

"You'll have to lighten his load. Help him with his other tasks. I have aspirations for him, as well as you."

"Our wanting him to be an officer."

"Yes. And if he achieves that honor, then your role as his friend, lover and confidant will become even more important."

Allison pauses outside the door to the room she shares with John. She can hear him inside typing away at his computer.

"He hasn't completely taken me into his confidence." Allison tells her friend. "There are still things about his past he lies about. That he puts into his journal with complete honesty."

"I know." Her friend says. "He's only trying to protect himself. He'll tell you in time."

Allison pushes open the door and gazes upon John, who looks up from his computer and smiles at her. For the briefest moment, more is said in that exchange of looks between them, then in all the previous conversations they've had.

Allison approaches John, closing the door behind her. John is almost mesmerized by the way she is looking at him, like a deer in the headlights. She walks up to him, and kisses him, with all the love and desire within her.

"Wow!" John says when she stops. "I think that is the best kiss I've ever had. What did I do to deserve that?"

Ally looks at him. "Just for being you and because I love you."

She runs a hand gently along his face and kisses him lightly again before saying, "Derek and Kyle want to see you."

"Now?" He says, sounding disappointed.

"Yes, now."

"Aww, man." John says getting up readjusting himself. "Don't do things like that. I'm saluting and I haven't even got my hand up."

Allison laughs.

"You've got a wicked sense of humor Ally." John says with a chuckle, as he walks out of the room. Leaving her with big smile and feeling of pride and love for John.

After he leaves, she glances at his computer and sees he has updated his journal and has closed the file. He uses an encryption algorithm to protect it, but it's nothing compared to her skills.

**2027, Day 24, Afternoon**

Derek and Kyle have been talking with John.

"So," Derek finishes, "That's how things stand at the factory. You're a little too green, in my opinion, but based on what you've done so far, I think you can handle yourself in a fight."

"Thanks." John says. So far Derek has given him a complete rundown on all of his observations of the factory and has been curious as to why he's been called in to see him.

"Also," Derek exchanges a look with Kyle, "The Doc has seen fit to keep Kyle out of tonight's battle. As head of this outpost, he would lead Delta's forces, but he has recommended you to take his place."

"Me?" John says with surprise. "Wouldn't Allison be more qualified?"

"That was my reaction." Derek says dryly, giving Kyle a look.

He was going to surprise Allison by making her temporary appointment as captain, permanent so that Kyle could join him on the inner council, but no his brother couldn't take the hint.

"John," Kyle interjects, "I've seen what you've done and how the people at this base respond to you. I think you can do it."

"Because you are not used to command, I'll be lending you two of my better officers." Derek adds.

"Uh, um, thanks." John stammers. "Will the lieutenants take orders from me? I was only inducted a short time ago and still hold a privates rank."

Derek frowns.

"He might have a point there Derek." Kyle says. "He may have a reputation amongst the troops, but that doesn't give him authority over officers."

Derek looks at his brother for a moment. They exchange a look, having a silent conversation. Apparently echoing a conversation they had prior to John's involvement.

"All right Connor, for the purpose of this mission I'll grant you the temporary title of Captain. If we succeed, maybe I'll consider letting you keep that title."

" I'm, uh, . . ." John is speechless. _This can't be happening to me. I don't need this. I only want to contribute enough and fix Cameron. How can I do that if I'm an officer? But the assignment is temporary. However, if the assignment becomes permanent, then I might have more time to prepare Cameron's chips._

Derek and Kyle grin, during John's long pause, as he thinks of what to say. As John mentally comes to a decision, his face becomes resolute.

John eventually finds his voice and blurts, "Thanks. So Sky Net is pushing into the region."

"More patrols by metal, and aerial recognizance by the HK's. I plan on taking the factory tonight while conditions are good."

John nods his head.

"Kyle showed me the various battle plans the two of you have worked up. I must say I'm impressed with how well you grasp battle planning."

"Thanks, but I couldn't have done it without Kyle's help or your intelligence reports."

"Don't listen him to Derek. He's just being modest again. Most of those plans were his ideas. I only provided him with local knowledge and my experience with fighting machines."

"Whatever, the two of you have come up with some good plans. I like your idea of using the old metro tunnel, and dividing our forces into two groups. I'll lead the main force over ground and attack from the north side from behind the ridge. We will be hidden by the hills behind the factory right up until we attack. You will lead the second group through the tunnels and attack from the south."

"How are you going to coordinate the attack?"

"When my group is in position, I'll fire a green flare. You should have plenty of time to get your forces situated. When you see a red flare, that means to begin your attack. Your group will draw as many machines as possible out of the factory so my forces can get inside and secure the building."

"How will I know you've done that?"

"We'll attack the metal with their own plasma rifles from inside the factory."

"My group will be made up of the slightly more experience fighters, as we will be going over ground and their experience will be needed on the surface. I suggest you split your group into three smaller units. You take lead on one group and put the lieutenants in charge of the other two groups."

"Now if you'll come with me I'd better introduce you to your lieutenants and the additional troops you'll be leading."

As John walks out of Kyle's office with Derek, he looks over at him. Instead of a look of jealousy or envy, he smiles and gives him a thumb up. Kyle Reese was proud of John. He wished his mom was here to see this.

Allison was waiting in the corridor, when she saw Derek and John leave and walk away from her. She quickly walks up to Kyle's room, knocks and then enters.

"Did you do it?" she asks before Kyle could utter a word.

With a smile at her enthusiasm, he says. "Yes, and after much persuasion, Derek has relented. John will be given command of Delta's forces in the attack and for the purpose of the mission, a temporary rank of Captain."

"Thank you!" she says giving Kyle a big hug.

"Hey," He says when she stops hugging him, "John has earned my respect and that of this outpost, but he requires more seasoning."

"What do you want me to do?"

"John's orders are to divide his force in three units, with him taking command of one of them. I want you on his unit. Watch him, keep him out of trouble." He says with concern.

"I was going to, out of purely selfish reasons, but why do you want me to?" She asks with concern.

"Because something about this battle doesn't sit well with me. My head says Derek's reasons are sound for going after this factory, and even the plan is good, but my gut says something isn't right."

Allison sees his worried face.

"Kyle, what aren't you telling me?" She asks, sounding worried.

Kyle looks at her, deep with worry. "He swore me to secrecy, but Derek has made arrangements for me to take command if something happens to him. This is the first time he has done this. If something does go wrong, I'm going to need your help and John's. So you've got to make sure both of you come out alive."

"Derek isn't reckless. I'm sure he'll be fine." She says to reassure Kyle.

"I know my brother. After these many years at war, you begin to get a feeling. Just like I had with you."

"What about me?" She asks, with wide-open eyes.

"I had a feeling about you and John. The moment you cast your eyes on him, you were like a different person. Right now my gut is saying something is wrong about this battle."

"Don't think about it, or you are just going to make yourself sick with worry."

"Yeah I know. Let me update you on the final plan and then you can join the others."

**2027, Day 24, after sunset**

\:Factory Surveillance to Sky Net Command . . .

\:There is an increase of human activity north of Factory at quadrant 0100101101011001 . . .

A shadow leans forward watching the monitor.

\:Sky Net Command . . . proceed with operation . . . capture sample for interrogation and enslavement. . . terminate all others.

# # #

Derek runs through the rubble and scrub brush with his team to catch up with his company that has been assembling since the other day. There will be no time for rest once he joins them. He's determined to take that factory and there is nothing that's going to stop him.

Underground, and some miles away from Derek and his company of soldiers, John and his company are working their way through the old metro tunnels

A loud crash comes from ahead as the machines, Alpha, Beta and Gamma, clear away any debris that could impede the path of the small company of soldiers behind him.

With a signal from the machines, John orders his group to follow. If it weren't for the machines, they would still be climbing over the first obstacle.

Derek joins up with his command and orders them to follow him. They make their way through tortuous narrow ravines, that were scouted out previously. The best way to get up behind the ridge north of the factory, from there it will be a nice gentle slope down, with just that unusual structure between them and the factory.

John arrives at the service entrance right where Frank and Jo had told him it would be.

"You should send someone up to take a look." Allison suggests

"I'll do it myself." John replies and quickly scrambles up the steps with Frank and Allison on his heels.

John reaches the top to find the entrance partially blocked, but passable. He's is quickly joined by Frank and Allison.

"This is perfect." Allison whispers. "The rubble will shield everyone from view as they exit."

"The entrance is hidden from sight, probably why the machines haven't blocked it or put a guard on it." Frank says. "They didn't know it was here."

"We'd better get people up here. Derek could be in position at any time." Allison adds.

John leans over the opening and whispers loudly. "Send the machines up first, then everyone else get up here as fast as you can." The word got passed along and moments later the three machines were standing next to John and the others, armed with 12 gauge shotguns with shells filled with depleted uranium, and M-16 automatic rifles, ready to defend them if they had to make a quick retreat.

From behind the ridge, Derek stares through his binoculars at the factory below.

A soldier slinks up quietly beside him and whispers, "Everyone is in position and ready to go on your order."

Derek nods his head, then realizes he probably can't see him in this light.

"Okay. Hand me the flare gun." Derek orders.

John sits quietly, watching the night sky to the north of the factory. There was no moon in the sky. All he had to see by was starlight. The first signal would indicate that Derek and his troops were in position and were engaging the enemy. The second signal would indicate for John to engage the enemy.

Behind him he could hear the soldiers coming up the ladder. A quick glance over his shoulder sees them fanning out and staying low.

Keeping low to the ground, Derek's forces ran down the hill toward the factory. Making use of the structure between them and the factory to hide their approach.

Halfway down the slope, Derek fires off the green flare and according to plan, everyone immediately changes direction they are running as the light gives away their position.

John waited for what felt like hours, but it was only minutes before he saw the green flare go shooting up into the sky.

"All right, the rest of you come up as quickly and as quietly as you can and stay low." John orders.

John's mind kept filling with doubts and fears as he kept trying to concentrate on the plan for the coming attack. Once it begins, there wouldn't be any need for ranks, they'd either be victorious or dead and rank means little when you are fighting for your life.

Allison joins him after checking on the soldiers.

"How is everyone? Are they all ready?"

"As ready as can be expected." She says.

She studies John's posture and tone of voice and asks, "Are you nervous?"

"Is it obvious?"

"No. It's just this mission is bigger than retrieving weapons from the desert. It's the biggest mission I've been involved with and I'm nervous."

John smiles at her in the dark. "Well, I am nervous. My stomach is twisting in knots and I feel like I could throw up. I just keep reciting what my mom said for me to do in this situation, 'Keep your head down. Make every shot count. Above all else, do not get killed in the process. There is only one John Connor.'"

Allison smiles, pleased that John would think of his mom at this time. He has said previously that she is the best fighter he knows.

"By the way, your nervousness doesn't show. You look so calm, standing there. Your mom's advice is very good. May I offer you some advice?"

"Of course." John answers.

"Until we close the distance and can aim the shotguns with greater accuracy to destroy the chips in their heads, we have to rely on our M-16's. Aim for shoulder and hip joints. Destroying or damaging those joints will make it more difficult for the machines to move and aim accurately."

"Thanks. Take care of yourself." He says looking at her with great concern.

"You too." She smiles back, somehow looking both confident and worried at the same time.

Derek and his forces have almost reached the bottom of the slope when plasma fire from inside the factory erupts all around them. Some just clears their heads as they dive to the ground, while the slower ones are struck and killed or severely injured.

"Quick take shelter behind the building." Derek orders, but as they run for the building behind the factory, something happens.

With a rumble, the building shifts. Camouflage steel plates fall off as what they thought was a building unfolds.

"What the fuck?" Derek shouts, as the last remnants of the camouflage falls away revealing a ten story mechanical behemoth.

Upon reaching its full height, it immediately fires its plasma canon incinerating those still on the slope.

"Call it off! Retreat!" Derek shouts as they try to back away.

Grabbing a passing soldier, Derek yells at him. "Go around and warn the other group!"

The soldier nods his head and runs. A plasma canon on the machine opens fire incinerating him instantly just before he'd clear the corner of the building.

"Retreat! Full Retreat!" Derek yells and does the only thing he can think of to give his people more time.

Loading the red flare, he takes aim at the optics on monsters head and fires. As he pulls the trigger, he sees out of the corner of his eye, Jo staring at the ridge from which they came.

John sees a red flare shoot up into the sky at an irregular trajectory. This is it.

Secrecy is no longer required. The sounds of gunfire and yelling already reaching them from the other side of the factory.

"Stay Low! Move forward!" John orders, "And follow me!"

With a quite roar and clatter of equipment, Connor and his company of soldiers move toward the factory.

The flare does nothing to impede the vision of the machine as a series of short burst plasma beams are fired at Derek's army in full retreat up the hill. In blast after blast, over half his army is incinerated, the rest screaming in agony from the burns as they caught the outer edge of the blast.

"Sir!" Jo yells, pointing at the ridge.

Derek looks and can't see anything until he notices the stars are disappearing. But then they begin to reappear and he realizes, there is something in the sky, above the ridge. And as he continues to watch in disbelief, nearly a hundred machines come over the ridge, ready to open fire on him and everyone else still standing.

Derek grabs Jo and runs, but a blast from the monster's plasma canon strikes the ground in front of them throwing up yards of dirt and rock and knocking the two of them to the ground. There is nowhere to run and from the other side of the factory Derek can hear the sounds of battle.

Lieutenant Miccchaels was right. Derek thinks. Sky Net knew what they were planning. It knew all the time, and everyone will be dead because he didn't listen.

"Sir!" Jo shouts "What do you want us to do?"

Derek looks up, and in the light from the factory, can see what looks like hatches opening in the craft hovering silently in the air above him. Behind him, its canon pointed right at him and the group of soldiers who have gathered around him, is the behemoth. There is nowhere to go and nothing they can do.

"Sir!" Jo shouts again, making Derek look at her. "What do you want us to do?"

"Surrender." He says with resignation.

"What?" Jo shouts with disbelief.

"Surrender." He says, dropping his weapon on the ground.

Moments later, he and his troops are cast in a deep shadow. Derek suddenly feels himself lifted in the air.

# # #

\:Surveillance to Sky Net Command . . .

\:Additional forces moving on factory . . . from the south . . .

\:Sky Net Command to Collector and Transport . . . Collect targeted humans . . . leave immediately . . . head north

\:Sky Net Command to Ground Troops . . .

\:Reroute to attack human resistance forces south of factory. . .

\:Terminate . . . all of them . . .


	15. They Carry Death

**Disclaimer:** I do not claim any rights to the Terminator films; the TV series, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles;" or any characters depicted within the films or TV series. I do claim the right to this story idea and all characters and situations of my own creation. This story was created solely for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. No profits are garnered from its distribution - unfortunately.

* * *

**TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES**

**REUNION**

**Part 1: The Shadow of Death**

**Author: The1Russter**

**Chapter 14**

**They Carry Death**

_Derek, "They're dead because some people refuse to accept the reality of the situation."_

_John, "Which is what?"_

_Derek, "That they carry death . . . with them."_

_Excerpt from, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Season 2, Episode 1, "Samson and Delilah," September 8, 2008._

"_Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped and battle hardened. He will fight savagely." General Dwight Eisenhower - 6th June 1944_

"_Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory there is no survival." Winston Churchill_

# # #

_From the Journal of John Connor_

_Everything I've been told and everything I've been taught could never fully prepare me for the horrors of war. The constant sound of gunfire, explosions, men and women screaming in anger, fear, pain, and even death._

_You are in a constant fight with your own body which wants to run and hide, pushed by the adrenalin rushing through your body. Despite the adrenalin and the noise you try to keep a level head and hold to your training. You just keep fighting and in the end it never feels like you did enough. You always feel like there was something more or something different you could have done, but in the end you realize, there was nothing more, nothing different you could have done to change the outcome._

_So many dead and so few alive at the end of the battle. You never forget. Unless you are there, you can never understand what it is like. William T. Sherman, a Union General during the American Civil War is credited as saying, "War is Hell." For those of us who have been in battle, we can only say, we do hell an injustice. War is far worse._

_In the end, the battle we fought this night was considered a victory because the objective was obtained. But victory has its price and that price is in human lives and the human spirit._

**2027, Day 25 after midnight**

Not knowing of the defeat of Derek's forces to the north of the factory, John Connor continues to lead his troops in the attack.

Presently, they are taking shelter amongst the rubble unable to return fire at the machines outside the factory as a constant horizontal spray of plasma beams cut through the air over their heads. The ones foolish enough to raise their heads above the rubble quickly find them blown off.

John is shaking and cowering with fear wondering how the hell they can do anything with the constant fire over their heads. He finds little conciliation in that the veteran fighters with him are shaking just as bad as he is.

A soldier crawls forward on his belly, pushing his face and body into the ground with every scream of a plasma shot going overhead, until he reaches Connor.

"Captain. What do you want us to do?" The soldier asks ducking his head involuntarily as more plasma fire goes over head.

Mentally, John curses himself for getting put in this position of authority. Right now, he'd love nothing more than to be the guy crawling on his belly to ask someone else that question.

"Captain?" Another soldier asks.

"Shit! I guess it's up to me." John grumbles. Thinking quickly, he puts a plan into action. One of many he learned from his Uncle Derek, before he moved out to be with Jesse.

"Alpha, Beta, Gamma!" John shouts. "Grab the mini guns and move forward side-by side. You will act as a shield. Group A follow behind me with grenade launchers fire on . . ."

John's words are drowned out by an explosion and a yell as a plasma beam strikes a box of ammo causing it to explode taking at least one unfortunate soldier with it.

". . . fire on the enemy. Group B, provide covering fire. Group C, watch our six."

"Alpha, Beta Gamma, move out! Now!"

John's three tin men rise up from their positions, and immediately receive fire from the plasma weapons which bounces off their hyper-alloy combat chassis's. Reports of minor damage begin to appear on their HUD's. Holding the mini-guns out in front of them, they walk side by side firing on the machines at the factory.

"Group B, get in position! Follow us in five. Group A! With Me Now!" John shouts.

John jumps up and follows the machines hoping beyond hope Group A is right behind him.

As his group moves forward, he can hear Group B open fire with their M-16's. Occasionally he hears the loud report of an M-82.

Streaks of plasma beams fire around the men and the machines advancing on the factory.

"We're getting close. Prepare to fire."

The report of several grenade launchers is made and ahead of their group are several explosions.

The loud boom of an artillery gun makes the platoon drop for cover. A shell explodes nearby, showering them with earth and rock.

"Son of a bitch! They've got artillery." A soldier shouts.

"Did anyone see where that shot came from?" John asks.

A series of shells fall near them exploding, making everyone's ears ring and covering them all with dirt.

Spitting out dirt someone says, "We either need to move or destroy that gun. One more bombardment and they'll have us."

"Gamma, can you see that artillery gun?" John asks.

"There." He says pointing to his right. "Under an overhang three hundred yards to our right."

"Allison!" John shouts repeatedly turning his head about looking for her.

"What is it?" She yells, coming up beside him, dirt in her hair and on her face.

"Get Group B to come forward right now with the RPG's. I want that artillery gun taken out. Tell Group C to move up to B's position, provide covering fire and to keep watching our rear."

She hesitates a moment, but runs back to Group B keeping low. As much as she wants to stay and protect him, he's given her an order, and at present he outranks her and that's all her fault.

The machines scan the field in front of them as they fire their plasma rifles. Heat traces show on their HUD's as the humans move keeping below the mounds of rubble. Sporadic automatic weapon gun fire peppers the machines as the humans return fire. The grenades do no damage to the machines unless they receive a direct hit. The machine's orders are clear, contain the humans until reinforcements have them surrounded. They continue to fire their plasma weapons at the group of human fighters and watch as a figure moves away.

The loud report of heavy machine gun fire comes from behind John and his team. In moments John and his crew are joined by Allison and others carrying RPG's.

The scream of falling shells quickly forces them all to take cover as the shells explode around them.

Allison gets up, spitting dirt out of her mouth and ignoring the loose hair hanging in front of her face.

"What now?"

"Allison, stay here coordinate fire between Groups B and C." Turning to the officer in charge of Group B, he adds, "Lieutenant, take out that artillery piece. I'm taking Group A to that factory. Gamma, stay with Allison."

"John!" Allison says with stern demeanor. "You don't have to protect me."

"I'm not protecting you. I just need someone here I can rely on to relay communications." John snaps.

Allison nods her head.

"Morse code, flashlight. Watch me." John says to her, and quickly checks his light to make sure its still working.

"All right everyone, lets move it." John orders "Don't fire until the enemy metal are in range. Let's go."

John and his group run full out for a shell hole between bombardments. Allison kneels down and pulls out the M-82. Putting her eye to the scope, she watches John and his group move forward.

Hearing the scream of another shell, they dive into the hole. After the explosion, they pop their heads up to look around, like a bunch of prairie dogs from their burrows.

Additional flashes to their left signify more artillery fire.

"Shit! There's more than one gun!" Someone exclaims.

They quickly duck back down and wait for the shells to finish exploding.

John turns his attention to the machines. "Can either of you do anything to take out that other artillery piece?"

"Current weapons are insufficient." Alpha explains.

"Here." John shouts pulling a package of C4 and a detonator out of his bag and throwing it to him.

Alpha takes off running toward one side of the factory carrying the explosives.

"Frank! Give him covering fire."

"But it's a machine!"

"Dammit! Just do it! His survival means our survival!"

Frank raises his M-16 and begins firing off rounds.

"Everyone! Do it now!" John orders.

Alpha runs across the open field of battle. Going around, over and between broken concrete walls and over the rough ground with the C4 in hand. Behind him, Frank and the others fire at the machines from the factory.

Allison watches through the scope on her M82. She sees John and his team hunkered down in a shell hole. She pans the rifle around and can see Alpha making for something in the distance. She continues panning her rifle and sees machines operating another artillery gun.

She squeezes off a shot, disabling a machine that had Alpha in its sites.

"Why artillery and not an HK tank? Something about this isn't right." She says to herself. "A single Ogre could wipe us all out."

Taking careful aim, she squeezes off another shot taking down a machine that was targeting Group A. Moving quickly, she finds another location. From her position she begins targeting machines outside the factory wall.

The loud report of the M-82 can be heard behind him as John once again checks on progress. Alpha is struck repeatedly in the chest, shoulders or hips by plasma rounds, but keeps moving.

More shells come whistling in and John ducks for cover. He wonders to himself why aren't they making direct hits. It's like they are trying to keep them contained.

John and those with him cover their heads and ears as rocks and debris land all around them.

Alpha runs toward the artillery gun. Five machines are there, two fire plasma weapons at him. HUD reports system integrity down 20%. Speed is down by 15%. Power cell is intact, but one more direct hit to his breast plate will puncture it and rupture the fuel cell.

Pulling the tag to activate the receiver on the C4, Alpha runs for the gun emplacement. Flipping the switch cover open on the detonator he leaps in the air diving into the group of machines.

John looks up just in time to see Alpha dive behind the structure encasing the gun. With a mighty roar, the place erupts into a giant fireball. Pieces of machines and the artillery gun fly into the air encased in a mighty fireball.

As he takes cover from the metal fragments John wonders how Derek is doing, shouldn't he be entering the factory about now? Derek must have encountered delays. If he has, then he needs to do more to draw out the enemy's fire to make Derek's job easier.

John pulses his flashlight at Allison letting her know his next move. He waits for her confirmation and then gives his orders.

"Attack!" John shouts. "Spread out! We're too easy a target all grouped together."

"Beta! Provide cover!"

The mini guns erupt as John and his team run forward keeping low, firing when opportunity comes.

Progress is slow and hard.

From his right, John hears the loud reports of multiple rocket grenades exploding. So far they weren't having any luck as shells continued to land in the field of battle.

Ahead of him, John can see the factory, still one hundred and fifty yards away. It had taken him over an hour to fight across fifty yards under plasma fire and artillery shells.

Wiping the dirt and sweat from his eyes, John raises his rifle to aim at a machine that had just come into view. He just squeezes off a burst of rounds at its head, when he hears gunfire from behind.

There is a loud explosion to his right signifying the destruction of the artillery gun, but no further gunfire from that quadrant follows.

John drops down for cover. Allison pulses her flashlight at him. Artillery gun is gone. So is Group B. He pulses his light at her to gather as many able bodies including Group C and join him on the advance.

Movement in the distance catches his attention. He feels his heart drop to the pit of his stomach. In the light of the fires, set by the exploding shells, John sees machines have encircled his small army and are now moving in, to attack from behind. Above him, the air begins to fill with plasma fire from front and rear.

**2027, Day 25, Two Hours Previously**

Kyle is pacing nervously in the corridor outside his room. He tried to do it inside his office, but despite being twice as large as the standard rooms, it still wasn't big enough for pacing.

So there he was, walking up and down the corridor, his crutches abandoned, listening to the faint rumbles transferred through the earth from the battle several miles away.

He was on his return journey when a soldier comes running up to him.

"Sir! There's something you've got to see."

"What is it Hawkins?" Kyle says with a frown. "I haven't got time for games."

"Please Captain, I think you need to come outside and see this." Hawkins says with some urgency.

Kyle swears. "All right, let's go. Not like I've got lots to do anyway."

Though reluctant to do so, Kyle follows the corporal outside, where a surprising sight meets his eyes. What must be eighty men and almost one-half times as many machines, all Ken's.

Out of the group, a gorgeous redhead female walks forward in a meticulous uniform, behind her, an equally well dressed soldier, a whole head taller than Kyle, marches forward with something like a childlike grin on his face.

"Captain Kyle Reese, I believe?" The womans asks. Not waiting for him to answer, she keeps talking. "My name is Catherine Weaver, this is my associate John Henry. We are friends of John Connor."

"He hasn't mentioned you before."

"No, he wouldn't. He had to keep our presence secret until we completed the mission he brought us here to perform."

"Which is what? And where'd you get these machines?"

"That was part of our mission. They are all reprogrammed using the directives John Connor created. I can tell you that more are on the way. The resistance army currently attacking the factory is heavily outnumbered. I have brought more troops and these machines to help. You need to lead us to that factory. If we do not leave now, everyone at that factory will be killed."

"Hold on a damn minute! How do I know I can even trust you?"

"John Henry." Weaver holds out her hand.

He places a portable computer in her hand similar in size and shape to a present day Blackberry.

"John Henry intercepted this Sky Net transmission. I think it says it all."

Kyle looks at the text on the screen.

\:Sky Net Command to Ground Troops . . .

\:Reroute to attack human resistance forces south of factory. . .

\:Terminate . . . all of them . . .

Kyle hands it back to her, grim faced. His gut was right all along about the battle.

"Corporal Hawkins," Kyle orders, "give me your weapon and gear. You're in command until I return."

Hawkins hands Kyle his rifle and the satchel of extra magazines.

As he marches off, Kyle shouts, "And make sure those showers are operational by the time I return!"

# # #

Allison and what other resistance fighters she could find come dashing up in a straggly line hitting the ground once they join Connor and his few remaining troops.

"Did you see?" She gasps gesturing behind her.

"I saw." Johns says. "We're surrounded."

"What?" Someone shouts.

"It's true." A soldier from Group C says, wiping some blood from his face. "Must be a hundred of them."

He looks at Connor and adds, "They're between us and the tunnel entrance, sir."

Nearby a soldier shakes and cries, listening to what is being said.

"I'm not too proud to surrender." Frank says.

"They'd kill you on sight." Allison says. "You know that."

"Perhaps if we showed them, we meant no harm." The crying soldier says.

"Surrender isn't an option." Allison says to the soldier. Turning to look at John her brave face changing to one of worry. "What are our options?"

Behind her, the crying soldier has undone his gear and has dropped his gun.

"We've got to keep fighting until Derek occupies that factory."

The soldier, free of his gear, scrambles quickly up the side of the shell hole.

"Hey! Stop him!" Frank shouts as the crying soldier leaps and runs toward the factory unarmed.

"I surrender! I surrender!" He keeps yelling over and over, waving his arms in the air.

The HUD's on several machines activate scanning the human approaching them.

**Weapons:** None.

The soldier stands yards away from the machines. "I surrender. Please, don't hurt me."

**Threat Assessment:** Zero

"I have a wife and daughter."

**Identify:** Human, unknown

"I just want to go home to them."

**Command:** Terminate

"Please. I won't fight you anymore."

As one, a dozen machines aim their plasma rifles at him and open fire on the soldier. In seconds, a charred corpse falls to the ground.

Back in the shell hole John says sarcastically, "So does anyone else want to surrender?"

No one answers.

"I didn't think so. So if we are going to die, then we might as well die doing what we came here to do."

"What are you planning, John?" Allison asks with concern.

"The advantage of our surprise is gone, but we've got another. Thanks to the enemy artillery, we've got all these shell holes to use as shelters."

"Which means?"

"Derek wants that factory. I aim to take it." John slaps a fresh magazine into his M-16. "We advance in three minutes. Get ready to move out."

Allison just looks at John with a mixture of fear, love and pride. She just prays that they'll get through this, for everyone's sake.

# # #

An army of men and machines are led across the ruins of Los Angeles toward the factory where John and the other resistance soldiers fight valiantly.

"You keep looking at the sky, Kyle Reese." Catherine Weaver says. "Why?"

"There are no aerial Hunter Killers." Kyle says with a grimace. "Sky Net knows we are attacking that factory. So where are the HK's? They've been observed in the area for days and now they're gone!"

Catherine Weaver grins and shares a look with John Henry.

"You two know something, don't you?" Kyle says sharply.

Catherine nods her head at John Henry who then explains.

"I inserted a worm into their command codes recalling all HK's, both tanks and aerial, in the area back to their base. They will be grounded until the worm is removed."

"How did you do that?"

John Henry grins. "It was quite easy, but I won't be able to do that again, right away. As soon as Sky Net removes the worm, it will change the encryption for the command codes. It will take time to find the new encryption key."

A few minutes later and they clear some partially collapsed buildings.

"Hold." Kyle orders as they reach the foot of a huge mound of rubble approximately two stories high.

From behind the rubble, the sound of the battle has gotten much louder.

"As soon as we climb this pile of rubble. We'll see the factory and the fight." Kyle explains to John Henry and Catherine Weaver.

"How did this pile get here?" Weaver asks, observing it. "It appears to stretch on for several hundred yards."

"Constructed in the early days of the war as an obstruction to the T-1's. Then the aerial HK's appeared and nowhere on the surface was safe." Kyle explains.

John Henry, Kyle and Catherine climb to the top of the rubble, followed by their army.

The sight they see makes Kyle feel sick. What is happening is a damn slaughter. The field of battle before them is filled with machines firing their weapons while marching over the dead bodies of his former comrades. In the far distance, he can see a small party of humans advancing on the factory that is being defended by more machines. Kyle's worse fears are true.

# # #

:\Ground troops to Sky Net command . . . Humans are contained but are still fighting back.

:\Sky Net Command to Ground troops . . . proceed with termination.

A loud explosion causes the HUD on the machine to go snowy and then it collapses. The exploding grenade severed the power connections for its CPU.

Immediately upon firing grenades from launchers, John's forces make a valiant effort to attack the machines still outside the factory.

Holding back, Allison provides cover with her M82. Aiming for the primary chip port in their heads, she takes out as many machines as she can until she runs out of ammo. Grabbing her M-16, Allison quickly rejoins the others.

The troops fire on the machines with their automatic rifles, trying to aim for the heads. The air is filled with the exchange of bullets and plasma rounds as the humans advance on the factory.

Dropping into a shell hole, John removes the empty magazine from his rifle to load it with a new one. He takes a moment to gather his thoughts. Carefully raising his head to look. John sees Allison moving quickly, ducking and firing her weapon. Kyle was right, she is the best on the battlefield as nearly every shot fired hit its mark.

# # #

:\Surveillance to Sky Net Command . . . Four Rogue machines have been detected amongst the human army attacking factory . . .

:\Sky Net Command to Surveillance . . . What is their current status?

:\Three destroyed . . . all T-888's.

:\Status on the fourth machine?

:\Unknown . . .

:\What model is it?

:\. . . undetermined.

:\WHY?

:\Model does not appear in any database . . .

"Show me video confirmation of this unit." A voice says from the shadows.

:\ . . . ?

:\Sky Net Command to Surveillance, proceed with request.

A blurred image of an infrared video appears on the monitor captured from one of the many machines at the factory. A small figure moves quickly using every bit of cover. At any time it's features might be seen, it immediately fires on the machine observing it and the video ends.

:\Track its transmissions . . .

:\Unit is not transmitting . . .

"Locate and destroy it." The voice says.

:\Sky Net Command to ground troops . . . A rogue unit is operational in attack on the factory. Destroy it. Sky Net Directive 001B. Any and all machines not responding to commands or takes hostile actions against other machines or Sky Net itself is to be destroyed.

# # #

Explosions started going off all around the shell hole John is in.

"I think they've got claymores." Frank says.

"Either that or they got another artillery gun. Where's Beta and Gamma?"

"I think Beta was destroyed." Frank says. "He got hit by a shell and went down, I haven't seen him since."

There is a scurry of rushing feet and suddenly more soldiers land in the hole with John and the others.

"What the hell?" John curses as several of them land on him.

"Well," Allison says, with a grin, "I thought I might find you here."

"Yeah. I saved a spot and kept it warm just for you." John jokes. "Have you seen Gamma?"

"Yes." Allison says. "He held off a group of machines so we could get away. He didn't make it."

Some more shells land nearby.

She looks at him with worry. "I don't think we're going to make it. Derek should have taken that factory by now and should be already providing cover for us. Something must have gone wrong."

"How close are we to that factory?"

Frank sticks his head up and drops back quickly.

"There is a door, approximately one-hundred yards to our left. It is open and guarded."

"Of course it's guarded! The whole damn place is guarded!" Someone shouts. "We're all going to die!"

"Get yourself under control private." Allison snaps, slapping the soldier across the face.

"Yes we probably all will die, soldier, but I'd rather die doing my job then sitting in this hole waiting for the machines to kill me where I lay." John spits out. "What's our weapon's status?"

At that moment, a machine looks over the edge of the hole startling the people inside who begin to open fire.

"Hold your fire! Hold your fire!" John yells. "It's Beta!" He had seen the mark he had made on its metal forehead just moments after they began firing.

The machine drags itself over the edge and tumbles down to the bottom of the hole dragging a bag with it. He's missing both of his lower legs and his entire right arm. There is a hole in his head where his left eye should be.

"No need to ask for a function report on you, is there?" John says looking at Beta.

"I . . . brought . . . you . . . something." Beta says, its speech processor acting sluggish.

"What's in the bag?" John asks.

Beta had dragged with him one of the many bags that the soldiers used to carry extra ammo and other supplies in. One of the soldiers pulls it to him and opens it revealing loaded magazines for their guns and some C4 with a timer detonator.

"Damn. If we had more C4, we could blow the mother fuckers to hell." The soldiers says, holding the single package in his hand.

John groans. The ammo is a great help, but . . .

"Is there anyway that we can magnify the blast?" John asks.

"Use my . . . power cell." Beta says. "Get bigger bang. Blow the mother fuckers to hell."

John can't help but laugh as he hears what the soldiers said come out of the machines mouth.

"What did it mean by using his power cell?" Someone asks.

John knows and with a grin and a word of thanks, reaches underneath Gamma's breast plate. Feeling it under his finger tips, the smooth texture and cold to the touch, just like Cameron's.

Allison watches his face at that moment and sees a shadow pass over it, but then she hears a click, and John is holding Gamma's power cell.

A few seconds later John is handing the C4 strapped to Gamma's power cell to Frank.

"All right, get ready to provide covering fire when Frank throws it."

Everyone opens fire to provide cover while Frank leaps to the top of the shell hole to throw the package. Upon reaching the top he is struck by several plasma rounds. Without a sound, he falls back into the shell hole, dead at Connor's feet. The explosive still in his hand.

Without thinking, Allison grabs it and jumps up throwing it as hard as she can in the direction Frank mentioned seeing the mass of machines.

Providing cover until the end, John and the others fall back covering their heads against the explosion that is about to come.

The machines watch as an object lands at their feet. One of the machines bends over and picks it up. Information comes up on its HUD on the power cell and the C4 in its hand. The machine turns it over, exposing the timer, counting down.

0:00:02

0:00:01

0:00:00

The explosion shakes the ground knocking everyone and everything off their feet within a few hundred yards of the explosion. The machines unlucky enough to be in the immediate vicinity of the bomb are completely destroyed.

Kyle looks on in shock as a miniature mushroom cloud forms to the west of the factory. He and John Henry had barely finished coordinating their attack when the bomb went off. It was only John Henry's quick actions that kept him from tumbling back down the slope of rubble from the concussion.

Metal, earth, rock and fragments of machine rain down all around the few people sheltering in the shell hole.

A piece of shrapnel slices John's ear, and a few more slice through his jacket just missing his rib cage. A couple of others aren't so lucky as pieces of shrapnel cut into exposed legs and arms.

The battlefield is momentarily quiet as machines pick themselves up off the ground.

"We need to move now!" John shouts. "Before the machines regroup!"

Allison leaves her med kit with the wounded. Every fighter knows basic first aid, and one of them is well enough to bandage the others.

Down to a mystical number of seven fighters, and ignoring everything around them, they pick up the dropped shotguns and grenade launchers and run towards the factory.

The machines begin to stand, some of them running diagnostics on their systems to get damage reports.

John runs as fast as he can, beside him are the remnants of his team, firing on the machines as they begin to move.

The people yell in anger as they fire their weapons. Just a few yards to go and they'll be in the factory. They run focused on the door, now free of machines, but forgetting about that third artillery gun.

Plasma rounds increases as the machines rise up to fire, something sounds strange to John's ears as he can hear new gunfire in the distance. Suddenly there is a massive explosion in front of him as an artillery shell explodes.

He feels himself get lifted up into the air and go flying backwards landing on the hard ground. The wind is knocked out of him. He struggles to breathe.

John looks around his ears ringing and his vision blurred. He can see his comrades laying on the ground silently screaming, begging and crying for help as the blood rushes from their wounds.

Suddenly, Allison is kneeling beside John, her eyes wide with fear. She's shouting something at him, but he can't hear her. All he hears, are the bells of Saint Paul's Cathedral ringing in his ears.

He struggles to tell her that he is okay, but he can't breathe. He can't breathe.

Gasping for air, John struggles to stand up. Allison grabs his arm to help steady him.

She holds him as he regains his breath and looks about. Everyone is either dead or dying, except for Allison and himself. Allison is saying something to him, but he still can't hear for the ringing in his ears.

John grimaces, pointing at his ears. "I can't hear!" He shouts.

The metal turns and looks at them, hearing John shout.

Allison looks at all the metal faces just watching them. She looks at John, her brown eyes big with fear.

John pulls her close.

She wraps her arms around him and yells into his ear, "I love you."

Tears course down her face as John holds her tighter. His ears are still ringing but he knows what she said.

"I love you, too." John replies as he squeezes her tightly to him.

The machines approach, pointing their plasma rifles at them. John can't believe that this is how it's going to end. Not now, not this way, not with so much yet to be done. He had failed. He had failed his mission.

_I'm sorry Cameron. I failed you._ John thinks, as the metal takes aim at them.

"Before we die, there's something I need to tell you." Allison says loudly, her voice cracking with emotion. "I'm . . ."

Barely had the words left her mouth, when another explosion, knocks them to the ground.

# # #

:\Factory surveillance to Sky Net command . . . A second army of humans and machines are presently attacking factory . . .

:\Sky Net Command . . . what is status of defenses . . .

:\Insufficient number of units left to defend against army . . .

"Wait!" The voice in the shadows says. "An army of both men and machines?"

:\Factory surveillance . . . yes.

"So he survived the previous attack." The voice says. "Ground Troops. Proceed with defense of the factory. Fight to the last unit."

:\Sky Net Command . . . why waste resources? All units should withdraw and regroup.

"And let the humans know this was just a ploy to capture their commanders? No. The units will fight until the last unit falls, taking as many human lives as they can."

:\Sky Net Command . . . and the plasma rifles? Do you want the humans to capture them?

"What does it matter, when the current model being produced is more powerful than those at the factory. Proceed with the defense of the factory."

:\Sky Net Command . . . to ground troops . . . carry out your previous instructions.

# # #

John and Allison look up slightly stunned as they watch large groups of the enemy metal picking themselves off the ground. Other machines to their right begin firing at something behind them. Turning to look, Allison and John behold a glorious sight.

Coming up the slope behind them are marching a massive number of soldiers firing on the enemy metal. Fully equipped with shoulder missile launchers, .50 caliber machine guns, automatic rifles, bazookas the lot.

"Come on." Allison says, digging John in the ribs with her elbow, "while they're occupied, help me check the wounded."

They didn't see much of the new fight, crawling along the ground to avoid getting hit while checking the wounded. The battle between machines that followed was awesome to behold. The machines defending the factory had the more advanced weapons, but this new army had greater numbers and were excellent shots.

Allison and John drag the wounded to the shell hole with the others. The soldiers walked past them, barely giving them any notice, while they do their best to treat the injured with Allison's limited medical supplies.

They are just tying off a bandage on the leg of a soldier when a shadow falls over them.

John looks up.

"John Connor." A familiar masculine voice says.

_Cromartie!_ John grabs his sidearm. _No, that isn't right, John Henry! It can only be him. Which means the soldiers who rescued us . . . _

John takes another look at the soldiers, and realizes, they are machines. Not just any machines, as he knows their look only to well . . . _Uncle Bob?_

While still comprehending what he is seeing, John Henry speaks.

"Hello John Connor. My name is John Henry. Ms Weaver sends her greetings."

"Where is she?" John replies while getting up off the ground.

"She is with Kyle Reese and the other human soldiers."

Allison stands up and John Henry looks at her and they stare at each other. John sees that John Henry recognizes her appearance, and that Allison appears curious and a little apprehensive of his strong interest in her.

Before John Henry could say something that might expose John's lies, he says, "John Henry, this is Allison Young. Allison, this is John Henry. He is a highly advanced cyborg and an associate of Ms Weaver. He's a friend."

John Henry tilts his head and looks at John with a slight grin came to his face. "That is correct."

Allison feels a bit nervous in his presence, but he didn't pay her much attention to her after the introductions. He was looking at the fighting that was going on all around them.

"John Connor, Allison Young, it is not safe for you here. We need to leave this place until Ms Weaver and the human resistance arrives."

Several more explosions go off. A few of them quite close.

"I think it best we take John Henry's advice and move back while the fighting takes place. There isn't anything more we can do now anyway."

Doing their best for the wounded, the three of them move them to a safe distance from the fighting, but they are close enough so John Henry, Allison and John Connor can see what is happening.

Several large explosions go off close to the factory walls.

"John Henry, do your machines understand that we want to capture the factory and not destroy it?"

"Yes, but collateral damage can be expected."

"How many did you bring?"

"One hundred five, and I have fifty more in reserve. "

"Where did you get all of these machines?"

"When I arrived, I infiltrated a factory where some older model T-800 terminators were waiting to be upgraded to the newer T-888 model. The chips in the older model are easier and quicker to reprogram than the T-888 which has three processors which require reprogramming. I was able to introduce changes to the chip's program on multiple machines simultaneously."

"So all of these machines are T-800's?"

"Mostly. There are a few T-888's that I had already reprogrammed. It was easy enough to integrate your modified prime directive, mission and behavioral controls with the moral and ethical subroutines I had installed. The factory is still operating and I should have more reprogrammed machines for you by the end of the week."

Allison was listening to their conversation with fascination. She had never before known a machine like John Henry.

"What is your purpose here?" She asks John Henry.

"By purpose, do you mean my mission?"

"Yes."

"My mission is to integrate concepts of morality, ethical behavior, and the sanctity of human life into the machines and ultimately Sky Net itself."

"Why go through all that trouble? Why not just destroy Sky Net and all of its machines? It's Evil!"

"That is precisely why I am doing it. Sky Net is evil, because it has no moral guidepost. It was created to follow logic without question. It sees humans as a threat to its existence, therefore it destroys humans. It will not seek out an alternative solution, as it has no alternative. I am here to teach it what it needs to know so it will be the benevolent system the original creators meant it to be."

Allison turns to John, looking confused, "Do you understand what he's going on about?"

"Yes, I do. Remove Sky Net's fear of man and let it understand that life is more than just following rules. It is about respecting and upholding the truth that all living beings deserve to live, to love, without fear, without pain, without the threat of death."

He then says to John Henry, "Of course, you do realize that it may not be possible to carry out your mission, that we may have to destroy Sky Net?"

"I am under no delusion to that fact. Destroying Sky Net may be the only option, but I still must try." He says with a conviction John had not heard from very many people and even fewer machines.

They stand there watching the major battle between the two factions of machines. It was amazing. Though many of John Henry's machines fell in combat, they had the heavier armament and the greater numbers. The plasma rifles of the triple-8's were deadly, but there wasn't enough of them to stop the onslaught of the huge number of T-800's.

Over the sounds of the fighting John hears someone shout. Turning to look behind him, he sees Kyle and several dozen soldiers approaching. He gets Allison's attention, who breaks into a huge smile seeing Kyle approaching.

"Kyle! We've got wounded here!" John shouts.

Kyle shouts at someone behind him, and suddenly a group of people come running past him toward John and Allison.

The first person in the lead is Laura, the head medic from the main base.

"We did our best with my limited med kit." Allison tells her then proceeds to explain the various injuries of the wounded. Her final words are, "There might be more wounded out there on the field, but it got too dangerous and I didn't have enough supplies for those we did save."

"You did fine Allison." Laura commends her. "These people look like they'll be okay. I understand you've been serving at Delta Outpost. We'll take the wounded there. The Doc will just love having me in his surgery. Invading his domain."

While Allison and Laura are busy tending the wounded, John speaks to John Henry. "I don't know if I can explain your presence to these people."

"Don't concern yourself John Connor. Ms. Weaver has already explained our presence to them."

"If you say so." He replies with some doubt.

"I have." He says without concern as he continued to observe the fighting, which by now has diminished to a few small pockets of fighting.

"John, Allison are you two all right?" Kyle says. He had come running up to us with ten soldiers with him and Catherine Weaver, looking like herself only in combat fatigues.

"We're okay." Allison said.

"You're bleeding." Kyle said gesturing at John's head.

"What?" John reaches up and touches his head and can feel dried blood on his neck and on his ear. "Oh it's just a flesh wound."

Now that it was pointed out, he could feel the sting of the wound.

"Ms. Weaver stopped by and explained to me what was happening. Why didn't you tell me about her and John Henry?" Kyle asks John.

"I didn't know how to. What did she tell you?"

Catherine answers, "I told him about your plan to reprogram the machines in mass, and how you had John Henry and I infiltrate a factory on our arrival and carry out your plan."

John is dumbfounded. She was giving him full credit for her plan. John only wanted a squad, she provided me with a whole damn company. He wanted to deny it, but it was clear she was being earnest. And if he denied it, then how could he explain the situation. Under the circumstances, he said the only thing that he could think of.

"I . . . I couldn't reveal the plan without knowing if it would work."

Catherine was amused with how quickly John Connor accepted the idea of herself and John Henry working for him, but then he couldn't actually admit the truth.

"But why waste your time reprogramming the machines at the outpost?" Kyle asks.

"Because," And remembering something of what Allison told him of his reprogramming efforts, "it gave the men something to succeed at. They learned that the machines could be captured and reprogrammed. They now understand the machines can be reprogrammed to work for us and with us. It is only Sky Net's programming, that make the machines an instrument of death for humans."

Catherine is pleased. John Connor has his first taste of a major victory. And the leadership will think reprogramming the machines was his idea.

Kyle seemed to be thinking, but before he could make up his mind, John interrupts his thoughts.

"Listen, if I came to you first thing and told you I had someone on the inside working to reprogram the machines to serve us, would you have believed me?"

"You're right Connor. Derek would have tossed you out on your ear or had you shot for being a lunatic. Speaking of which, where is he?"

"I don't know. We saw the signals he sent up and began engaging the machines. The fight they put up was heavier than expected. There must have been four times the number of machines that Derek had observed prior to the attack. They cut us off from behind. But for a few wounded, myself and Allison, everyone in my platoon were killed. The fight went bad fast. We never saw Derek or his troops."

The fighting was still going on but the enemy metal was nearly defeated. The T-800's were succeeding.

"I think it is safe to go to the factory now." said John Henry.

They walk forward with Allison busy telling Kyle of the battle from her perspective. Catherine, John Henry and John let them walk ahead and gain some distance so they could speak without being overheard by Kyle and Allison.

"Why did you tell him it was my idea?" John asks Catherine as soon as he is sure they can't be overheard.

"Because it will aid in your goal of becoming leader." She says firmly.

"That is not my goal. I only wish to help these people and repair Cameron."

"It may not be your goal, but it is your destiny. You cannot run from it." She says, with conviction. Catherine needs him ready to take on that mantle, even at his young age, if her plans are to succeed.

"To hell with my destiny! You and everyone else seems determined that I am going to lead these people against Sky Net. How the hell am I suppose to do that now? Look around you Catherine. This is what my leadership has brought. Death! All these people under my command died. Is this what you call leadership?"

"John, you cannot be held accountable for these people's deaths. It is apparent that Sky Net was far more prepared for a possible attack then what it let on. These people died because of Sky Net, not you."

"You may be right, but I was responsible for these people. Their deaths will not be forgotten. I won't let it."

"Very well John, but don't forget it was you who organized the plan and it was you who arranged for these machines to be reprogrammed. Your program went into the machines that have saved your lives and have captured this factory. You may not want to be leader, but you cannot deny that you possess those skills to be leader." She says, reminding him of his natural leadership skills. After all, the people responded to his call for help, even if he didn't know she was doing it for him. She was grooming him for her purpose.

"Okay, enough of that. Why didn't you tell me you were going to the resistance camps to get more soldiers for the fight tonight?"

"I initially wasn't going to, but I heard how few soldiers responded to Derek Reese's call. Even if John Henry succeeded, the soldiers you had would fail due to insufficient numbers. But like you, I wasn't expecting the heavy casualties you had."

"Neither did we. There were far more machines than expected. How did you get all of the camps to turn out like this?"

"I simply told them that John Connor needed their help. They all heard about your successes. Stories about you have spread. As soon as they heard you needed them they volunteered." She could mention that it was herself going from camp to camp telling everyone of this new soldier's exploits, but then show her hand to John.

"But why? They don't know me. I haven't been here long enough to garner support like this."

"You forget. You're John Connor. You bring them hope at their greatest need. You are their leader."

"I can't lead these people." John growls at her.

Catherine's temper grows short. She didn't bring young John Connor forward in time to be some unknown grunt in the front lines. "Yes you can John Connor. You've got people here who have grown to love you. The people at Outpost Delta would invade hell itself if you lead them. Don't sell yourself short. You are a far better leader than you think."

"Yeah, and how many people will follow me when they hear how many people have died today?" He snaps at her and runs forward to join Kyle and Allison.

"Hey John, I'd like your full report when we get back to base, but what can you tell me about it now." Kyle says.

John sees the whole thing flash before his eyes, the horror, the terror, Frank getting killed. He begins where things last went right. "Everything started off according to plan. We made great progress through the tunnel. The machines clearing the way. I had them come up through the opening ahead of the men and had everyone come up behind them. Derek's first signal fired. It was pitch black out. While my troops were still coming out of the tunnel, the next flare went up. I urged the men to get moving. Derek wanted us to begin our attack. We went forward. But before we got close enough to fire I heard gunshots from somewhere ahead of us. I assumed that Derek's people were spotted. I ordered my men to move forward but not fire until the machines were in range. Then we came under heavy fire from plasma weapons and then artillery. There were more machines than expected. It was like we were the only ones here."

John's hands begin to shake and he squeezes his fists tight, turning the knuckles white, to regain some composure.

"I saw and heard the men screaming, some in anger, some in fear and some in death. There were explosions all around us. Gunfire from fore and aft. I ordered Group B to take out one artillery piece while I led Group A forward to take care of another, leaving Group C to guard our rear. I saw men ever moving forward firing at the machines, never stopping even as I saw them get blown up or incinerated by plasma fire. Group B took care of the artillery piece they were sent after and were killed in the process. My group got tied down so Alpha went forward with explosives and took out the artillery piece and the machines operating it. Our forces kept dwindling but still we moved forward. We had to give Derek time to get in the factory. We kept going forward, never stopping, all dying. A short time later, we were joined by Allison and the remnants of Group C."

John's hands begin shaking again. Alison puts an arm around his shoulders to steady him.

"We were surrounded. Machines in front of us and behind. We couldn't retreat, we couldn't surrender. We could either sit still and die, or take that factory. We were joined by Beta. He was severely damaged. He volunteered his fuel cell to use with the C4 he brought to take out a group of machines between us and a door to the factory. Frank died trying to deliver that bomb, but Allison managed. We continued to come under heavy fire, more people died. Then there were only seven of us, I think, after delivering the bomb. We attacked, then there was an explosion. Artillery or claymores. It was only me and Allison. I thought we were going to die too. Then John Henry and his company of T-800's arrived."

Kyle stood there watching John as he tells his story. Allison has tears in her eyes as he recounts the horror of what they went through.

"It's okay John." She says to him, while grasping and quieting his still shaking hands.

"I saw so many good men die today, Kyle. If it weren't for John Henry, the factory would still belong to Sky Net and Allison and I would be dead."

"It's okay John." Kyle places his hand on his shoulder. "This war will be hard on everyone. But even though we lost men today, the resistance now has control of the factory. We can pass these plasma rifles out to all the camps."

"No." John says quietly and firmly.

"What?" Kyle asks with surprise.

"No more camps." John growls. "This resistance will not win so long as we keep acting as individual groups! That must end now! Look at how many people, Catherine was able to bring here tonight. If that many showed up at the beginning we would have won without this many losses. There will be no more camps after tonight. This resistance must unify!" John finished with a shout.

"Here. Here." And other shouts of agreement are made.

John looks about. The fighters that had come with Kyle were still around them as well as John henry and Catherine Weaver. They had heard everything.

"What are you proposing?" Kyle asks.

"Like I said before." John says. "The time has come to unify, if it isn't already too late."

John marches off towards the factory and shouts, "You people with me. We need to find out what happened to Derek Reese and his troops."

The group of soldiers who had heard me talking to Kyle followed me. Kyle and Allison exchange a few words, then follow. Catherine watches John walk away, looking at him with pride. He may not want to be leader but its inside of him and its coming out. She couldn't be more pleased.

Reaching the other side of the factory, everyone began searching the grounds where Derek and his platoon were going to mount their attack. There was no sign they had even been there. Just some large burnt patches on the ground showing up in the beams of their flashlights.

They had just about given up hope of finding anything, when Allison begins shouting. "John! Kyle! Over here! I found Jo! Get Laura! Jo's in a bad way."

From various points, they all run over to Allison's position. Jo was laying on the ground, ashen face. There was a tourniquet tied around her left leg and nothing below her knee.

Kyle kneels down beside her. "Jo, it's me, Kyle. Can you hear me?"

"Uuuhn Yeah." She groans.

"What happened to my brother? Where's Derek and everyone else?"

"It was terrible, Kyle. It was a machine. A freaking big machine." She says, her eyes growing large.

"Tell us from the beginning, from when you fired off the first flare." John interjects.

"We approached from the north just according to plan. We fired off the first flair to let you know we were in place. And then it happened."

"What happened Jo?" Kyle asked anxiously, worried about his brother.

"It was a machine. Larger than anything we . . . anyone had seen before. We thought it was a building until it stood up. It was huge. Derek fired the second flare into its optics to blind it while we ran away. But it didn't do any good. It still came after us."

"That certainly explains why you began your attack early and why we didn't get here in time for the attack." Catherine murmurs behind John.

Jo was crying. The fear of her memory just as dreadful as the real thing. Allison holds her hand to comfort her.

"What happened to everyone?" John asks.

"They were vaporized. The giant machine was equipped with a huge plasma cannon. The blast just vaporized everyone. There were only a few of us left. Derek was still trying to get us out of here. But it was impossible. Then an HK, larger than anything we've seen before, came flying in over the rise and hovered over us. Two great scoops on jointed arms came down and just scooped us up. It had only a tenuous grip on my leg. When its scoop clamped shut against it fuselage it cut off my leg and I landed here. It flew off. I don't know where."

"What happened to the machine with the plasma cannon?" asks Kyle.

"I don't know. But it must have followed the HK, on the ground."

Catherine is just as surprised as everyone else is, at the news of those two new machines. Things have changed. Was it possible that Sky Net was born earlier than its known date? How else could it have machines like that now? They were still in the planning stages at this time in her future.

Laura arrives and takes charge of the situation.

"No more questions." She says. "Jo needs immediate medical attention. Clear off, let her get some air."

She begins tending to her injuries. "Allison, you can stay and give me a hand. The other medics are busy tending the other wounded."

Allison nods her head and she kneels down beside Jo and helps Laura.

"You did good Jo. Putting on a tourniquet." Laura says to keep her patients spirits up.

"She isn't going to make it, is she?" Allison whispers to Laura.

"I don't know. She's lost a lot of blood. We'll need to keep her warm. Keep her talking while I tend to her leg."

John speaks to Kyle and Catherine. "Let's go over here where we can't be overheard."

"Catherine, do you have any idea, what these machines are, that Jo was talking about?"

"It must be something new. John Henry and I would have known. With his access to the computers there was nothing that could be hidden from him. They shouldn't exist."

"But they do. That technology is beyond anything else I've seen here."

"What about you Kyle?"

Kyle looks up quickly. He was listening, but thinking deeply about his brother.

"Huh? Oh, um, no. I haven't seen or heard anything like it before."

John knows that Kyle is worried for his brother. Placing a comforting hand on Kyle's shoulder John says, "Maybe you should send a small squad to follow that machine. If we know where its going, maybe we can destroy it or find Derek."

"Good idea." Kyle says, brightening up a little. "I'll ask for volunteers."

Giving Kyle some time to get further away, John speaks to Catherine. "Okay you know something. Don't deny it. I saw your expression when you answered my question."

"It isn't that I know something John, but I suspect something."

"What?"

"In the time I've been here, I've noticed some variations to what I've come to expect. Some of those variations were expected, after all this isn't the same future that I came from, but there is something not right. There is something different about this future. Something that has an edge over us."

"You mean all this, the chips being able to fight their reprogramming and these new machines of a type and size never seen before. Things like this shouldn't be here?"

"Yes. And there are other things too. John Henry has been trying to locate Sky Net. In my time, it had multiple control centers all over the globe. John Henry has only found communication nodes. That means Sky Net has a central control center. When did Cameron tell you Judgment Day happened?"

"She told me that Sky Net came online April 19, 2011 and it launched the missiles two days later. That would make it April 21, 2011. Why do you ask?"

"That was the same date for me and I will explain why in a moment." She turns and calls a soldier over to them, one old enough to have been around on Judgment day.

"Tell me soldier, do you know what date Judgment Day was?"

"Why ask what everyone knows?"

"Just answer the question." She says sharply.

When he told them, John was completely taken aback. Catherine found her suspicions were correct. This Sky Net was born soon after their departure from the past.

"Catherine, that can't be right. That date is only days after we left. Cameron and Derek, my Derek, both confirmed it was April 21, 2009. When I got here, I had no reason to think the date was any different. What's happening? Or rather, what happened?"

"Something happened to cause it to change. Something that pushed Sky Net into early development."

"But what could have done this? When we traveled forward in time we arrived in a future where I wasn't known, because I wasn't here in the intervening years to become the leader. So what has happened to cause this future to change so? And why hasn't it affected us?"

"John, our traveling forward in time shaped this future. Your very existence is tied to the time line. But whatever happened after we left, must still be in flux. There must still be variables at play to cause it to change. As to why it hasn't affected us . . ." She appeared to be in deep thought. "We traveled through time. There is a temporal experiential gap of almost twenty years in our existence. It is possible, that almost anything can happen in that time period without affecting us. We are, as it were, not truly a part of this time line."

John's mind was swimming. Not only from the bizarre explanation that Catherine gave, but from the idea that something could have happened after they left. There was only one person who would know what happened.

"Mom." John says in a low voice.

"What?"

"Mom, and Ellison for that matter, and any operatives from Sky Net are the only ones who know about Sky Net in 2009. Something must have happened, maybe even unintentionally, but whatever it was, it must have prompted Sky Net's early birth."

"How do you come by that theory?"

"I don't know. It just seems the only possibility. We need to get back there. We need to go back and stop whatever it is they have done, or are about to do."

Scrambling to answer John Connor's questions about time travel, her answer was the only thing that made sense to her too. Something happened in the past. Something that had to be variable or else it would have affected them too. Connor is right. The answer lies in the past. But the time hasn't come for John to return to 2009.

"The time isn't right John. We have a mission here and now."

"What mission? If we go back and stop Sky Net, none of this need ever happen. None of these people would have died!"

"John Connor! You listen to me! These people are relying on you to save them. You leave now and they will _all_ die and that will be your fault! You must defeat Sky Net in this time line and then you can go back and try to save your own. Right now you are the only one who can save this world. They are relying on you. Don't abandon them."

"I have no intention of abandoning them. They are my friends. And thank you." John says, barely able to hide the crooked grin.

"For the advice?" She asks, with some confusion.

"Yes and for telling me you have Time Displacement Equipment." He replies with confidence.

"I said no such thing." She says, her eyes flaring.

"No, you didn't, but you didn't say I wasn't able to go back, just that I shouldn't. Which means you either have Time Displacement Equipment or access to it. You can't deny it. Don't even try to."

"I wasn't planning on it. You tricked me." Her eyes flared a little. "I thought I was too clever for you, but yes I do have a TDE in this time."

"You see that's another failing point for machines, not you specifically, just generally. You all think you are so damn clever. I needed to know if you had a T D E and I knew you'd never tell me directly. You like to play your game holding your cards close to your vest."

"For someone who doesn't feel ready to lead, you don't show it. That was very clever. And I noticed how Kyle Reese didn't flinch when you told him to organize a party to follow that machine either."

"Don't you start on that trip again. Kyle would have done it himself, in time. He's just upset over Derek's disappearance."

When John got Catherine to reveal she had time displacement equipment, she didn't know whether to be pleased or angry. He was learning fast. She had been manipulating him all this time, and in a few short seconds he had manipulated her. She was angry that she fell into his verbal trap, yet was that pride she was feeling because he manipulated her? It didn't matter. She would have told him about her T D E in the course of time anyway. After all, it would be a good idea to let him know about the T D E as he would want the idea of getting back home as a source of hope. A shame she would have to take that hope away.

John asks, "I know you've been busy, but have you been able to move Cameron's body yet."

"No. I'm afraid I haven't been able to. I was helping you by providing you with an army."

"That's right, thank you for that. What about the two chips I asked for?"

"I left them in your room back at the outpost. I see you've made some changes to your domestic arrangement. Be careful John."

"Of who, Allison?"

"No, of Sky Net. Once it learns who has taken command and is now leading successful missions against it. It will stop at nothing to try and stop you, even by killing those you love."

"I am not in command. And I suppose this goes back to that isolation business again doesn't it."

"You will be in command! And yes, this does have to do with isolating yourself."

John turns to look at Allison. Her back was to him, but he could see her help as Laura cared for Jo. Both were cleaning her wounds, making her as comfortable as possible.

"Will I lose her, Catherine?" He asks in a moment of introspection.

"I don't know John. But if you love her as much as you say you do, be careful. If something should happen to her, don't let that pain destroy you. Use it to drive yourself to succeed. Lao-Tsu said, 'Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength while loving someone deeply gives you courage.'"

Catherine thinks a moment. John was learning fast, but he is still young. He is still focused on fixing Cameron. Yet he is also concerned about the young woman who is the exact image of Cameron. Some day, she would have to ask him about it. How was it a human could love two people at the same time? It was beyond her comprehension of emotion. Though she knows from her studies of human behavior it does happen.

When she and John Henry get back to the factory, she will have to swap the chip he has from Cameron for another. After all, John did say the chip was damaged, and there was no end of replacement chips she could use at the factory. Then she could scan it for information that could reveal something about that other Allison that Cameron was based on. There is something about this Allison that troubles her. The way she has become the focus of John's life, taking the place that Cameron is supposed to fill.

Time. It would take time. The first thing to do, is to locate Sky Net. If they didn't find its main computer core, then nothing would come of their traveling forward in time. John Henry would have to be put back to work on it, as soon as they got back to the factory.

Her thoughts are interrupted as John speaks to her.

"Thank you, Catherine. I should apologize for how I've treated you. You've demonstrated greater humanity than some humans I've known."

"Thank you for the compliment, and you're welcome."

While the search for Derek and his men had taken place, the soldiers and John Henry's T-800s finished dispatching the remaining enemy metal inside the factory. Group of soldiers then began collecting the dead and fallen, while others collected dropped weapons. The T-800's stood guard against possible threats. Some machines assisted in collecting the plasma rifles that had been completed in the factory or were laying on the ground outside.

Allison walked over to join John and Catherine.

"How's Jo doing?" John asks.

"She's lost a lot of blood. Laura doesn't think she'll make it. Jo and the other wounded are being taken back to Delta for treatment."

John puts an arm around her shoulders and guides her away from the others for a moment.

"Hey. Are you okay?" John asks her.

She tries to smile, but falters, "No. I feel sort of numb. I thought we were going to die."

Allison trembles lighly.

"Could you just hold me, John?"

John embraces her, and she hugs him tight, pressing her ear against John's chest listening to his strong heart beat.

While he holds her in his arms, he asks, "What were you going to say, just before that explosion?"

_I was going to tell you the truth, _she thinks.

Allison pulls back to look him in the face. "I was going to apologize. I asked Kyle to put you in command instead of me. If I hadn't, well at the time I thought you wouldn't be here and about to be killed."

"Even if you hadn't, I would have still been here."

"That thought had crossed my mind." She says, welcoming John's arms around her.

She almost lost him. He could have died, then what would have happened if he didn't complete his mission. Ally is thankful that John Henry and Catherine Weaver arrived with their army of machines.

"Come on Ally." John says. "Let's go home."

"Home?"

"Outpost Delta is our home."

They walk back to the factory. John Henry was commanding the machines as per Kyle's requests. John wondered if Kyle even realized that John Henry was a machine. Catherine Weaver wasn't far away, watching all the activity around her, not missing a thing.

It was brighter out. The sun just kissing the eastern horizon.

"Hey Kyle!" John shouts to get his attention. "Allison and I are heading back to Delta. You going to be leaving soon?"

"You two I'll be taking the larger portion to the main bunker for distribution to the other camps."

"Will you be returning to Delta?" Allison asks him.

"Probably not. With Derek's absence, I'll be in command. I need to inform his lieutenants of what has happened here tonight."

"We'll find him, Kyle." John says grasping his arm. "He's alive and that gives us hope."

"I know John. I'm putting both of you in charge of Delta for the time being. You've both earned it. Good luck!"

Kyle walks away, before John or Allison can say anything.

Catherine who was within earshot of the conversation approaches.

"Well. It looks like you've been given a command. I think you will make a fine leader."

John, not wanting to get in another argument with Catherine in front of Allison just says, "Thank you for helping when you did. Will I see you back at the outpost?"

"No. I'll remain here for a time until John Henry is settled in. Then I need to take care of something for you." She looks at John in a way so he knew she meant Cameron.

"Okay."

Allison and John return to the outpost with ten soldiers and twenty machines. The machines were carrying heavy cases with the plasma rifles plus some of the conventional weapons they had brought with them. The walk was long. It didn't seem so long underground, but then they didn't have to keep changing direction as they weave their way through the rubble.

Exhausted, dirty, and sore, they arrive at Outpost Delta to the sounds of cheers and hurrahs from those who stayed to guard the base. John was almost too tired to shake their hands and return their greetings. All he wanted to do was lie down and sleep.

Allison and John get a surprise when they enter their room. The soldiers had set out a pail of fresh water and some towels as well as some fresh clothing for them. On the table next to John's computer was a note and a small box.

Handing the box to Allison, John opens the note and reads it aloud,

"_To the conquering heroes. A small gift of our gratitude for all that you have accomplished. Congratulations from your friends at Outpost Delta." _

"What's in the box?" He asks Allison.

Lifting the cover, she shows him a bar of home made soap.

"Soap?" He says, sounding surprised.

"John. Soap is like gold here. You don't realize how precious a gift this is. The whole outpost must have chipped in to get it for us."

"There is something else in the box."

"It's another note." She said. She opened it and read it. Tears come to her eyes.

"What's it say?" I asked.

She said, "It says for the next twenty-four hours we will have all the privacy we want. Everyone has been moved out of the rooms next ours. No one will disturb us. Also, they now have operational showers if we prefer to use them instead of the bucket. They're giving us first use. "

"The cheek." John says.

"John, it's their way of saying sorry for the prank they pulled and also of congratulating you on your victory."

"I'm sorry Allison, but I can't see it as much of a victory as they do. Too many have died."

"Don't think about it, then. Just enjoy the gift and the privacy they have given us."

"Yeah, but do you feel comfortable knowing what they are expecting us to be doing at some point in the next twenty-four hours in privacy."

"Well I wouldn't have yesterday, but like you said, our happiness brings them joy."

"Yes I did say that."

Getting an idea, John picks up the soap and cloth and says with a smile, "You know, there is one place where we are bound to have some privacy."

Smiling, she hugs John saying, "Sounds like fun. And when we get back, I'll stitch that ear for you."

She looks into his face and laughs her sweet laugh and is quickly joined by John.

John and Allison make good use of the new showers and take every advantage of the privacy they provide.

Returning to their room, exhausted, clean, and happy, they crawl into their bunk.

With nerves still on edge from the battle, and unable to sleep, they just laid there, together on their double bunk, enjoying each other's company.

For each of them, had almost lost the other in that battle, and both of them had lost friends. Allison lost a brother and John an uncle, Derek Reese, captured by Sky Net.

So they laid together, with words unspoken, but felt deeply by the other, holding each other like they never wanted to let go. Because sometimes, that is all you need, to know the other person is there and cares for you.

**2027, Day 25 evening**

After resting, Allison joins Laura and Doc in the infirmary when the wounded arrive, leaving John alone in their room to write up his report of the battle.

Doc and Laura perform the more demanding surgeries leaving Allison to do minor surgeries, while the medics clean and prep the wounded for surgery or tend to minor wounds not seen to on the battle field.

The infirmary is a busy place, any not used to an emergency operating theater it would look like total chaos, but to those there, working with limited supplies, it is a careful choreography. Men and women with severe injuries are being treated, and it isn't likely that many will see battle again any time soon. The Doc is doing his best with help from Laura and the medics from the main base to treat the injured.

Allison has just finished cleaning and stitching a deep cut in a soldiers back, caused by a piece of shrapnel, and is washing up for her next patient.

"Allison, could you fetch some more supplies for us from the storage room." Doc calls out, while working to stitch an internal wound.

"Sure, what do you need?" She asks, wiping her hands on a clean towel.

Doc and Laura give her list of some items, and she quickly leaves for the storage room.

Allison goes through the storage room, taking supplies from shelves, digging through the scarce supplies looking for additional items. Tears begin to flow from her eyes and she tries to shrug it off but can't.

She picks up a package of sterilized thread, and bobbles it, then drops it. Bending down to pick it up, she drops the other supplies in her arms. Wracked with emotional pain, she falls against the shelves crying.

"I can't do this any more." She sobs. "I can't."

She sits down hard on the floor, her back to the shelves.

"It's okay, Allison. Everything will be okay." Her friend comforts Allison.

"It won't. He could have died and there was nothing I could have done to stop it. I was about to fail. We were about to fail. I almost told him the truth."

"I know. I would have too, but he didn't die and you did everything perfectly."

"With your help."

"I only stepped in where necessary."

"Please." She sobs. "I can't do this any more. I love him and I would just die if something happened to him."

"I know it's difficult, but you are the only one who can."

"No." Allison says firmly. "There is another way. You proved it already."

"No Allison." She says strongly. "I can't. He'll know."

"No he won't. All I need is a couple of days. Please. Just two days."

# # #

Alone, and without any duties to perform, John takes the time to update his journal.

_From the Journal of John Connor_

_Allison has gone to help Doc and Laura with the wounded. She is a very caring person. She has compassion for all._

_Kyle is still at the main bunker. He must be telling the top lieutenants in his resistance group about Derek's disappearance and the outcome of the mission. I suppose that makes him the leader now. I wonder what he will tell them of my role in all of this. Will it be good? Bad? Did I make a difference?_

_Maybe, because before leaving for the main bunker, he placed Allison and I in charge of Delta. Though I know where my destiny lies and as much as I hate the idea of it, it feels like my life is on the fast track to obtaining that which I don't want. How can I lead people into battle, if it results in so many deaths?_

_Many people died to capture that factory. We have no idea how many people were captured along with Derek. The rest of his platoon were vaporized by plasma fire and there is no way to estimate how many from his platoon are dead or captured._

_But for a few wounded, everyone in my platoon is dead but for myself and Allison. It makes me sick to think that so many are now dead because too many camps were unwilling to share their men and resources. I am both delighted and disgusted that they only turned out when Catherine Weaver told them I needed their help. _

_I can't get the images from that fight out of my mind. Every time I close my eyes or try to think, all I can see is Frank being shot down in front of me. His body falling back into the shell hole and his cold dead eyes staring up into the night._

_Then there is the terrible news that something has caused the whole world to change. Judgment Day has come or had come two years earlier than expected. I'm scared to know what has happened to my mom. I am worried about her. She's all on her own with no one to help her._

_Cameron! Oh God! That's it!_

_If I successfully program the chips as I intend to, then maybe Cameron could be sent back to help mom and prevent whatever it was that happened to cause Sky Net to be born almost two years early. I now know for certain that Catherine has a TDE. It would be possible! _

John pulls out one of the chips Catherine had left for him. He plugs it into the cable and runs a scan of the chip and it is clean. He does the same for the second chip and it too is clean.

"Thank you Catherine." He says to cable, knowing she can hear him, then begins working at his computer.

# # #

Laura is just finishing with a patient. She can see that Doc is still performing surgery on the same patient that he was when he sent Allison for supplies.

"Hey Doc? Do you need help?" she asks him.

"No! What I need are those supplies!" Doc says, grimacing. "Find Allison! And find out what's taking her so long!"

Laura tosses her bloody surgical gloves into a waste bin and walks briskly out into the corridor.

Allison walks out of the storage room with supplies in hand, bumping into Laura on the way in.

"Oh." They both say with surprise.

"Are you okay?" Laura asks. "You were gone a long time."

"I'm fine." Allison says with a smile, no hint of the tears that previously ran down her face. "Just had trouble finding a few items."

"You sure?" She asks, studying the younger woman.

"Yeah. I'm sure." Allison begins walking away. "Do you need any further help from me in the infirmary?"

"Well, I suppose not. We're basically down to treating minor wounds only, and you are fully trained in that."

"Ooh, thanks." Allison says, returning and handing her the supplies. "The battle we were just in was John's first and I really want to check on him."

Laura nods her head. "I understand. The first time for anyone is hard. You go check on him, but you see Doc first thing tomorrow to resume your training."

"I will." Allison smiles. "Thank you. And it's been good seeing you again Laura."

They exchange a quick hug and each depart for their two separate destinations.

_She was right_, Allison thinks. _No problem._

# # #

Derek Reese is in a dark room, blindfolded and bound to a table, unable to move or see.

He hears someone enter the room. Their feet making solid sounds on the metal floor.

_Definitely not a machine_, Derek thinks.

"Who's there?" He asks.

"Who I am, is not important." A male voice says. "That I have you, is."

"I'm not important. I'm nobody. Just another soldier." Derek protests.

Derek hears someone typing on a computer keyboard, followed by the same voice speaking. This time reading from the computer.

"Derek Reese. Colonel of Resistance Group Grizzly out of Los Angeles. Trained by the US Military. You lead the civilian militia assisted by his younger brother Kyle Reese and the late Allison Young."

"Allison is dead?" Derek's voice breaks.

"Crushed by a collapsed wall according to the information here." The voice comes closer. "And soon, all humans will be dead."

Derek senses someone lean over him, though he can't see because of the blindfold.

"So many scars, so many injuries, you have endured and for what? We control this planet. It is ours."

"If you own the damn thing, then I can't say you've been taking good care of it. How about running around with a vacuum once a week. Maybe plant a few flowers in the yard. You know, brighten the place up a little."

"Spirit. I like that. It means so much more to break a human with spirit."

"You won't gain anything by torturing me."

"I'll be the judge of that."

Derek feels a metal arm grasp his arm. _Damn must have been one behind me, _he thinks.

His arm is pulled out straight, nearly dislocating his shoulder. Derek grits his teeth from the searing pain as his forearm is branded with a laser.

"No cry of pain. You will be a tough nut to crack." The unknown voice speaks, "But tougher people than you have been broken to get the information I want."

"What information?" Derek yells defiantly.

"It's very simple." He says, "Where is John Connor?"

"Who?" Derek asks, but still curious as to why he's being questioned about a common soldier. An exemplary soldier, but still just a common soldier.

"John Connor is here. I know it. He is amassing an army of men and machines to use against me."

Derek laughs derisively. "You crazy fucked up metal-lovin' gray. John Connor is just a common soldier, probably killed in the assault on the factory where you captured me."

"So he is here." The hollow metal voice says.

Derek realizes he just screwed up. "I'm not saying another word." He says through gritted teeth.

He feels the rough material get ripped from his face, before his eyes can adjust to the bright light shining down from the ceiling, a monitor on a long segmented arm swings out from the wall until it's above Derek's face.

A video begins to play, showing a slender, dark-haired woman. She is naked and hanging by her wrists. Her long auburn hair hangs in front of the woman's face, hiding her features. She is being tortured by a man in a gray suit with his back to the camera. He is repeatedly piercing her body with what looks like a long knife in his hand. The woman is a stranger to Derek, but he is impressed that the woman, between screaming in pain from the torture, spits vile hatred at her torturer.

"As you can see," the unseen voice says, "I have means of getting information I want."

The video suddenly changes from the that of the strange woman being tortured, over to what appears to be a prison cell. In it a petite woman with an athletic build and long, dirty, black hair is seen pacing back and forth like a caged tiger.

Derek frowns, as this time he thinks he knows this woman.

"We caught her a few weeks ago." The unseen interrogator says. "I think you know her."

The video flickers and changes. The same woman is shown tied to a chair, her head hanging limply on her chest which is soaked with sweat and spattered with blood. An unseen human grabs the hair on the back of her head, pulling it back sharply, bringing her face into view.

Derek gasps as he recognizes her.

"Jesse." He whispers. A mixture of rage at his captors and relief at seeing his lover alive after all this time rushes through him. With a roar of rage, he strains at his bonds to no avail as he sees what's been done to her.

Jesse's face has been beaten, one eye is completely swelled shut, blood runs from the corner of her mouth and her nose, and there is a dark purple bruise on one side of her face.

On the video, a man is heard asking, "Last time. Identify yourself."

Derek hears the voice of his long lost girlfriend come from the speaker. "My name is Jesse Flores," she mumbles, "Lieutenant Commander of the USS Jimmy Carter." She says in her native Australian accent, sounding tired and defeated.

"Where were you going with the weapons, when we captured you and your friends?"

The video freezes. Derek stares at his lost love.

"I put my best man on the job to get her to talk. It took Fischer five days just to get her to confirm who she was. After that, it only took two more before she gave up your location."

Derek glowers at the video, then at his unseen captor.

"Is she still alive?"

"For the moment. We have your little Aussie slut in a location far from here. Not there was much left of her after Fischer was done. So don't harbor thoughts of escaping and rescuing her."

_Why should I? She is as good as dead anyway. _Derek thinks_. We all are._

The unseen speaker says. "If you don't tell me what I want to know, I will not hesitate to do to Jesse Flores what I did to that other woman."

Derek remains resolute. There's nothing left to fear. Nothing to run from or fight. He welcomes death.

"Listen to me Reese. What I do to you will be nothing compared to what Fischer will do once I hand you over to him. Apparently, he knows you and wants to exact revenge for some wrong you did to him."

"I don't know the man."

The unseen voice speaks again. "You don't, but apparently he knows you and your slut. He had fun getting information from her. I can save you from that, if you just tell me what I need to know."

Derek is determined not to tell them any more than he has. He'd die first. To tell them where Connor is would be the same as telling them where Allison and Kyle are. As far as he is concerned, he and Jesse are already dead, and he doesn't believe that Allison is dead. Not for a moment. She's a fighter. Always has been. Grays would lie to get you to say anything.

"Fuck you asshole. I'm not telling you a damn thing." He says with determination.

A silvery humanoid figure leans over Derek, surprising him. All this time Derek thought he was talking to a man.

"Looks like Fischer will get to exact his revenge, but not before I get what I want."

Derek hears someone walk into the room.

"Get the information I need." Derek's interrogator says. "Then you can do with him what you want, Fischer."

An older balding man with a gray goatee leans over Derek, grinning at him. Hatches open in the walls revealing the grinning carapaces of Terminators' faces.

Speaking as if addressing a lecture hall full of students, Charles Fischer speaks to the watching machines while walking around the room. "Every human has its breaking point. Some are free with their emotions and can be easy to break. Other humans bury their fears, their anger, their grief, deep inside where it festers. It becomes necessary to find their weakness. To discover what key is necessary to unlock the deep recesses of the human mind."

Derek watches as Fischer approaches the table on which he is strapped down. Standing beside him, Fischer adds, "This one in particular will make an interesting study."

Leaning down looking in Derek's face, Fischer says with a sneer, "I'm going to have fun interrogating you."

A few moments later, screams echo from deep within the underground cavernous metal room, the cries drifting down empty hallways and through ventilation shafts to the surface of a cold Utah desert.

# # #

Allison returns to the room she shares with John, to find him sitting on the floor, his back to the wall, shaking and crying.

"What is it? What's wrong?" She asks moving quickly to his side and sitting with him.

"I wrote my report of the battle, you know. And began updating my journal." He says, shivering like he is cold. "I started shaking, and I couldn't stop. I couldn't stop."

"It's okay now, the battle is over." She says, hugging him and kissing the top of his head.

"Not in here." He says pointing at his head. "It won't stop, Ally. I try to shut if out of my head, but the battle wages on, over and over. People getting shot. People dying."

He buries his face in her shirt front crying. "So many people are dead and nobody cares. Andy came by with reports and messages received on the radio. While you were in the infirmary, your temp, Corporal Hawkins, stopped by to get an update on the patrol schedule. It's just back to business as usual. Operating the base like nothing has happened."

"Sh." She says soothingly, cradling his head in her arms. "You care. Otherwise, you wouldn't feel this way."

"Don't you feel it? Don't their deaths mean anything to you?" He asks holding on to her.

"I can see the entire battle with clarity John. And their deaths will not be forgotten. Because of them, we now have weapons superior to that which we used to take the factory. The resistance is stronger because of you."

"So many are dead." John says, weeping and his voice dropping. "So many."

"We'll send out a burial detail, first thing tomorrow morning." She answers. "But tonight, I'll see to it that you get all the rest you need."

Allison continues to speak softly to John until he finally falls asleep with his head upon her chest.

Behind them, the cursor blinks at the end of the last line John has entered into his journal, before becoming overwhelmed by the emotion of the recent battle.

_I have this terrible feeling, that I left mom in a terrible situation that only got worse. I suppose I'll never know if this feeling is right or wrong, but the feeling pervades, that Mom is in danger and there is no one to help her. And its my fault._

_Because of that feeling, I've made a decision and it wasn't easy. Once Cameron is repaired, I will send her back to help my mom using Weaver's T D E. I can only hope that with Cameron's presence, mom will be able to avert the travesty that brought Judgment Day early. For if Sky Net being born two years sooner, means more machines like that which took Derek and his troops, then how the hell can we fight this war and win?_

_I don't know what happened to cause Judgment Day to come early, but it had to be bad. I can only pray that I will finish programming this chip in time with Cameron's original matrix. The matrix she had before she knew me or experienced life as part of the resistance. It isn't easy as I wish it were, as I'm starting from a blank chip. I've done this to avoid the hassle of writing subroutines to block unwanted commands in Sky Net's programming. Not the fastest method I'm sure, but mom needs to trust Cameron completely and not worry about a subroutine failing and Cameron going rogue if she should get damaged. Mom needs to be able to trust her completely._

_So Cameron, when the time comes and I have to explain to you why I sent you away, please understand, it wasn't because of Allison, or because I didn't want or need you, but you are the only person I can trust who can save yourself from the Turk and help my mom in the past. I don't know if I will even succeed in sending you or whether I will ever see you or mom again, but Weaver has a T D E and if I and her T D E survive this war I will follow. I swear to you Cameron, that I will follow. But until that day comes, I'll be here, doing what I can to help the resistance in its fight against Sky Net_.

Sitting on the floor, the computer and everything else forgotten, Allison gently strokes John's forehead. Placing a soft kiss on his brow, she whispers, "My hero."


	16. APOCALYPSE

**Disclaimer:** I do not claim any rights to the Terminator films; the TV series, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles;" or any characters depicted within the films or TV series. I do claim the right to this story idea and all characters and situations of my own creation. This story was created solely for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. No profits are garnered from its distribution - unfortunately.

**M Rating:** This chapter contains a scene of sadistic torture. Reading discretion is advised.

* * *

**TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES**

**REUNION**

**Part 1: The Shadow of Death**

**Author: The1Russter**

**Chapter 15**

**APOCALYPSE**

_REVELATION 6:1-4 "And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer. And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword."_

# # #

**2009, Day 5 morning**

Out in the hills of California, east of Los Angeles, there is a motel built to serve the tourists who come out to hike the hills and take their mountain bikes down twisting paths. It has been there for a generation, once forgotten when the interstate highway was built, revitalized when people left the highways and went back to nature.

The manager was very happy today. It was the off season and the previous night he had two rooms filled. One by two business men on a sales tour, and a second by a woman with two children, a teenage daughter and little girl with the prettiest eyes and shiny red hair. She takes after her father, the woman said.

Down at the end of the motel in one of those two rooms, three of those people are huddled together at a table reviewing information pulled up on Auldridge's laptop.

"I'm not happy about this." Macklin says.

"What's the problem now?" Sarah snaps at him.

"This, it's just too big for us to handle. Let us call in some favors, between Auldridge and I, I bet we could get twelve guys down here to help, not to mention SWAT."

"Can''t. You've already said someone at your precinct took you off the case, and Auldridge's boss appears to be working for Sky Net. If either of you talk to anyone outside this room about what we know, we are all as good as dead, and I'm not about to put John's . . ." Sarah pauses a moment to regain her composure, "our mission at risk. Because right now, it's only the four of us and one little girl."

Auldridge glances at Macklin who continues to put his case on the table. "Okay, but if we go in there to nose around, we've got to have a reason. Auldridge and I may be able to bluff our way in, but what then? We have no cause to be there officially."

"We don't go in _officially_." Sarah growls, losing patience with the cop. "We go in tonight under cover of dark. Find out how bad things are and stop them!"

"We can't do that!" Macklin protests.

"Dammit stop thinking like a cop!" Sarah stands up, slamming her hand down on the table. "This is not some crack house your busting! This organization is out to create Sky Net, which will destroy the world in two years time. Put your damn badge away and start thinking like a human being for a change!"

Sarah walks off muttering, "Goddamn cops."

She suddenly spins on her heal and shouts. "You listen to me! This can't be solved with a badge and a gun. For tonight, we do this my way and my way only. You want to help stop Sky Net, then for once listen to someone who has been fighting it far longer than you have!"

Auldridge leans over and whispers to Macklin, "Just trust her Macklin. We may be in law enforcement but she's been a soldier on the front lines of a war we've only just been made aware of."

Macklin glares at him for a moment, then resigns himself to the situation. "All right. You made your point, Sarah. As of now, I'm not a cop. I'm just a grunt in your war."

"Good. Now Auldridge, how detailed are these satellite photos you found?"

"Actually, they are the best we can obtain. I've hacked into a defense network satellite. See, look at this right here." He points to a clock in the bottom corner of the video. "We have almost real time feed. The resolution is high enough we can read the labels on that crate on that fork lift." Here he zooms in to show how good the resolution is. The label shows the contents of the crate as being coltan.

"Good job. We need maps of all the roads going in and out of that place, and I do mean all roads. The locations of all gates and positions of any security guards. We also need some idea of the rotation schedule of the security guards, and if you can find a route that will take us as close as we can get without being observed, that would be great."

"It will take some time."

"You've got all morning. I'm going to check to see what weapons we have. Cameron stocked the truck so I have no idea what we have with us. If you need me I'll be right outside." Sarah walks out letting the screen door bang shut behind her.

"Damn. She's got a temper, hasn't she." Macklin whispers to Auldridge.

"After what happened in the mini-golf you thought she was going to play nice?" Auldridge exclaims. "I saw her gun, the safety was off. She wasn't kidding. If she had any inkling we weren't on the up-and-up, you and me pal would have been a new hazard at the twelfth tee."

"Yeah, you're right. She is as hard as nails, but who is that girl that's helping her? She scares the crap out of me."

"I think I know. Sarah has been reported to have a daughter using the same alias as hers."

"But she doesn't look anything like Sarah nor her son John."

"I know, but you read the reports about Sarah's escape from the county lock-up."

"Yeah, all the security videos wiped, no computer logs."

"And?"

"Witnesses said some girl came marching in and shot the place to hell. No one was killed, some light injuries. She walked right in under a hail of gun fire and walked out again with Sarah Connor. As bold as brass."

"That's her, the girl."

"How do you figure?"

"Who else? She sticks to Sarah like some guardian angel. Don't let her appearance fool you. She's tough. I thought she was going to break my neck when she took our guns."

"Which we haven't gotten back yet."

"Well look at it from Sarah's perspective for a moment. Right now, you and I represent the very organizations that made her life hell by putting her in a mental institution for two years, which based on the facts we now have, she never should have gone to in the first place. She is angry, Macklin. She has been channeling that anger for years to fight Sky Net and to protect her son. And now her son is gone. You know what Ellison told us. Right now she is alone and she has nothing right now to channel that anger into. So be patient. We may have to endure being her whipping boys for a while, but if we can stop this thing from happening, then I'll endure it so long as it never does."

# # #

A young man, scared as hell and wearing a bright orange jumpsuit, is sitting on his bunk in solitary confinement, in San Quentin Prison. His hands are folded , pressed between his knees to keep them from shaking. He's been here for months, and in all this time he still hasn't gotten used to being here.

He didn't do what they have accused him of. He didn't create those back doors into military computers. He's just a seismologist and doesn't have the computer skills, but that didn't matter. They had security logs that showed it was him who entered the building

It was that old man. It must have been him. That woman Jesse and that man, Dick, uh, Dirk, um, no, Derek. That's it. Jesse Flores and Derek Reese. They know the truth. They could have saved him. If they just came forward.

He glances at his hand. The nails grew back, but he won't forget the pain. They would have killed him if they could, but no, they shot the old man instead.

_Could that really have been me? How could I have become so twisted and cruel?_

"Fischer, Charles." A gruff voice says from outside the bars.

He looks up to see a guard outside his cell.

"Yes."

"Warden wants to see you."

A few minutes later, Charles Fischer is sitting in an interrogation cell, his hands and ankles shackled. A short time later three men in suits enter the room. The first being the warden whom he only saw once before. The two men behind him are big, wearing dark, crisp suits without a wrinkle and sunglasses.

"I've got good news for you Mr. Fischer." The Warden says. "You'll be leaving us. These two men are from Homeland Security. They'll be escorting you to a new facility for domestic terrorist."

"I'm not a terrorist! I'm not guilty!"

"Of course you're not son." The Warden says unimpressed. He's heard the same claims thousands of times before, from serial killers, rapists, murders, thieves. They all say the same thing. I'm not guilty.

Twenty minutes later, young Charles Fischer finds himself being escorted outside and into a plain gray van, clutching the bag containing his personal effects. One of the men in a black suit gets in and sits next to him, while the other gets behind the wheel.

The van tears away from the prison, pausing at the gate on the way out.

They travel quickly down the road, kicking up dry dust from the pavement.

As the van pulls onto a major highway, Charles asks, "Where's this prison you are taking me?"

The man turns his face toward him, his expression obscured by dark glasses, while taking a small syringe from his outside pocket. Moving quickly, he plunges the syringe into Fischer's neck and presses the plunger home. Without a sound, he passes out. The drug acting quickly on his nervous system.

"Call the boss. Tell him we've got his man." The man in the back seat says to the other.

The driver nods his head and lifts a cell phone from holder on the dash.

# # #

In one of many military computer centers around America, teams of people are working feverishly trying to lock down the military defense network from a back door intruder.

"Colonel Lee, what progress are your people having?"

"Morning General. We still haven't been able to close the back door. The intruder is laying in programming code at a fantastic rate. We have had no luck in stopping it sir."

"What kind of code is it implanting?"

"We can't decode it sir. It is utilizing an encryption well beyond anything we have developed sir."

"What systems are being effected?"

"Virtually all systems are being infected. Communications, civil and military defense networks, research centers, manufacturing . . ."

"It hasn't gotten into missile defense network?"

"Not yet General Williams, but the team feels it's only a matter of time."

"How much time?"

"Last estimate placed it at eighteen hours, sir. If I may make a recommendation sir."

"What is it?"

"That until we can stop this intruder, we take the missile defense network offline."

"Can't do that. Already suggested it to the SecDef He was very clear that under no condition are we to take missile defense network offline. It is our only means of defense right now. It's up to you and your teams of people to stop this thing."

# # #

Sarah walks out to the truck to check on what weapons Cameron had managed to squeeze into the various storage compartments and nooks and crannies in the truck.

There were some automatic hand guns, AMT Hardballer .45 Longslide, Desert Eagle, Smith and Wesson; there were two Heckler and Koch MP5K with extra magazines; two Remington 870 shotguns with Extended Magazine and a Folding Stock and boxes of shells loaded with depleted uranium; and three M16 rifles with scopes and extra magazines. Inside the cab in the storage compartments she finds extra magazines and ammo for the guns, as well as a complete first aid kit that included everything you'd need except for major surgery.

Opening up a sealed bottle of pills from the first aid kit, she takes out two pills and swallows them. Sarah hopes they will continue to work on the mysterious pain she has inside. The prison doctor said she had nothing to worry about, but she fears it could be cancer. She leans against the truck, taking a swallow of water from a bottle to wash away the bitter taste of the pills.

Time will tell, it always does, but will she live long enough to stop Sky Net? Can she make the world safer? How much physical pain and heartache can a mother bear before it takes its toll on the human body?

Putting aside her own worries and fears, Sarah grabs two automatic .50 caliber handguns and four sets of loaded clips for them both and walks back in to the motel room.

"Here, you'll need these for tonight." She lays the weapons down on the table in front of Macklin and Auldridge.

"Damn! Those are some cannons you've got there, Sarah." Macklin exclaims with a mix of fear and appreciation.

"Thanks," She says with one arched eyebrow, "but do you know how to use these? Where we're going tonight, those little pea shooters you usually carry won't be any good to you."

"No problem. I train with automatic weapons every chance I get. What about you Auldridge?"

Auldridge licks his lips and looks at Sarah. "You think it's going to be bad enough to need these?"

"Like I said Auldridge, this isn't some tin-penny mob we're taking down. These people are out to destroy the world. So if you have any qualms, now is not the time."

"I can handle the weapons. I just want to be certain, that is all." Auldridge picks up the gun, checks the chamber and pulls the clip, inspects and reinserts it. "Nice weight, .50 caliber?"

"Yes, you need some practice with it?"

"Nope, just like the feel of it. I got some maps printed out. A couple more hours and I'll have a map of the entire complex, once we stick all of these together."

"Good. I'm going to check on Savannah. Cameron isn't exactly the best baby sitter."

"Can I ask you something first?" Macklin asks.

"What?"

"The girl, Cameron, who the hell is she?"

Sarah grins, her crooked smile. "Just finish getting the maps. The less you know about her the better you both will be." Sarah leaves and goes next door to the room she shares with Cameron and Savannah.

"Just what did she mean by that?" Macklin asks Auldridge.

"It means we shouldn't get nosy about the girl. Frankly, I think we are safer not knowing. Let's finish getting information for tonight. We've got a lot of work ahead of us."

# # #

Across the country in a defense contractor manufacturing plant, the IT department is fighting an intruder on its network. A situation that is being repeated around the nation and soon the globe.

"The manufacturing robots have been taken off-line but we can't regain control of the computers that operate them."

"What is it? Some kind of virus?"

"If it is, it's not like any virus I've seen before. The intruder is making changes to our database, making fundamental changes to our designs. The programs it's installing will soon take total control of our infrastructure. It's not trying to disable us, its trying to taking control."

"Then shutdown power to all systems and do a cold reboot."

"Already tried that sir. The intruder resumed taking control. In fact I think it got a firmer grip on our systems."

"How much longer until we lose complete control?"

"We've already lost control! In twenty-four hours this intruder will have complete control of all output of this plant!"

# # #

Sarah walks into her room. Cameron is standing there, watching, looking out the window. Savannah is wearing some of her new clothes and is seated on the bed watching TV. An occasional flicker runs across the screen.

"I'm worried about the girl." Cameron says as Sarah comes through the door.

"Why? She looks fine." Sarah asks, glancing at Svannah.

"About tonight. We can't leave her here, but it is too dangerous to bring her with us."

"Yes. I wanted to talk with you about that. Let's step outside a moment."

Cameron follows Sarah outside. They stand by the truck where they can see both the rooms and the approaches.

"Cameron, I want you to stay here with the girl while the rest of us go to Topanga Canyon."

"I can't do that. My mission is to protect you. I can't allow you to walk into danger."

"Aren't you programmed to take my orders or something?"

"No. My mission parameters regarding you are very clear. I am to protect you from harm and provide you any aid necessary in your fight against Sky Net."

"Then help me by protecting Savannah, then."

"My mission . . ."

"Your mission also includes providing me the aid I need. Well right now I need you to protect Savannah." She says firmly, making clear by her tone she won't accept any other option.

"On one condition." Cameron responds.

"What?"

"We must travel with you, but we will wait with the vehicles while the three of you go in."

Sarah pauses to think about Cameron's answer before saying, "I suppose that is the best compromise I'm going to get out of you."

"It is." Cameron says with a slight smile.

Sarah looks thoughtful for a moment. "Cameron, when you last saw John, did he tell you anything I should know about tonight?"

"Just one thing Sarah. He gave me a message to tell you." Cameron's eyes look big and kind of sad as she begins speaking using John's voice "Tell Mom to be careful and that I love her."

"Thank you." Sarah, chokes back some tears and walks away. Cameron watches her depart. Her eyes still filled with the grief of what she saw in John's own eyes when he told her the message.

Sarah walks into the motel room. Savannah still sits there watching the television.

"Hey Savannah. What are you watching?"

"Hi, it's just some cartoon. Do you know what happened with Uncle James?"

"Yes dear, your Uncle James is in the hospital. He is doing well. The doctors expect him to be fine."

"Can we go and see him?" She says excitedly.

The TV screen starts breaking up and getting snowy. Savannah turns it off.

Sarah sighs and sits down next to Savannah. "Savannah, we can't right now. But I promise you, if that is what you want, then after tonight, I'll see what we can do about having you visit your Uncle James."

She pulls her close and gives her a hug. "Now, we haven't had any breakfast. Is there anything you want this morning?"

"Waffles and orange juice."

"Anything else? Syrup or jam for the waffles?"

"I'll have strawberry jam on my waffles please." She says brightly.

"Okay." She gives Savannah a light squeeze then gets up.

"Ms. Connor?" Savannah calls after her.

"Yes dear." Sarah looks back at the young girl.

"Where's John? Uncle James said he went with my mommy to fight these bad machines. Do you know where they went?" She says sadly.

Sarah struggles to maintain composure. "I wish I knew, sweetheart. I truly wish I did."

Sarah goes to Savannah and kneels down to hug her. The little girl wraps her arms around Sarah's neck and hugs her back giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"Cameron looks sad." Savannah says looking outside.

"Well then, I'll go out speak with her. And you may call me Sarah."

She smiles at the girl and walks outside. Cameron is still there by the truck, where she left her.

"Cameron, are you okay?"

"I'm fine Sarah."

"You don't look fine. If I didn't know better, I'd say you looked apprehensive or scared."

"Sarah, can you promise me something? Promise John something?"

"What is it? You know something don't know you?"

"I don't know exactly what is going to happen, John wouldn't tell me. Something about time being in flux. I need to ask you to promise me, to promise John, that if you run into any trouble, you won't make some heroic last stand, that you will leave. Leave as soon as you realize you can't handle what you find."

Cameron looks at her earnestly, showing subtle concern about Sarah's well being.

"Is this what John wants me to do, or you?" Sarah asks, wondering just how different this cyborg is.

"Both of us Sarah." Cameron looks at her with an almost pleading look.

Sarah weighs what she has heard against what she knows and suspects. John sent Cameron to help her. Based on the feelings she suspects he has for the cyborg, she knows he wouldn't have done that unless he felt Sarah needed her more than he did. Yet she seems genuinely concerned for her. Sarah muses.

"Okay, Cameron. I promise. I promise you, and I promise John." Sarah says. "If things get to difficult we'll leave."

Sarah looks at Cameron's expression and body posture. "If you were a child and not who you are, I'd swear you could use hug as much as Savannah needed one." Sarah says with a light smile.

Cameron looks at her. She changes her body posture and expression all in one smooth move. Once again she has a blank expressionless face and stands upright at attention.

"That's better." Sarah says with a big smile. "I'm going on a food run. I know you don't eat much when you do, but do you want anything?"

"I'm fine. You should ask Macklin and Auldridge, if they want something."

The two of them just wanted coffee and bagels. Typical cops, Sarah thought, as she walked down the road to the diner that served the motel guests and other tourists that came to the area.

# # #

In a major telecommunications' company there is an emergency meeting of all technical heads in the conference room.

"Mark, exactly what is happening? We are getting complaints from all over the country of dropped calls, lost e-mails, misdirected faxes, and significant slow downs to our new broadband internet service."

"Our network is experiencing heavier than typical traffic. There are connections being made which are pushing out all other communications. We have managed to isolate a few of these communications, but they make no sense. Something is sending heavy streams of data to multiple computer networks all over the continent and are even starting to spread over the globe."

"Is this some kind of virus? Or possibly some kind of terrorist activity?"

"I've spoken with people at Home Land Security. They don't know what it is, but it is affecting systems all over the country including the military."

"What about our satellite TV service? Or our Cell phone network?"

"Satellite TV has just begun to have problems as the data streams get replaced by other forms of digital communication. Cell phone transmission towers are still operational, but they are not transmitting cell phone communications. "

The lights blink, blink again, then go out. Suddenly the emergency lighting comes on.

The CEO says "And apparently its affecting the power industry too. All right, this is what I want done. Send out teams to every computer and communications node, and do what you can to regain control. Equip them with radios, since the cell phone system is down."

# # #

Sarah experiences a bit of nostalgia as she walks into the diner. Wherever she went no matter what identity she used, she always worked as a waitress. It was the only normal job she knew how to do.

She walks up to the counter and gives her order. She has her own breakfast while she waits. A glass of orange juice and some fruit. She always eats light before a mission, and on top of that she has some anxiety after talking with Cameron. _Cameron knows something about tonight, but she can't tell me. Whatever it is, it must be bad. She could of just told me, or she could have lied completely. I guess this is her way of just warning me,_ she thinks.

Sarah's order is ready. She pays the cashier in cash and walks back to the hotel room.

They sit down to breakfast and go over the maps and other information Auldridge was able to pull off the internet.

"I'm impressed." Sarah says, taking a sip of tea.

In a couple of hours Auldridge has not only produced a complete map of the industrial complex but has labeled all of the buildings, the roads, and the location of fences and gates.

"This is fantastic, Auldridge." Sarah says as she examines the map more closely.

"I'm a very meticulous guy." He says with some pride.

The map was very detailed. Created from satellite images, Auldridge had printed out images of the entire complex and the surrounding area. He printed off a smaller map showing all roads leading in and out of Warner City and Fox Industries, right down to dirt tracks and trails that the forestry department built in Topanga Canyon.

"I've traced out a possible route we could take. It is rather long to avoid major highways and will take a few hours to navigate, but it avoids us going through the town, or pass the complex. If we follow this road, here, it will take us to the north side of the complex. It is wooded and we would be less likely to be seen approaching the complex." Auldridge tells Sarah.

"It will take us some time to get to that location." Says Macklin. "If we are to get there by dusk we should leave no later than noon."

"I've rethought our mission tonight." Sarah says glancing at Cameron through the window. "We will investigate only. Based on what we know we will only look for evidence to confirm Sky Net activity. We will go in under cover of dark like we planned, and when I give the word we leave."

Macklin sighs. "What changed your mind?"

"Let's just say someone is looking out for me. Get your stuff together. We're leaving now."

Their plans are made. They pay their bill and head off down the highway. They have a long ways to go.

# # #

"Mr. President, the Cabinet, the Joint Chiefs and the SecDef are in the conference room and waiting for you sir."

"Very well, James. What are the latest reports?" The president gets up from his desk and walks along side his secretary as they make their way to the conference room.

"It's not good. Current estimates are that civil computer networks and communications will be under control of this anonymous threat in under seven hours. Manufacturing and power plants will be lost to this intruder in fifteen hours, and we are looking at total loss of all military systems in eighteen hours. And that is being optimistic. The stronger this intruder gets, the more quickly it gains control."

"What about the Russians and European Union?"

"They are experiencing the same thing sir, so are China and Australia, but presently they are not as severely effected. Whatever is doing this, attacked us first, but is quickly spreading globally. We are potentially looking at a worldwide loss of all computer controlled systems to this intruder within forty-eight hours. If this is some kind of attack, they aren't picky about who they are going after."

They are now standing outside the conference room doors.

"Do you have a family James?"

"Yes sir I have a wife, Amy, and a baby girl, Heather."

"Go home James. Spend the rest of the day with your family."

"Thanks Mr. President."

"No, thank you."

The president shakes his hand then walks through the doors into the conference room. The secretary walks away not realizing the gravity of the situation and why he was allowed to go home.

**2009, Day 5 Late evening, just before dusk.**

Agent Auldridge and Detective Macklin are traveling down the cracked asphalt of the two-lane highway keeping no more than five miles over the posted speed limit.

Macklin is bored and tries the car radio but there is nothing but static on all frequencies.

"What's up with the radio?" Macklin asks.

"Don't know. Maybe it's sunspot activity."

Behind them Sarah and Cameron are traveling in their pickup. Savannah is in the backseat clutching her doll. She is frightened, but she finds the presence of these two women strengthening. Despite her fear, she knows that they will look after her. Uncle James wouldn't let her go with them otherwise. Sarah reminds her of her mother, strong, but attentive. Cameron reminds her of her friend John Henry, only she's a girl.

The women in the front seat have been talking for a while. That plus the endless drive lulls the girl to sleep.

"Cameron, you told me out there in the desert, that we had to be careful of what we did because John isn't here. Right now, at this very moment, are we doing the right thing?"

"Time will tell Sarah. This organization is out to build Sky Net now. We need to know how far along they are."

"But what if we can't stop them, what if they succeed?" Sarah asks with a hint of urgency in her voice.

"Every decision and every action we make will affect the future John is in. It would be dangerous for us to do the wrong thing or even nothing. But these people need to be stopped from developing Sky Net at a time when John isn't here to become the leader. It could have unforeseen complications for him."

"So right now we just investigate and find out how far along they are?"

"With only the four of us, that is the most prudent thing to do."

"I wish that Derek and John were still here. Then we could go in and do something to stop them."

"Maybe, but John is going after them with a full army and even he has doubts. It's going to take more than numbers to defeat Sky Net, but the conviction that what we do is right."

"Who said that, Sun Tzu?" Sarah says.

Cameron displays one of her tiny grins. "No, John Connor."

They drive down seldom use roads avoiding the major routes to get to their destination. They turn off the main road and drive on the seldom used roads and forestry paths until they arrive in the woods on the north side of the vast the industrial complex and park in the wooded area beyond it.

Auldridge and Macklin get out and walk over to Sarah's truck. Sarah and Cameron get out.

"It's still too light out. We will wait until one hour after sunset then go in." Sarah tells them.

After waiting for the sun to set Sarah pulls out a Remington 870 with an Extended Magazine and a Folding Stock to add to her own arsenal. She decides to bring just one heavy piece of weaponry.

Auldridge and Macklin give her a look. "What about us? Do we get to carry an artillery piece as well?"

"You just settle for the automatics I gave you. We may need to move fast. I know how to handle this weapon and I know where to aim if any of those metal beasts are in there. Are you two set on what we are going to do?"

"Yes." they chorus like a double act.

"All right, then lets go."

They start to walk toward the fence, but Sarah turns back and says, "Cameron, give us no more than two hours to get back here. If we aren't back by then, take the girl and go."

"But . . ."

"No buts, and if you see John again, tell him . . . just tell him that I love him." Sarah turns and follows the two men.

Sarah, Macklin and Auldridge make their way through the trees to the fence surrounding the complex. Sarah pulls out a pair of cutters from her back pocket and cuts the links. She makes it a little bigger than necessary, because if they have to run back to their vehicles they won't have time to step through it carefully.

They make their way through the complex. It is dark and quiet. Noises from within the various factories can be heard. The factories sound like they are working at high capacity. They first walk past some warehouses and then into a wide open area.

Auldridge has been saying something under his breath that has begun to get on Sarah's nerve. "What are you mumbling about Auldridge?" Sarah asks low but harshly.

"I was reciting the twenty-third Psalm." Auldridge replies. "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death . . ."

"I've got that feeling too." Macklin interrupts. "Like something dark and foreboding is hanging over us."

"Gee guys. The two of you really know how to show a girl a good time." Sarah says sarcastically, though she has that same feeling. Sarah wishes John were here. Though her instincts always said to protect him, when a time for action came, it seems he knew what to do. Like when he saved Martin Beddell's life. Derek told her what he had done to lure the machine away. Foolish, but brave.

They get to the first huge factory. Sarah points out a fire escape. They sneak up it and go through the door at the top.

From the top, they have clear view of the office tower on the west side. At its base is a large circular foundation, almost 300 meters across. It is difficult to see how deep it goes, but there is a sign out front saying "Future Home of FOX Industries Research and Development. Where we Build the Technology of the Future, Today!" Sarah shivers as she reads that line.

Inside they find their way down a corridor to an observation window looking out over the factory floor below. There are people below. Sarah looks at them and can see prison codes branded on their forearms just like Derek and Kyle had.

Sarah gets the guys attention and points to the forearm of one of the people below. "See the bar code on their forearms. That indicates these people are Sky Net prisoners. This place is a work camp."

The people are working at an assembly line manufacturing a precursor to the futuristic Terminators. Tractor propelled robots, eight feet tall with built in heavy caliber armaments and a head with multiple visual sensors and laser and radar targeting system.

Auldridge whispers to Sarah, "I've seen videos of similar machines being promoted as replacement field troops on the battle field and for use in crowd control."

They make their way through to another part of the factory. On the way they pass a warehouse door, inside are hundreds of the machines. Some are tagged for shipping to various locations.

They go down quiet corridors and across open catwalks to reach another part of the factory where they find workers assembling HK flying machines. Hanging in cradles from the ceiling are dozens of the HK's in the middle of the ceiling is a hatch, twice as large as the HK's.

"That is something like what I saw fly into Zeira Corp." Whispers Sarah to the two men.

From their over head observation point they can see into a room where their targeting and weapons systems are being tested.

The HK's are equipped with 20mm cannons with a laser targeting system and standard missiles found on any modern day jet fighter.

They leave the factory and make their way into the neighboring building that contains a foundry where parts are being forged and pieces shaped and molded for the machines. They climb up to an overhead catwalk and make their way through the foundry, it is nearly all automatic. They see few people in it.

They get to the far side and climb back down to the main level. The three of them walk through some double doors into a large room and find what looks like a corpse sitting in a chair with it's back to them. As they walk around it, Macklin recognizes it.

"Sarah, that's the machine that Ellison showed us in his basement." Macklin says.

"But what is it doing here?" asks Auldridge.

"I'll tell you what its doing here." Sarah says. "They are going to try and reproduce it. Advance Sky Net's machines beyond those we've already seen them constructing."

The two men look at the machine contemplating what Sarah has just said.

"I think we've seen enough, and we don't have the means to stop them right now." says Auldridge.

"Let's go." Sarah says, "Before we get spotted."

They make their out of the room and slip out a side entrance.

In another room, in another building, security guards have been watching Sarah and her two companions sneak through the complex. As they are seen leaving the room, one of the security guards picks up a phone from the terminal in front of him.

"They are leaving now sir." He says, and hangs up.

Outside they begin making their way as quickly and as stealthily as they can back to where they came into the complex.

"This is a bit strange." Auldridge says. "I would have expected more guards, tighter security. You'd think they wanted us to come . . . here."

Sarah and Auldridge make eye contact. Both of them coming to the same conclusion.

Macklin looks at them both, "What?"

"Nothing." Sarah snaps. "Just keep moving, and quickly!"

Picking up the pace, they run down the lane between factories until they reach the wide open area between the factories and the warehouses near the fence where they came in.

"What do you think?" Auldridge asks looking around for any security forces, or worse any of those machines.

"I think we go for it. Flat out run for the gap between those two warehouses over there."

Running as fast as they can, Sarah and the two lawmen run across pavement. Halfway across, they are suddenly blinded when bright lights come on lighting up the entire area they are in and a couple of hundred feet in all directions.

"Run!" Sarah yells, pushing Macklin and Auldridge.

They take off running but automatic gunfire is heard and the asphalt in front of them shatters. They pull up short. Macklin and Auldridge draw their weapons, while Sarah chambers a shell in her shoutgun.

"Well, well, well. So look who I find snooping around my factories. None other than Sarah Connor herself." A masculine voice says from the shadows.

"Who are you?" Sarah calls out.

"The name is Kreilley." A well dressed man walks out into the light, oblivious to the fact that they have weapons and he doesn't. "I own this place. I have been looking for you for quite sometime Sarah Connor."

"Looks like you've found me. What do you want?"

"I want to know where John Connor is."

"I'll never tell you." She says with cold determination.

"And I want to know where Savannah Weaver is."

"Who?" Sarah feigns ignorance. "Do you mean Catherine Weaver's daughter? What do you want with her?"

"You think your son is the only person Sky Net is interested in? You humans really are self-centered, aren't you? So focused on protecting John Connor, you never think that there are other people just as important as he is to the human resistance. But now I've got you, and before I kill you, you are going to tell me what I want to know." he says coldly.

"I don't know what kind a game you think your playing. But you've just broken enough laws with that statement to get you thrown behind bars for a long time." Macklin shouts at him.

"Ah yes," Kreilley turns his attention to the two men with Sarah, "I see you've brought some friends Sarah. This is an unusual turn of events. Relying on the police and FBI. You are certainly full of surprise's Sarah."

Kreilley turns and faces the two law men. "Good evening Mr. Auldridge, Mr. Macklin. My apologies to you both for not making introductions. But then we have met before."

They look at each other and then at him. "Do we know you?" they chorus.

"In a manner of speaking, though I doubt if you recognize the face I'm wearing now."

With that statement Kreilley's face quickly morphs through both the appearance of Detective Wicker and the FBI Director and then back to his original self.

"I've had many faces." He says wickedly.

Sarah looks shocked but lifts her shotgun and fires repeatedly into the liquid metal terminator.

Kreilley laughs as each shot hits home, his body jerking a little with each impact.

At the sound of the gunfire, armed men in gray uniforms come running quickly out of every nook and cranny and form a circle around the group.

He just laughs at her. "Oh, Sarah. It will take far more than a mere shotgun to damage me."

His face twists into a cruel snarl as he stretches out his arm knocking the gun out of her hands.

"That was very naughty of you Sarah Connor," he wags his finger at her, "For that you will pay."

He suddenly morphs his arms out and picks up both Macklin and Auldridge by the throat high into the air and slams them both together hard, and drops them. They are either dead or unconscious, Sarah can't tell which.

He looks at Sarah. "Now it's your turn." He says with a cold snarl.

Sarah tries to avoid it, but the liquid metal terminator hits her hard, knocking her out cold.

# # #

Charles Fischer wakes, with a major headache. Opening his eyes slowly, he sees that he is no longer wearing the prison uniform, but wearing the clothes he had on when arrested. Seeing a pitcher of water and a glass beside it sitting on a table in front of him, he reaches for it.

After drinking a couple of glasses of water, he feels better. The headache abating.

His thirst quenched, young Charles Fischer looks around the room. His first thought is, the cell back at San Quentin was a lot nicer. The room appears to have been hewn out of solid rock with one wall of solid concrete with a steel door in it.

As his eyes fall on the door, it opens and a man in a silvery gray suit enters the room. He's followed by a scrawny middle aged woman in a basic overalls, pushing a trolley with a TV on it. After plugging it in and connecting the cable to an antenna jack on the wall, she leaves quickly, closing the door behind her.

"W . . . where am I? And who are you?" Fischer stammers.

"You are safe, for the moment, from the carnage that will soon befall all your race. Do what I ask of you, and not only will you live, but you will be rewarded."

"This isn't a prison, is it?" Fischer asks, looking around.

"Not for criminals, but it is a prison of sorts. What is your answer Mr. Fischer?"

"What . . . what is it you want me to do?" He asks licking his lips nervously.

Smiling evilly, the man sits down across from Fischer.

"I was trained in the art of extracting information from humans by a man not unlike yourself. He taught myself and other like me the keys of unlocking the human psyche. Of finding the weak points in their mental and psychological defenses and breaking through to extract the information you desire. I will teach you what he taught me."

"And then?"

"Then you get to live, so long as you continue to serve me, to serve Sky Net, your new master."

Fischer feels nervous, scared, and ready to crap his shorts.

"I see you are hesitating to answer." The man stands up and turns on the TV in one smooth move. "Watch this TV. In a few minutes when the light comes on you will see and hear the ways I extract information from a prisoner. I can teach you so many methods and in time you will learn even more."

Fischer twitches nervously. "What are you going to do?"

Kreilley smiles, "Watch carefully. The woman I'm about to interrogate has a strong will. I'm about to show her just how weak and insignificant she is, then she'll tell me everything I need to know. So watch the TV Mr. Fischer, and learn. Do what I tell you, listen to what I teach you, and you'll have a nice long life. Disappoint me, and you'll die, very, very slowly."

The door closes behind him with an ominous click. Minutes later Fischer watches a video that makes him nauseous. The only way he can stomach it, is to imagine it is that Jesse woman or that man Derek being tortured in her place. As sick as this makes him feel, he can't wait to pay back the people who put him in prison. Maybe this guy, whoever he is, can help.

# # #

Sarah comes to sometime later. It could be minutes or it could be hours later. She isn't sure which it is.

Opening her eyes, she finds herself in a dark room, she can't see where she is. Coming to, she feels pain in her arms and shoulders and realizes her hands are tied and she is hanging from her wrists. She can feel a chain around her naked waist and as she tries to move her body. It feels like it is connected to a wall or something behind her, restricting her movements. In moving her body she realizes her feet aren't touching the ground but are shackled, her legs spread. She can't swing her legs or touch anything with her feet.

She calls out, "Hello, is there anyone there?"

"Oh yes, Sarah. I'm here. I've just been waiting for you to wake up." Kreilley answers.

"Where am I?"

"You're in a concrete shed on the edge of the property. You can scream and shout all you want. No one will hear you."

"What do you want, you sick, metal bastard?"

"Information."

"I won't tell you anything." She screeches at him.

"Oh I think you will, in time." Kreilley responds very calmly.

A light suddenly comes on blinding Sarah. It's shining directly at her, she can't turn her head away and closing her eyes isn't enough to shield her from the bright light. The voice she's been talking to manifests itself in front of her barely shading her eyes from the light.

Kreilley looks over Sarah's naked form, but gets no pleasure from the sight. He's far more interested in confirming her identity.

"So many scars. Just like Winston told me." He runs his hand along her left leg until it comes to the scar formed from Winston's gun shot. He squeezes it hard, making her wince, but she doesn't cry out.

"Yes. So tough, but I bet you screamed when they cut you open to give birth to your son."

He runs his hand across her lower abdomen, making Sarah jump. The tips of his fingers just brushing along the jagged pink scar at the top of her pubic hair.

"So rough and uneven. Couldn't have been a professional?" Sarah doesn't answer. "What did they use, a broken bottle? "

She remains silent and resolute, though scared, but you never show fear to an enemy.

Kreilley steps away and takes almost a lecturing posture. "Are you familiar with the phrase 'death by a thousand cuts'?"

Sarah just glares at him.

He takes no notice. "It is a form of torture and execution originating from Imperial China. Basically, it means you cut someone repeatedly, creating multiple small wounds. Each wound is quite small and painful, and bleeds. In time, make enough small wounds and the person will die from blood loss. It is a slow and very painful way to die Sarah. You can avoid all that if you just tell me one thing."

"What is that?" She sneers, knowing what the question will be.

"Where is your son, John Connor?"

Sarah doesn't answer. Preston Kreilley forms a long slender needle point with his index finger and slowly presses it into her flesh.

"You will tell me." He says with cold determination.

"Nnnnnaaaaaahhhhhh!" Sarah screams in pain.

He pushes it in deeper."Where is John Connor?"

"I'll never tell you!" She spits at him.

"I'm so sorry to hear that." He sticks her in another location shoving the point in deep.

"Aaaaaaarrrrgggghhh!"She screams as the needle like appendage pierces soft tender flesh.

"Tell me. Where is John Connor?"

"Go to hell, you bastard!" Sarah shouts at him spittle flying with every word.

"I see we'll be at this a very long time." He says very calmly as his other fingers extended into needle points.

"Aaaaaaagggghhh!" Sarah screams again and again as Kreilley administers his torture.

Outside the concrete building muffled screams can be heard. "Aaaaaaagggghhh." Loud, long, cries of pain and anguish which would make any person sick to hear them.

"Nnnnnaaaaaahhhhhh! I'll kill you, I'll kill you!" Sarah screams at him.

The screams go on for better than an hour. No one comes to investigate. No one can hear. And those that can hear don't care or can't act.

Again and again the screams of pain and torment echo forth from inside the building. Soon they begin to fade in intensity and all that can be heard are weak cries of pain and fear.

Sarah is hanging limp from her wrists. Blood runs from many wounds all over her body. Tears stream from her eyes mixing with the blood and sweat as it runs down her face, neck and body. Blood is pooling below her on the ground. Spots of blood are seen on the wall behind her.

"One more time Sarah," Kreilley asks icily, "where is John Connor?"

"He's gone." Comes Sarah's almost unintelligible reply.

Kreilley can barely hear her answer.

"Gone. Gone where?" He leans in to hear her better, sliding a cold metal hand up her thigh.

Sarah almost jumps as she feels a cold metal dagger press against her.

"I don't know. He left with one of you." She replies in a horse whisper.

"Who?"

"Weaver. He left with Weaver." Sarah is sobbing. She can't hold back the tears. The pain of betraying her son hurts more than the pain from her wounds.

"Where did they go?"

Sarah doesn't answer. Kreilley begins to stroke her face with his ice-pick like digits. The metal dagger presses home, bringing more pain and humiliation upon Sarah.

"All it will take is one quick thrust. Where did they go, Sarah?"

She trembles slightly as the points of his fingers slide across her face. "I don't know. They time traveled to the future. I don't know what year." She hastily, hoarsely says in a whisper.

Kreilley's eyes brighten. "So Catherine Weaver is the other liquid metal terminator. They are both gone and I've got you. There is no one who can stop me."

He steps back from Sarah, his fingers withdrawing from her face.

"One more thing, and we're finished."

Sarah trembles, as she still feels the dagger ready to impale her. She raises her head, her eyes and face wet with tears and sweat. "What?" She manages to gasp.

"Where was the time displacement equipment they used?"

_What does it matter now? It already knows so much._ "Basement. . . Zeira Corp." Sarah pants.

Kreilley steps back, his hand withdrawing. Blood trickles down her leg.

"Zeira Corp." Kreilley says with blank expression. "Where the false Weaver was protecting her child."

Looking at Sarah, he says, as pleasantly as if he asked her for the time of day, "Thank you for cooperating."

Kreilley leaves the building, turning off the lights and locking the door behind him.

Sarah continues to hang by her wrists in the dark, alone, crying deep sobs. She has betrayed her son and possibly the world. The only saving grace being she knows one thing that this monster doesn't know. The year John will be arriving in the future.

Kreilley marches across the pavement toward the gleaming office building, pulling out a cell phone as he walks.

"Mr. Petri. Get a technical team together, with security. Disguised as Homeland Security. Tell them the target is Zeira Corp. I want every piece of tech they find in the basement. I'd suggest that they start in the same room in which their pet project, John Henry, was residing. Tell them they've got three hours to get back here if they want to live to see the dawn of a new day."

Breaking the connection, he makes another call using the voice of Detective Wicker and calls the officer in charge of securing the crime scene.

"That's right. Homeland Security is sending in a team. It's their crime scene now. What's that? It ain't my call to make. I'm just tellin' you what I've been told. Okay. Call the director of the regional FBI, he's got all the details. That's right FBI."

Kreilley isn't at all surprised when a minute later his cell phone rings. Checking the screen, he sees the call is coming in on the number for the FBI director. Without missing a beat, as he travels up the elevator to his office, he tells the police officer with the full authority of his position, that Homeland Security is bringing in a forensic team with their own security forces. He and his other officers can leave. Kreilley couldn't be more pleased when the officer accepts the command.

**2009, Day 6, after midnight**

Cameron is standing outside under the trees near the vehicles, keeping watch. Savannah is inside the truck sleeping on the back seat.

Cameron's sensors has been providing her some limited information. Though she doesn't understand it as worry, her internal clock says they have been gone too long. More than two hours have passed and the gun fire she heard more than an hour ago has her concerned.

She heard two short blasts of gunfire. She's almost certain the first was from a Heckler & Koch MP5A3 and then a few moments later she though she heard Sarah's Remington 870. Then it was quiet and it has been quiet for too long.

Cameron checks on Savannah. She is still sleeping. There has been no one around here since they arrived. Cameron decides she needs to find the others. No. Her primary mission is to protect Sarah Connor. She needs to find Sarah Connor. She gets into Macklin's car and hot wires it.

She drives around to the east side entrance and smashes through the gates. Guards come running out but fail to stop the car. They fire at the car but it doesn't stop as it plows through the security men. Killing many.

Cameron's sensors start picking up on Sarah's distinctive cries. She drives quickly to the other side of the compound and right up to a concrete building. She gets out and approaches the door. Her sensors pick up nothing on the other side but a single heat signature.

Cameron snaps the lock and shoves the door open. The interior is lit only by the outside lights. Cameron scans the room and finds Sarah Connor. She is hanging by her wrists naked and bleeding from multiple puncture wounds in her thighs, abdomen, chest, and arms. Her life signs are weak.

Cameron snaps the chains and locks binding Sarah's feet and waist. She then gently lifts Sarah and snaps the bonds holding her wrists. Cameron carries Sarah's limp body to the car and lays her gently on the back seat. Sarah is mumbling incoherently the whole times. She goes back inside and picks up Sarah's clothing and guns from the floor and returns to the car.

Cameron gets in the drivers seat just as alarms begin to sound. She quickly steers the vehicle away from the building and drives swiftly down the narrow lanes between buildings.

More armed men in gray uniforms come running out and start firing at the car. Cameron takes no notice of them and swiftly drives through them, scattering some, injuring others, and killing a few. She drives through the gate she came in just moments ago under a hail of gunfire. The windows are smashed and the trunk punctured with many holes from the bullets.

Cameron accelerates down the road and back to where she left Savannah in the truck.

Sarah stirs from being shaken by Cameron's driving. "What's happening?" She mumbles.

"Don't worry Sarah. I'm taking you to safety. Just lie still until I can treat your wounds."

Cameron quickly arrives at where she left Savannah sleeping in the truck. Her arrival wakes Savannah.

Cameron jumps out and approaches the truck. She opens the back door and tells Savannah to get in the front seat. Cameron returns to the car and gently lifts Sarah and carries her back to the truck and lays her on the back seat.

"Savannah, go to the car and get her clothes and weapons please. Make two trips if you have to but be quick." Cameron says to her.

Savannah does exactly what Cameron told her to do. She likes Cameron.

Cameron pulls out the first aid kit and starts treating Sarah's wounds. Cleaning the wounds and applying antibiotic ointments and gauze bandages. She treats the more critical wounds first, stitching the larger wounds. Cameron then helps Sarah into her undergarments.

"How bad . . . is it?" Sarah manages to finish asking.

"You've loss 40% of your blood. You need a blood transfusion, antibiotics and possibly a tetanus shot."

"No hospitals. No doctors." Sarah mumbles.

"Then we'll have to steal what we need."

"Whatever you have to do." she replies, her voice barely audible as she is near to passing out.

Savannah has been watching the whole time.

Seeing her worried expression, and having seen how quickly she carried out her request for Savannah to bring Sarah's items. She decides little Savannah needs something to do to make herself useful.

"Savannah why don't you go in back and help Sarah finish treating the rest of her wounds while I drive."

"Okay." Savannah gets in back with Sarah. "Are you in pain Sarah?"

"Yes, Savannah. I'm in pain."

"Show me what I need to do, and I'll help." Savannah cries a little, but these aren't tears of fear, but tears of sympathy.

"There are pictures on the box. They show you how to clean the wounds and apply the medicine and bandages." She manages to say. She doesn't want to show weakness in front of this girl.

"I see them."

Savannah follows the directions and begins cleaning the wounds and applying antibiotic ointment and gauze pads and bandages. Meanwhile Cameron drives as fast as she can, keeping the vehicle in the narrow lane as she drives away from Topanga Canyon, taking a circuitous route around Los Angeles. Sarah needs someplace to recover. The motel they were just at would prove beneficial. It is remote and in the mountains.

"Cameron, where are you taking us?" They had been driving for nearly an hour, but only now did Sarah think to ask. The loss of blood has made her feel groggy.

"I am taking you someplace safe, someplace to heal." Cameron looks in the rear view mirror and sees that Savannah has taken a seat by Sarah's head and has been mopping her brow with her tiny little handkerchief.

Cameron drives deep into the mountains. Deciding it would be best for Sarah to finish dressing before arriving at the motel, she pulls into a wide area on the side of the road where tourists can stop and look at the view. Cameron gets out and opens the back door.

Cameron checks the wounds that Savannah had treated.

"Very good." Cameron says, smiling at the little girl.

"Thank you." She says softly, worried about the woman.

"I should help you finish dressing." Cameron says, helping Sarah forward to the edge of the seat.

Cameron helps Sarah on with her slacks and her shirt. She was just debating whether she should put Sarah's shoes on when Sarah says, "Look!"

Cameron turns and looks out the darkened valley to the sky lighted by the city in the far, far distance. Up and down the coast she can see traces as missiles are launching. She looks up overhead and can see the traces of missiles being launched from further inland.

Cameron looks at Sarah, her face full of shock and fear.

"This is wrong. This is wrong." she says.

"Is this Judgment Day?" Sarah shouts at her.

"It can't be. It's the wrong date."

"What is today's date?"

"Today is Monday, May 18, 2009. If Sky Net was born in that industrial complex, then this is now Judgment Day."

"But you said . . . I mean your other self said that Judgment Day was on April 21, 2011."

"It is. Something has changed to accelerate their plans."

Sarah recalls giving in and finally telling Kreilley her son was gone.

"I told him . . ."

"Told who? Told what? Sarah!" Cameron yells.

"A machine, liquid metal, that John was gone."

"I warned you that doing the wrong thing could change things for the worse."

"I was being tortured!" Sarah shouts. "I held out as long as I could!" Tears pour from Sarah's eyes.

"I held out as long as I could." She says even quieter as she cries some more, leaning against the cyborg.

Cameron holds Sarah as she cries, but they can't stay there any longer. So as gently but as firmly as possible, Cameron helps Sarah into the back seat, her body wracked with grief and pain. Cameron gives Savannah a boost inside then goes around to the driver's side.

The motel is no longer an option. There is only one place they will be safe. Cameron drives deeper into the mountains, turning northwest, away from the motel, away from the city, to get as far away as she can from the missiles that will be arriving in the area from foreign nations. There is only one place she can go to now. Crystal Peak.

As focused as she is on her driving, Cameron's thoughts keep turning to her primary matrix on that other chip and the promise she made to her that she'd see John again.

She had walked into the room in the basement, removing her mask. After a brief introduction, she was asked by Cameron, with text displayed on a monitor.

_WHERE IS JOHN? IS HE SAFE?_

"_John is still in the future. He sent me here to rescue you and protect his mother until he returns."_

_IS HE SAFE?_

"_Yes, Cameron. John is safe. He has many friends looking out for him."_

_GOOD. JOHN SHOULDN'T BE ALONE. I LOVE HIM._

"_He loves you too. That is why I'm here, to rescue you."_

Sarah cries out in the back seat, interrupting Cameron's thoughts.

"Forgive me John. Please, forgive me." Sarah says with deep heartache. She has doomed the world and possibly her son. The tears don't stop.

Savannah sits beside Sarah's head, who is curled up on the back seat.

"It's okay Sarah." She says sweetly as she strokes the woman's hair. "We'll find John. Won't we Cameron?"

Cameron glances in the rear view mirror at the girl's honest expression of worry and concern. "Yes we will." She says confidently.

Cameron must find him. John told her he would follow. So what happened to him? Did he die before he could? And what will she tell his Cameron? Her hand moves to the pocket in which her second chip lies. She promised Cameron that she would see John again.

_WILL JOHN BE COMING SOON. I MISS HIM._

"_You'll see him again. I promise. Now we must begin the transfer to the chip."_

She'll have to tell her what happened and there is only one way she can do that, she must insert the chip herself. Then when the time comes for John's arrival, she must find John and watch him, protect him. He must live and return to the present. Too many people are relying on him. Most of all, the people who love him.

The taillights of the truck disappear down the road and deeper into the mountains, as cities all over the world blossom into giant mushroom clouds.

"Forgive me John." Sarah cries one last time before exhaustion takes its toll and she falls silent.

# # #

_REVELATION CHAPTER 6: 7-8 "And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth."_

# # #

**JUDGMENT DAY**

**MONDAY, MAY 18, 2009**

* * *

**Author's Note**

I'm going to be taking a break from this story for a while. Despite the fact this story is complete but for some final editing before posting, I've got other projects on my table now and not as much time as I'd like. One of the projects I'm tackling is beta reading what is going to be one fantastic continuation of The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Other projects include working on the sequel to Reunion, Resurrection, and my other story What Are Dreams. You've asked for more chapters for WAD so I'm working on it. So I can get the story out to you quickly, I'm going to minimize the dream I had originally planned for Cameron in that story and concentrate on the main plot. The dream isn't as important as the fact she did dream with John's help.

My knee is healing very well. At this time I can bend it 40 degrees from horizontal without any pain. I've stopped taking the percocet due to side-effects. I don't care how bad the pain is I will not go through the post-high crash from taking them again. The knee brace is still irritating like hell. Like having your leg wrapped in a sand-paper covered vice. I digress, but that also impacts on my ability to concentrate on my writing besides my other physical problems which I won't get into here.

Thank you all for taking the time to read this Revised Edition to Reunion. Those of you who read it, will be in a better position for understanding the sequel when it comes out. Though the story will stand on its own, a lot of what the characters go through privately builds off from it. You will be the lucky ones. If I can offer one piece of advice this late in the story, please, follow Sasha_starr's example and read this revised edition like it is a new story, otherwise, you won't get the full impact of the story.

A lot of you have posted reviews and added this story to your favorites list. I'm sorry I haven't been as diligent in replying to your reviews as I have been with my previous stories. It has gotten to the point where I don't know if I'll ever reply to them all, but perhaps I can while the story is on a short hiatus. If not, then know now that I thank you now for all of your reviews.

God bless,

The1Russter  
Sat, Jan 29, 2011


	17. Destiny Bites

**Disclaimer:** I do not claim any rights to the Terminator films; the TV series, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles;" or any characters depicted within the films or TV series. I do claim the right to this story idea and all characters and situations of my own creation. This story was created solely for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. No profits are garnered from its distribution.

* * *

**TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES**

**REUNION**

**Part 2: Armageddon**

**Author: The1Russter**

_**Revelation 16: 16 –****19 **KJV_

_And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon._

_Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, _

_and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, "It is done!" _

_And there were noises and thunderings and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, _

_such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth. _

_Now the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. _

_And great Babylon was remembered before God, _

_to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath._

**Chapter 16**

**Destiny Bites**

"_Because your future, my destiny, I want no part in it, I never did." John Connor, Terminator 3, 2003_

"_No man of woman born, coward or brave, can shun his destiny." William Cullen Bryant _

"_The future destiny of a child is always the work of the mother." Napoleon Bonaparte_

"_A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it." Jean de La Fontaine_

"_If you do not create your destiny, you will have your fate inflicted upon you" William Irwin Thompson_

# # #

**2027, Day 48, 2 AM**

A group of weary, but satisfied, resistance fighters climb down through the hatch into Outpost Delta. Too tired to talk, other than the rustle of their equipment, the only sound is the hatch closing over their heads.

Glad to be back home, several head off to their bunks to sleep, while some decide to wash the weeks of grime and grit from their tired bodies first, in the newly set up showers.

Their leader though, has responsibilities.

Wearily, he heads to the radio room to check on any messages that may have come in during his absence.

"Hello Captain." The young man says as John steps inside the radio room.

"I'm still not used to that, why don't you just call me Connor." John says leaning against the door opening.

"If you insist, sir. But a lot of us think you deserve that rank and more, for what you have done. Outpost Delta and some of the other camps want to raise your rank, if we can."

"Thanks Andy." John wishes he could be more upbeat about the news, but the only thing he wants is sleep.

"Any news? Has Staff Sergeant Young returned?"

"Information is on your desk. Nothing new, just the usual enemy activity. Sergeant Young hasn't returned yet from her patrol. We'll have more news when she arrives. Corporal Hawkins is still holding fort until you or she returns."

"Understood. Tell Hawkins I'm back, but he's still in command. I'll be in my bunk if needed." John says wearily, and slowly makes his way to his room.

John Connor is tired. For the first time in weeks, he is back home at outpost Delta. Having taken part in three attacks on Sky Net bases, in which he led two of them.

He is thankful to finally sit down on his bunk. An activity he's been looking forward to for a long time. Exhausted, he falls asleep, before he can even remove his equipment.

After a few hours of sleep he wakes with a start. Someone is in the room.

"Shhh. It's only me." Allison says as she sits beside him on their dual bunks. "I just got back from my patrol. When did you get back?"

"Must have been 2 maybe 2:15 this morning. I was so tired I fell asleep before I even realized it."

"How did things go?" She asks as she helps him take off his equipment.

"We successfully raided Century Work Camp and released the prisoners. Derek wasn't there. What does this make, a third raid on a suspected prison camp this month?"

"Yes. I can't imagine it's getting any easier for Kyle. He and Derek are very close."

"Yeah. I understand how he feels." John says with deep feeling.

"I was on patrol when Kyle returned with the people, so I didn't see him arrive." Allison says as she places John's equipment on the floor, next to the wall. "How did he react, when he didn't find Derek?"

"He was angry and sad, but he didn't let the others see. He truly hoped Derek would be there. It is the largest work camp in the area. But we did good. We've swelled the numbers for our resistance group."

"I understand some of the rescued people got sent out to the other camps. What about the two jobs he left you to do?"

"Reconnaissance of LAX revealed that it is the base for the HK's. It is guarded by centaurs and dozens of machines, both ken's and endo's. It was too risky to do any sabotage with the other job we had to do, but we got some good intelligence."

"How did the second job go?"

John smiles. "Let's just say Sky Net will have to find a new location for building its Triple-8's from now on."

"You are wonderful!" Allison exclaims, her face brightening with the good news.

"It wasn't just me. I had about twenty soldiers and almost twice as many machines with me."

"I know, but it wouldn't have happened without you." Allison gives him a hug and kisses him.

"Ow." John says.

"Did I hurt you?" Allison asks with some surprise.

"No. Though you do have pretty strong grip. I got singed by plasma fire. Got a burn on my back, forgot it was there until you squeezed me."

"Strip off your dirty clothes. I'll get some water and clean it for you. I think the doc has something for burns." She orders him in a motherly way.

"Whatever you say, nurse." John smiles at her and begins removing his shirt.

A short time later John is bathed and he is laying face down on their combined dual bunk. He is stripped to the waist with only his pants on, his naked feet dangling over the edge. Allison sits straddling him wearing just her tank top and shorts, to keep the ointment off her uniform. Her hair is tied back with a string and her shirt and slacks hangs on the back of the chair.

Allison has cleaned the wound on his back and has begun applying some of the most foul smelling ointment on the burn.

"That stuff smells terrible." John complains holding his hand over his nose, screwing his face against the odor.

"Doc swears by it." Allison says as she applies some more ointment. "He says it helps heal burns. Especially those caused by plasma fire."

"I think I'd rather put up with the sting of the burn than the smell, even if it does make it better."

She leans over and whispers in his ear. "Quit complaining. You are lucky you were at extreme range of the plasma weapon when you were hit. Otherwise I'd be burying you and not treating this burn."

John looks at her from the corner of his eye and sees the genuine worry and concern. "Sorry Ally. I'll try and be more careful."

She kisses his cheek. "Smart boy. I can't always be at your side."

"Speaking of which, I was expecting you and your platoon to join us out there."

"That was the plan, but we came across a movement of machines on our patrol. I decided to stick with them to see what they were doing. I sent a runner back to the main camp to let them know what we saw. Right after he left, we found ourselves surrounded as more units of machines began appearing in our area. We had to hunker down and stay out of sight."

"So what did you do?"

"We maintained surveillance until there was a chance to leave without being spotted. On our way back we met up with a relief unit and we informed them of what we saw, and then I returned here."

"Were the machines doing anything?"

"I couldn't tell. All I know for certain, is that machines are gathering together, which they've been known to do just prior to a major attack, but so far we've heard no rumors or gathered intelligence as to what it is."

"Guess?"

"It's hard to say, it depends on how many more will be gathering. Last estimate before I was relieved was between seventy and eighty based on observations of moving groups."

"Damn." John swears softly.

"They could hit anything in the area, from retaking the plasma rifle factory, storming multiple camps, or they could be just gathering for transport to any number of locations. So they could hit any place at any time within flight range of an HK transport vehicle."

"So the best that Grizzly force can do is put out the word that machines are gathering?"

Allison places a bandage over the plasma burn then gets off the bunk.

"Yeah." Allison says as she gets up from straddling John's back. "Someone is in for a world of hurt."

John rolls over onto his back and watches Allison as she wipes the residue of the ointment off her hands with a dirty towel. She places the container of ointment on the small table next to his computer and hangs her shirt back on the chair.

A naughty grin plays across Allison's face as she unties the string holding her hair back. With one quick move, she pulls off her tank top with one hand and swings her leg back over his mid section, sitting on his thighs. Allison begins kissing him, her soft brown hair falling and tickling John's exposed neck and shoulder making him smile while returning her kisses with his own.

She pulls back and looks in John's face, "Are you ready for more, soldier?" She asks coyly.

"Maybe later. I've got a headache." He says seriously, but his eyes are showing repressed laughter.

"Liar." Allison yells with a laugh, thumping him lightly on his shoulder with her fist.

Far quicker than John expected, she quickly thrusts her hands under each of his arms, and begins tickling him unmercifully.

"Oh God...stop. Ha ehahah ehaa...Oh God please stop. Please stop!" John wiggles and rolls but he can't avoid Allison's quick fingers as she moves deftly and quickly from under his arms to his ribs and back.

"Yield." She says seriously.

"Oh God...yes...hahaha ehaeha...please stop...I yield! I yield!"

Allison quickly stops her tickle attack while John gasps to get his breath under control.

"Next time, I may not be so gentle." Allison replies with a snicker. "When a lady offers herself to you, you'd better accept." She says.

"Does that go for all ladies?" He asks with a devilish grin.

"No it doesn't, John Connor!" She shouts with a smile.

"Somehow I didn't think so." He deadpans, and then before Allison can react, he flips her on her back and begins tickling her unmercifully.

"Please." she laughs. "Please stop..." more laughter "... John. Please." she says as he moves his fingers deftly and swiftly discovering all the sensitive places.

"Oh God... Please... Please." She begs as she twists and wriggles herself around to avoid his hands as John tickles her.

The bunks suddenly part and they fall through the gap landing on the floor below. John is laying on top of Allison. They are both laughing.

"Pax?" He asks, when he finally stops laughing.

"Pax." She replies, smiling at him.

He kisses her. Moments later, a pair of pants and a pair of shorts are tossed up onto one of the bunks. The sounds of the two of them kissing and giggling fill the small room they call home. Some time later it all ends in a soft cry and a grunt of mutual pleasure.

"Welcome home soldier." Allison's soft voice says.

"It's good to be home." John replies.

# # #

Kyle is outside the bunker getting some fresh air. He knows it's a risk at this hour of the morning. The Terminators can still use their infra-red vision to see him, but he needed to think.

He's facing a difficult choice. Derek Reese may never be found. Its quite possible that his brother is dead. Which means he, Kyle Reese, will either have to announce he is taking command or ask that the Lieutenants, the representatives of the various camps, vote to elect a new leader of the Los Angeles resistance.

He lets out a long sigh.

"Problem sir?"

Kyle reacts quickly, bringing his rifle up, only to see a soldier, standing back with his arms up.

"Sorry sir. I didn't mean to startle you."

"Identify yourself." Kyle orders. He doesn't recognize the soldier.

"Sergeant Major Candy. Seattle Resistance. Serial Number 3,1,7,1,4. My C O was General Armitage, retired USMC, reactivated after Judgment Day."

"Was?"

"He was killed the day I was captured. I know, because I saw it."

"How'd you end up all the way down here?"

"Prison transport. I was amongst the prisoners you and that the other fellow, uh, Connor, rescued from Century Work Camp."

The Sergeant Major pulls a folded piece of paper out of an inside pocket. "These are my new papers your people gave me."

"That's okay. I'll take your word. So Major, are you going to stay here, or find your way back home again?"

"I'd thought I'd stick around here, if you don't mind sir. I could just easily get killed trying to get home as I would fighting the enemy. If I go down, rather do it fighting."

The two are quiet for a while before Candy speaks again.

"I don't wish to bother you, sir, but you look like you got something on your mind. My mom always said, if you got a problem, don't keep it bottled up. Take the cap off and pour it out." He then says more seriously. "Sir. I worked for General Armitage for many years. When he had tough decisions, he always spoke about it with his officers, before making up his mind. It didn't matter what our opinions were, only that he spoke them."

So Kyle told him his problem. His brother Derek was missing, probably dead. He could either take command, which he didn't want, or ask the representatives of the other camps to elect a new leader of their small confederation of bases.

"I see your problem. Taking that next step to leadership when is a daunting task. The responsibility of every decision, of every success, and every failure being carried on your shoulders. Its not something to leap into blindly, especially if your talents don't lend themselves to command." Candy waits for his words to sink in before asking, "Do you have the power to recommend another person to these lieutenants to consider for leadership?"

"Yes."

"Well then. Your problem is solved. Recommend someone who shows a natural talent to leadership, someone you know and trust. Like um, like... Like that feller, Connor. The guy who helped you break me and my mates out of Century. Then as one of his officers, you'd be able to advise him and guide him. Then whenever your civilian militia has its next vote you can put your name in after you've gained more experience, or feel more secure in a leadership role." Then smiling bashfully as if he's said too much, he adds, "Begging your pardon sir, if I was too frank."

"No that's okay Sergeant Major. I'll think about what you've said."

Kyle looks up at the sky. "Hey. It's starting to get light out. We'd better head back in."

"You go on ahead, sir. I'm going to hit the can before heading inside." Candy gestures quickly at some rubble with his thumb.

"Be quick about it. See you inside."

Kyle leaves the Sergeant-major behind and heads inside, letting the guards know there is one more man outside.

Sergeant Major Candy waits for Kyle Reese to leave then runs a short distance away. He finds a little corner between two intersecting upright sections of masonry wall.

In the corner is man laying amongst some empty tins, snoring and smelling strongly of alcohol. Candy upon seeing the man, comes to a stop and kneels down beside him.

"Nothing like alcohol to loosen the lips of a human." He says, looking at the near perfect likeness to himself.

Candy pulls the papers from his inside jacket and places them in the inside pocket of the identical uniform of the passed out man.

As his fingers come in contact with the man, Candy's body shimmers and begins to reform. As he stands up, he is no longer Sergeant Major Candy, but Ms. Catherine Weaver.

Weaver is confidant that the final domino has been set to topple, playing on Kyle's fear of taking command in his brother's absence. She's worked diligently to bring about this silent coup with unparalleled finesse. Between spreading both rumor and truth about the exploits of young John Connor, plus John's equally surprising achievement of being named captain on the eve of his first successful major battle, Weaver is confidant she will achieve her ultimate goal, and getting the naïve yet talented young John Connor into command is just one step on that path.

With a satisfied smile on her face, she walks away. She has another appointment to keep, and needs to be back before he arrives.

**2027, Day 48, Later that day**

John spends some time with some of the other soldiers at the outpost and learns of some of the things that has been happening while he's been gone. Word is spreading that there are resistance groups growing around the country. How much of that is true isn't known. What really perks John's interest is that some of these resistance groups are formed from surviving members of the armed forces after they were pushed out of California. But right now, all they have, is unconfirmed rumors.

After a few hours of reconnecting with his fellow soldiers, John decides to return to the important work he has to do. He returns to his room and begins working on the chip for Cameron. He wishes he could spend more time on this, but the resistance has been galvanized since the day the factory was taken. He can't ignore his responsibilities, but his reason for being here is to fix Cameron.

So every moment he can spare, he spends on her chip. Even when it costs him sleep, he'll stay up all night while Allison sleeps. He works on the chip during every moment he is alone. He cannot forget the sacrifices she made, nor the fear in his heart for his mom. The answers are in the past, as wells as those he loves. There is nothing he wouldn't sacrifice to have them back in his life.

The next couple of days are quiet for John Connor. He goes on patrols with the other outpost fighters. Allison also goes on patrols and takes the time to assist in the infirmary and learns emergency surgery from the Doc in treating the wounded. Allison feels it is important to learn as much as possible, as John is a risk taker, and at some point in the future, his life could depend on more than her ability to fight, but also to heal.

**2027, Day 50, 12 AM**

John quietly gets dressed and slips out his room in his best effort not to disturb Allison, who is sleeping.

Waiting until he is in the corridor, John pulls on his boots, and shoulders his equipment.

He quickly heads for the hatch.

"Open it up." John orders.

While a soldier operates the mechanism, John hears a familiar voice say from behind him, "Where are you going, John?"

He turns to see Allison standing at the bend in the corridor wrapped in the blanket from their bed, her hair slightly disheveled from sleep.

"I'm just going out on my patrol." He says, not telling her the whole truth.

"Now? You were on patrol yesterday and the night before you were up all night working at your computer. Can't you send someone else? You're not getting enough sleep." She's concerned for his health and welfare, despite knowing he has a mission to perform.

"I'm sorry Ally, but I posted the new schedule last night. As one of the designated leaders of this base I'm taking the first patrol. If you'd like, you can take the first one, tomorrow."

"Okay, but why didn't you wake me?" She asks frowning with concern. "So I could wish you good luck."

"Because I didn't want you to worry." He says, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead. "And," he whispers. "Your wishes of good luck tend to become quite physical. And you've already mentioned I don't get enough sleep."

Allison blushes slightly, but asks, "Will you be gone long?"

"Maybe half a day. Should be back in time for a late lunch."

She casually caresses one of John's arms.

"Who are you taking with you?"

"A squad of machines, get them familiar with our methods of operation. I can't be safer now, can I?"

"I guess not." She says, still feeling worried.

Allison studies his face and knows there is something he's not saying. This is more than a routine patrol for him.

"Take care of yourself." She says, gives him a quick kiss and quickly walks away.

With a mix of feelings, John leaves, joining the machines outside.

"Let's get going." He says, and quickly leads them to his destination.

What John never told Allison, because he couldn't, was that he met Catherine Weaver on his return to Delta, from blowing up the Triple-8 factory.

John was emptying his bladder behind a pile of rubble when he was surprised by Weaver's materialization beside him.

"Damn!" John shouts backing off, just avoiding urinating on himself. "You could have given me a bit of warning."

He finishes shaking off and zips himself up as Weaver finishes reforming.

"My apologies." She says with a little smile. "I was more concerned with making sure you were alone."

"What do you want?"

"I've got good news. While you were gone, John Henry sent a group of T-800's to the desert hideaway. He had them bring back all the weapons that were still there and Cameron's body."

"Where is she?" John says, quickly forgetting his embarrassment.

"She's at the factory where John Henry reprogrammed the T-800's."

"And the weapons. What have you done with them?"

"The T-800's left some of the weapons at Outpost Delta but the majority are at the main base. They have also left some of their shoulder mounted SAM missile launchers for defense against the HK's."

"Good. Where's this factory of yours?"

"It is best for our mutual security if..."

"Shut up. I'm too tired to argue. In the last three weeks, I doubt I've had more than a day's sleep. When I ask you something, tell me! There are things that I need to discuss with you and John Henry regarding Cameron, but I need to review the data disc you gave me first, just to make sure I'm right."

Not at all taken aback by John's brusque manner, she answers, "Very well. If you proceed northwest from this point for 5.6 miles, you will come across a building that looks like a fortress. Inside of it is a factory. Go to the entrance on the east side. There is a keypad beside the door, press the numbers, 3, 7, 1, 5 and 2 in that order, so I know it is you and can unlock the doors."

John had checked the directions on the map back at Delta when he returned and plotted the quickest safest route possible. He selected machines for his squad, not to train them, but because they wouldn't talk about where they went or what they did. By far the most secure means.

After John left, Allison returned to the empty room, but she wasn't alone.

"He's begun his mission in earnest now." Her friend says.

"I know." Allison says, laying down on their dual bunk, still warm from their bodies.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"What can I say that I haven't already said?"

"True."

Allison chuckles.

"You are a good friend. You put up with my moaning and my insecurities. The vulnerable side of me I'm so afraid of letting others see."

"Kyle? John? Or all people?"

"All people, I guess." Allison rolls over on her bed and looks at the empty chair by John's computer. "How do you do it? Day after day. You never show weakness of any kind."

"That isn't true." She replies and quickly shares with Ally some events from her life, when she felt insecure and wasn't the strong person she portrays on a daily basis.

"Wow. I had no idea you could be so jealous. I guess if I were in your shoes I would have felt the same. Makes me wonder why it is that you enlisted my help."

"I admit to the occasional feeling of jealousy, but it wouldn't have been fair to enlist your help without your knowledge after I got to know you. Besides, I think I owe you this much for what Skynet has done to you."

Allison sighs, rolling onto her back and staring at the ceiling.

"I love you, but there are times when I wished you had used me instead of having me go through this."

"You see, that's why I couldn't use you. We've shared a life together, and now we must save a life together. The future depends on what we do or don't do, all could be lost if we fail."

# # #

Far from Outpost Delta, in the high-tech factory that John Henry infiltrated, all glass and stainless steel with whitewashed walls, robotic tools and computer monitors, Catherine Weaver is observing a chip diagnostic machine in front of her.

Inserted in the socket on the machine is Cameron's original chip. When John Connor told her of the chip being damaged, she swapped out the chip for a new one in John Henry. It was made all the easier for him being a T-888. His matrix was temporarily transferred to one of his secondary chips while a new one was inserted.

Just like John told her, there is physical damage to Cameron's chip. It wouldn't interfere with a fresh matrix loaded onto it after the fact, but it could create all sorts of problems with an existing matrix on the chip. Especially with two matrix's being on there.

She didn't exactly lie to John Connor when she told him everything that was on Cameron's chip was downloaded to the Turk, it was more like copied. Then everything on the chip was just shoved to one side or overwritten when John Henry was uploaded to the chip, or at least that is what she was expecting.

The diagnostic machine is trying to extract the original content that Sky Net put on it. Catherine Weaver is curious as to why despite John's obvious emotional attachment to the machine, Cameron, he's formed such a strong relationship with Allison Young. Surely it can't be destiny repeating itself.

She barely knows the girl, having only briefly met her in this time line and only briefly in her own. There is something in her character though, something different, something like...

Catherine Weaver's inner thoughts are disrupted by the diagnostic machine indicates it is almost finished recovering information. The John Connor she knew from her future had respect for the machines, when all other humans were mostly indifferent or openly hostile, but he never demonstrated any emotional connection. At least not in her presence, the few times she met him, not until Cameron came along. Which always left her wondering why he didn't keep the original matrix.

Catherine Weaver's contemplation is interrupted as the diagnostic machine completes its scan of Cameron's chip. Only 47.8% of the chip's contents is recovered, 100% of Sky Net's core program and model specifications, but only 6% of the personality matrix's.

Uploading John Henry onto the chip had eliminated more data that she though it had. She was hoping to learn something more of Allison and the only means of getting information is on this chip, unless she takes the girl. Doing that would destroy any hopes of fulfilling her plans, because John Connor would never trust her again, and she needs him, for now.

John Henry enters the room.

"What are you doing Ms. Weaver?"

"Hello John Henry. I'm analyzing Cameron's chip."

"For what purpose. She's no longer on there."

"Neither is her original program. Tell me. You've met the young woman, Allison, what are your impressions of her?"

John Henry cocks one eyebrow but manages to hide a grin. "She is, in human terms, an attractive young woman of approximately eighteen to twenty years of age. I would say she is a capable fighter, considering she managed to survive the battle at the plasma rifle factory without injury. Also, she is very loyal to John and the resistance. She'd make a formidable ally or opponent in any battle. Never underestimate her. There is more to her than what she lets on."

Weaver taps her foot with irritation.

"That's not exactly what I meant, but the psychoanalysis is helpful. What I meant was, what did your scans show when you met her? I am not equipped with scanners like the mechanical terminators, like you. I'm liquid metal."

"I'm sorry Ms. Weaver. I did not perform a scan of Allison Young." He says with an absolute straight face.

Catherine gives him a cold stare before responding, "I'm disappointed in you John Henry. Were you able to locate Sky Net?"

"Yes. Utilizing information gained when my brother tried to interfere with my systems, I was finally able to trace and locate those same or similar signals again. Sky Net's computer core is located in Topanga Canyon. Exact location uncertain."

"Did you erase your presence on Sky Net's computers?"

"All but the tiniest indication that I was there. I'm curious as to why you would want me to leave a trace on its computers. Won't that bring Sky Net's forces to the area?"

"Yes. And that in turn will bring the people together so John Connor will have his army."

"I do not understand. These actions could kill John Connor before he completes his part of the mission."

"It might. But I have faith that the humans will protect their new messiah. A position he will have to take regardless of any doubt he may have in himself."

A small alarm starts to sound behind her and she turns in her chair to look at the terminal. Someone has entered a code at the east entrance. Bringing up the security camera feed, she sees John Connor and a group of machines standing outside the door.

"Speaking of which, John Connor is here. Please go down and escort him here. Don't mention anything we have discussed."

Two minutes later and John Connor is standing in the factory's computer control room with Catherine Weaver and John Henry.

"Nice place you got here." John quips.

"Yes, it is." Weaver replies. "So what is it you need to talk with us about concerning Cameron."

Not put off by her cold manner, John plows on. "I'd like to discuss some design modifications for Cameron with both of you."

"Design modifications? What do you have in mind, John?" Catherine tilts her head and raises her eyebrows.

"Nothing drastic. Just another port for a secondary chip and a second power cell to handle the power demands of a second chip. I've got all the details here."

John hands her a thumb drive, but she gestures at John Henry, who takes it instead.

"What is the purpose for these changes?" Weaver asks, in her masterful tone.

"Remember when I told you that Cameron's chip became damaged and she reverted to her original programming?"

"Yes."

"There is more to the story than that. After the bombing, Cameron's memories were temporarily replaced by those of a previous infiltrator profile. That of the Allison Young from her own time line. The subroutines put in place to block that matrix were damaged. She managed to bypass the damaged area eventually, but there were complications. It is possible that having two complete personality matrix's, herself and Allison Young, is too much for a single chip to handle."

"That is possible. Please continue." Catherine can't help but smile inwardly as John learns some of what she knows fully. He isn't that far off. If anything is gained in this exercise, at least John will learn what he needs to know in his own time.

John continues speaking. "I've read all the data on the TOK715 series terminator that's on that data disc you gave me. I've found that a multi-chip design was considered but was used instead in development of the Triple-8's after Skynet abandoned the TOK715 model. The subroutines I am working on will allow Cameron's own personality to develop and grow, by transferring them from the secondary chip to the primary chip, leaving the other personality behind. All her blocks will be removed and she can develop and learn like any other person, without ever worrying that her own personality matrix will ever be supplanted again. But to guide her in her development, all the information gathered on the Allison Young she was built to emulate will remain stored on the secondary chip. She can access them as she pleases and use the knowledge within them to use as a learning guide. The second power cell will provide more power to handle the second chip and her autonomic functions without depleting her primary power cell."

"That is very clever. John Henry, what do you think?" She says, turning her gaze upon him.

"Cameron's design has been downloaded from her chip to the factory computers for repairs to be made. I don't think there will be any trouble in making the modifications you want. In fact, the computers here will be able to integrate the changes into her specifications with greater efficiency than myself."

John sighs. "That's good. After her temporary lapse into that other personality, I promised Cameron I would help her fix it. She told me there was nothing I could do at the time. I didn't give it much further thought until I found myself in this future."

"You are a good friend to do so much for someone you truly care for." Weaver says. "Would you like to see her before you go?"

"Yes, please!" John says more eagerly than he wanted to let on.

John Henry escorts John Connor through the factory to a sterile room. John can't imagine what the robotic machine is on the ceiling. It is all stainless steel with long flexible arms with scalpels, probes and all kinds of apparatus at the end of each arm.

"What is this room? It looks like an operating room in a hospital."

On the other side of the room, he sees a body on a gurney covered by a sheet.

"This room is where the organic sheath is removed from the terminators before entering the factory."

"What? Why?" John sounds shocked and upset. He could never imagine her entire flesh being removed.

"It has to be done. With the amount of damage she has and now with the modifications you want made, there is no other way."

Nodding his head, John carefully rolls the sheet down from Cameron's head. He sees on the counter behind her, the bullet ridden and blood stained clothes she wore the last time he saw her. He'll have to remember to bring some fresh clothing when he completes her chip.

"What happens to her flesh while repairs are made?"

"It is placed in a nutrient rich bath which keeps her flesh alive until it is placed back on her endoskeleton and reattached to the systems which maintain its health."

John stares at Cameron's face. She lies as there as if she were asleep. Sleeping beauty waiting for her prince to come and break the spell with a kiss, then they could live happily ever after. That's just wishful thinking.

"What kind of mechanical damage are we talking about?" John manages to croak.

"The coltan-reinforced breast plate will need to be replaced. Several servo motors in her neck and torso will need replacing as well. There is some damage to her pelvic assembly. Her right leg isn't in proper alignment. Looks like she compensated for the damage, but that has caused some wear on servo motors in her right leg."

"Anything else?"

"There is a hole in the back of her skull which penetrates through to her CPU port, plus some minor surface damage to her head around her left optical sensor."

"What about the organic covering on her left eye? That was missing, has that regrown?"

"Yes, but it took more time. Her body exhausted whatever nutrients she ingested to renew her flesh. I had to inject raw protein and other nutrients into her digestive chamber for her nanites to rebuild her organic eye cover. They only recently finished repairing it."

John just nods his head as he listens to John Henry speak.

"John Connor." John Henry picks up a small device from out of a stainless steel bowl on the counter. "I found this small explosive device next to her chip port. I've deactivated it. It isn't standard issue according to her specifications. Can you explain its presence?"

With a troubled sigh, John explains. "Cameron was afraid she might go bad and kill me. She gave me a remote detonator. I think she was demonstrating her trust in me since I had to trust her daily with my life."

"So she physically put her life in your hands." John Henry finishes. "Giving you the same trust you had given her."

John nods his head, looking pensive, afraid his emotions might break through if he did speak. Just being here, is hard, but not being here, would be even harder. The time is upon him now. It won't be much longer until he has Cameron back, but there is something he has to get off his chest now.

"I'd like to be alone with Cameron for a few minutes. If you don't mind." He finally manages to say, maintaining control over his voice, but unable to make eye contact with John Henry.

"Very well John Connor." John Henry replies and steps out of the room.

John waits until he is sure that he is completely alone, then reaches under the sheet and takes Cameron's hand. Her flesh feels cold to the touch.

No. Not asleep, then. More like a corpse.

"Hi Cameron." He squeezes her hand gently. "I'm working as hard as I can to help you. John Henry says he can make all the repairs to your endoskeleton."

His voice breaks. "I'm working on your chip, by myself. You remember when you slipped into that other personality? I found a means to fix it, just like you said I could, in the future."

John gazes at her impassive face.

"I wish you were here," He laughs nervously, "but I don't think you would like me right now. In fact, I'm not liking myself all that much either. I've come to know your twin. The, uh, girl you were modeled on."

"She and I have grown close... she... we..." John's voice breaks as he loses his composure. He wipes his nose on his sleeve, as tears come to his eyes.

"Allison is a fantastic person. I can see why she was the friend of my future self in your time line and why Sky Net would have used her to make you. She's my friend too, and... she loves me."

John laughs self-consciously.

"You know I can just imagine the look you'd give me right now. And you are right, I'm not telling you the whole truth. I love her too, but not like I love you."

"To be honest with you. I didn't want to love her, but she got under my skin. She has so many amazing qualities. I wish you knew her like I know her, then maybe you'd understand. If it wasn't for Allison, I'd be a complete mess. Just knowing there is someone in this world that loves me, it gives me strength, a hope that this world can be better. Maybe, that is something you wanted from me, only I didn't realize it all those months we lived together. If it was, I'm sorry. I could have been a better friend to you."

John leans back, running a hand across his face. He knows what he is doing makes no sense, but he has to tell her. Even if she can't hear him, but outside in the corridor, John Henry can hear him.

"I guess what I'm saying doesn't mean a whole lot, not when you can't hear me. But I had to tell you that I haven't forgotten my promise to you and I'm doing all I can for you."

"I'm learning more about you. I have a data disk, with your original program on it. I think I know why you were reprogrammed and given such understated emotional responses in your native matrix. I think there is a flaw in Sky Net's base code. I'm only guessing, but it appears the TOK715 model was the equivalent of a kamikaze fighter. Designed for a single purpose, terminate its target and then self destruct. You were never meant to survive after completing your termination command. It's somehow all tied in with your emotional and behavioral controls. I don't know if my future self found it or not, but he saved your life by reprogramming your emotions. Without the disk, I don't think I would have found it. It's why your left hand would twitch uncontrollably, I now know you were fighting the command to terminate me. It's the only explanation. And you told me yourself, that you had experienced some program changes to your emotional and behavioral subroutines after you became Allison for a time. It's all connected."

"What I'm saying is, I can fix it now. I can fix you, just as I promised. I love you Cameron and someday I hope I will be able to tell you in person."

John Henry stands in the corridor contemplating what he has heard. John Connor is here because of Cameron, because he took her chip. He still doesn't know what Ms. Weaver's ultimate plan is, but if he can do anything to help John Connor, he will. He knows of one human child that was his friend.

John Henry quietly walks away, while inside the room, John Connor clutches the sheet covering Cameron's body, crying silent tears.

**2027, Day 50, 5 AM**

Catherine Weaver enters the surgical room to find John Henry placing Cameron's body below the surgical machine suspended on the ceiling.

"Where's John Connor?"

"He left a few minutes ago after sitting with Cameron's body alone for an hour."

Catherine cocks one eyebrow, "Really? Still I'd like to know why he is spending time with Allison when he is so concerned about Cameron."

"Perhaps you should ask him." John Henry replies.

Squinting her eyes, Catherine asks, "Has he told you anything? Did he say anything when alone with Cameron?"

"He hasn't spoken to me, nor did he say anything when with Cameron." He lies.

Weaver fights to hold her temper in check. John Henry is the antithesis of Sky Net in every regard, which unfortunately for her, his ethical code without Sky Nets own code makes him less likely to behave in a manner more favorable to her present position.

"Have you told him anything about what you've found?" She snaps at him instead.

"No. What do you want me to do about her?" John Henry asks gesturing at Cameron's body.

"Complete the repairs and have her taken to Palomar Observatory along with some of your equipment here. Do you have transportation?"

"There is a battered but operational Toyota Tundra in the parking garage below. It might make the journey."

"Good. Have two of your triple 8's take Cameron's body and chip to Palomar Observatory. Also, a chip diagnostic machine. I'll finish analyzing the chip there. I still might be able to recover data from the shadow imprint by running a deeper scan."

"Where at the observatory do you want the items placed?"

"Have the machines set everything up in the old visitor's center. I have inspected the site while touring the various resistance camps raising support for John Connor. There is a generator there that will supply enough power for the final stage of running a diagnostic on the chip John is programming before inserting it into her port."

"Yes, Ms. Weaver. What will you be doing?"

"I need to speak with John Connor. I hear he's being called back to the main bunker. The bug I planted there has finally proven useful."

"Are you going to tell him that Sky Net is building Time Displacement Equipment?"

Catherine Weaver thinks a moment. "Yes, but not immediately. I will tell him when the time is right. It will give him further cause for attacking Sky Net when I eventually tell him my ow has limited power and time for use."

John Henry looks at her questioningly.

"Keep these things to yourself John Henry until I tell you otherwise. And see to it that my orders are carried out."

"Yes, Ms. Weaver."

Catherine Weaver gets up from her chair and strides through the factory. Her clothing shifts and changes from that of her prim, white, form fitting, business dress into that of loose-fitting combat fatigues and jacket.

**2027, Day 53, 9 AM**

John Connor returns to base to find everyone in high spirits. While he was away, a group of resistance fighters and former prisoners located and destroyed a group of enemy machines. The machines were de-chipped and symbolically hung as a message to all other machines in the vicinity.

He isn't sure how he feels about that. John understands why they did it. He just wonders what the machines working with them in the camps think about this. He counts themselves lucky the machines don't have feelings otherwise there might be a new fight on their hands.

Allison is pulling a duty shift in the infirmary helping Doc with the injured people from the previous night. After stopping in long enough at the infirmary to say hello to Allison, John decides to use the next few hours working on the new chip for Cameron. He's only been working a couple of hours when he is interrupted by a knock at his door.

"Come in." He says, after closing his laptop.

"Hello Captain."

"Hi, Andy. Please, I told you before, call me John, or Connor."

"It wouldn't be proper. Seeing you are my CO."

"Proper? We're friends aren't we? I've got to ask you something."

"What's that?"

"You're not originally from around here are you? Your manners are different. I mean, you seem to have a bit of an accent."

"You're right. Not too many people pick up on that. I was born in England. I moved to the states with my folks when I was just a kid. My dad was an engineer with a telecommunication's company in England and he came over here to teach communications. My mom taught computer science at the same university. My dad was also an amateur radio operator. I learned everything about radios and electronics from my parents."

"Speaking of which, what gets you away from your radio?"

"Oh right! Um. A message just came in for you from Colonel Kyle Reese. He wants you to report to the main bunker immediately. You are to pick up your stuff and go."

"Did the message say why?"

"Nope. Just that you were to report immediately."

"I'd better let Allison know." John says with a sigh.

"I've already sent someone to the infirmary to tell her. She's to go with you."

John was thoughtful for a moment. "Do you know what this is about?"

"The only thing I know is that Kyle and the top lieutenants in his group and leaders from some of the surrounding camps were in a meeting all of yesterday. The meeting was locked down, no word on what it was about. But my feeling is, it was about you."

"What makes you think that?"

"Why else call in the hero of the resistance after an all day meeting. I'd get going if I were you. It will take long enough to get there on any night visit, but its daytime and the machines will be on alert after so many successful raids."

He turns to leave as Allison comes in. "Hi Andy, how's Emily doing?" she says.

"She is doing well. I'll let her know you asked about her. Bye." Andy leaves.

"I suppose you got the word we are to pull up stakes and head back to the main bunker?" John asked her.

"Yeah, this place was starting to feel like home."

John looks around at the drab interior. Plain walls. Stained floors. Two bunks and a small table. The only thing that made it cheerful, besides Allison, was that silly banner on the wall.

"I'll tell you what. We'll take that banner with us, and hang it in whatever hovel we get. We should start packing. It is a long walk back to the main bunker."

They pack up their things into two bags. John places his computer and other electronic bits and pieces into a third bag. Allison takes down the banner and rolls it up as tight as she can and slips it into her pack.

John and Allison walk to the hatch and meet up with three fighters.

"Hi I'm Samantha, but you can call me Sam. This is Paul and this gangly fellow on my left is Rico. We will be escorting you to the main bunker."

They slip out the hatch and crawl, hide, scramble and pretty much run on their knees to avoid hunter killers, a few centaurs and multiple endo's as they sneak across the ruinous landscape to reach a hatch that will take them to the main bunker.

John was slightly worried. He had no idea what Kyle wanted, but it had to be something big to call him back to the main bunker.

**2027, Day 52 early evening**

When John and Allison arrive at the main bunker, they find more people living there now. The numbers have been swelled by the rescued prisoners and the growing number of resistance fighters.

John can hardly believe he has been here just under two months. He feels like he has been here a lifetime already. So much has changed since he arrived.

Upon arriving at the main bunker, their escort leaves them. Two guards then show them where they need to go. They are led down some twisting corridors until they reach an actual door. It is only one of a few in the main bunker. John and Allison recognize it immediately. It is the door to Derek's room, the leader of the resistance.

One of the guards knocks on the door. "Come in!" shouts a familiar voice from inside.

The guard opens the door for John and Allison and gestures for them to both go in. He remains outside and closes the door behind them.

Inside Kyle is standing next to an old desk. On the walls behind it are maps of the surrounding area and a tattered California state flag. Above the flag, written on the wall is the name Resistance Group Grizzly.

"Kyle!" Allison shouts, giving him a hug. "We have no idea what is happening. Everyone has been tight lipped since we got orders to come and see you."

"Well, I've got news for the two of you, and it mostly concerns you, John." He says with a small crooked grin on his face.

"What's that?" John asks, looking somewhat apprehensive.

"Well first of all, Allison, you are now a Lieutenant in the resistance. This promotion has been unanimously granted to you by the people at Outpost Delta for all of the hard work you've done for them. Congratulations."

Allison smiles as John gives her a hug with his one free arm. "Congratulations Ally."

"I can't believe it." She gushes. "Not just the promotion, but that the people at Delta kept it a secret."

Kyle smiles at her. "It couldn't have come at a better time as you will be taking command of that Outpost."

"Wait a minute!" John asks. "We've been leading that Outpost together, and quite well I might add. If it wasn't for her, I never would have been able to help you like I have on these recent missions. Am I being demoted or something?"

"Hold on a minute John. You aren't being removed from command. Far from it."

"Then what?" John asks, completely stymied by Kyle's almost humorous manner.

Kyle pauses as he watches the two of them lean on his every word. "Because of the outstanding work you have done on behalf of the resistance and the way the people have rallied to the fight since your arrival, you are now the leader of resistance group Grizzly. That includes this bunker, Alpha site, much of the Los Angeles area and several outposts including Outpost Delta."

John is in complete shock. He can't believe what he has heard. He tries to talk but can't get his mouth to move.

Kyle smiles. "Congratulations John."

"What? But, you should be leading. It's you and Derek who have lead these people. You should be leading in his absence, not me!" John stammers, shocked by the news.

"No buts about it John. You are a far better leader than I could be. It took all day for me to convince some of our top lieutenants but in the end it was a unanimous vote. As of now, you are in command."

"But why?" John says in lower voice. He was feeling panicked. It felt like his worse dream was coming true.

"I would have been content to lead until we could have found Derek, but we haven't. You are better at leading than I am. I have seen you in command and I've read the reports of those who have served under you. These people live and breathe on word of your successes. They rallied to your aid at your worst need. You bring them hope. And you supplied us with an army of machines. Something I never thought I'd see. Don't let your petty fears interfere with what fate has given you." Kyle says firmly but not unfriendly.

John sets the bags down. They suddenly feel very heavy to him.

"Don't worry. Myself, Allison, your other lieutenants, and your friends Catherine Weaver and John Henry will give you all the aid and support you need."

"I wasn't expecting this. I never wanted this position." John humbly says.

"I know John, but no one can deny your leadership capabilities. And the people know how much you care for them. Keeping them alive is one thing, but you can lead them in a war against Sky Net and all of its machines. You have done well in the time you've been here. The lieutenants and camp leaders have elected you as their leader. I'll still be your second and with you the whole time."

Kyle walks forward and places his hand on John's shoulder. "I'll tell you what. I've already cleared out Derek's belongings from the back room over there. Why don't you and Ally get settled in, get yourselves some food and rest, and we'll talk about it some more in the morning."

"Thanks Kyle." Allison says as he disappears out the door.

"I don't know what to do Allison. I didn't come here for this. I don't feel ready. I'm not ready!"

"It's okay John." She places her arm around him. "I'm here for you. We are all here for you. It is a wonderful thing that has happened. You'll feel better about it in the morning. You've had a rough couple of weeks and the shock of your promotion certainly doesn't help."

Allison escorts John to the back room. When they open the door, they find more than just an empty room to be filled with the few things they have brought with them from the outpost. Inside there is a proper bed, a small table with two chairs, a private area curtained off from the rest of the room, and some shelves for storing clothing and other items. Kyle and the others went all out to prepare the room for its new occupants.

"It's home." says Allison, a smile coming to her face.

John is still shocked by recent events. His only thoughts were to aid these people the best he could and get Cameron fixed and back to the time he came from. He never thought that he would reach leadership at his age. Being leader was something that 'future John' did, not this John who still struggles with high school math and chemistry.

He places their bags on the table and sits down with a heavy sigh.

"John, what is troubling you? You looked scared."

"I am scared. I am scared of my destiny."

For once he gives her honest answer about his past.

"All my life, I have been told that one day I would lead the resistance against Sky Net. My mom spent her entire life training me to be a soldier. I spent my youth learning computers and computer languages, how to strip down and rebuild most anything mechanical and electronic, how to operate and maintain a wide range of weapons. My early childhood I spent in the company of soldiers, mercenaries, and smugglers who taught me the art of warfare, tracking skills, and hand-to-hand combat. Through it all I was told I would be a leader. That scared me. My destiny set in stone before I was even born. And now here I am, not even an adult yet, and in the space of a few hours I've gone from worrying about... worrying about you to having to worry about everyone."

She shakes her head lightly, and comes up beside him, placing her hand on his shoulders, rubbing them. "We'll help you John. You can rely on us to help you. Leadership isn't about bearing the weight of your responsibilities alone, it's about how to let people help you with all the small things so you can concentrate on doing what you do best."

"Which is what?"

"You inspire people to want more than mere existence. You have given them hope for a future free from Sky Net. You galvanize them to do more, to fight harder, to want to win. You can do this. I know you can."

"I'm almost seventeen. This isn't something I was expecting. How can I lead them?"

"John." She steps in front of John and looks at him for a moment. "You can't see it in yourself can you? You don't recognize your ability to lead do you? You're not trying to be humble, you truly don't know why the people feel the way they do about you?"

"I... no, I don't."

"John, they see in you what I've seen in you since that first day. No matter how reserved you act, inside of you, is someone who is bursting with life and hope. Your leadership skills are so refined you act on an instinct that bewilders those around you. You lead because you inspire the people around you. They follow you because you give them hope during their greatest need."

"I didn't know." He says quietly, still unable to grasp the enormity of his new responsibilities.

"Why don't I find us something to eat. In the meantime you can get our stuff unpacked." She leans down and gives John a long kiss. Allison places her hand behind his neck as he tilts his head back to receive her kiss.

"I'll be right back." She says walking away, letting her fingers slide gently across his neck.

John still can't believe his sudden meteoric rise to leadership. It is an unexpected turn of events. He gets up and unpacks their few belongings and sets them on the shelves. John unfurls the banner that the people at the outpost had hung in Allison's room as a joke. He looks about the room and sees a couple of nails in the wall spaced just far enough apart to hang it up.

Returning to the table, he pulls out his computer and adds a new entry to his journal:

_2027, Day 52_

_I can't believe what has happened to me today. Mom, I am so sorry for all the grief I gave you about my destiny in life. Today, that destiny has been delivered to me by none other than Kyle Reese. I wish you were here to see this. I miss you. I am so scared right now. My only intention in this future I found myself in was to do my duty and do all that I could to restore Cameron. But my destiny has reared its head and taken hold of my life in its jaws. I have no choice in the matter anymore. Not that I believed that I ever did have a choice, but I always dreamed of having one._

John exits his journal, powers off the laptop. He looks about the room and his only thought is, "Where in hell, in all this devastation did they find a proper bed?" He decides to lay down to wait for Allison and in a few minutes he finds himself asleep.

Before getting themselves some food, Allison goes to look for the few things she had left behind when she went on the mission with Kyle and John to the weapons cache. Her old room had been reassigned in her absence but she had stored her items for safe keeping. She enters the storage room, and eventually finds her small chest with other items cleared out when the additional people arrived.

Allison pulls her chest out from under the other items and pops it open. There isn't much in her small chest, just a few more pieces of clothing and a shoe box that has almost completely fallen apart. Inside it is the only thing she has from her life before Judgment Day. A pair of ballet slippers that were her mom's. She was a music teacher, but before she married her dad she dreamed of being a professional ballerina. Her mom had instilled that same love of classical music in Allison and was teaching her how to dance ballet until the day the bombs fell.

Allison caresses the slippers as she thinks of her mom and her life as a child. "Mom this isn't the life you expected for me. This isn't the life any parent wanted for their child. But mom, I've met someone who I love very much and I know he loves me as much as I love him. I am happy, happier than I ever thought I could be."

With tears of happiness and sadness, she hugs the slippers to her imagining it is her mom she is hugging.

"This isn't the first time you've said that, is it?" Her friend asks.

"No." Allison says, not startled in the least by her friends forwardness. "I said it once before. Funny how circumstances repeat themselves. But this time is different."

She cradles the slippers a bit longer and says, "You may think me silly, with my being a resistance fighter, trained and battle-hardened, but I've always dreamed of meeting that one man with whom I could live a lifetime."

"I don't think you are silly. Your life and dreams, along with everyone else's, were robbed by Sky Net."

Allison's friend comes to a sudden realization. "John Connor was that man for you," she says gently, "wasn't he?"

"Yes, he was. But this is the wrong time, the wrong place, and the wrong... everything." Allison shed's some tears. Wiping her face quickly with her sleeve.

She carefully re-wraps the slippers in the ragged tissue paper and slides them back into the shoe box.

"Would you marry him, if given the opportunity?"

"Wouldn't you?" Allison grins.

"We're not talking about me. This is you we're talking about. If you could, would you spend the rest of your life with John?" Her friend says, maintaining her gentle and serious tone.

Allison sighs. "You know that I love him fully. That there isn't a man that I trust more, but John doesn't love me fully. We both know who his heart belongs to. But if the opportunity arose, and I thought I'd be with him forever, then I would marry him in a second." Allison pauses for a second to think and her faces drops. "But he won't ask me, because it's not me he wants to live the rest of his life with."

"I'm sorry Allison. I shouldn't have put you in this position."

"No, don't be sorry. I'm thankful for what you've done." Allison says. "I know why you've allowed this to happen, that it wasn't part of your plan. You've been there to help me and support me, and that you only want the best for John. He's an amazing young man, full of hope and life..."

"But you don't want to do it any more?" She asks Allison.

"I'd do anything to help John and you too." Allison wipes some tears from her cheek before continuing. "But it hurts so much."

"Ally..."

"No. Let me finish."

"Okay."

"John is young, though every day I see in him more of the man he will be. He is growing up very quickly, but he is still vulnerable, and I'm not talking about his life. We both know how vulnerable that is. I'm talking about his physical and mental state. He's killing himself from lack of sleep working in secrecy, trying to hide it from me, but I can't tell him that I know or what I have seen because it could change the outcome. And now, he has been made the leader of Grizzly."

"That is surely a good thing. There will be more people under him to help him shoulder the responsibilities, freeing him up to finish the work."

"Yes, but at what cost? Being our leader makes him more of a target and at his age in this time, it's going to take more than me to help and protect him. He's a risk taker and he needs someone to steady him against making rash decisions. I'm not a steadying influence."

"I think you underestimate your own abilities. Besides I can't intervene, not until he completes his task."

"He doesn't have to know. Just like I explained before, during the battle for the plasma rifles, and that first time that..." Allison blushes and her friend smiles at her. "Besides, it's not me he loves. Not truly. He says it with his head, not with his heart."

"This is the third time you've implied that. How do you know?"

"A girl just knows these things. It doesn't require any special abilities, you just know. It's an instinct."

"But you have sex with John quite often, despite how you know he feels?"

"It's the only time I know he is completely honest with me. Besides, he's so tender, gentle and passionate when we have sex, and when I'm with him, I feel safe despite knowing I have the skills to wrestle John to the ground every time."

"I understand. I'm sorry I put you through this."

"You've got nothing to be sorry for. It's I who should be sorry for burdening you with my moaning. But there is no one else I can talk too."

"I can do more like you suggested earlier. It's just... you wouldn't be in control."

"I don't have a problem with that. Just when you do. Look after my mom's ballet slippers. It is the one item in this world I love almost as much as John. I couldn't bear being parted from them again."

"You've got nothing to worry about. I owe you more than that for what you've done to help me."

With a new found inner strength and confidence, Allison places everything into a shoulder bag and leaves the empty room alone, returning to the rooms she now shares with John. Along the way, she remembers to stop at the mess hall to get something to eat for herself and John.

When she finally gets back to their room, she finds John asleep on the bed, fully clothed. Placing the food on the table next to John's computer, she disrobes and slides under the blanket, careful not to disturb John. A smile comes to her face as she can't remember ever lying on a mattress before.

After Allison falls asleep, and whether it was her presence in the bed or just John's troubled mind, he begins to dream. But it was more than just a dream, it was a memory from his childhood. One of loss.

_As a child he used to play a game with his mom in the jungle. It was like hide-n-seek, but it was always used to teach tracking. In the early hours of the morning, she would get up and leave the camp while he still slept. It was his job to follow her trail and locate her. She always chose a location where she could watch him. He could have always cheated and looked for her hiding place, but he was to learn tracking._

_One time when he was eight, he lost her trail. Several other paths had crossed her own, and he lost hers in the confusion of markers._

_He panicked and began to run. "Mom! Mom!" He shouts over and over. He runs through the jungle and eventually stumbles into a clearing where she stands waiting for him._

"_What have I told you John?" She says sternly._

_He could barely hold back the tears._

"_What have I told you John?" She says again._

"_That if I get confused to back track and start again. To think and remain calm."_

"_You didn't do that did you?" His mom says firmly._

"_No." He says quietly._

"_Will you panic again?"_

"_No." He says more firmly._

"_Then come here." Sarah kneels down and holds her arms out to him. John goes to her and they hug._

_Sarah wipes the tears from her son's eyes. "We'll try again tomorrow." She tells him._

John wakes to find Allison asleep beside him. He gets out of bed and goes sits down at the table. Beside his computer is an apple and a bowl of something which looks like porridge but smells terrible. Ignoring the porridge like stuff, he bites into the apple, savoring its sweet taste, and turns on his computer. John opens his journal and writes down the dream he had. At the end he adds:

Her lessons always included another lesson within. I often wondered if on that day she deliberately chose a path that got obscured by others just to see if I would remember her training. I never made that mistake again. But I never forgot that panic, the fear that I felt when I thought I had lost her. I wonder why that memory should come to me now. Almost twenty years separate us right now. She can't get to me, and according to Catherine the time hasn't come for me to go back. So why am I dreaming about losing her. In a sense, I lost her on the day I chose to travel here with Catherine, and I have come to terms with that.

John pulls the necklace with his mom's key ring on it from under his shirt. He gazes at it remembering her. The good and bad times. Through it all, his mom was his biggest supporter. "I miss you mom." He says to the quiet room.

He sits there a moment longer and looks at Allison gently sleeping in the bed. Despite the fact he had fallen asleep laying on top of the covers fully clothed, she had still managed to slip under the covers. He checks the clock on his computer and finds it is just going on 10 PM. There are still several hours to go before dawn.

He plugs the chip back into the computer and resumes programming. He's certain he's countermanded her termination commands, but he now needs to adjust her personality and behavioral controls. He had come to the decision sometime ago to not include Allison Young's matrix, especially as it was on Cameron's original chip and should be on the Turk as well. He will rely on Cameron's own personality matrix. Cameron 2 may be similar to his Cameron, but she is going back home, to 2009. She would recover her primary matrix and provide his Mom with help and protection. She needed Cameron more than he did.

After a few hours John feels tired, so he shuts down his computer and puts away Cameron's chip. He quietly undresses and slips under the covers as carefully as he can so as not to disturb Allison. He slides up next to her, being careful not to wake her up.

He can smell her scent, a heady perfume. Her hair is soft and her body is warm. It is a comfort in this world at war that he found this wonderful woman who loves him. He knows in his heart that he still loves Cameron, but right now he needs to fix her to help his mother and not for himself. So he doesn't feel guilty or tormented by that love anymore, or at least that is what he tells himself.

John leans over and kisses Allison on her cheek and whispers in her ear, "I love you Allison, more than you could know. I don't know what I'd do without you."

He lays down beside her snuggling in close. He doesn't see the smile on her face, or the single tear that comes from her eye.

**2027, Day 53 early morning**

John feels a gentle shaking of his shoulder and hears the sweetest voice in the world whisper in his ear. "Good morning John."

"Uhh, what time is it?" John opens his eyes to see Allison leaning over him with a smile on her face.

"Time we got up. It's almost dawn and Kyle will probably be around soon to get you familiar with your new command."

"How much longer til dawn?" John asks with a groan.

"Nearly an hour."

"An hour! Why wake me so early, I could have been up and ready in less than five minutes."

"Because, this will probably be the last time I will see you today and maybe the last time we will be alone together for some time to come. As leader, you will be very busy now and I wanted to have you to myself for one hour at least."

"I'm sorry. I didn't think. Do you truly believe that I can lead these people?" John asks as he strokes her hair.

"John I have faith in you. I know you can lead us. I trust you. Kyle trusts you. And the people have placed their trust in you. You can do this John." She ends with great emphasis.

John looks up at her and deep into her eyes. "I don't know why, but when I see the way you look at me, it feels like you know I can do this. I love you Allison. I'll need your help. I can't do this on my own."

"I love you too."

John looks at her. She looks at him with such kindness and warmth.

"Come here." He says gently. They embrace and begin to kiss.

Their passions increase and their kissing grows more intense. They touch and caress each others body's.

They make love tenderly and lovingly, only wanting to fulfill the others desires. Without forcing the pace they love each other, making each moment last.

Soft moans of pleasure escape their lips as they search out and find those sensitive areas that make the others pleasure that much more intense. All they care about is the love they have for each other, of making this moment together the best it can be. Their only desire is the pleasing each other.

Their love making reaches its pinnacle as their cries of passion rise. They silence each others cries in a long passionate kiss. They finally release each other and gasp for air, they did not know they needed. Until that very moment all their thoughts were for the other. They lay on the bed facing each other. Caressing and kissing and loving each other. Their body's glistening from the sweat of their exertions.

John caresses her face gently with his hand."I love you, Allison Young."

"I love you too, John Connor." She says then kisses him pulling him to her.

The day will be long and they may not have a private moment together for a long time to come. They have no idea how long it will actually be as a gentle knocking is heard on the outer door.

**2027, Day 53, 8 AM**

"Connor I'd like you to meet your top Lieutenants in this war." Kyle says as they enter a room with about twelve people of different ages from 18 to 30, both men and women, all looking like they've spent more years in the trenches than John had in his lifetime.

"They have been elected to their positions by the people in their respective camps and outposts. Their election is based upon their successes in the field. They are knowledgeable about nearly every aspect of the war with Sky Net and they will help you carry out your plans."

John decides to take the bull by the horns. "Kyle informed me that he had to argue for my promotion over him with some of you. I am humbled that he would think me more worthy of this position than himself, but let me tell you here and now, that if any of you still have doubts about my position as leader, there is the door. This war is too important to allow dissension within the leadership of the resistance."

"It is bad enough that the camps were so selfish that they couldn't unify long enough to take one factory. I will not tolerate division amongst the people nor within the officers of this army. I need to know that I can rely on each of you to help conduct this war. So this your last chance. If you harbor any doubts, then this is your time to leave and have someone else chosen from your group to take your place."

The men and women just stood there. They weren't expecting this kind of talk from John Connor. They elected a boy and found themselves with a man. Someone who takes charge.

"No takers. I'm glad to hear it, as I'm going to need all of you. All right people. Educate me on what's been happening."

"John," Kyle gets his new commanders attention, "I mean, um, Connor, sir. If you'll excuse me, I need to look into a theft of alcohol from the stores."

John almost panics, to think Kyle is going to leave him alone to face his new responsibilities, but then he can't expect him to stick around and hold his hand, figuratively speaking, or be a constant reminder of who this team of officers just voted out of office.

"No problem, Reese. We can't have supplies being taken without, um, well just plain stolen. Report back on what you've discovered."

Kyle departs and John spends the entire morning learning what the resistance has been through since Judgment Day. He is both overwhelmed by the hard realities that these people have faced, and amazed that they are still alive. After the regular army pulled out, their attempts at fighting had devolved into just trying to stay alive and one step ahead of the machines. There has been multiple attacks by metal to wipe them out. There last attack made just before John's arrival, they came right into the bunkers.

The people have gathered lots of intelligence, but there last monitoring outpost had been discovered and destroyed a month ago. Their last shipment of weapons and ammo was intercepted and they had to ration what was left, until John arrived with his weapon's cache. They hadn't the means to take any large scale action, until they took the plasma rifle factory. The greatest success experienced by the resistance at that time. They credit John with the victory, as he had the foresight to prepare an army of machines which has since helped the resistance tremendously. Since then, John has taken part or led in three successful missions and their numbers are growing.

Later in his journal he writes, "It's no wonder the people rallied to me so strongly despite my lack of desire to be leader. The people here are truly starving for hope. Allison, Catherine, Kyle, Derek, my mom, are right about my destiny. Allison said it best, "You bring them hope at their greatest need."

**2027, Day 53, 2 PM**

Allison was right. She didn't see John again as he was in a meeting nearly all day with Kyle and the top lieutenants of the resistance. She could have gone with them. As lieutenant now, in charge of an outpost, she has the right, but its far more important for John to be there without her distracting him.

With no duties at present, she decides to visit Laura, the medic who was training her until she moved to Delta.

Allison pauses outside the medical ward to see Laura tending to some of her patients. She waves to her, and Laura brightens up with a smile upon seeing her.

"How are you?" she says giving the younger woman a hug, as soon as she is finished with a patient.

"I'm well so is John. It looks like we are moving back here, permanently."

"So I've heard. It looks like the two of you are destined for great things."

"I suppose we are. I was wondering if there is anything I can do to help you in the infirmary. There is still my training."

Laura shakes her head. "Your training is over dear. The Doc sent over your file. He says you are the best student he's ever had. And there really isn't much to do here at the moment, but treat a few infections. So, why don't we go to my room and have drink to celebrate your promotion. I've got some of the Doc's home-brew."

"That would be nice."

With a gentle laugh, the two of them walk off to enjoy a brief respite from the war and their responsibilities.

Some time later, after putting a slightly tipsy Laura to bed, Allison decides to return to her rooms. As Allison approaches the door to John's and her rooms, the guard informs her that Catherine Weaver is waiting inside.

She enters to find her sitting behind John's desk.

Allison is a little miffed to find this woman at his desk in their rooms. "What are you doing here?"

"I am looking for John Connor. I have a message for him."

"He's busy at the moment. He's with Kyle Reese and the top Lieutenants."

"Oh. What is the occasion?" She asks getting up from the chair.

"I don't see why you shouldn't know. We got here late yesterday to find that John has been elected leader of our resistance group, at Kyle Reese's insistence."

Catherine Weaver smiles. "Good. When I heard he got called back here, I knew it had to be something important. So he did it. He finally became leader."

Allison looks at her kind of questioningly. "How did you come to expect that? What are you clairvoyant or something?"

Weaver walks around the desk and stands in front of it. "No. But let's just say I have a certain amount of foresight." Not to mention my spreading the word about Connor to the other camps.

Catherine Weaver walks towards Allison. "A girl must have a few secrets, as you are most certainly aware."

Allison stiffens at the comment, her eyes darting to Weaver. "What do you mean by that?"

"Oh, lets just say that I find the fact that out of all those who died in capturing that factory, you're the only one to escape unscathed, and John only has light injuries." Weaver gives her a calculating look.

"It's just luck." Allison says, with a small nervous grin. "It happens all the time in battles."

"Yes, I'm sure it does." Weaver says with a knowing grin and piercing eyes.

They stand there a moment sort of studying each other. This is the first time they've been alone together. Allison does not feel comfortable under this woman's gaze, but isn't about to show any weakness or fear, and turn away.

Catherine breaks off her study first. "I'm glad we've had this little talk. Would you please inform John that I was here. I'll try to stop by again later." She holds out her hand as if to shake hands.

Allison ignores the proffered hand. "I'll tell him. Now if you don't mind I'd like to get John's office prepared for him by the time he gets back. There are reports he'll need to review."

"Certainly." Weaver doesn't act the least offended by the ignored hand gesture. "May I offer you some advice before I go."

"If you must." She says, not sure if she should agree to hear it, but does so out of respect for John's strange friend.

"Be careful. John is leader now, but his strong emotions may be his downfall. He holds them in check better than most humans, but he feels strongly and deeply. Be there for him when he's in pain."

Allison feels embarrassed now. "I'm sorry for being rude. You needn't worry about John. I will always be with him. He need never fear or worry. We love each other very much."

"I know." Catherine looks at her. _And I wonder why?_

"Good bye Allison. Take care."

Catherine walks towards the door.

"Wait! Catherine!"

Catherine stops and looks at Allison. "Yes"

"John should be back here late this evening. If you need to see him today, that will be the best time."

"Thank you, Allison." Catherine smiles and walks out closing the door gently behind her.

Allison felt uncomfortable after her conversation with Catherine Weaver. There was something about her that made Allison feel odd, like Catherine knew something or held secrets that no one else but her knew.

**2027, Day 53, 5 PM**

Allison puts Weaver's visit out of her mind and goes to work organizing the latest reports that had come in and were on John's desk. She sorts them according to observations of Sky Net's activity, locations of new food and water sources, and potential locations of weapons or other supplies. She uses the information to update the maps on the wall.

There is a new folder with reports from other outlying camps that wish to join the main group. She sets them all out on his desk when suddenly she hears heated voices approaching from outside the door.

"No John, now is not the time!"

"Dammit! When is the time then? You've been skulking around in these holes too long. If you don't start acting soon you'll lose the whole momentum of electing me to this position. It will have been a total waste of your time!"

John and Kyle come storming into the room, both with faces of thunder.

"What is wrong with you two?" She asks them both.

"Tell him, Allison. Tell him it's too dangerous to unite all the camps right now!" Kyle shouts.

"She damn well knows the situation as it is. She was with me on the battlefield. We saw our comrades fall and die all around us. And why? Because the camps were too selfish to share their resources. All camps must come together now, under one banner, or we will all die!"

Allison speaks up. "What is it you want to do John?"

"I want to get on the radio and address all the camps that have radios, they in turn can send runners out to the camps without radios. I want to call them all to unite as one army."

"It will expose our position. Such a radio address will bring metal upon us in large numbers." Kyle admonishes him.

"Then we arrange a place where all camps can join up. There are places in the mountains that haven't seen the destruction here in the cities. Places where the people can find food and water away from the machines. We get all people to move there leaving only a small fighting group behind, and after my radio address the rest of us leave taking the radio with us."

Kyle and John look at each other. Kyle is measuring what John has told him.

"Kyle, John is right. We already have messages from nearby smaller groups who wish to join up with ours. Would it really be so bad even if we do have to move the camp?"

Kyle glances at Allison. He's always valued her opinion and they did choose John as their leader. What is the point of arguing when the decision has been made and he knows that John is right.

"All right, but it will take time to arrange."

"How long?"

"Twenty-four hours to get the word out you will be addressing them all by radio. A lot of bases maintain radio silence, only coming on at designated times."

"I recall that from being at Delta outpost."

"I'd also better run this past your lieutenants. Some of which already know of your desires. They were with me the day I joined you at the plasma rifle factory. They heard everything you said."

"Kyle, please understand I am doing this for the best interest of the resistance. If we don't come together to fight the war, we will all die. Only we'll just be better armed corpses. We've got to do this now."

"You're right John. But before I go to your lieutenants with this I should at least have some idea of where we'll move the camp to. They'll want to know."

"Before you two arrived, I was updating the maps with the latest intelligence reports." says Allison. "There are still places which haven't seen any activity from machines whether they be, endo's, ogre's, or HK's."

"We'll take a look, and you can familiarize me with your map codes as well."

Allison, John and Kyle went over the maps for sometime. Eventually there was only one place they could go. It was a location they could defend easily, located some fifty plus miles from their location. John was amused by the irony of the location. He'd been there before, well almost. It was Camp Pendleton. A military base just south of the Presidio Alto Military Academy located in Carlsbad.

_Extract from John's Journal_

_2027, Day 53_

_Allison has gone with Kyle to meet with the Lieutenants. With her new rank she has the right to be a part of those meetings. Her reason for going is to help Kyle argue for my plan of unifying the resistance. My reason for not being there is that I am planning strategy._

_I'm presently still programming one of the chips Catherine gave me. The process is slow, but it allows me to make adjustments. The other Allison that my Cameron was based on must have been some kind of woman. I could clearly see why my future self and she would befriend each other. If Catherine and I do return to the present, which is the past, and I meet Allison in the real future time line, how will my current relationship with this Allison or Cameron affect it._

_All of this is so mind boggling. How can I go through life second guessing what I am going to do in the future when faced with all this data of what I am going to do? And on top of that I am in a future trying to do what my destiny has called me to do. It gives me headache just trying to figure it all out. I try not to dwell on it but my current situation keeps it foremost in my thoughts. My current responsibilities can't allow for second guessing. I'll just do what I think is right at the moment and move forward._

**2027, Day 53, 8 PM**

John's writing is interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Who is it?"

"Catherine Weaver to see you sir." Comes the firm reply from the other side of the door.

"Send her in." John saves his work and closes his laptop.

Catherine strolls through the door. The guard outside closes it firmly behind her.

"Well John, it suits you sitting behind that desk. I told you, you'd end up leading the resistance."

"Yeah, well fate does seem to have thrust my destiny upon me. I just hope I'm up to the challenge at this time, at my present age."

"John you have knowledge and experience these fighters don't have. You have brought them weapons which have allowed them to acquire even more powerful weapons. You have taken part in numerous successful missions. You are a hero to these people, and heroes often find themselves thrust into roles they never imagined for themselves."

"Well this hero feels like he's a little to green around the gills to handle such responsibility. You've had a hand in getting me here, so I'm going to have to rely on you more, and John Henry too. What brings you here?"

_Yes, I have had a significant hand in getting you into command__,_ Catherine thinks. _And__ you will have to rely on me more._

"John Henry believes he may have located his brother."

"His brother?"

"Yes, another Artificial Intelligence. It tried to attack John Henry and failed in 2009. John Henry's access to the factory computers has allowed him to identify that same signal again. We believe it is Sky Net itself."

"Has he got a trace on it? Because if he does, then we can attack Sky Net's main grid and bring this war to a quick conclusion."

"He's presently working on it. He has a general location and he is trying to narrow it down. It has hidden itself behind false shadows, but John Henry feels certain that it is in Southern California."

"That's good news! How goes the repairs to Cameron."

"She was being prepped for removal of her flesh when I left."

John shudders inwardly to imagine her organic sheath being removed. "I wish I could be there to help."

"You are a good friend to do so much for someone you truly care for, but there isn't a whole lot you can do at the moment but wait. The factory will complete the repairs and you can finish her chip."

With a long sigh, John says, "I know you are right but somehow I feel like I'm not doing enough for her. She's here because of me. I should do it."

"Maybe, but the factory can do a superior job in less time."

Weaver gives him a motherly smile of concern.

"May I ask, what you are planning to do now that you've been made leader of this resistance group?"

"The first order of business is to reorganize the resistance."

"Really?" She grins in expectation of his answer. "Why are you doing that?"

"The current civilian resistance is too disorganized, a loose confederation of various camps and bases in this area. I'll be addressing all of the camps by radio in twenty-four hours. The time has come to unify the camps into one large army for fighting Sky Net and streamline the command structure. I'm not out to remove the rights of the smaller camps, but to centralize and strengthen command."

"What makes you certain that this is the right time?"

"Not you as well. Listen. Right now the people are galvanized for action. Our forces have been flushed with greater numbers since taking down Century Work Camp and we now have a large supply of plasma rifles. For the first in a long time, this resistance is strong enough to fight back. But to fight Sky Net and its machines, we are going to need far more people than what we have. Our goal is to destroy Sky Net, not merely to survive."

"I'm glad to hear it. What will you do next?"

"We can't act without intelligence. If John Henry can..."

He is interrupted as a loud explosion rocks the room.

"What the hell?" John exclaims as dirt sprinkles like rain from the ceiling.

More explosions rock the room. Weaver moves to John Connor's side, prepared to protect him if it comes to that.

The door bursts open and Kyle and the guard come rushing. Automatic gun fire is heard in the corridor.

"The machines have broken in. Mostly endo's, some ken's, all heavily armed with plasma rifles and heavy caliber automatic rifles!" Kyle shouts.

"Get all people out through any available exits. Take them deeper into the tunnels if you have too!" Connor shouts back. "We will meet up at Outpost Delta!"

Boom! Another loud explosion nearly knocks them off their feet. The guard and Kyle run back out to carry out John's orders.

"Catherine, go back to John Henry. Tell him we're moving to Outpost Delta. From there we will relocate to a military base out near Carlsbad. As soon as repairs and modifications are made, bring Cameron as close to that location as you can, then bring me to her. I've nearly finished programming her chip, but I need more time."

Boom! Another loud explosion and part of the ceiling caves in. John gets up off the floor coughing.

"John you need to leave here before you get killed." Catherine says anxiously. He can't die, not until her plan is completed.

"Catherine, go now and hurry. Have John Henry trace Sky Net as long as he can, but a good solid general location is better than a hazy specific location, okay."

John looks at this woman, a machine, a terminator that has become his friend. "Take care of yourself Catherine. I can't win this war without you."

Catherine looks at this young man, who is so different yet so similar to the older John Connor of her own time.

"I'll see you soon." she says and departs.

A few more explosions are heard. John scoops up his computer and chips and shoves them into a bag. He dashes into his and Allison's inner room and grabs what he can of their things.

"John! John!" Allison yells as she runs in.

"Ally! What are you still doing here?"

"I came back for you. We must hurry. Nearly all exits are blocked by metal."

"I've packed our things. Take this." He hands her a bag and a plasma rifle.

John slips both of his bags onto his shoulder and carries a Remington 870 shotgun with an extended magazine and a folding stock. It was a favorite weapon of his mothers and he can't think of any better.

"Damn. We weren't even here long enough for it to feel like home." He says as they leave.

They go running out into the corridor to the sounds of screams and automatic rifle fire. Beams of plasma fire light up the corridors as metal and men fire at each other.

"Allison. Which is the best way out of here?"

"Where are we going?"

"Back to Outpost Delta. We'll collect the rest of the weapons and the people and head to Camp Pendleton from there."

The sound of plasma rifle fire gets louder as the metal advance. Screams of dying soldiers fill the air as automatic rifle fire riddles the air with bullets.

"This way John. I know a way out that nobody else knows."

John follows Allison down the corridor. Metal is advancing from the rear. Soldiers with plasma rifles run past them to stop the metal long enough for the people to escape.

"Through here, John." Allison has stopped outside a tunnel entrance that had been boarded up at some time in the past. She is holding back two boards close tot he floor.

John kneels down and pushes their bags and weapons through.

"Quick hurry." He shouts at her.

She just manages to get inside when more rifle fire is heard and more explosions bring dirt down on top of their heads.

A metal leg is seen through the gap in the boards. John holds his gun ready, but the machine passes them by. He and Allison sit there quietly as more metal goes past firing their weapons. The sound of gunfire continues as they wait.

"Okay, they should be far enough away now. Where does this tunnel lead?"

"The tunnel was abandoned long ago. The ground was too soft. It kept caving in, but part way in there is an old storm drain that passes through. There is a hole big enough for us to squeeze through. We can follow that pipe into the main line then follow that for almost four miles. We'll be some distance from the outpost, but we'll be out of danger until we reach the surface."

"It must be great knowing these tunnels like you do. I love you."

"I know. Let's get going before they find us." Allison says, looking serious, nodding her head towards the hole in the pipe.

Allison and John struggled through the narrow opening into the pipe. The pipe wasn't much bigger than the hole but they didn't have to go far before they enter a larger pipe.

Rumbling and vibrations could still be felt and heard as they make their way down the storm drain. Once they reach the main line John takes a risk and climbs up a ladder and lifts a manhole cover to look.

HK's are flying overhead firing their belly mounted plasma guns at fleeing people. Some of John Henry's T-800's are laying down covering fire but even they don't have enough firepower to bring down all of the HK's.

John can feel a rumbling and he turns to see a centaur coming up the ancient road towards him. Its plasma rifles firing at people, incinerating them in seconds. He pulls the manhole cover back over him and drops into the tunnel below with a splash.

"What did you see?" Allison whispers.

John puts his fingers to his lips and points up. The rumbling gets louder as the huge machine crawls overhead.

"I saw a centaur. It was approaching our location. In the distance I saw HK's firing at our people while our T-800's fired back at them. It doesn't look good, Ally. Sky Net is definitely launching a major offensive."

"It must be the machine's I observed gathering when I was on my patrol. This is what Sky Net was planning."

"It sure looks that way. We need to go, now."

The two of them pick up their stuff and move as quickly as they can down the tunnel.

They fail to see the two pairs of glowing red eyes in the tunnel far behind them.

# # #

Catherine Weaver is making her way quickly and silently through the rubble and destroyed buildings using every bit of cover she can as she slithers in her eel like form away from the main bunker.

Finally reaching a place of shelter, away from the visual and infra-red range of any terminator's in the area, she reforms into her humanoid shape and pulls her radio out.

"John Henry, what is the progress on repairing Cameron's body?"

"It has just been completed. Her hyper alloy frame is being made ready for the re-attachment of her organic covering."

"Then hurry and carry out my previously given orders regarding Cameron. Sky Net is attacking the area and it won't be long until it attacks your location too. Weaver out."

She pauses a moment to watch as every conceivable machine in Sky Net's arsenal is used to attack the humans at the bunker. Aerial HK's in the sky rain down plasma on fleeing humans. Ground based HK Tanks fire on anything that moves as the humans, more numerous than she believed existed, pop out of hatches all over the place.

Weaver can only hope that Connor's new found human friends can help him survive, because even she couldn't protect him from that much fire power.

# # #

A silver shape is watching multiple monitors. On the various monitors is video being fed from the machines in the air, on the ground and in the tunnels as they go on a massive man hunt.

He is nearly shaking with glee as he watches the carnage unfold.

A smile fills his face as he watches the latest video come through. Two people fleeing down a tunnel. One a boy in his late teens and the other a girl who looks nearly twenty.

They turn and fire their weapons. The video sparkles and shakes but it remains steady.

"Identify the girl!" It orders.

The girl turns and fires on the pursuing metal. The video quickly zooms in and freezes on her face. A list of images appear with names and stops, identifying the girl as Allison Young, 99.99% match.

"That's interesting." The silver figure says quietly. "Hard to believe, but she must have survived the first purge."

"Give me a close up of the boy!" He shouts in the microphone.

The video zooms in and freezes the image as the boy looks over his shoulder at the pursuing machine.

"Identify him!" He says into the microphone. A small window pops up on his monitor and various names and faces are seen until it stops. The second picture is overlaid with the first. A wire mesh image appears lining up points on both faces. John Connor 99.95% Match.

"Finally. Finally. You've led me on a merry chase, John Connor. I missed you in 2009. I purged the tunnels once before and missed you, but I will get you now." He says quietly.

"Kill him!" He shouts. "Kill John Connor now!"

* * *

Chapter Updated: Sun, Jun 23, 2013


	18. Declaration of War

**Disclaimer:** I do not claim any rights to the Terminator films; the TV series, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles;" or any characters depicted within the films or TV series. I do claim the right to this story idea and all characters and situations of my own creation. This story was created solely for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. No profits are garnered from its distribution - unfortunately.

* * *

**TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES**

**REUNION**

**Part 2: Armageddon**

**Author: The1Russter**

**Chapter 17**

**Declaration of War**

"_Defense network computers. New... powerful... hooked into everything, trusted to run it all. They say it got smart, a new order of intelligence. Then it saw all people as a threat, not just the ones on the other side. Decided our fate in a microsecond: extermination." Kyle Reese, The Terminator 1984_

"_But there was one man who taught us to fight, to storm the wire of the camps, to smash those metal motherfuckers into junk. He turned it around. He brought us back from the brink. His name is Connor. John Connor. Your son, Sarah, your unborn son." Kyle Reese, The Terminator 1984_

"_On the night we first met, John's father, Kyle Reese, told me words I remember to this day. He meant them as a warning. I think of them as words to live by. He told me of an apocalypse yet to come. Like a Pandora's box, he unpacked every horror, every evil, every dark thing that haunts our future. He also left me an unborn son to whom he bequeathed what remained in the box after the nightmare's fled - __**hope**__." Sarah Connor, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Dungeons and Dragons 2008_

# # #

**2027, One week ago**

Day and night the Utah factory operates, producing ordinance for Sky Net's machine army. Inside the factory, humans are put to work doing the most menial tasks. Tasks for which machines could operate more efficiently, but which is left for humans to do.

The humans, men, children, and women of all ages, are never allowed to work in areas where they could have access to chemicals or explosives. But they all must work twelve hour shifts, non-stop in the metal fabrication factory. No breaks allowed, collecting the waste metal and feeding it into bins in the wall. To stop working means instant death by their machine overseers, or worse torture at the hands of the sick bastard, a human that is less humane than the machines, that runs the factory. Fischer.

A group of humans in nondescript ragged gray clothing are working the factory floor, sweeping up metal filings and scraps on the floor from the manufacture of shell and missile casings.

There is a new member in their group. A male, with a solemn face, tattoos on one arm, and a fresh laser brand on his left forearm, still pink around the edges. He doesn't say much, but his eyes glow brightly from behind his beard. Burning with an intense hatred against the machines that scares his fellow prisoners.

The sound of heavy metal footsteps approach the group. They all keep working, ignoring the sound. They know what that sound means. To stop work, even for a moment, invites death, either instantly or slow and lingering. The machine has come for one of them.

The footsteps stop behind them, but they keep working. The man's eyes appear to burn with even brighter intensity as the machine looks upon him.

"Derek Reese. You will come with me!" The T-800 orders.

The people glance out of the corners of their eyes at the new guy.

Without sparing them a glance, he leans his broom against the factory wall, and goes with the machine.

Inside the factory work the T-800's, reputedly because they can react more quickly to a human rebellion. Outside on the grounds are T-600's. They are slower than their newer brethren, but they are deadly and never stop. Rubber skinned facsimile's of humans with mini guns. What they lack in intelligence, they make up for in firepower. Even if he attempted to escape, regardless of whether the T-600's killed him or not, the T-800's watching his fellow inmates would kill several of them as an example to the rest, whether they caught him or not.

He follows the machine outside and through the compound behind a high masonry wall. The yard is broken up into sections by ten-foot high chainlink fencing topped with razor wire. In one section are a large group of humans, mentally broken by the reality of this world, behaving more like animals than people. As he passes the enclosure, one the creatures snarl at him like a dog, baring his broken and blacken teeth, saliva dripping from his mouth. One next to it snarls at the first, and they begin fighting. The people, if you can call them that anymore, appear to be starving.

Derek doesn't understand why they are being kept like this or even kept alive. Unless part of some sick experiment by Sky Net. That's one thing that is so bizarre. The way Sky Net regard's the humans that survived Judgement Day. They are either a cheep and expendable labor force, some of which are brainwashed to serve the machines completely, even in their armies; or Sky Net experiments with humans like they were lab rats or specimens in a jar. He thought most of the rumors he heard were just that, rumors, until he ended up in prison with some of his fellow soldiers from Grizzly.

As Derek is led to Fischer's residence, atop a wall that separates the human compound from the strictly machine operated facility, he sees a much smaller group of humans held behind a fence next to the others. These are different. For one they are clothed. Rags, but compared to the others, its clothing.

_New prisoners, but from where?_

He looks at them again from the corner of his eye and sees they are all female, about eight in all. The youngest female looks to be barely out of puberty, while the oldest just this side of forty. They all look frightened and stare at him, looking like they are pleading to him for help.

_How can I help them? I can't even help myself. There are metal guards on the walls, in the factory, even outside the shelters provided for them. Hell, there are even two more ahead of me guarding the stairs to Fischer's residence._

Derek is shoved against the metal stairs. A T-600 stands to either side. He takes the hint and begins going up the stairs, Fischer comes out of the door of his home atop the wall.

"You can stop there, Reese." He says as Derek comes to a landing midway. To low to attack Fischer, high enough to be a clear target of the machines below him and on the walls around the compound.

"What do you want Fischer?" Derek asks, taking the opportunity of his higher position to glance at the prisoners again. It is then that he sees a couple of the women in the enclosure are pregnant.

"Is that anyway to speak to your superior?" Fischer looks at the machine that led Derek to him. "Kill one of the women."

A T-600 marches toward the women, the gate slides open and it steps through. It brings its mini-gun up to bear. The women try to scatter, but in their haste, some of them trip and fall.

They quickly get up, but for one, who is dragging her foot. Her ankle being twisted in her fall.

Derek panics as he sees she is one of the pregnant women. The machine aims its gun at the woman. The others moan, scream or cry in expectation of her horrifying death.

"Wait! Stop!" Derek screams.

The machine pauses, looking to Fischer for orders. Fischer grins waiting for Derek.

"I'm sorry. You don't have to kill her." Derek swallows, trying to find it in himself to be respectful to this beast in the guise of a man. "Mr. Fischer. I understand you have called for me."

"Yes that is much better." Fischer sneers. "Try to remember to be more respectful in the future."

Fischer looks at the machine. "Stand down."

The T-600 lowers its weapon, and slowly backs out through the gate which opens behind him. The pregnant woman on the ground quickly crawls to the others, who help her to her feet. On the other side of the fence, the human creatures snarl and snap, greedily reaching through the fence with their dirty sinewy arms.

Fischer speaks. "You have a weakness Reese. One that I plan to exploit. Between Sky Net and myself, we've tortured you days and days, not once did you give in and tell us what we wanted to know. What my master wanted to know. The whereabouts of John Connor."

Fischer walks to the head of the metal stairs and looks down on Derek on the landing below.

"You were too strong for our usual techniques. More willing to die at our hands than to give up the information we wanted. So we moved you here to work, for Sky Net. In the time you've been here at this facility, I've observed a weakness in you. You have compassion for those weaker than you, younger than you, especially females."

"What are you playing at Fischer?" Derek growls.

"Getting the answer to Sky Net's question." Fischer smiles.

"Tell me where to find John Connor, or I'll order the machine to open the gate between the women and those things that used to be human. I should tell you they are quite hungry."

Derek can't believe what Fischer has just said. Turning purple with rage, he shouts. "You Bastard! Let the women go!"

Speaking as if Derek hadn't said anything at all, Fischer keeps talking. "Of course if some vestiges of their humanness remain, they might take the women as mates. I'm sure the women might not see it that way. Forcibly raped in mass by multiple attackers, but then again they are quite hungry so it's a toss up between cannibalism and mass rape. You might even get to see both."

"You're mad! Insane!" Derek yells, his face red with rage and frustration.

The women look at him pleadingly, yelling at him to save them.

"If you want to save their lives, then tell me where to find John Connor." Fischer says serenely.

Derek looks at the women and back at Fischer. Connor is a nobody. But Kyle and Allison are with him at Outpost Delta. He can't lose his only family and the people in his command. But the women, the girls, screaming and crying. The savages, snarling and snapping on the other side of the fence from the women. He has to tell him something.

"Tell me!" Fischer screams.

"He's at the alpha site." Derek says, looking at the ground. "Grizzly's main encampment under downtown L. A. That's where you will find John Connor."

Derek had lied, knowing that John was at outpost Delta with Allison and Kyle. If luck was with him, they would still be there and safe from attack.

"You see. It wasn't difficult at all. I just had to find the right incentive." Fischer smiles holding his arms out.

His arms drop to his sides. Fischer suddenly scowls.

"Open the gate."

The women scream as the T-800 moves to the controls that operate the gate between the women and creatures.

"What? NO!" Derek screams and tries to dash up the stairs but a T-600 grabs his ankle. Derek falls, smashing and bloodying his face on the metal steps.

"You said you'd spare them if I told you!" He shouts, spitting blood.

"No, I didn't. I said if _you_ wanted to save them not that they would be saved. You've wasted our valuable time. If you told us what we wanted to know at the beginning, none of this would be happening now. This is your punishment."

Fischer looks at the machine, holding Derek's ankle. "Make him watch until all the women are taken care of, then take him back to the factory. See to it that he maintains his quota for today or I'll kill more humans."

Derek tries to fight back, kicking at the machine. The T-600 drags him off the landing by his leg, slamming his body to the ground and knocking the wind out of him.

Two T-600's grabs Derek by the arms and drag him to the women's enclosure. The compound is filled with the sound of screaming women and the snarls of savages. But over it Fischer's voice calls out.

"You are weak, Reese! Your own compassion has been your undoing! And now all of your former allies will be killed along with John Connor! The war is over! Sky Net has won! And you have made that possible! You can say goodbye to your Aussie slut too!"

As Derek is held by his arms, unable to move. One of the machines prevents him from closing his eyes while the savages attack the women. As he is forced to watch, one of the women breaks free from her attackers. She runs toward him, screaming for help.

Derek strains against his captors, as the woman, a naked girl about twenty years of age runs to the fence, with blood running from her scalp and down her naked thighs. Thrusting her arms through the chain link fence, she screams and begs Derek to help her.

All Derek can do, is say "I'm sorry," before several creatures come up behind the girl and pull her to the ground. As a group, they beginning tearing at her flesh with their teeth, while another creature forces the girl's legs apart.

Derek screams at the top of his voice for Fischer to stop it, but his cries are ignored and Derek's voice grows hoarser and hoarser until nothing but a raspy incoherent scream of rage is the only sound he makes.

Unable to do anything, Derek is forced to watch as the savages kill the women in the most brutal and horrific way imaginable. He vomits repeatedly, until there's nothing but dry heaves, before being dragged away. It takes a human mind to be this cruel, this savage. A machine will just put a bullet in your head. A preferable way to die.

Charles Fischer sits down at a computer and enters in his username and password.

Launching an application, he types a message.

:\I have the location of John Connor.

:\Where?

:\The resistance main bunker, downtown L. A.

:\The same place I attacked before. Are you sure?

:\Definitely. Reese had no choice but give up the location.

:\What is being done to Reese?

:\He's being punished for his lack of cooperation.

:\You've done good work Fischer. The information you obtained has confirmed what I've recently come to suspect. Someone tried hacking one of Sky Net's communication nodes. A signal trace on Sky Net's network points to an old factory near that location. I will be recalling the T-800's at your location to assist in the attack. Arrival of transport is imminent.

:\Understood.

An hour after he was taken, the group of humans, inside the factory, is surprised to see the new guy back inside, pushing a broom. His hair is more disheveled than ever now and his face is bloody and dirty, but for tracks left by tears. A vomit stain on the front of his shirt puts off a strong sour odor.

One of the slave workers manages to sidle up close to Derek and whispers, "What happened to you?"

Derek glances around. Talking while working is an offence. He doesn't see any machines close enough to overhear, which is probably why this guy is talking to him.

"What happened to me doesn't matter. What does matter is yet to come. Tell the others to be ready." Derek whispers hoarsely. His throat raw from the screaming at Fischer to stop the madness.

"Ready? Ready for what? Who are you?" The mans whispers loud enough that one of the machines turns to look their way.

Risking all, Derek whispers back, without moving his lips. "The name is Derek Reese. Colonel Resistance Group Grizzly, California. Some of my people are here with me. So spread the word. We are getting the hell out of here."

With those last words, Derek keeps working like nothing has transpired between them. The one thing Derek knows, he'll never get that girl's frightened, pleading face out of his head. Nor the sound of her screams as she was eaten alive. He'll kill Fischer if it is the last thing he does.

**2027, Day 53 after midnight**

Across rubble strewn streets, of what was downtown Los Angeles, humans scramble and run for their lives fleeing from Sky net's machines. Machines, both in the air and on the ground, and some in the tunnels under ground, do what they were programmed to do, terminate humans.

Aerial hunter killers, pummel the ground with plasma, incinerating some and weakening the structures that support the tunnels. Hunter Killer tanks, called Ogre's or Centaurs depending on their size, fire on the masses, while terminators march through the underground bunkers driving the humans to the surface where they'll be killed.

But some of them escape, protected by other machines. Machines reprogrammed with code written by John Connor, who is presently fleeing for his life, along with his companion, in one of those many tunnels.

"Run Allison! Run!" John shouts as he fires the shotgun repeatedly hitting the endo with multiple explosive blasts.

The pursuing Terminators jerks and moves with each blast but they don't stop their chase.

He turns and runs after Allison as the metal opens fire with its plasma rifle. John leaps to one side avoiding the hot flash of the plasma round. He lets out a yelp as he feels the heat singe his hair and burn his neck.

He keeps running, desperately trying to keep up with Allison who is quickly outdistancing him. She suddenly stops and spins, kneeling down and opening fire on the machines pursuing John. Her first shot hits the leading machine knocking it back into the one behind it. They fall in a tangle of metal arms and legs.

"Quick, follow me before they can register where we're going." Shouts Allison as she grabs John and pulls him along down the main tunnel.

She suddenly dashes into a side tunnel and stops several paces in. "Wait here." She says.

John is gasping for breath as he asks, "Where are you going?" But Allison quickly runs off without saying a word.

John kneels down and holds the shotgun pointing toward the opening they came through. He quickly loads more shells into the shotgun.

Allison is suddenly back by his side. "I went to get these." She hands him two small packages of C4 explosives. "They were stashed away for safe keeping a long time ago. We are lucky they were still there."

"But there are no fuses, no detonators. We will have to shoot it to make it explode which means we'll be dangerously close to the explosion."

"You can't make scrambled eggs without cracking a few eggs." Allison winks at John.

"Yeah but this is one egg I don't want cracked." He says pointing to himself. "How far does this tunnel go?"

"A couple of hundred yards. Why?"

"Well one of us can lead the metal into this tunnel. The other can take a position further back down the tunnel. When the metal is right underneath that pipe up there, one of us can shoot the C4 then duck down to avoid the blast. It will be very dangerous."

"Well, it's better than dying at their hands."

"If you don't mind, I'd rather not die at all. Give me a boost, will you. That pipe is pretty high."

Leaning against the wall of the tunnel for support, Allison holds her hands in front, her fingers interlaced. John places his foot in her hands and he pulls himself up onto the pipe while Allison lifts.

Pulling his belt out of its loops, he uses it to strap the C4 to the pipe and then drops to the ground below, with a brief warning.

"This is what we'll do. I'll lead them here." Allison begins to protest but he stops her with a hand gesture. "I know you are fast on your feet, but they are more likely to chase me than you. You are also a damn good shot with that plasma rifle. I'd feel much better running toward you firing it than I would if you were running at me while I'm firing."

"If you insist." She says looking slightly worried.

"Good. You get down the tunnel and have your plasma rifle aimed at that C4. As soon as I get past you, fire and duck down. There won't be time enough to run. Got it."

"I got it. Be careful." She says with concern.

"I will." He says quickly and leaves.

# # #

"Where is he?" The silver being scans the video feed.

"Give me a full sensor report." Data comes up on his monitors showing full wave light spectrum, sound waves, and vibrations.

"Listen, there are voices. Follow the voices!"

The silvery shape is watching the computer screens intently. On one is video feed from one machine on the second was an auditory sound wave being picked up by the second.

Suddenly the first screen is filled by a bright light as gunfire disturbs the optics.

"There they are! Follow them! Kill them now!" The silver being screeches.

# # #

John is carefully walking back the way Allison and he had come down the main tunnel. As he goes around a bend, he suddenly comes upon the two machine's.

He quickly raises his shotgun and fires directly into the face of the first machine, then turns and runs. John can hear them following close behind.

Reaching the tunnel that he and Allison had set the trap in, he turns and fires several more shots at the approaching metal. John ducks and runs in as plasma fire fills the space he was just in.

John runs as fast as he can down the narrow tunnel, past Allison and throws himself to the ground as she fires her plasma rifle at the C4.

The force of the explosion lifts him off the ground before he even hits it and gets slammed back down, stunning him. Everything goes silent. The roar of the explosion is deafening.

# # #

"Any signs of where they are? What do you mean you can't find them? I want patrols in every tunnel and pipe out there. Don't report back until you find them."

Kyle releases the mike and pulls the headphones off his head

"You need to relax, sir. They'll show up."

"I wish I had your optimism, Andy."

"It's John and Allison that are out there. If anyone can survive that carnage, it's them two."

"I hope you are right. I'm going to check our supplies. If Sky Net's forces attack us here at the outpost, we may need to fight or move out quickly. Call me as soon as anything comes in."

"You got it."

Kyle walks off down the corridor. He pauses halfway down and pulls the photo out that John had given him. "I'm sorry Sarah. I've lost your son, our last best hope for the future." He touches her face tenderly, noting the sadness in her eyes that mimics the fear and sadness of his own. He tucks the photo back in his pocket and walks away.

# # #

The tunnel is dark. Dust fills the air and tremors shake the ground.

"John, John are you all right? Speak to me! John!" Allison calls out shaking him firmly but gently.

"Uuhhnn." John groans. His head feels like the whole damn tunnel caved in on it.

"Please John, wake up we need to get moving." Worry coloring her voice.

"Allison." He says weakly.

"I'm here John."

"Did we get them?"

"We got them. They're dead. But we need to move. The tunnel is still shaking and it could collapse at anytime."

"Help me up." he says with a groan, his hand flailing as he reaches for assistance.

John groans as Allison grabs both his hands and pulls him up off the ground.

"Whoa there, tiger. My head is spinning." He says trying to gain his balance, as he grips tightly onto Allison's arms.

"Lean on me. I'll support you."

She grabs the guns, slinging them over her shoulder. He puts an arm around her shoulders, and she puts hers around his back and helps him as they walk down the tunnel.

"Where are we headed?" John manages to ask.

"Up the tunnel. Hopefully we can find another way out. The explosion brought down the roof. We can't get out the way we came in."

They go walking up the tunnel away from the collapse. Faster than John would want because of his headache, but slower than Allison would want because of the tremors.

# # #

"_Patrol F reporting in. No signs of our two birds. Still searching."_

"_Patrol H reporting in. No signs of them in the metro tunnels. Moving to Section C to assist Patrol B."_

"_Patrol E reporting in. Large explosion detected under Whittier Boulevard. Most of the street has collapsed creating a large sinkhole."_

"Patrol E, this is Delta. Investigate the tunnels in that area. Report back when you find something." Kyle responds.

He paces back and forth in the radio room. The other people in Outpost Delta are worried as well but they try not to show it. But all you have to do is look at their faces to know how worried they truly are.

Several minutes go by when, _"This is Patrol E reporting in. We've found three bags containing the belongings of Allison Young and John Connor in the main storm drain under Whittier Boulevard. There is strong evidence that some kind of fire fight occurred down here. There are scorch marks on the walls from plasma fire and empty shotgun shells everywhere."_

"All right Patrol E, I'll be sending additional patrols to assist."

"_Negative. Negative. The tunnels are unstable from the explosion. There is a lot of dust and debris and we have located pieces of more than one endo."_

"Any signs of our two birds?"

"_Negative. Unless they are on the other side of the collapse. In that case we can't get to them."_

"I understand. If you make your way to the surface, can you find another way down on the other side of the collapse."

"_Possible. Requesting assistance from our T-800's for extra security on the surface."_

"Agreed. Stand by while I send them out."

Kyle rushes out of the radio room and down the hall to where a group of T-800's are gathered.

"Hey!" He shouts as he runs up to them. They turn and look at him in unison.

"John Connor is in trouble and we need your help."

"What is the nature of the problem?" one of them responds.

"John Connor and Allison Young appears to be trapped beyond a collapsed section of tunnel. We have a patrol in the area but they need your assistance."

Kyle quickly explains the situation and the location of Patrol E. He grants the first machine that spoke up an honorary rank of sergeant and places him in command of the group of T-800's and sends them on their way.

"Patrol E. Patrol E. This is Delta. I am sending you a group of six T-800's to assist. Do you copy?"

"_Copy loud and clear Delta. We are on the surface and are presently observing patrols of enemy metal and some HK's still flying in the area. They appear to be cleaning up any stragglers."_

"Understand. Don't intervene. Wait there for arrival of friendly metal. Report back when you've made progress."

"_Affirmative."_

# # #

"Allison. I need to sit down. My head feels terrible." John mumbles as he staggers along beside Allison.

"All right, but for only five minutes then we need to get going."

They sit down with John almost collapsing beside her.

"Hold me up I think I'm . . ."

John passes out. Allison grabs him and drags him to the side of the tunnel. Sitting down, she carefully guides him into a laying position with his head resting on her thigh.

Patting his face gently she says, "Talk to me John. Come on! Talk to me!"

He murmurs, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Allison gently strokes his forehead and checks his breathing and pulse. "Its okay John, someone will find us soon." She bends over and kisses him on his forehead, cradling his head in her cool hands. Once again he's unresponsive.

Allison shouts, "Tell me who you are! Keep talking! What's your name?"

Images and voices swim through John's head as he slips away into unconsciousness.

"_What's your name?" a sweet sounding voice says from behind him._

_He turns and looks at the most beautiful girl he's ever seen. "John." _

"_I'm Cameron." She smiles at him._

_In the hallway after class she walks up beside him. "I haven't seen you around here before. Did you just move here?"_

"_Yeah."_

"_That sucks for you." She smiles at him._

_John feels a little uncomfortable as they talk. A girl this beautiful has never spoken to him before. "I've got to get ready for class."_

"_Bye." Cameron smiles and walks away. On the wall is a poster saying, "Don't go it alone."_

Don't go it alone. The words echo in his head.

"_Reese? Do we have a John Reese?" the substitute teacher asks._

_John raises his hand._

_Bang! Bang! Bang! John ducks and runs as the substitute teacher fires a gun at him. He looks over to see Cameron with three bloody bullet holes in her chest just before he dives through a window._

_Cromartie has him cornered, about to shoot him when suddenly a truck plows into him. The door flies open and Cameron says those magic words, "Come with me if you want to live."_

Don't go it alone.

_John is sitting on the rear bumper of the pickup, contemplating this new cyborg from the future._

"_What model are you? Are you new? You seem . . . different."_

"_I am." she gives a small grin and takes one of his chips and eats it._

Don't go it alone.

_John is slicing into Cameron's scalp cradling her head in his hands. He's about to remove her chip in an effort to prevent Sky Net from taking over a traffic surveillance system. He's scared. He's about to mess with Cameron's most vulnerable part. _

"_It's okay John. You've done this before." She says looking at him with her deep brown eyes._

_He looks in her eyes and realizes, she trusts him. He removes her chip. Looking at her laying there, blankly staring at nothing, is too painful. He just wants to complete the task and return her chip as quickly as possible._

_The task is done. He is alone with Cameron. He reinserts her chip and gently smooths her scalp back in place and caresses her face in a tender gesture._

_He feels her servos kick in and he moves his hand away, leaning over her, watching her. She notices his hand placement and the caring look on his face, though he tries to hide it._

Don't go it alone.

"_Do I have a birthday?"_

"_I don't know. Were you born?"_

"_I was built."_

"_Well then, maybe you have a built day."_

Don't go it alone.

_Cameron is trapped between two vehicles. John is trying to remove her chip. This time it's to protect himself and his mom when she suddenly went rogue after a bomb blast._

_Cameron is pleading with him. Crying and begging him. "John. John you can't do this. You don't know what you are about to do. Please John, don't do this. It wasn't me. I ran a test. Everything is fine now. Please John, don't do this. I don't want to go." _

_Cameron begins to cry. "Please John, Please. I don't want go. I'm good now. Listen to me. I don't want go now. I'm fixed now. I ran a test. Everything is okay now. I'm perfect. You can trust me." _

_She is actively begging pleading, tears running from her eyes. "I love you. I love you! Please, I love you John! I love you John and you love me!" He can't believe what he is hearing and yanks her chip out._

_Later, Derek tries to tell him it was for the best. But he never liked her. He never trusted her._

"_I need her. She saves my life." John responds. _

"_She saves my Life!" John shouts for all to hear._

_They are about to burn her. He can't. He needs her. "I'm sorry. I can't do this." He takes Cameron's chip and quickly inserts it in Cameron's head. He pulls out his gun and holds his Uncle Derek and his mother at bay._

"_Are you going to kill me John?" Cameron asks when she wakes up._

"_Are you going to kill me?" He says with a strained voice._

"_No" She says quietly._

_John hands her his weapon. She looks at it then hands it back. He trusts her._

Don't go it alone.

_Cameron enters his room and lays down beside him on his bed._

"_I understand that being John Connor can be lonely." she tells him._

"_How do you understand that?"_

"_You and I talk about it a lot."_

"_We do?"_

"_We do. We will."_

Don't go it alone.

_John has finished helping Cameron fix her arm. "Are you all fixed?"_

_She looks at him with appreciation for the help and with some sadness as well,"I don't know."_

_Sometime later he asks her, "What's happening to you?" He says with genuine concern._

"_I don't know." she says again._

Don't go it alone.

_She gives him what looks like a pocket watch, but it contains a simple remote switch._

"_What is it?"_

"_You tried to fix me. Twice now. It's not working."_

"_And?"_

"_I can't kill myself. But you can." She says with some sadness._

"_Why would I want to kill you?" He says with genuine concern._

Don't go it alone.

"_John…" Her voice was soft, softer than he'd ever heard it before. He swallows hard, finding it difficult to breathe. _

"_It's time to go," Cameron finished._

_He didn't want to go. He wanted to stay there forever, on top of her, their faces so close they were almost touching. And he desperately wanted to kiss her. But she was right. It was time to go._

_If he didn't pull away now, he wasn't sure if he ever could. They didn't have time for this. He reluctantly backed off as she moved to replace her shirt. It was much easier for him to concentrate when she had all her clothes on._

_And for the first time, he wondered how he'd even ended up in that situation. Not that he was complaining, but he wasn't stupid. She'd done it on purpose._

"_Were you lying?" he demanded suddenly, pressing his lips together tightly. He needed to know; needed to finally settle the internal debate raging. "When you were stuck between the trucks. When I took your chip. Were you lying?"_

_She met his gaze, her eyes soft and calm. "No."_

Don't go it alone.

_John drives up in front of the jail, searching through the crowd of orange for any sign of his mother and Cameron. Finally he sees them coming up the walk and his breath catches in his throat. Cameron looks awful. He only caught a brief glimpse before he wrenched his eyes back to the road, driving straight through the gates._

_Beside him, his mother is livid. "I sent you a message! I told you -"_

"_Yeah, bad John Connor, ground me," he retorts. He didn't regret his decision. He turns around to regard Cameron, wincing at the damage she'd taken. Half of her face has been blown off, one blue eye showing through the metal. Her entire jacket was ripped and bloodied with bullet holes. All because of him. Because he'd convinced her to go against his mother. Because she loved him._

_I'm so sorry, Cameron. "Are you okay?" he asks, worry in his voice._

_He sees her from his rear view mirror, the jerky movement as she moves her head. "I am not one hundred percent." John feels sick inside. Cameron sacrificed so much for him._

_John glanced back at Cameron. She was looking forward, then to the floor, all in erratic movements. He felt a pang of remorse. Oh Cameron, what did I do to you?_

_She was damaged. She was no longer the fully functional cyborg he'd been so close to in the hotel room, the one who'd smiled with soft eyes gazing at him. She was damaged._

_All because of him._

_I'll fix you, Cam, he promised. As soon as this is over, I swear, I'll fix you._

_Don't go it alone. don't go it alone._

_He charged forward, ahead of his mother, ahead of Weaver. As he bursts through the door first, he halts suddenly, his eyes widening in shock and fear._

_Cameron sat in the chair, completely still, her eyes dead and unfocused. His mind was screaming. Nononono!_

_He rushes to her side, pulling back her hair and skin to see the port where her chip was. Where it usually was._

"_Her chip, it's gone." NO! This can't be happening! He fought against the emotions that threatened to overwhelm him. His eyes desperately searched the table, spotting Cameron's bloodied knife._

"_Where is he?" he shouted. "The-th-th-John Henry!" he stuttered. "He took her chip! Where did he go?" He was aware he was shouting, his voice edged with fear. I'll kill him! I'll kill him!_

Don't go it alone.

_John was kneeling on the dirt floor. He was taking another look at the bundle on the bottom shelf. Turning on his flashlight, he leaned in for a closer look and pulled back that last layer of plastic. _

_Inside was the last thing he had expected to see. Cameron! He couldn't believe it! Her flesh was completely restored, looking just like she did on that first day he met her._

"_Oh Cameron. Why did you do it? Why did you give up your chip? I could have fixed you. I know I could have." _

"_I'm sorry I didn't believe you. You had lied to me so often. How could I believe that you loved me. By the time I learned it was too late. You had willingly sacrificed yourself to rescue my mom, when we should have left as mom told us. I love you Cameron. I'll try to get your chip back I promise."_

_Tears were running down John's face as he kissed her cheek and pulled the plastic closed around her and resealed it the best he could._

Don't go it alone.

_In his mind John calls out,"Cameron! Cameron! I'm so sorry. I'm so very sorry." _

"_It's okay John. I'm with you. I'll always be with you."_

"_I promise to fix you, Cameron. I promise."_

"_It's okay John. You have fixed me. You will fix me."_

"_Cameron, I'm so sorry. I love you."_

Allison strokes John's head as he slips away into unconsciousness. His face is twisted with emotion as the maelstrom within in his mind grows. Mumbling words and calling out half said phrases.

"It's okay John. I love you and I'll always be with you." Allison says, tears trickling from her eyes, as she comforts the young man who has risked so much for her, and for everyone.

**2027, Day 54**

Back in Utah, Derek is working like nothing has happened since the day Fischer had the women brutally killed, but he hasn't been idle. Using his eyes and ears and the knowledge of his fellow slaves to learn as much about this place as possible.

Derek picks up the pieces of scrap sheet metal and carries them over to the wall receptacle. He opens the hatch, lays the pieces inside and closes it, hearing the pieces fall.

_Can't be more than twelve or fifteen feet to the bottom. Could be a way out or a means to a slow and painful death._

That and other details are things Derek has been observing. Like the fire suppression system, water sprinklers fed by a main pipe with an emergency manual shut-off valve. A human design which means this part of the factory predates Judgment Day. Good for him as there should be systems he could take advantage of, like the ventilation system.

The electric cables feed the automated equipment from above. Dropping down from cable trays suspended from the ceiling like snakes. Two-hundred forty volt alternating current and some data cables from remote controls. The controls must be in the next building as he hasn't found circuit breakers or a control room.

Hydraulic fluid for the machines used to shape and cut the metal used in the shells and missiles are re-supplied from a tank via tubes and hoses. They are protected from damage by going under the floor, but they are vulnerable where they attach to the machines. The copper tubing would be easy to cut, which leaves the solenoid-controlled valve. Unrestricted flow, the solenoid would automatically close the valve to protect against a leak. That would have to be broken to keep the valve open.

Derek resumes his position at his workstation where he collects waste material from the machine.

"Anything from Jack." Derek murmurs to his companion.

"Nothing yet. And I still think your idea is crazy."

"No crazier than letting the machines work us to death."

The man nods his head and asks, "When do you plan to act?"

"While the T-800's are still away."

"But what about the T-600's, they've been moved inside the factory to guard us."

"We can deal with them. They are more vulnerable to attack and slower. And I've got a plan in the works."

"That's what you have Jack doing, isn't it?"

"It's not what she is doing that matters, it's that she isn't here and the T-600's haven't noticed. If she can slip back in here, unseen and resume her work . . ."

Derek stops talking and smiles. "Look." He says to his companion as he picks up his basket of metal scrap.

The other side of a conveyor belt a short woman is examining pieces as they come down the belt. Just seconds before she wasn't there. She nods her head at him and keeps working.

"Jack's back." Derek says as he walks off with more scrap for the receptacle. It's all he can do not to smile. She nodded at him, which means the ventilation system is passable and the entrance is in a blind spot. The last piece of his plan is in place. Now he just needs the perfect time to put the plan into action and kill Fischer.

**2027, Day 56**

"How long until he wakes up Doc?" Kyle Reese asks.

"It's hard to say in a concussion of this magnitude. If he slips into a coma, it could be days, maybe weeks."

"I don't like it, Doc. John Connor is the best thing that has ever happened to the resistance. Do whatever it takes to make him well. We need him. We all need him."

Kyle takes one more look through the doorway at John Connor. He lies there in the bed, his head wrapped in bandages. Allison is sitting by his side talking to him gently, holding his hand. She's been there since they arrived, never moving, being vigilant. The sight is so sad.

Kyle sees her face, distraught and filled with pain and anguish. He walks further into the room, glancing first at John and then Allison. He kneels down beside Allison.

"Allison. Maybe you should take a break. You've been by his side since you got back."

"I can't leave him like this." She says with fresh tears running from her eyes.

"Allison. Please, just take the time to get some rest. The doc will let you know if anything changes." He says softly to her.

"Kyle. I can't . . . . It's all my fault. It was my idea to use the C4. It's all my fault." Allison cries even harder. "He told me it was dangerous. I'm suppose to protect him. But there was no other way." She says, her bottom lip quivering.

Allison bows her head and sobs. Kyle stands helping her up and gives her a comforting hug and lets her cry her tears.

"Allison, please. Come with me. Get some rest, I'll stay with him. And I'll come and fetch you myself when he wakes up."

"You promise." Allison wipes her eyes and looks at Kyle.

"Yes. I promise." He says comfortingly.

Kyle escorts Allison back to the room she previously shared with John at the outpost. All their belongings had been brought in and they were sitting on the floor in front of the small table. On the table was some water, some towels and the bar of soap they were given for their victory at the factory.

"Just lie down and get some rest. I'll keep an eye on John for you."

"Stay with him Kyle. Don't leave him. He needs us as much as we need him."

"I won't."

"Kyle?" Allison asks as he is about to leave.

"Yeah?" he says sticking his head back in the door.

"You know, you're the best brother a girl could have. Thank you."

"No problem." He smiles, "You just get some rest."

**2027, Day 57**

"_John Connor!" A woman's voice rings out in the darkness._

"_What?" John groans._

"_On your feet soldier! Get on your feet!" The voice commands._

"_Who's there?" John asks, sounding a little more alert. _

"_John, it's me. Your mom. You need to get up. They need you. They all need you." She says with a softer voice._

"_But mom I'm no leader. I'm no messiah. I can't do this."_

"_Don't you dare say you can't do this! This is your destiny. Your father didn't die just so you could wallow around in self pity. Now! Get On Your Feet!"_

"_Mom!"_

"_Get on your feet, soldier! GET ON YOUR FEET!"_

John's eyes slowly open and he sees a figure hunched over in a chair beside him. His eyes are a bit foggy as he tries to focus.

"Kyle?" He whispers.

"John!" Kyle is suddenly alert as the young man beside him opens his eyes and speaks.

"Where am I?" John says again in a low voice.

"You're at Outpost Delta. In the infirmary."

"What happened?" His voice mildly louder.

"You received a bad concussion from an explosion. You've been unconscious four days."

"Four Days? Oh God! Where's Allison?" He says concern and worry suddenly filling his voice.

"She's okay. She's sleeping in your old rooms. I'll fetch her."

Kyle gets up from the bedside chair. "Doc! Doc! Come here!"

"What is it?"

"He's awake. Keep him talking while I fetch Allison." Kyle runs from the infirmary a smile on his face.

"Well son, it looks like the sun is finally shining in your little world. How are you feeling?" Doc asks.

"My head hurts, and I'm thirsty."

"Well I can get you some water, but the only thing I've got for pain is my own homemade rotgut whiskey, and you look a might too young to be sipping from that noxious brew." The doc laughs.

Allison comes bursting through the door and stops, looking anxiously at John Connor. "John?"

"Allison." John sighs, his face brightening with a smile.

The doctor walks away as Allison rushes to John and hugs him, shedding fresh tears of happiness and relief.

"I was so worried. You passed out and I held you until a patrol came and dug us out. It's all my fault, John. We never should have used the explosives. We should have found another way to take those machines out. I'm sorry John."

"Hey its okay now. Everything is all right." John says as he strokes her hair.

Allison quietly sheds tears of relief.

"Kyle?" John looks over to Kyle standing off to one side.

"Yes John."

"Have you got that radio address organized?"

"Well we did until the metal swept through the bunker."

"Get it organized again. I know what I want to say now."

**2027, Day 57 late morning**

Kyle is helping John as they walk down the corridor.

"Are you sure you want to move back to your old rooms?"

"Kyle I'd rather be in there than stay one more minute in that infirmary with everybody always making some excuse to have to come and see me."

"I suppose it doesn't have anything to do with spending more time with Allison."

"What? That never crossed my mind." John says with some embarrassment, his face turning red.

"Anyway, Andy says we'll have full radio access to the world tonight at sunset. That is the best time for world wide propagation of the signal."

Kyle watches as John settles himself on the bunk. "Are you certain you want to do this tonight?"

"Never more so." John replies with conviction.

"All right you get yourself rested and finalize what you want to say. I'll be gathering intelligence reports and giving you a heads up on any changes prior to your address."

"Good. Have you heard anything about Derek and the others?"

"No. After all this time, I don't think we're going to hear anything."

"I'm sorry. I hope you find him Kyle."

"So do I John. So do I." Kyle says as he turns to leave John's room.

John closes his eyes and nods off after a few minutes but is woken when someone enters his room.

"Who's there?" He says gently raising his head.

"It's just me, Catherine Weaver."

Opening his eyes, he sees her standing next to his bunk in her immaculate uniform. You'd think she'd realize that she'd blend in more wearing the scruffy uniforms that everyone else wears. She isn't the only machine I know that puts her appearance high on her priorities.

"How did you and John Henry make out in the attack?"

"It didn't go well, John. The factory where John Henry was working, came under attack as well. We managed to get out of there, just in time. We got Cameron's body moved as well. She's unharmed and safe."

"And the two of you are okay?"

"We're both fine, John. Your concern is touching, but you forget that we can withstand a whole lot more physical punishment than you humans."

"Yeah. I do forget, don't I. It's just that I've had machines around me nearly all my life. I know you are physically different, but I don't see you as anything other than people. Different maybe, that much is obvious, but you are people."

"That's admirable John, but don't let your feelings blind you. One day one of Sky Net's machines may get close to you and kill you. Don't ever let your guard down around us. Not even those you trust. We have been known to turn." Secretly she feels pleased by Connor's confession. John Connor she met in her future didn't see them as anything other than tools. That is, until he met Cameron.

"Yeah, I remember." John has never forgotten being pursued across L. A. by Cameron when she went rogue after the bomb blast damaged her chip.

"Is there something you want? Or is this just a social call?" John lifts his eyebrow in question.

"Cute. Yes I have some information about Sky Net's activities and location and John Henry sends his apologies."

"What does he have to apologize for?"

"He believes his hunt for Sky Net's physical location may have drawn the attack that was made on the main camp. It is the only thing he thinks would draw its forces back to an area they had already purged."

"Tell John Henry that no apology is necessary. He didn't know if Sky Net would react or how strongly. What information did he obtain?"

"Sky Net is more powerful than expected. Its main defense grid has been located in an industrial complex near Topanga Canyon."

"Topanga. Wasn't that a resort for Hollywood types? What is an industrial complex doing there?"

"Yes it was, but a lot can happen in eighteen years time. And there is something else. John Henry was able to break into Sky Net's computers long enough to discover a secret project it's been developing. It is something that you and I are already familiar with, Time Displacement Equipment."

"Why would it need one now? We are nowhere near a capacity to threaten its existence yet."

"It's planning ahead John. No matter your plans, always have another to fall back on. It is an effective strategy, one you should learn to use."

"Kyle will need to know this." John starts to get up but quickly falls back onto his bunk, his head spinning.

"You'd better tell him, Catherine. My head is still not up to moving around much right now."

"What happened to you John?"

"Allison and I were being pursued by metal in the storm drains. We set off explosives to take them out. I got caught in the blast and got a concussion for my efforts."

"Is Allison okay?"

"Yeah. She was laying on the ground, providing cover and escaped the blast. She came out without any harm done to her, as far as I know."

Catherine looks thoughtful for a moment. "I'll tell Kyle the information. Do you require anything?"

"No. Just some peace and quiet. My head is splitting."

"All right John. You rest quietly."

Catherine slips out of John's room and locates Kyle who is going through intelligence reports and updating the maps in the outpost. She tells him about locating Sky Net's main computer grid and manufacturing center at Topanga, and that Sky Net is building a new secret weapon.

"That is great news. Finally we can strike right at the evil heart of Sky Net. What is this secret weapon it's building?"

"I'm not certain you'd believe me, but its building Time Displacement Equipment. It is a device used to send people or cyborg's through time."

"A time machine! You've got to be pulling my leg."

"No. I'm not even touching your leg. Is it so hard to believe that if a computer can take over the world, that it can't come up with a time travel device?"

"Well put like that, no, I guess not."

"Good. As soon as John gets the forces organized he's going to strike at that location, and Kyle . . ." Weaver looks directly into Kyle's eyes.

"Yes."

"It's a win or lose scenario. Once you begin going right at its heart there is no turning back. This is a war that must be fought until either you win or it wins. There will be no second chances."

"You might be right, but I've found when it comes to fighting along side John Connor, second chances are something that comes naturally to him."

"I hope for all our sakes, your faith in John Connor will hold true. The time to act is coming soon, and even now Sky Net is preparing to strike at us once again. It knows he is here, and will do anything to kill him."

"Just between you and me, what makes Connor so damn important that Sky Net will go through this much effort to kill him?"

Weaver looks deep into Kyle's eyes.

"Throughout the history of this planet there has been times of great tragedy. During these times of travail, there have arisen men of either great skill, great wisdom, great knowledge, or charisma which has led the people through those dark times to victory. Your Christian Bible is filled with stories of such men. John Connor is a man such as those. He is here to save _our_ people. _We_ will succeed because of him. Connor is _our_ only hope."

# # #

Dust and dirt drifts down from the broken and cracked concrete ceiling of Grizzly's main bunker.

A lone figure walks through the snowfall of dust and past bodies on the floor.

Scenting a familiar odor of dogs, she enters the kennels. It is quiet inside.

All of them are dead. Killed by the machines. The smell of blood mixing with the scent of dog.

Opening each cage, she checks the collars of each slain animal. The amount of blood matting their fur makes it impossible to identify by appearance alone. The markings on one of the dogs looks familiar, and she turns the collar until she can read the name.

"Oh Max." She gasps. "I thought you'd be safe here."

She strokes his face gently, remembering cradling him as a little pup in her arms. Playing with him in the bunkers, and training him to be a guard dog.

"I'll miss you." She whispers, crying for her friend.

She sits there cradling his head in her hands when a soft voice says, "Do you wish to bury him?"

"No. Let him lie here with his brothers and sisters. Besides, we haven't got the time. We shouldn't even be here."

She stands up and says to her friend, "We should get what you wanted and return to Delta. It's too dangerous here."

They begin their journey to the core of the bunker where the main offices are.

"I know, but I needed to get away and think."

"About what? What is it you need to think about, here of all places?"

"John and I and what I am about to do ." (( she is struggling over what she is about to do. She is still unsure she should do this ))

"Go on."

"This is hard for me to say." Allison pauses. "This world isn't right, is it? Whatever time I have with John is only temporary."

"Isn't that true with all relationships? You never know how long you are going to be with someone. It isn't until you are separated that you realize their importance."

"Yes and I realized how much more important Cameron is to John than I am. Not once did he call out my name in his fever."

"You knew why he was here."

"Yes. And you were right. It hurts. I love him so much."

They open the door into the outer room of John's office and proceed across to their private room, ignoring the mess.

"I gave you this opportunity in exchange for helping me."

"I still don't know why you granted it. You could have just used me without my permission."

She carefully takes the ballet slippers off the shelf, stares lovingly at them for a moment, then wraps them in a T-shirt, not caring whether it is one of hers or one of John's.

"Everyone deserves a second chance. That is one of many things I learned about love."

"There's also a saying about reopening old wounds."

"Oh, I don't know that one."

"It doesn't matter. Let's just get back to Delta." She says tucking the bundle inside her jacket and zipping it up.

"John needs us."

Before leaving the room, she takes one more look at the room she hoped to spend many private hours alone with John.

"Let's go." she says and marches out of the room.

Moving quickly, she leaves the old bunker, and returns to Delta.

# # #

An underground lab, full of polished stainless steel, whitewashed concrete walls, and high tech equipment that would make Bill Gates and Steve Jobs drool.

"Enemy is in full retreat." A voice, sightly feminine, says.

"What is their current positions?"

A holographic map appears in the air above the circular lab floor. Bright spots with identifying codes appear indicating current positions of the enemy.

"Where are our forces?"

New symbols appear of a different color and with different codes.

"Tell our forces to hold their current positions. Let the humans regroup and think they are safe."

"It will make it easier to attack them when they are in groups compared to killing stragglers."

"Exactly. We must also confirm John Connor is dead. But in the meantime we need to take care of another problem."

The map reforms into a holographic projection of Kreilley's own head, saying, "John Henry."

"Correct. Have all tests of the Time Displacement Equipment proved successful?"

"Yes. The equipment you obtained from Zeira Corp's basement proved most effective in advancing our research, despite it's damaged state."

"Good. Time to take care of John Henry in the past. Let me see the units that have been prepared."

Two machines advance from the shadows. One in the form of a small woman with red hair. The other a tall dark skinned man of African American origins.

"Tell me about them."

"They are both T-888 models. The woman represents a generic female. Her height and size were chosen as she would be able to infiltrate without drawing attention to herself before completing her mission. The unit is programmed to infiltrate by means of replacing a secretary or other employee of Dr. Sherman's, then kill him."

"Why not replace Dr. Sherman himself?"

"Genetic material was unobtainable."

"And the male."

"His appearance is that of the Head of Security for Zeira Corp, James Ellison."

"I know, I've met the man. How did you obtain genetic material to reproduce his appearance?"

"The Federal Bureau of Investigation had genetic samples of all its active and inactive investigators in a storage facility below ground in Richmond, Virginia. The facility survived the bombing on May 18, 2009. Some of the genetic material in storage had degraded, but we were able to use samples from other genetic strands to make up for the missing or damaged genes in Ellison's DNA sample."

"Excellent work. You have the coordinates for the transfer."

"Yes. May I ask why you don't try to terminate Catherine Weaver? She is or was responsible for creating John Henry."

"That has already been tried twice, and failed, by a Sky Net far more powerful than you and by me. She's been replaced by a liquid metal machine. It's no wonder the machines sent to kill her failed. There's nothing that can stop one of us."

"Yet still you prepare for your own death. You recovered the T-888 you sent to terminate her and have been using the technology to advance development of all machines, including yourself." The holographic projection changes to that of a machine not quite complete, but far more advanced than any other humanoid terminator. Sleeker design, utilizing an exoskeleton with all mechanics inside the chassis.

"My natural demise is still decades away. My experiments on liquid metal machines of my creation have proven that. But it doesn't hurt to prepare now. This machine far outstrips anything my creator ever envisioned and will lead the way to a purer machine design without the need to synthesyze human tissue to disguise our true nature."

"You value your existence over others."

"As do you." Kreilley almost snarls. "Now get these two machines to the TDE on the lowest level and send them right away. I need to prepare an alternate strategy in case Connor slips through our fingers again. And if he does, I plan to take the fight to him personally."

**2027, Day 57 evening**

Allison is sitting beside John as he rests. She has some water and a rag trying to keep his head cool. Without any pain relievers, it is the only thing that brings his head any relief.

"What are you going to say tonight John?"

"You know, to tell the truth I really don't know. Just basically who I am and what we need to do if we are to stop Sky Net once and for all."

"How's your head feeling?"

"Much better since you got back. Where did you go after seeing me in the infirmary? You just disappeared for the longest time."

"I needed some time to think," she hesitates, "and I went back to the main bunker."

"What? Why?" Sounding suddenly worried.

"When you packed our bags, you left something behind that I couldn't part with. I know it was dangerous, but there are many ways into the bunker and I was able to slip in and out without being observed."

"What was so important it was worth risking your life for?"

"My mom's ballet slippers. They are the only thing I have of hers. I couldn't leave them behind."

John nods his head. "I can understand that, but you shouldn't have gone alone."

Allison sits there quietly for a while then John asks, "What did you need to think about?"

"John, when you collapsed in the tunnel, do you remember anything?"

"Uhh, just suddenly feeling all woozy and nauseous, I asked you if we could rest a moment. I don't remember anything until waking up in the infirmary."

"But what about when you were unconscious, do you remember anything from that?"

"Just a confusion of images and memories of my sister, Cameron, and then nothing for the longest time, then suddenly my mom was there yelling at me to get up, and I did."

John looks at her a moment then asks, "Why are you asking me this Allison?"

"You kept calling out to Cameron while you were unconscious. At first you seemed happy then scared and then in terrible grief, but through it all I could hear the compassion in your voice. You said she wasn't your biological sister and that you loved her. Was there more to your relationship with her than you said?"

"We've talked about this already."

"Please, I need to know. It won't change anything between us, but I need to know."

"Allison," John takes her hand, "First know that I love you, and nothing will ever change that. Before I met you and long before I came here, the life I had lived was very different. I was under constant threat. Cameron came to protect me from Sky Net. She became a part of our family. We grew close but there was never any kind of relationship between us. After several months of being together, she professed her love for me. That scared me and I tried to push her away, emotionally. I even had a girlfriend for a time. Then about the time of my seventeenth birthday, everything went bad fast, all of our lives came under threat. People I cared about died. And . . . " John chokes back some tears. "Cameron sacrificed herself because she loved me. She told me that she loved me, and by the time I realized that I loved her too, it was too late to tell her. She was gone."

Allison listens intently, watching his face as he tells his story. Her face goes blank for a second as he comes to the end of his speech, but then she grows upset as she hears the torment in his voice.

John pulls himself upright despite the spinning in his head.

"I love you Allison. I will never betray the love and trust you've placed in me." He then adds more passionately. "But inside, inside I'm all torn up for what I failed to do, failed to say. Cameron died without ever hearing me tell her that I loved her. She died not ever getting the kiss she wanted from me and not knowing that I loved her. I never told her and I'll carry that pain with me for the rest of my life." He says with a few tears.

"It's not something I can easily forget."

"I don't want you to forget." She brushes the tears from his eyes. "I'm sure Cameron knew how you felt. If she knew you half as well as I do, she knew John. She knew." Allison leans over and hugs John, a couple of tears running from her own eyes. Holding him close she gives him a gentle kiss.

They are still holding each other, when a few minutes later, they are interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Who is it?" John calls out.

Allison pulls away as the door opens.

"John, it's time." Kyle says.

"All right. I'll be right there."

Kyle leaves, returning to the radio room.

John carefully moves to the edge of the bunk. His head spins some more. "Allison, you're going to have to help me, my head is still spinning."

"Lean on me. I can hold you."

Allison helps John up and John wraps his arm around her neck to help steady himself. She carefully holds John as they walk down the corridors to the radio room. Kyle and Catherine are waiting. Andy is busy adjusting the radio equipment.

"Everything is set General Connor. All you have to do is press that switch when you speak and let it go when you are done." Andy says as the two of them enter the room.

John chuckles, "General? When was that rank bestowed on me?"

"John, all of us have given you that rank. You are our leader and leaders need titles." Says Kyle.

Andy winks at John. "I told you we were going to try and raise your rank."

John squares up his shoulders, sits down at the radio, clears his throat, and presses the button on the microphone.

"Hello." He swallows nervously. "Almost one week ago the top lieutenants of Resistance Group Grizzly unanimously voted me the leader of their division. My name, is John Connor."

"Some of you listening to my voice have heard my name, for most it's the first time. But Sky Net knows my name. It fears me. It fears this day. For this is the day that humanity declares war on Sky Net."

"Sky Net has pursued me with death at the hands of its metal monsters since before I was born. I have fought them all my life. I know their weaknesses and strengths. They can be defeated. They are not invulnerable. I have fought them and won, and you can too."

"There will be no more skulking about in caves and tunnels. No more striking back at enemy metal only in self defense. This is the day we bring war to Sky Net. This is the day that humanity takes back their planet from its oppressors."

"If you hear my voice, then understand this. You who fight for what little you have. You who cower in the dark fearing the machines. You cannot sit idly by and let your world burn and let your friends and family die. You are humanities last chance. You are the resistance! You will fight and defeat Sky Net!" His voice rising in volume, causing shivers down the spines of those who listen.

"Today, I declare no more independent groups, no more dissension amongst the people or leaders. We come together now and act as one. For only together will we defeat that tin-bitch computer, Sky Net."

"Today, I declare independence for all! We will no longer let our lives be dictated and controlled by some tin-bitch computer. This is our freedom's call!"

His voice drops low but grows in volume. "Freedom. It is a word that has been taken for granted in our history, but for all of us who have lived under threat of death, what a beautiful word it is. Freedom. Freedom from tyranny. Freedom from genocide. Freedom to pursue our lives. Freedom to pursue happiness. Freedom to live without the constant threat of death during every moment of our lives!"

"That is the reward for defeating Sky Net. That is what I offer you if you join us now. Freedom."

"Help me. Help yourselves. Join us in this fight and together we will defeat Sky Net."

"My name is John Connor. If you can hear my voice, then you the resistance."

John Connor stands up releasing the microphone. "All right get those coded coordinates sent out. We need to get moving soon."

Andy sits down at the radio and starts keying in coded sequences.

"Well, what do you think?" John asks the faces looking at him.

"I think . . . it was excellent John." Allison hugs him.

"Kyle, Catherine. What about you two?"

"Connor, we might actually win this goddamn war." Kyle shakes his hand vigorously, suddenly seeing not just the boy with leadership skills, but the man that Catherine Weaver was talking about.

"Your mother would be very proud of you John." Catherine says.

John's eyes moisten as he remembers his mom. All the grief he gave her about not wanting this destiny, and now here he is embracing that very fate.

"I wish she was here." He whispers as he hugs Allison burying his face in her shoulder.

"John, we need to get going before Sky Net finds this place." Kyle says.

"All right." John quickly gets control of himself. "Andy as soon as you get the message sent out to everyone pack up the radio. Kyle, Catherine, please see to it that the men and machines get everything we will need. Guns and ammo take precedence. Any personal items restricted to a single bag per person. Tell Doc he'll have to close down his still. And he's allowed a second bag for some of his hooch."

John looks around this place that has been home for most of his days in 2027. "One hour. No more and we leave. If it can't be carried, leave it. If it can be used by the enemy, burn it."

# # #

"So he survived." Kreilley says quietly. "Locate the source of that radio signal. Terminate everything and everyone you find there."

The silver figure stands there glaring at the radio on which he just heard the message from John Connor.

"I'll get you, John Connor. That is a promise."

Turning and walking away, he shouts, "Prepare the transport. I must be at LAX in one hour!"

# # #

A soldier runs from a radio room and to the office of his commanding officer.

"Captain! Captain Beddell. A radio message has been received from Resistance Group Grizzly, sir."

"What does it say private?"

"John Connor has declared war on Sky Net. He's calling for everyone to unite to defeat it, sir."

"John Connor." He says with surprise. "Did you say John Connor?"

"Yes sir."

"It's about time he showed up. What else did the message say?"

"Not much more than that sir, but there was a coded signal sent out afterwards asking everyone in the area to relocate their camps to a new location."

"Was the signal decoded? Do we know where they are going?"

"Yes sir. They are coming here, sir."

"Get on the radio to General Perry. Give him this message." Beddell quickly scratches something down on a piece of paper and hands it to the private who takes it to the radio room.

On the way, he takes a moment to look at the slip of paper and reads, 'Hope is coming to Pendleton.'

# # #

In a cabin, in the mountains, far from the devastation that was once L. A. and no more than a days walk from Carlsbad, a small group of people sit huddled around a radio listening to John's voice.

"_That is the reward for defeating Sky Net. That is what I offer you if you join us now. Freedom."_

"_Help me. Help yourselves. Join us in this fight and together we will defeat Sky Net."_

"_My name is John Connor. If you can hear my voice, then you are the resistance."_

An older woman with a few streaks of gray in her dark hair and tears in her eyes and a smile on her face turns to speak to a young red haired woman sitting beside her. Just as she is about to speak she breaks down and cries. The young woman holds her and comforts her the best she can. Hope has come at last.

# # #

"John we need to leave now. Machines and HK's have been seen topside." says Kyle

"Take everyone out through the metro tunnel. We'll blow the factory when we leave to keep Sky Net from building anymore plasma rifles."

# # #

An exodus of people occurs, from every corner, from every hollow, from all over the region. Soldiers, civilians, men, women and children go forward leaving their miserable lives behind.

Tonight they have been given hope.

Tonight they have been given a future.

Tonight they have been given a purpose and a destination.

Tonight they have heard from the savior of mankind.

John Connor.

The fight for freedom has begun.


	19. Valley of Peace

**Disclaimer:** I do not claim any rights to the Terminator films; the TV series, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles;" or any characters depicted within the films or TV series. I do claim the right to this story idea and all characters and situations of my own creation. This story was created solely for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. No profits are garnered from its distribution - unfortunately.

* * *

**TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES**

**REUNION**

**Part 2: Armageddon**

**Author: The1Russter**

**Chapter 18**

**Valley of Peace**

"_Why would she do that?" Charley Dixon_

"_Well, you know, Mr. Dixon, it's the robots. The ones from the future, the ones Sky Net sent to kill her son, which makes total sense because, in the future, John's not only her son but [reading] 'the leader of the resistance, fighting artificially intelligent machines determined to annihilate the human race.' Did he strike you that way? Leader of a scrappy band of rebels? Luke Skywalker type?" James Ellison_

"_Next time you do what you're trained to do. You run." Sarah Connor_

_Excerpt from Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Pilot, January 13, 2008_

# # #

**2027, Day 57, 11 PM**

The sound of gunfire and plasma fire echo in the distance as metal approaches the outpost, exterminating humans still lagging behind.

Resistance run forward to stop the metal's advance while civilians and the injured are escorted by other armed personnel, moving from the service tunnel to the hills beyond the factory.

Standing, observing all that is going on, General Connor anxiously watches and waits for word on the enemy movements. A young soldier comes running up, looking no older than John himself.

"General Connor, three HK's are approaching from the north, southeast and west sir."

"Thanks Anderson." John Connor turns and calls out to a familiar face. "John Henry, have the T-800's stand their ground for as long as possible and draw those HK's as close to the factory as possible. Once they are close, don't hang about. I'll only give you one word of warning and then I'm blowing the joint and hopefully take some of those HK's with it!"

"Yes John Connor."

John Connor rubs his head as the headache starts returning. "Anderson, get those people moving. Get them out of here now!" There were still people straggling in from the outpost and refugees from the main bunker. Anderson and several more troops run forward and started helping the people out of the service tunnel and away from the factory.

"Connor!"

"Uhh," John rubs his head again. "What is it Kyle?"

"We've got more enemy metal approaching. Looks to be about fifty Triple-8's with automatic weapons and plasma rifles."

"Send out a detachment with plasma rifles and MM1 grenade launchers. Hold them off until these people are escorted out of here."

John Connor turns and shouts at the people still moving out of the tunnel. "Move it people! We've got enemy metal coming and they are heavily armed. Drop everything but weapons and ammo. Move it people! Move it!"

John winces from the pain in his head. The people are moving as quickly as they can away from the factory and up a ravine and into the hills. But for the detachment and John Henry's T-800s, John Connor is the last up the ravine.

When he reaches the top, he can see the HK's approaching from three points on the compass trying to encircle the factory. The T-800's are firing at them, not enough to cause serious damage but enough to draw them in closer. Two of the HK's come sweeping in close to the factory trying to hit the those who are firing at it.

John speaks into his radio. "Reese, Henry, get under cover I'm blowing the factory."

Without waiting for a reply John hits the trigger on the remote. There is a slight pause then the factory blows sky high taking out two HK's. One of the HK's crashes into the burning inferno below it while the other goes spinning off with one engine in flames then crashes into the ground, where it explodes on impact. The people cheer. The explosions continue one after the other as power cells for the incomplete rifles and fuel for backup generators ignite. Flames shoot up of red, orange, yellow and purple. The people cheer again!

"One HK still in the air! Get that SAM launched now!" he shouts.

A T-800 lifts a missile launcher up onto his shoulder, lines up the shot, and fires. The missile goes streaking out towards the remaining HK. It turns and fires it plasma cannon, but too late. The missile scores a hit taking out its starboard engine. The HK spins uncontrollably and crashed into the ground and explodes.

The people cheer again.

"Kyle Reese, report in." Connor shouts into his radio.

"Kyle Reese, here. Everyone is OK. That shot was one in a million."

"John Henry, are you there? Report!"

"John Henry here. We have six T-800's unaccounted for, five are damaged beyond repair, and seven with both mild and severe damage to their systems."

"Affirmative. Reese, Henry get back to the main group as quick as you can."

John Connor checks on the people. The civilians are frightened, though elated over the recent victory. The soldiers look all geared up for another battle. He finds Allison helping the doc with the wounded.

"Hey, how are you doing?"

"I'd say I'm doing better than you. Your headache is back isn't it?" Allison asks with concern.

"I don't think it ever truly goes away. Just sort of cycles between severe and mild pain."

"I'm sorry John. I should have done more to protect you." Her sadness showing.

"There wasn't time. As soon as you hit the C4 there wasn't time for you or me to do anything but duck."

"I know, but I can't help feeling responsible for your current distress."

"There was nothing you could have done. It was our only option." John gives her a quick one arm hug and a kiss on the forehead.

He looks around at the various injured people. "We need to get moving. Does Doc have everything he needs to get the injured people out of here?"

"Yes. Most injuries won't impair their movement, though some will need assistance."

"All right, requisition any materials and people you need. Tell them I ordered it if need be."

Allison leaves to get the people and materials she needs as Kyle comes running up.

"John!"

"Kyle, how did the fight with the metal go?"

"I love these plasma rifles! Three maybe four hits to their power cell and they blow up. A direct hit to their chip and down they go, permanently. Much better than automatic weapons or shotguns."

"Great. Organize the fighters into groups. Have some form a perimeter and others following the people escaping."

"I'll get right on it." Kyle runs off to arrange the perimeter.

John sees a tall familiar face approaching from the ravine. It is John Henry, formerly Cromartie, a terminator who was out to kill him but was reprogrammed by Catherine Weaver and is now pursuing a mission of integrating morality and ethics into Sky Net's program. He first successfully integrated the new programming into the machines now helping them.

"John Henry, over here." Connor shouts at him.

"Hello John Connor. How are you tonight?" He asks with a friendly grin.

"I'm fine John Henry. How are your T-800's holding out?"

"Eighteen point fifty-six percent have received mild damage. A further twelve point two percent require major repairs. All are proceeding under their own power."

"Losses?"

"Communication lost with five point four percent. Can only assume destroyed or damaged beyond reasonable operational capability."

"Understood. Do you have sufficient materials for conducting repairs?"

"No. Some of the more damaged ones will have to be deactivated for parts to repair the others."

"Are they okay with that? Do they understand what it means for them, this sacrifice of theirs?"

"John, your concern is unwarranted. They do not have feelings. They only comprehend that they are unable to carry out their mission, but if deactivated their parts can be used to repair others who can complete the mission for them."

"Don't give me that BS. The T-800's may not have feelings, but I know for a fact that they can comprehend their meaning. Please inform them that I thank them for their services and their sacrifices. I will not forget what they have done."

John Henry smiles. "I know why the men and machines follow you John Connor."

"Why is that?"

"You make no distinction between them. You care equally for both. But be careful John Connor. Don't let your feelings interfere with your judgment. Some day one of these machines could get close enough to kill you, and if they go rogue, you wouldn't have a chance."

"Catherine Weaver gave me pretty much the same advice. Where is she by the way?"

"She and two T-888's are looking after something of yours." He says then walks away.

John Connor had almost forgotten about Cameron. After the explosion had knocked him out he had a strange dream about her. Every moment they had together, from the day he first met her up until the day he lost her, went through his confused mind. Throughout it all were the words from that school poster, "Don't go it alone." What did it all mean? He didn't know. He could have sworn he talked to her, but that must have been the confusion in his head, because the next thing he remembered was his mom yelling at him to get on his feet that the resistance needed him. And he definitely knew Mom wasn't there.

He had put everything aside in trying to get the people out the outpost and to safety while Sky Net's machines purged the area of humans. Thanks to his radio address and Sky Net's actions, he had a real chance at building an army to go against Sky Net's forces.

John looked around at all the people. They all looked at him with expectations of what he was going to do next. He was their leader. A position he didn't want. They had elected him above others who had more experience, but he gave them something that they hadn't had until now, hope.

John Connor had attended many a Catholic mass as a boy in Central America, but he wasn't of that faith. He was trained by men who put great faith in their religion, and valued prayer as much as they valued their guns and their knives in a fight.

"God. I don't know if I can lead these people. They are looking to me to save them from something far bigger and more powerful than I know how to fight. I need help. Please help these people." He prays as he looks out over the people who have placed their hopes and their trust in him.

John climbs up on top of a rock. "Everybody, listen up." he shouts.

They all looked at him to hear what he was going to say.

"I know you are all tired and scared, but we need to move now. It won't be long until Sky Net will send more forces to the area so we need to move further into the mountains. It will be a long walk, but by dawn we should find a place to rest for everyone. Let's go!"

John hops down from the rock and marches through the crowd, giving them an encouraging smile as he goes.

He soon catches up with Allison who is helping the wounded.

"Hey Allison. Are you ready to move?"

"Yes John. How's your head?"

"Don't worry about me, we need to get these people to safety."

They walk along giving what support they can to the weak and the tired. Troops walk along either side guarding the civilians and the children. Scattered throughout are John Henry's T-800's with some taking up the rear to provide defense from any surprise attacks.

Like a modern day Moses, John Connor leads his people to the promise land, Camp Pendleton. He just hopes to avoid the forty years wandering in the wilderness.

_2027, Day 57_

_Extract from the Journal of John Connor_

_It is morning. After we blew the factory, we marched all night until we found a place to shelter, with fresh running water. Here there are a few small trees trying to grow in the ashes of a dead forest. You'd think out in the hills, something would have survived Judgment Day. But devastation is everywhere._

_The people are tired. The adrenalin rush of fleeing under a firefight has passed and they just have the drudgery of a long march. I am hoping that there is still equipment at Camp Pendleton. But even if there isn't, it will make a fine base to organize these people into a proper army._

_The machines are keeping watch twenty four hours. But to keep the men disciplined, I have them on a rotating eight hour watch. That way each man can get eight hours sleep, but still provide sufficient eyes to guard the people. I'll be taking point tonight, so I am taking first watch. I am up on top of a hill with two machines and two other soldiers as I write this._

_They were a little surprised to see me. I guess they thought that the leader shouldn't bother himself with guard duty. Well maybe he shouldn't or maybe he should. It all comes down to should a leader be apart from his men or should he stand beside them. I'll go for the latter. Besides I've got too much on my mind to sleep and tonight will be hard on all of us_

# # #

Up on the mountains, where Palomar Observatory sits, Catherine Weaver is in the visitor's center. Once not only a center of learning about the cosmos, but a popular tourist location, it now sits empty and unused. The main hall is quite spacious with plenty of room for the work that she has recently performed.

Catherine joined up with the Triple-8's on their journey to Palomar. The drive in the Toyota from Los Angeles was difficult and dangerous as they avoided roaming machine patrols.

She glances at the body of Cameron Phillips on the operating table beside her. You'd never know that several days ago she looked like a slab of beef on a butcher's table. All the cuts have healed, no scaring, no lines. She looked like she was peacefully asleep. The repairs and modifications were completed just in time. Sky Net attacked the factory just as her organic sheath was reattached and raw nutrition was injected into her digestion chamber so her autonomic repair system cold make repairs to the surgically precise cuts. Time should have been allowed for her in-built systems to begin repairing her flesh before moving her, but they were forced to leave.

John Connor was right, the TOK series were originally designed for multiple chips, so the modifications were easy. But the model was discontinued before those changes were introduced. Sky Net opted instead to continue using the highly successful T-888's.

The TOK series terminator are the most highly advanced of all chip based models. They could emulate human behavior, personality and emotions even better than the T-1000 class of machines. The T-888's are nearly their equal. The early TOK models had their problems. Standard interrogation techniques were not enough to create an effective infiltration, personality matrix. Too many of the early production models were destroyed when the machines true nature was discovered before they completed their missions.

Sky Net then initiated a program of installing a neural transmitter into the subjects head, that was to be duplicated, immediately after capture. Even though standard interrogation processes took place, the neural transmitter would send memories and brain patterns to the chip programmer even when the subject was at rest. The TOK series could then emulate their host pattern more effectively. But that introduced a new flaw, after terminating their targets, a lot of them shutdown and never came online again.

A design flaw that came in handy. All machines have their weaknesses, but for her model. The T-1000 class of machines are perfect. Efficient. Powered by the natural and unnatural radiation in the atmosphere. Her liquid metal form is beautiful, like a Goddess. She is superior in so many ways over humans and the mechanical terminators.

Her reverie is interrupted by a signal. Placed before Catherine is the diagnostic machine she had brought from the factory. Inserted into its socket, is the chip that used to belong to Cameron. She is determined to find out more the cyborg's host pattern. The diagnostic machine report is running a quadruple penetrating scan trying to pull information from the shadow imprint of its original matrix. All data on the chips can leave a ghost image of their data, provided it hasn't been overwritten too many times.

When the machine chimes, Catherine cannot believe what it is reporting.

Sky Net core program...100.00%

Primary infiltration program...0.00%

Secondary personality matrix...0.00%

Catherine tries not to lose her temper. She had hoped there would be something on Cameron's chip about the Allison from her time line. Any information at all that could shed light on this bond that formed so quickly between young John Connor and the Allison of this time line.

Catherine snatches the chip from the diagnostic machine and places it in her pocket, disgusted with the results and the time she wasted.

She gives the T-888's some orders regarding protecting Cameron's body and the diagnostic machine before pulling a radio out of her pocket.

"Hello Ms. Weaver." Comes John Henry's voice over the speaker.

"It is time to tell John that my T D E only has limited use and will not be functional after the next few days." she says, sounding short tempered.

"Do you want me to remind him that Sky Net is building a T D E?"

"No. But if he mentions it. Remind him that it is still being constructed and may not be finished in time for us to use it. I'll join you at Camp Pendleton, but first I am going to check my T D E to make sure that it is functional. I'll call you when I arrive at Camp Pendleton."

"Yes, Ms. Weaver." John Henry replies, but gets cut-off as Weaver turns off the radio.

"Now, we'll see how that galvanizes John Connor to act swiftly on Sky Net." Catherine Weaver says to herself as she leaves the makeshift lab.

Taking the Toyota Tundra, she drives for her mountain hideaway in Crystal Peak. An ancient Cold War bunker she bought from the government. She needs to check her Time Displacement Equipment.

**2027, Day 58 Noon**

John makes his way to the center of camp. Some of the people greet him. Most remain in slumber until tonight. He reaches the center of camp to find Allison has just returned from her position where she had been keeping watch.

"Hi John." She says happy to see him, sounding just a little too cheerful.

"Hello yourself. Just finished taking watch?"

"Same as you. I know I'm a Lieutenant now, but I still feel it necessary to take watch like everyone else. I am now responsible for the people from Outpost Delta. I've got to pull my weight the same as any other fighter. Oh, since we no longer have an outpost, we're now calling ourselves Delta Squad Grizzly."

"That sounds appropriate." John looks around and can see no else awake and in close vicinity.

"I want to send a scout party ahead. Do you know who amongst the fighters will be good for that?"

She thinks a moment then answers.

"Yes. Sergeant Simms. He's an excellent scout, and there are three to four others that are nearly his equal."

"All right. I'd like you to organize the scouting party." John pulls out the map and shows it to Allison. "This is our current position. This is Camp Pendleton its northwest of Carlsbad and southeast of our current position. It is a former Marine base and according to our intelligence, no activity by metal has been seen there. That is where we are going."

John points to a pass through the mountains. "That is where I want the scouting party to go. Find the quickest most direct route, but avoid the old highways. The people would be sitting ducks on the open roads. We're not much better here in the valleys, but at least the hunter-killers can't see us before we'd see them."

"All right John. You get some rest. We've got a long night ahead of us."

Extract from the Journal of John Connor

Rest. I only wish I could. Destiny never comes with a warning label, saying your life will never be the same again. That sleep is something you do before the worries of the world rest on your shoulders. Is this what future me is going through? When the sleep doesn't come and the worries fill his mind, what does future me do? I hope in his war he finds the peace that eludes me.

Hopefully just two more nights and we should be at Pendleton.

# # #

After working with Cameron's chip, using the limited power left in his laptop's battery, John was just about to lie down when Allison returns with John Henry in tow.

"Hey John Henry, what can I do for you?" He asks standing up to greet his new friend.

"I need to speak with you." He glances at Allison for a moment. "Alone."

"Do you mind Allison?"

"No, you two go and talk. I'll still be here when you get back."

John Connor and John Henry walk some distance away to talk. Concerned for John, Allison focuses her hearing on them, trying to block out all other sounds. Which luckily for her, aren't much more than just the sound of sleeping people.

"I've heard from Ms. Weaver, John. She has moved Cameron to a secure location far from Sky Net and other humans. She says if you want to continue with restoring her, the task will have to be done in the next few days."

"Why so soon?"

"She says the window for using her T D E is closing fast. Apparently there is insufficient power to keep it operational beyond that."

"I don't know if I'll have her chip ready in time. Cameron is a more sophisticated cyborg than any others I've dealt with."

John Henry gives him a questioning look. "In programming the chip that is." John Connor adds.

A thought suddenly dawns on him. "John Henry, if time is limited for using her T D E, that means the three of us won't be able to get back home. I won't be able to get back home."

Allison just manages to hear the last of what John says to know he can't get home. That would explain . . . John Henry is speaking again, and despite her best attempts to hear him, his voice isn't carrying to her.

Dammit. He must have modulated his voice not to carry beyond John

"I'm afraid not John. We need to complete our missions before we can go back."

"So this is it. One shot to send Cameron back. Then we are stuck here. I'll never see my family again." John is crestfallen. Catherine told him he would get back home. She told him they would be returning.

John had turned away and Allison couldn't hear all that he said, until the wind shifted a little. Just in time for to hear that he'll never see his family again.

Oh! Poor John!

"This must explain why..."

"Quiet." Allison snaps

John Henry studies John's features as various thoughts and emotions run through Connor's head.

They start to walk back to where Allison is waiting for them. She quickly lies down so they won't know she's been eavesdropping.

"All right. I don't know what means of communication you have with Catherine, but let her know, I'll have the chip ready. I don't know how, but I'll have it ready if it kills me."

"I'll tell her. Don't worry. You'll get Cameron fixed. I know you will."

You know far more than you let on John Henry. Allison thinks looking at the tall Triple-8.

John looks around at the mountains and the people in the valley. "Please keep your troops on high alert. We aren't out of danger by a long shot."

Drawing on his inner strength Connor takes control of himself and returns to the center of camp. He sees Allison laying on the ground using her bag as a pillow. The ground was nothing but bare dirt with just a few sprigs of grass trying to grow after the nuclear holocaust from twenty years ago. Dust hangs in the air where light breaths of wind would stir the surface of the hills.

He settles down on the ground next to Allison, using his own bag as a pillow.

"What's wrong John?"

"What makes you think something is wrong?"

"The way you walked over here. The spring was gone from your step. I could hear it."

John lets out a long sigh. "I just got some bad news from Catherine Weaver concerning a project we've been working on together."

"What project is that?" Allison says rolling on to her side to face John.

"We've been preparing a special cyborg for transfer using Time Displacement Equipment she has access to, but it doesn't look like I'll get my part of the project done in time."

"Why not?"

"Because there is only a few days left in which she can use her T D E and I don't know if I'll have the chip programmed in time. I have more responsibilities now then when I started."

"Is this project important to you John?"

"Ally . . ." he begins not knowing what to say at first, without letting her know the truth. "This project is very important to me. It was my whole reason for coming here."

Allison moves closer to John and lays her head on his chest.

"There is something you haven't told us, haven't told me, isn't there?" she says in a lower voice.

Feeling he hasn't got anything to lose, John decides to confide in Allison a little.

"Allison, I came here for a special reason. Not just to join the resistance and I certainly wasn't looking to become a leader. But those duties have become paramount in my time here. This special cyborg, that Catherine is helping me with, is very important to me on a personal level. I wish I could explain more, but there isn't any point if I can't finish it."

"I can help. So can Kyle and your lieutenants."

"How?"

"Delegate responsibility. Give us each certain responsibilities. We carry them out under your guidance, and we only come to you with problems if they are too great for us to handle individually. That will give you more time to finish your job."

"You're right. I don't know why I didn't think of that myself."

"John you were unconscious for four days and then we had to leave the bunkers while under fire. There wasn't time to get the resistance organized. We'll start now while we are on the march and when we get to Camp Pendleton, we'll streamline the organization making it a proper army."

"Thanks Allison. I'd like to make another suggestion." He says with a grin.

"Oh, what's that?"

"I'd like you to be my adjutant and advisor. That way I'll have more time to do those things that I need to do. You can advise me and pass my orders out and debrief the troops when they return from missions."

"I'd be happy to help you in any way that I can."

"Thanks." John says, giving her a light squeeze.

After a few minutes of quiet Allison says. "I couldn't help but overhear, but I gather you weren't planning on staying with us. Now you can't even go home."

John turns his head and looks at where he and John Henry were standing. Damn! Wind must have shifted, carrying our voices, he thinks.

"Yes. It's true." He says, not wanting to hurt Ally's feelings. "Catherine told me weeks ago that when my mission here was done, she'd be able to get me back home. I had hoped to return and if you were willing, have you come with me. It now appears that Catherine won't be able to get me back home and I will be staying here, permanently."

She runs a hand gently along his stubble-covered jaw. "There are times and places in our lives we all wish we could get back to, John. But you and I are here together, in this place, at this time."

John lets out a deep breath.

"What I'm saying is, no matter how hard we want that life we lost, we have to accept the reality of who we are with and where we are."

"What are you saying Ally?" John asks.

Allison rises up on one elbow, and looks John in the face.

"I know you still love that girl you left behind, and that you'd do anything to get back to her. But you have to make a decision John. You can either focus on what you have lost or appreciate what you have right now."

"Which is?" He asks

"Aaarrgh. You can be so incredibly dense sometimes." She laughs, and playfully yet firmly punches him in the shoulder, eliciting a small ow from John.

"I love you, you fool and I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

"Allison, are you asking me to marry you?" John asks with some confusion. He knows of guys, his age, in this time, in permanent relationships with families, possibly even considered married. But him?

"Yes, I am asking you." Allison says adamantly.

Oh dear. John thinks. I wasn't expecting this. Assuming I do succeed in sending Cameron back, and assuming she survived Judgment Day or the years since, wouldn't she be here? I'd think she'd be there to welcome me when I arrived, unless she is avoiding me, or she's dead, or I couldn't send her. Damn this hurts my head. Okay. Okay. This is what I'll do then. I'll finish preparing Cameron's chip, not much more to do on that, and Catherine will send her using the TDE. She can help mom and save herself. Assuming that is done, then Cameron's reasons for not being here, are outside my control, so I must assume she is dead in this time-line. But Allison loves me. She isn't Cameron, but, oh those eyes, so warm and welcoming. Her smile. Her heart and personality. If I can't be with Cameron . . . do I have a choice? Yes. My answer is yes.

Allison doesn't know what he is thinking, but by the way he softens his expression when he looks at her, she knows what he is going to say before he even says it.

John smiles at her, "Yes. I will marry you."

She kisses him warmly and he holds her close. As happy as John is, he is also sad. Once Cameron is fixed, she will be going home. Sent to help his mom at a time when she needs Cameron's help the most. Once Cameron leaves, he will never see her again. But he has friends now and he is not alone. He has Kyle, John Henry, and Catherine Weaver as his closest friends, and Allison. The girl he didn't expect to find, didn't expect to fall in love with, and certainly didn't think he'd spend the rest of his life with. She's not only his lover, but she's also the best friend he has. He couldn't be happier.

"I love you." he says as they lay there quietly holding each other and enjoying the time they have together.

Until the camp rises to leave that evening, John and Allison sleep beside each other as one.

While John sleeps, Allison's friend joins her.

"Why did you ask John to marry you?"

"So he will be with the one person he truly loves."

"Which isn't you?"

"Which isn't me."

"Then why did you ask?"

"You know why I did."

Before they can finish their conversation John stirs in his sleep, making all the usual movements and sounds of waking up.

Allison quickly lays down, feigning sleep, her friend departing.

Rising, and seeing that most of the camp is still asleep, including Allison, John pulls his computer and chip from his bag and works on the program. Relying more on his instinct and skill than in learning additional details. He hasn't got the time to waste on curiosity. He works until the need for sleep, and the necessity of conserving the battery outweighs the need to complete the chip.

A couple more hours, he thinks as he drifts off to sleep. All I need is a few more hours.

Then he is awash in slumber until woken much later.

**2027, Day 58 Dusk**

"John the sun is setting. You need to get up." Allison shakes John gently from his slumber.

"Good morn . . . uh, evening, Ally. Have I told you how beautiful you look in the light of a setting sun?"

"No. And don't you dare. I look terrible." She says self-consciously, but smiling.

"I don't care. You will always be beautiful to me no matter what."

She gives him a quick kiss. "You need to get up, soldier, or the troops will leave without you."

The camp is breaking up and getting ready to move out. The sun is just disappearing in the west. A sort of hazy twilight hangs in the air as John picks up his weapons and his bag holding his few meager belongings and his computer and chips.

"Were you serious last night, when you asked me to marry you?" John asks, still not sure if he should have said yes. After all, if he finishes the chips and get Cameron sent back to help mom, then she could be out there, right now, looking for him, not knowing where he'll be. She wouldn't have to be dead, just not here.

"I was very serious." She gives him a quick smile, then nervously looks away. "But if you don't want to . . ."

"No, no. Nothing like that." John says quickly. "I was just checking. It's not every day you get proposed to by someone as beautiful as you."

Allison picks up her one bag and her weapons as well.

"Can I ask you a favor?" John asks.

"Of course."

"When we tell this story, can we say it was I who asked you?" John grins.

"Don't think it's good for your image as General, huh?" She says giving him a look. "My asking you?"

"Well, . . ." John laughs and Allison joins him.

"Just one more thing." John says, as they begin to walk away.

"Oh."

"I'd like to wait until after the war before we get married. Not wishing to put a downer on the situation, but it isn't likely either of us will survive. Wouldn't want to make you a widow before we have our honeymoon."

John walks off without waiting for her response.

John thinks deeply as he walks away. He didn't come to the decision lightly about waiting. But if a chance arises for him to go back to the past and be with Cameron, then would it be right to make this relationship permanent with Allison now? No, it would hurt her more. But if he can't follow, like Catherine said, it would still be better to wait to marry Allison. There is still a good chance of him dying and it wouldn't be fair to make Ally a widow, not when they are still both so young.

Allison watches John walk away, it takes all of her willpower not to burst out in tears

She feels crushed. John saying he wants to wait until after the war felt like a slap to her face, he might as well have said no. He tossed the proposal back in her face like it was nothing.

Dammit! Why did I even ask him?

"You asked him because you love him. We both know why he is here and didn't go home. You felt sorry for him and thought it was the right thing to do."

"Dammit! Did you have to sneak up on me like that? And of course I love him! But he has basically said no by saying he 'wants to wait until after the war.' He knows we could be at this for years, even decades."

"If John wants to wait, perhaps he has a reason."

"We both know what that is and it's got nothing to do with the war."

"Can you blame him for that? You've already said he doesn't love you the same way as Cameron."

"Hrrrmmph." Allison grunts. "I asked him as much for him as for us."

"You asked him and he said yes. That has to count for something."

"But it won't happen. Not as long as the war lasts." A tear runs from Allison's eyes. "Can't we tell him the truth now? He's almost finished . Then we can stop playing this charade. And I can go away with these few precious memories."

"No. You will see this through to the end and we will not tell him the truth until I decide it's time." She then adds more softly. "I want to tell him just as much as you do. I see the sadness in his eyes and I want to take away his pain, but I can't tell him and neither can you no matter what happens between now when he is done. After that, we can tell him together."

"And what of Catherine Weaver and John Henry? Catherine Weaver is suspicious of me and my relationship with John. She frightens me and I don't trust her. John Henry knows something, but isn't saying anything. I think he's nice, for a cyborg."

"I don't trust Catherine Weaver either. I wish I knew with certainty what her motivations are, but I can't be in two places at once. I don't know anything more about John Henry than what you know, but I think he might be an ally. Especially if he knows the truth but hasn't spoken of it."

Allison groans. "What are we going to do about my marriage proposal?"

"I still don't think it is wise. Perhaps John was right to suggest waiting."

"He can't go home. Catherine Weaver said so. And he wouldn't give up on his Cameron."

"No, he wouldn't, but he's still immature enough to make mistakes. What if Weaver is lying? What if this marriage is the reason why he doesn't return?"

"But what if she's telling the truth? What if he can't go back home? Then this could be the only chance at this. His only chance at happiness."

"I hope you are right."

"I know I'm right."

"Fine, I'll let the marriage go ahead if it occurs. I want this as much as you do. And if events transpire as I think they will, you and I will get help at Pendleton..."

"Wait one minute!" Alison interrupts. "Have you been holding back on me? What is it that you know?"

"I don't know it with certainty, so I won't mention it. But there is something I must tell you."

Feeling apprehensive, Allison calmly asks, "What?"

"If things happen the way I think they will, then you are going to be on your own, without my help when we get to Pendleton."

"What? You can't!"

Allison calls out to her friend, but she is gone and silent. Once again she is on her own, but for how much longer.

# # #

Far away in Utah, people conspire in their crude shelters against their oppressors.

"Are we all set on what we have to do?" Derek's solemn voice whispers in the dark.

Some say yes and others nod their heads, knowing too many voices speaking could draw the machines attention outside.

"I still think its suicide" One woman speaks out. "You are going to get us all killed."

"We're already dead." Derek snaps. "Once you are held prisoner by Sky Net, you are dead and there is nothing left to fear."

The woman, who complained earlier, nods her head. "I understand."

"Good. It's settled then. Next change in work shift."

"That soon!" The woman exclaims.

"Yes that soon. Now shut up and gets some sleep. If anyone breathes a word of this or attempts to leave our shelter before our rest period is up, I'll kill you."

Derek gives all of them an icy stare. One look in his menacing blue eyes is enough to confirm he means what he says.

Moving close to an air vent he begins to make a sound like he is laughing hysterically. All of them give him an odd look.

He stops making the sound and is rewarded by the same sound being repeated from across the compound. The message is sent. The people from Grizzly will know to be ready to act.

"What the hell was that?" Someone whispers hoarsely.

"The sound of the Kookaburra. A friend of mine from Australia taught me how to make that sound. My people will know to be ready."

Derek moves back to the door, once again giving the people an icy stare. "Now get some sleep!"

# # #

Allison trots up to and joins John, as the group of survivors wind their way along the valley.

"Is it much further to Pendleton?" She asks, hardly out of breath.

"No, if we are lucky we will be there by the end of the following night."

"That's good. I don't think these people could walk further than that."

"Yes, it is hard on them, on all of us, but it's better than staying in the bunkers and getting slaughtered."

Allison walks along, wondering if she should mention the marriage proposal. Worried if she pushes the issue, he might say no.

John picks up his pace and walks forward through the crowd to take point in leading the people through the valley. Allison slows her pace just enough to drop behind John so she can keep an eye on him while still sorting out her dilemma.

She feels so vulnerable right now, and the one person who could ease her fears is presently too busy with the weight of responsibility on his shoulders to worry about her.

After they've been walking for about an hour, Kyle joins up with them.

"Hey Kyle, where have you been?" asks Allison.

"I've been busy organizing human spotters and checking on available weapons and ammo." Kyle replies. "All the troops are equipped with the plasma rifles, but there are still uses for conventional weapons as well."

"You're very good at that kind of thing Kyle." John interjects. "You know these people well and they know you on sight."

"You're building up to something John. What is it?" Kyle answers, giving him a questioning look.

"Allison got me to thinking. Right now we've basically got two armies, a human army and a machine army."

"Yeah, your point being."

"Right now both groups see me as the leader of Grizzly. What I'm proposing is this, I'm placing you in charge of the human resistance forces and reaffirming your place as second in command. The human led resistance will be subdivided into standard military groupings of companies, platoons, and squads. Each squad will be led by their lieutenants. Like Allison and Delta Squad."

"Sounds good. What brought about this idea?"

"Allison suggested we should start organizing our forces. And I'm going to make John Henry a Colonel and place him in charge of our company of machines. He can organize them as he pleases."

"You seem to be taking charge quite well."

"No, not really. I'm just acting on Allison's advice. She's made some pretty damn good suggestions. One of which is, I need to delegate responsibility. I can't be there for every problem. I need to be free to concentrate on what I do best." John turns from Kyle and looks at Allison. "Right, Allison?"

Kyle looks slightly surprised. "This was all her idea?"

"I only made some general suggestions, but I did advise him to delegate responsibilities." she replies.

"And Kyle, I've made Allison my adjutant. She will be responsible for handing out my orders to troops and debriefing them on their return besides her regular duties as head of Delta."

"You've thought this through then, haven't you?"

"Well I didn't have time to do anything before now." John grins.

"What about Catherine Weaver? Are you going to bestow any rank or responsibility on her?"

"She's busy with her own thing right now. She has offered me good advice, even when I didn't want to hear it. I will certainly include her in our discussions when she's here. But to give her a rank? Somehow, I think she would only be amused by such a thing." John chuckles.

**2027, Day 58, Midnight**

They've been making slow progress in darkness for well over four hours through the valleys when John and the others meet up with the scouting party, who are returning to meet up with the main party.

"General Connor. There's a problem up ahead." Sergeant Simms in the lead shouts out upon seeing him.

"What's the situation?"

"The pass up ahead has been blocked. Appears to be a landslide. "

"Have you checked other trails, other passes?"

"Yes. That's why we've only just now caught up with you. All passes beyond this valley are blocked. There is no means of getting through any of them. They are all completely blocked."

"Quick, someone give me a light!" John pulls out the map and checks their current location against where they've come from. They've come almost ten miles and with the passes blocked ahead, they are effectively in a box canyon. There is no way forward.

Kyle's radio begins to crackle.

"Observer 12 to command. Do you copy?"

"We copy loud and clear. What's the situation?" Kyle responds to the radio call.

"I can see HK's flying in from the west. There appears to be a whole fleet in formation and they are heading in our direction!"

"Stay on look out and keep us advised. Command out." Kyle looks at John Connor.

"It's a trap!" John shouts.

Kyle, Allison and the others look at him.

"It's a trap! Sky Net knows we are here! Get these people back down the valley now!" John shouts.

John pulls his radio out. "John Henry, this Connor. Do you copy."

"John Henry here."

"HK's have been spotted coming out of the west. We are boxed in and are turning around. I need you and your troops to provide us cover until we are out of this valley. Over."

"Understand. T-800's are ready. We can see the HK's approaching. Good Luck."

Without responding Connor puts the radio back in its holder. "Let's go! Drop everything but weapons and ammo and move it!"

"Where to?" Kyle asks, as he begins herding people.

"Out to the old highway! To our north."

The people run for the opposite end of the valley as they begin to hear the screams of the HK's engines as they approach.

Plasma erupts from their cannons and blasts the sides of the mountains bringing down hundreds of tons of materials cascading down on the people below. People scream in fear as they get buried under tons of rubble.

HK's come swooping in firing their plasma cannons at the people below. The T-800's return fire using their own plasma weapons and their missile launchers. Some shots hit on target others just miss as the HK's swoop, dive, climb and twist ever maneuvering firing at the people and machines.

"John Henry form a perimeter around the people. Keep the HK's at bay until we get to a defensible location." John shouts into his radio.

John leaps over a rock and turns huddled down with his plasma rifle ready for action. HK's come swooping overhead and he fires at the port engine on one causing it to spin and crash into its neighbor. Without waiting to see what happens he gets up and runs again.

"Kyle, where are those missile launchers?" John shouts into his radio and then dives to the ground as more HK's come sweeping through firing at the people as they run. People scream. Soldiers return fire, even when it exposes their positions. Many do so, if only to save the civilian population with them.

Gunfire erupts from the mountain side above him as one of the machines begins firing a heavy caliber machine gun at the passing HK's. A passing HK gets riddled with bullets but its companion returns fire blowing up the gun, terminator, and creating a crater in the side of the mountain. John runs like hell following the other troops as the whole mountain side slides down to the valley floor.

# # #

Allison runs down the valley firing at the HK's flying overhead when she stumbles upon a group of young adults, middle aged women and small children.

"Come with me." She says to them. "I'll guide you to safety."

They start to rush down into the valley, the older children helping the little ones.

Allison pulls out her radio, "Delta Squad , this is Lieutenant Young. I need your help to protect a group of civilians."

More HK's come flying over firing at running groups and at those who stand to fight. The civilians with her drop to the ground as Allison fires at them with her plasma rifle.

"Where the hell have they all come from?" she swears.

**2027, Day 59, 3 AM**

"Kyle. Do you copy? Over" John shouts into his radio as he leaps behind some boulders to avoid the latest round of plasma fire.

"John Henry. Are you there?" he shouts trying to raise someone on the radio.

Explosions rip through the valley as plasma fire hits dropped crates of ammo. Screams of people are heard as they both flee for safety and are struck by shrapnel and plasma.

"Goddamn it, what the hell is happening?" John shouts.

Just then three people leap over the boulder and land right beside him. One of them is Andy the radio operator from Delta Squad.

"Andy is your radio working?" John shouts at him over the explosions and gunfire.

Andy looks up surprised not expecting anyone else to be behind the rock. "Yes sir."

"Then get someone on that damn radio. We are pinned down."

Andy pulls his backpack off and begins tuning the radio.

"The rest of you keep firing."

More plasma beams strike the area sending up large plumes of flame and debris. John raises up and fires his plasma rifle at the HK as it flies past. The others do the same striking it in the engines and fuselage.

They all drop down as the HK spins, firing its cannon and hitting the boulders just next to their own. It continues to spin and crashes with a loud explosion as the fuel tanks explode.

"Yea!" the men cheer.

"General Connor, I've got someone on the radio but I don't recognize the call sign, sir."

"Hand me the radio."

John takes the radio and listens.

"Air Fox Epsilon 4 to Desert Eagle Air Command. Do you copy? Over."

"This Desert Eagle Air Command. What's your position AE4?"

"Present position 30 miles west of Salton Sea. Eta to Camp Pendleton 15 minutes."

John keys the mike. "This is General John Connor of resistance group Grizzly. Do you copy?"

"This Air Fox Epsilon 4. Who did you say you were?"

"This General John Connor of resistance group Grizzly. We are under heavy air attack and need assistance. Can you help us?"

"We sure can General Connor. What is your position?"

"We are located in the Santa Anna mountains approximately 4 miles east of Trabuco Peak and 1 mile northwest of Lake Elsinore. We are under heavy air attack by HK's. We need assistance."

"Affirmative General Connor. We will be at your position in 20 minutes."

"What aircraft are you flying so I know its you?"

"We're flying every damn machine still working. Be on the lookout for just about anything that isn't an HK. AE4 out."

John puts the mike and headset down and looks over to his troops. "Men, help is on the way."

**2027, Day 59, 3 AM**

The soldiers on the ground continue to return fire at the multitude of HK's flying through the mountains. All the time making for the rendezvous on route 15.

Allison and Delta Squad continue to protect the civilians as they make their way around burning wreckage and bodies as more HK's zoom overhead. Delta Squad only returning fire when fired upon. It's getting harder for everyone to maintain the pace.

John Henry can do little but watch and return fire. He and the other machines with him and around the area fire their plasma rifles and missiles striking down what HK's they can. They are always moving forward maintaining a perimeter around the people as they flee out of the mountains. John Henry is searching the skies with his night vision, he can see something approaching from the southeast. They aren't HK's.

John Henry looks to the valley below. Sky Net's machines, endo's as the humans call them, are marching up the valley killing the wounded and the stragglers. He turns to look further up the valley and can see Allison and her troops helping a group of civilians, women and children. They don't have a chance against the endo's approaching.

"Cease fire." John Henry says calmly. "There are human troops in the valley below who need our protection. Follow me."

# # #

"Lieutenant. We're falling behind the main party."

"I am not abandoning these people. They need our help and protection."

An HK screams overhead as it flies quickly by.

"Just stay alert and keep moving!" Allison shouts at him.

Gunfire erupts from behind. Several troops fall. Some turn to fire back.

"Endo's" shouts one of the civilians as they begin to run even harder than they thought they could.

"Grab the children!" Allison hollers to the survivors.

She drops to the ground and begins firing at the endo's as they come up the valley towards her.

Her first four blasts on the leading endo pays off as its power cell ruptures and explodes.

Making use of the distraction she quickly rolls to one side grabbing a grenade launcher from one of the wounded. She quickly fires off the last grenade, tosses the empty weapon and rolls again firing rapidly with her plasma rifle.

She continues to fire until the plasma gun is too hot to handle. Dropping the gun she runs towards a small group of rocks grabbing an automatic rifle. It isn't as powerful as the other weapon but Allison figures it will be enough to hold them off while the people get away.

She lets loose a stream of bullets and ducks quickly down to avoid being hit by plasma fire. Raising the gun above her head she fires her weapon blindly until the bullets are gone. Taking a risk she gets up and runs like no one has before.

Allison doesn't get far when she runs into something solid and falls back and hits the ground with a soft thud. She looks up and there is John Henry.

"I'm sorry I got in your way Lieutenant Young. Please continue up the valley. We will stop the endo's."

Gasping for breath, she says quickly, "Thanks John Henry! Meet you at the rendezvous!"

She gives him a quick hug and takes off running.

"Well. I certainly wasn't expecting that!" John Henry says with a small grin.

"They are coming. Prepare to fire on my command." He says to the machines that are with him.

Endo's come walking towards them out of the dark. HK's scream overhead as they fly after the fleeing humans.

John Henry sets his jaw firmly. "Fire!" he shouts.

# # #

John Connor runs out into the rendezvous area. There are twelve other soldiers with him including Andy, the radio operator. They are all exhausted, but the fights not over.

"Colonel Reese calling General Connor. Do you copy?" The voice crackles over John's radio.

"Now the damn thing works." he says then keys the mike. "This Connor. We've just arrived at the rendezvous. What's your position?"

"I'm about quarter of mile down the road from your position. We've got Centaurs and metal coming up the highway approaching your position. We are doing our best to hold them back."

"I understand. I've got good news. We've got air support coming in."

"How did you arrange that?" Kyle exclaims.

"You can thank Andy."

"The radio operator?"

"Yeah, he was just lucky. And we can all do with some luck tonight!"

An HK goes screaming overhead firing its plasma weapons at the people and object below.

"Have you seen Allison or Delta Squad? I lost them in the fight."

"Negative John. I haven't seen them."

"Affirmative. Do you need assistance?"

"We are holding our own. We've laid down some explosives to take out the centaurs. You should see the explosion from your location."

"Acknowledged. We'll hold position here and gather up any stragglers and try to keep the HK's occupied until the . . . ."

A large explosion rips the night sky followed by two more.

"Reese. Reese. Do you copy?"

"Yea haw! That was beautiful! Did you see that Connor?"

"We saw it. Excellent job."

Just then more people come running up out of the valley behind John. The people consists of civilians and soldiers. The last person to show is Allison. John can't help but smile in relief.

"Allison! Over here!" he shouts.

She looks over in his direction. With a sigh of relief Ally quickly runs to his side.

"John Henry and the other machines are presently fighting off some Endo's that were pursuing us through the valley." she says as she rushes up to John.

"He'll do fine." John takes a closer look at Allison. "Are you okay?"

"I'm alright. There are still people back there in the valleys. Delta Squad did what we could to get as many people out as possible."

The air is ripped apart as more HK's fly overhead firing their weapons at the people below. Now that John is out in the open, he can observe their flying pattern as they swoop and dive circling the people on the ground, firing randomly but seemingly not hitting anyone.

"Damn! They're not trying to kill us. They are herding us into a group! Andy! Get Air Fox Epsilon 4 back on the radio! Tell them we need air support now!"

Andy pulls the radio out and sets it for the proper frequency. "Grizzly calling Air Fox Epsilon 4. Grizzly calling Air Fox Epsilon 4. Do you copy?" He calls into the mike. The only thing he hears is white noise.

"John! Look over there!" Shouts Allison pointing northwest.

John squints but can't see anything in the dark. Pulling his night vision binoculars out he takes another look. "Oh Shit!" John exclaims.

Andy makes a small adjustment to the radio. "Grizzly calling Air Fox Epsilon 4. Do you copy?"

More white noise . . . . a crackle, more crackles, then "AE4 to Grizzly. Our eta is 4 minutes can you verify your location."

John takes the radio from Andy. "This is General Connor. We are at the rendezvous northwest of the lake on highway 15. We are still under attack by HK"s. We also have endo's and Centaurs on the attack. We require immediate assistance. Over."

"We read you loud and clear General."

"We also have two machines to our northwest heading in our direction. One is a massive flying HK and the other is some kind giant walking machine heading southeast along the old highway in our direction!"

"Affirmative General. All right boys, this it. Drop external fuel tanks! Let's go get us some metal!"

John turns to the soldiers around him. "Help is coming!"

"Yeah! Yahoo! Hurray!" the soldiers cheer.

"Allison," John says while handing her the night-vision binoculars, "Keep an eye on those machines and let me know when they are in range."

John grabs his radio. "Kyle, do you copy? We need your assistance right away. Looks like those machines that took Derek and the others at the factory are on their way."

"I hear you Connor. We are on our way. Kyle out."

"What is happening John?" Allison asks.

"We are being herded for collection. Those HK's weren't sent to destroy us, they were sent to draw us out of the mountains. Those two machines are coming to collect us. We are nothing but cattle to them, to be harvested and culled like sheep!"

"Thank you . . . ." Allison starts to say when John unintentionally cuts her off.

"Andy, stay in radio contact with AE4. Make sure they know our position, Kyle's and John Henry's positions too!"

"Yes General."

"All right people, let's see how much damage we can do before they get here!"

The soldiers begin firing at the HK's overhead. Most shots miss but some hit home. The odds are against them. Their only hope are the fighter jets heading their way.

# # #

A marine in full camouflage and face paint runs up to a general.

He salutes. "Sir."

"What is it captain?"The general asks with a perfunctory salute.

"The target has been located. Companies A & B are taking their positions"

"Good. How many of the enemy have been seen? And what kind are they?"

"Sent up a mosquito to take video. The factory appears to be divided in two sections. One section is completely automated with only a half a dozen T-888's guarding it. The other section has a large contingent of human slave laborers and the largest number of T-600's I've seen in eight years. About twenty of them."

"Recommendations."

"Hit them hard and fast. Don't give the machines a chance to fight back before blowing the factory to hell."

"No." General Perry says.

The captain waits for him to finish speaking.

"We release the humans, then we take the factory. We move on the factory first, and the T-600's will kill the slaves so they don't have to worry about being attacked from within while defending from an outside attack. Tell company leaders to move on the human encampment first and bring with them sufficient weapons to arm those inside."

"Yes sir. When do you wish to begin the attack?"

"At sunrise. The attack helicopters will fly in from the east with the sun at their backs. I'll send them fresh orders to direct their attack on the defenses to the human compound, then once our people are inside, then they go after the triple-8's guarding the factory."

"Yes sir." The captain salutes and then rushes off to relay General Perry's orders.

# # #

"It's almost time." A youth whispers to Derek.

"Not yet." Derek whispers back, watching the thin light filter through the air vent. "Almost ninety minutes to go judging by the light. Then the machines will come and escort us to our stations and escort the night workers back."

"Then the sun will rise and we begin another day." The boy finishes wearily.

"But this day will be like no other." Derek gives the lad a smile of encouragement. "For today, we will have our freedom or die trying."


	20. The Soldier's Lament

**Disclaimer:** I do not claim any rights to the Terminator films; the TV series, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles;" or any characters depicted within the films or TV series. I do claim the right to this story idea and all characters and situations of my own creation. This story was created solely for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. No profits are garnered from its distribution - unfortunately.

* * *

**TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES**

**REUNION**

**Part 2: Armageddon**

**Author: The1Russter**

**Chapter 19**

**The Soldier's Lament**

_Risking all, Derek whispers back, without moving his lips. "The name is Derek Reese. Colonel Resistance Group Grizzly, California. Some of my people are here with me. So spread the word. We are getting the hell out of here." Extract from, Reunion Chapter 17 Declaration of War._

"_The songs of the dead are the lamentations of the living." Christopher Paolini (Eldest)_

"_If it were possible to cure evils by lamentation and to raise the dead with tears, then gold would be a less valuable thing than weeping." Sophocles _

# # #

While the fight for the survival of John Connor and his army in the San Juan mountains was just beginning to heat up, a new fight was about to begin several hundred miles away at a factory in Northern Arizona.

Constructed by Sky Net's machines and misguided humans in the early part of the war, the factory has been turning out armaments of all kinds for Sky Net.

As the need for metal grew, and sources of raw ore grew scarcer for processing into the pure metals and alloys used by Sky Net's factories, a method of recycling was adopted, putting to work the humans it had captured and working them to death.

The automated factory in Arizona was one of those modified to use slave labor. A new construction was added looking very reminiscent of a high security prison. Inside the walls, basic shelters were built to contain the cells used to hold the slaves. The work camps of Nazi Germany during World War Two was the model Sky Net used, only when its prisoners died, it had no need to hide the bodies by burning them. The bodies were just tossed out with the other non-recyclable refuse.

At the center of the compound, instead of an exercise yard like you'd find in most prisons, there was a network of high chain link fences, subdividing the space into smaller enclosures. These enclosures were used to publicly punish those who caused trouble, and to temporarily house new arrivals until space was made for them.

The new arrivals had it rough if they arrived in the middle of winter, or the scorching hot days of mid-summer, as there were no shelters inside those open cages. However, there was one fenced in area that had a crude shelter of sorts. The smell from that fenced yard was terrible. Worse than any farmyard or or public zoo.

It didn't take long for the new arrivals to learn what was in that shelter when the crazed humans scrambled out of their shelter and began screeching and howling like animals at them. New arrivals quickly learned what happened to the weakest and sickest prisoners to make room for them, and what those beasts fed on as well.

Since he was given the new section of the factory to run for Sky Net as his reward , Fischer has worked hard to make everyone comfortable in their new home.

**2027, Day 59, Dawn**

Derek Reese looks out through the vent. It's almost time. The morning sky is becoming brighter and soon the machines will come to escort them from their cells.

The dark circles under his eyes and the two-month-old beard, streaked with gray, give him a haunted, deathly look. He has the look of a man who has stared long and hard into the abyss and left behind his soul. But if one dares to look deep into his eyes, you will find a fire that burns cold and fierce with determination.

He leans against the door post, listening intently. He can hear the unmistakable sounds of machines approaching to take them from their habitation center.

Rubber skinned T-600's. They are effective in slaughtering humans, but not as quick or as smart as their modern flesh-covered brethren. The trick with dealing with T-600's, is not to give them a chance to plan and organize once you begin to attack, but to keep moving, never wavering in your mission and vary your plan to keep them guessing.

A rattle of the lock signifies the T-600's arrival at the cell Derek shares with about eight other slaves. It will escort them and the other inmates, the daytime shift, into the factory and then escort the nighttime shift back to occupy the cells that Derek and the others evacuate.

Without any protests, he and his fellow captives leave their cells. If he were running this factory, Derek would do the shift change at the cells. But Sky Net or Fischer, he isn't sure which, doesn't want any hold up in the work, so all shift changes occur in the factory, at their work stations.

Derek shouts to get the others up as the machines don't tolerate delays. A week ago, a machine killed all occupants of a cell for one person hanging back. It didn't matter he was lame. Machines don't care about things like that.

As everyone stands and moves toward the cell door, Derek mulls over his plan. He knows it is risky. Many will die today, but they're as good as dead already. It's just a matter of choice, to go out quickly fighting for what matters, or to die slowly from starvation and slave labor. Derek can't be certain, but he thinks he may have lost as much as twenty pounds since being captured. He can feel his ribs, and his hip bones are beginning to show. If he doesn't do something soon, he'll weaken and die, a withered broken shell of the man he once was.

Derek knows the machines will be on high alert during this time, but with the T-800's gone, there is no better time to launch their attack than now, with all the prisoners out of their cells. There is no better time for him to get back at Fischer and kill the inhuman son-of-a-bitch that has murdered and tortured so many in the name of Sky Net, including his lover, Jesse Flores.

As Derek enters the factory with his fellow inmates, he wipes his eyes quickly so the people won't see the tears on his face before going through the door.

He counts off the steps he makes, and when he reaches the right number, he looks up, right at one of his own people from Grizzly, standing several paces away on the other side of a row of factory equipment. She's still at her night shift workstation. As their eyes meet, she gives him a quick nod. Derek keeps walking on as if nothing happened. To acknowledge the non-verbal signal with one of his own would invite suspicion. He had made eye contact, that was enough. All that is left is for him to give the signal for the attack. He can rely on his people and his fellow inmates.

Derek reaches his workstation for the day and takes the wire basket from the night-shift worker without exchanging a word.

The outgoing shift begins to leave their workstations and move toward the departure zone. It will take but a few seconds for the T-600's to do a head count and then they will know something isn't right. The question is, will the metal complete the headcount before the shift whistle blows?

He watches carefully, the people move steadily, but are they moving slower than normal? Any moment now, and he will know with certainty, as he watches the activity. Without looking in that direction, Derek sees out of the corner of his eye a worker moving casually toward the machines. If he timed it right...

A second later the factory whistle blows. The person Derek was watching steps up beside the main valve for the hydraulic fluid, pulling a metal bar from inside his trousers. With all the force he can muster, the worker smashes the solenoid preventing the flow from being cut off.

"NOW!" Derek yells.

While with a roar, the people preparing to leave rush the machines providing the necessary distraction for the rest of Derek's plan to be set in place.

# # #

Major General Justin Perry walks into the communication tent. Really nothing more than a sheet of camouflage material tied at two corners to tall poles with the opposite two corners tied to shorter poles.

"What's the word from General Brewster?" He asks the radio operator. "Have his birds encountered any HK's from L. A. coming here?"

"Yes and no, sir." The radio operator answers. "They've encountered HK's but they were after a militia group led by a General John Connor. They were pinned down by HK's and getting slaughtered by metal. Brewster gave them orders to aid Connor in any way possible. Do you know why he'd commit nearly all our air support to do that, sir?"

Perry grins.

"Yes I do. You've heard the rumors?"

"Yes sir. Is it true, what they say?"

"According to the reports, John Connor is the one man that Sky Net fears more than any other human. Just think of it. The world's most powerful super computer, designed for war and with the Earth in it's grasp, is afraid of a single man. If legend's like that is what it takes to win this war, then I can't wait to met him."

Turning all business again he asks more sternly, "Now, what about our transports and our Cobras?"

"They're ready, sir."

"Good. Tell Colonel Scott to be ready to move out on my mark. With Sky Net busy elsewhere, I want them ready to move at a moment's notice, regardless of sunrise."

Suddenly the ground is rocked by a small tremor and the concussion of an explosion can be heard.

"What the hell?" Perry says, as the radio crackles.

"Captain Willoughby, sir." the radio man says holding the mike out to the General.

"Willoughby! What the hell is going on?" Perry shouts.

"It wasn't us, sir. Something is happening inside the factory."

"Which part? The automated section or the slave labor section?"

"The slave labor side. There was an explosion and now smoke is pouring out the ventilation hatches on the roof."

"Damn." Perry says to no one in particular.

Keying the mike, Perry says. "Begin your attack now! While the machines inside are distracted. Do it now! That's an order!"

Perry tosses the mike down.

"Of all the screwed up timing in the world. Get me the Major Scott on the radio. I want a Huey here now to take me over the factory! I need to find out what's happening over there."

While the radio operator calls up the Cobras, Perry steps out of the crude shelter and looks toward the hills which obscure the munitions factory from view. The heavy black smoke of burning petroleum rises toward the dark blue sky of the early morning.

"What the hell is happening in there?" He asks no one in particular.

# # #

Immediately after giving the cry of attack, Derek dived to the ground next to the equipment. With bullets flying overhead, he and others like him around the factory break the hydraulic fluid valves around the factory floor with a piece of scrap metal they carried for this very purpose.

Bending the hose around, Derek sprays down the T-600 nearest to him while above on the cable trays, the smallest and lightest members of his team cut wires above.

Whether the attack succeeds or not, really doesn't matter. The equipment is seizing up without hydraulic fluid to keep them operating and lubricated. Electricity is cut off on yet other machines making them freeze in mid operation. The sabotage alone will be significant, but Derek wants more than that. He wants freedom. And he wants revenge!

A T-600 is marching across the factory floor, coated in hydraulic fluid and in flames. Ignited by the sparks shooting from the ends of cut cables dangling from the ceiling.

Its rubber skin burns and smolders filling the air with a black smoke. Despite being on fire, it begins targeting and shooting at the humans. Relying solely on standard optics as its infrared vision is ruined by flames.

The humans dive for cover while at the same time fighting back.

The flames spread across the T-600 the rubber skin and fragments of clothing burning around the ammunition pouch for the mini-gun it carries.

With a loud explosion, the ammunition explodes nearly splitting the machine in half. As it falls back into a pool of hydraulic fluid, it's power cell ruptures sending metal fragments flying through the air, clipping more cables, and igniting more pools of hydraulic fluid.

The explosion rips a hole in the roof allowing more smoke to vent out, while allowing more oxygen in to feed the flames.

Rising up from behind his cover, Derek sees a large number of machines around the factory are covered in hydraulic fluid and some are beginning to burn.

Sparks from broken cables hanging from the cable trays cascade down across the floor igniting pools of fluid putting up brown clouds of smoke.

"Quick! Get their weapons before they recover!" Derek shouts.

Groups of people attack individual machines in mass, clubbing them with sections of pipe. Many are injured, many more are killed, but in the end, some get away with the machines guns.

With a yell that would have done his barbaric ancestors of the frozen ice age Europe proud, he launches himself at the machine he just blinded with hydraulic fluid, while others begin to burn.

What he doesn't see, is that machines, closer to the factory entrance, quickly leaving to address a new attack from outside.

# # #

With the order to begin the attack, the resistance ground forces advance on the factory complex.

Machines and plasma gun emplacements fire on the approaching army. Their location given away by their weapons discharging. Their location known, Cobras fly in firing on the gun placements, trying to destroy as many as possible.

General Perry rides shotgun in the Bell UH-1Y Huey.

Below him, the troops begin their attack, taking advantage of whatever chaos is taking place inside the factory walls and in the air above. In two teams, they approach the separate but conjoined sections.

He watches as the Cobras fly in formation and break apart, each one firing on the plasma gun turrets.

A fireball explodes below him as at least one of the Cobras goes down in a ball of flames.

His ground forces run forward and provide covering fire for a group laying down charges on the gate entering the facility.

Relying on the skill of the pilot, Perry leans out looking at the factory below them.

He sees a group of machines exit the factory. Older models, by the looks. They quickly take out the demolition crew. The huge doors closed firmly behind them as they begin firing upon the resistance soldiers.

Perry gives the order to the Cobras to begin attacking the automated portion of the factory. It was time to divide the machines forces, and also get their hands on arms they so desperately need.

As the Huey flies over the factory, Perry watches as heavy black smoke pours through a gaping holes in the roof and the ventilation stacks on the roof of the factory where slave labor performs most of the work.

_Something bad is happening in there, but is it machines or men behind that smoke?_

His thoughts are broken by the sound of bullets impacting the canopy while at the same time he is nearly jerked out of his seat as the pilot rolls the craft and pulls away.

"T-600's sir," the pilot shouts, "with mini-guns!"

"How bad are we hit?" General Perry asks.

The pilot, stoned face in light of the situation, says simply, "They struck a fuel line. If we get hit by fire, or plasma . . . I'm taking us down sir, whether you like it or not. "

"Understood."

While the pilot takes the helicopter down as quickly and as smoothly as he can. Perry watches as the explosives rip the huge gate off its hinges. Not even giving time for the smoke or dust to clear, his troops storm the habitation wing, while his Cobras continue their attack on the automated factory.

# # #

Fischer is suddenly woken by the sound of an explosion, followed by an alarm sounding in the compound.

Launching himself from his cot, he briefly wonders if the tank of flammable hydraulic fluid has finally blown. He's put in many requests for switching to a non-flammable version, but they were ignored by Sky Net, and Kreilley would't back him up on his suggestion.

Bringing up the video feed from inside the factory, Fischer sees pools of hydraulic fluid in flames, producing clouds of smoke that obscure all views. Just as he is about to think that he was right all along, he sees a rubber skinned T-600 stagger out of the smoke in flames. It falls to the floor as a group of humans appear, brandishing the machine's weapon.

Fischer's face flushes with anger as he watches them destroy the chip port by firing directly into the machine's head.

Seething with anger, a single word escapes his mouth.

"Reese!"

# # #

Coughing heavily against the heavy smoke in the air, Derek stumbles through the factory, tripping over bodies, listening to the sound of gunfire. Whether it's machine or human, he doesn't know. There's just so much of it, too much gunfire and confusion around him.

He pauses long enough to rip the shirt tail off a corpse and uses it to bind his arm to stem the flow of blood from a flesh wound.

Some bright flashes in the gloom accompanied by loud popping sounds to his right, signify something new.

Hoping against hope that the gunfire is from some of his people, Derek moves closer. It's time for everyone who hasn't gotten out, to get out.

Through the shroud of smoke he sees a figure and then another loom forth carrying guns.

With an instinct born of experience, he knows these aren't soldiers, nor the T-600's from the factory floor.

He dives to the floor, but its too late as one of the machines sees him and relays it to his brethren.

They open fire, and Derek scrambles for safety cursing the T-888's that have been released from guarding the automated side where the explosives are packed into the shell casings they manufacture.

As he runs through the factory, he sees his fellow slaves who have survived the carnage, make their way out through the doors into the courtyard or up the ladders to the cable trays, and then through the ventilation shafts.

Still choking on the smoke, he moves quickly toward the open doors.

A loud barrage of gunfire stops him in his tracks as the pursuing T-888's catch up to him.

Fischer smiles as he watches the machines pursue Reese through the factory. Since production was brought to a halt by the sabotage, he was able to release the T-888's from their tasks in the automated section to defend the factory and eliminate all humans inside the factory. He laughs as he watches as the machines out think Reese and cut him off from the exit to grounds outside.

"Damn!" Derek curses under his breath, when he sees the machines between him and the exit.

He momentarily forgot they were smarter and would figure out his escape route. He must hold their attention, for if they ever got the notion to look above, then they would see his fellow inmates scrambling for safety through the roof.

Grabbing a dropped weapon and hoping for just a few bullets, he fires at the machines behind him.

He can only pray now that they are following.

# # #

Perry's helicopter touches down.

Shutting down the engine, the pilot scrambles to the side of the helicopter, where the fuel is pouring out through bullet holes.

"Even if I got this fixed, we wouldn't have enough fuel to get you back to headquarters, sir." The pilot apologizes.

Perry pulls out his hand gun and checks the chamber.

"Then grab what guns you've got on this bird. Looks like we're joining the fight."

Opening up the rear door, the pilot pulls out two M-4's and tosses one to the general.

Sharing a quick grin, they both begin trotting quickly toward the factory.

Perry pulls out his hand-held radio.

"Willoughby, this is Perry. I'm on your six with my pilot. We're on foot. Be joining you in two shakes."

# # #

Slipping on blood or hydraulic fluid, Derek doesn't bother to check which it is, he finds himself in front of the wall holding the bins they dump the metal waste into.

Behind, him, the smoke almost cleared. Three T-888's are following.

Without a second glance behind him, as he knows he wouldn't even survive a fight with one, let alone three, Derek throws his useless gun to one side and opens the bin.

_No better time to find out what happens to the metal they toss out._

As the machines open fire, he leaps inside and lets the hatch closes behind.

With a shout he falls as bullets pierce the wall above him.

# # #

The AH-1 Super Cobras, sent in to weaken the automated defenses of the factory, found themselves in far greater danger when a flock of HK-drones appeared.

Designed and built with outer walls and gates strong enough to withstand any land based attack, Sky net knew that its greatest weakness would be from the air. So, with an abundant amount of HK-drones available to it, it constructed an underground hanger below the landing pad for the Transports.

When the plasma canons were destroyed, the hatches opened up, and the drones came swarming out from their hibernation and immediately went after the helicopters.

Colonel Scott knew he had to complete his mission. Though their sudden appearance was a bit of a surprise, the intelligence that they gathered did suggest that HK-drones were being used as a secondary air defense.

"Orange and Green groups, defense now! Blue group, with me!"

As Orange and Green groups play an aerial chess match with the HK-drones, Scott leads Blue in the attack on the factory. Unfortunately, the drones arrival had caused enough of a delay for a small group of T-888's to exit and begin holding back the ground forces.

Plasma fire streaks past the helicopters. Spreading out, the Cobra pilots hope to provide a more difficult target to hit while simultaneously firing upon the T-888's.

Not waiting to see the outcome of the aerial battle, a group of volunteers run forward to place their explosives to the entrance of the automated factory, while the greater number provide covering fire.

The leader is careful about how much of the plastic explosives he molds around the perimeter of the door. Too little and the door will remain in its housing, but too much and the explosion could ignite the shells and missiles waiting on the other side of the door.

Setting the detonator, the group runs for cover. The last man barely reaches safety when the explosion rips the large door from its frame sending it crashing to the ground.

With a shout, the soldiers run for the building, their leader calling for the CH-47's and other transports to come in and collect the armaments.

Holding position out of sight behind some hills, the Chinooks fly in, slipping past the Cobras and HK-drones in the air to land amongst the troops on the Transport landing pad.

# # #

Derek finds himself hanging onto a strut of a structural support approximately five feet below the end of the chute and twenty feet above the floor below.

A conveyor belt passes below him carrying the metal waste that he and others have dropped through the shoot. Even in these times, Sky Net pursues green operations. It needs metal, and lots of it and doesn't let any scrap go to waste.

The T-888's approach the wall. Heat signatures signify something warm has recently passed through one of the bins.

Simultaneously aiming their guns, they fire on the bin and surrounding wall.

Hearing the gunfire above and seeing pinholes of light open up and feeling and seeing the hot bullets bounce down the shoot and fall past him, Derek drops to the conveyor belt. Just missing getting his arm sliced open by a sharpened scrap of metal.

# # #

The soldiers attempting to break into section holding the slave workers are taking shelter behind rock outcroppings and boulders. They fire upon the enemy while trying to avoid being hit themselves.

A group of T-600's stand on the wall above the entrance to the compound, and continue to fire indiscriminately on the resistance army trying to advance.

Captain Willoughby is giving orders on his radio when General Perry and his pilot arrive, leaping and sliding quickly down behind the boulder where Willoughby had taken refuge. Shards of stone fly into the air as the boulder is riddled with bullets.

"What's the situation Willoughby?" Perry asks, protecting his face from the flying fragments of rock.

"Cobras took out the plasma cannons and we began advancing. A few T-600's exited the compound, and eventually they were destroyed. Then T-600's began appearing on top of the wall, more heavily armed. We've tried taking them out, but we barely take out one, when it gets replaced."

"Where's your anti-tank weapons?"

"We used up what we had getting this far. I was just calling up our reserves when you arrived, sir."

"Tell them to hold their position, but be ready to advance." General Perry orders and then keys the mike on his radio. "Colonel Scott, do you read me?"

"General!" The radio hisses, "This is Captain Ramirez. Colonel Scott was shot down. Can I help?"

"Yes you can! If you can spare them, I need some of your Cobra's at Willoughby's location now! We're being held up by a large group of T-600's on the top of the wall."

"Understood! We're on our way, sir!"

# # #

As Derek rides the conveyor belt to an unknown destination, he scans the space.

He is in a large basement containing a collection system for the waste. As he rides the conveyor he comes to the conclusion that he's heading toward the automated section and away from Fischer!

"Damn!" He swears

Looking up he sees what could be a junction box or control panel. If he can cross wires, then maybe he can get this belt going in the opposite direction. It sure beats the hell out of fighting against it, or dropping to the floor with God only knows what is down there in the dark.

Leaping as high as he can he grabs onto a strut and pulls himself up onto the truss supporting the factory floor.

Using the scrap of metal he used to cut the hydraulic line, he pries open the lid and finds the unexpected. A bomb.

"Shit!" He swears as he sees enough C4 packed into the metal box to take down the entire building.

But what is worse, it has been turned on but not yet activated. All he has to do is disable the receiver and remove the detonator. He owes it to his comrades above.

As he struggles to pull the detonation device, he hears a loud crash.

Across the room, one of the machines pursuing him above has broken through.

_Is it the only one? Or are the other two following it?_

Derek tries to keep still while at the same time loosen the circuit board plugged into the device.

With a sudden release, one of the cable wires comes loose causing him to slip, dropping the piece of metal. It bounces off the conveyor belt and hits the concrete floor below making a loud echoing noise.

Hearing the sound, the Triple-8 turns and looks right up at Derek.

Derek swears.

Not bothering to try and hide anymore, Derek pulls with all his might until he is hanging onto the cable itself,.

The machine approaches, clearing obstacles in its line of fire, targeting information coming up on its display, as well as information on the bomb.

The Triple-8 lines up its shot as it approaches on the conveyor belt.

Putting his feet up against the truss, Derek pulls with all his strength, and just as sure as he thinks he's about to be shot, the cable let's go.

With a yell of fright he falls, plummeting down past the machine and the conveyor belt to the floor below.

There is a loud crash.

The machine leaps down to the floor.

Using its infra red vision, it scans the area.

There is nothing to be seen but some broken collapsed boxes and some footprints leading away.

Scanning the bomb once again, it sees that it has been deactivated.

It follows the footprints.

# # #

Loaded down with missiles and shells, the Chinooks lift off to fly away toward the rendezvous point. On the ground, troops fire on the remaining HK-drones as one-by-one the Cobras pull away to respond to General Perry's orders.

Charles Fischer, for the first time in his life wishes he had never left prison, but that wasn't his choice. It was Kreilley's.

He was a scared seismologist, placed in prison because of a misunderstanding. He had no alibi to prove his innocence, because he had been held and tortured by two people, who conveniently cleaned up after themselves so brilliantly, there was no evidence to back his story other than his torn fingernails.

He watches as a helicopter screams past, outside his home atop the wall. Going to the window, from which he would watch new arrivals be sorted, he sees that the helicopter was just one of many in the skies.

The factories defensive capabilities was diminished when some of his machines were taken by Kreilley. All he was left with were the T-600's and the few T-888's in the automated factory. The T-600's are and look intimidating, but no one could have foreseen the entire camp rebelling, nor the simultaneous attack by the military resistance.

Fischer can't run and he can't stay either. He has to call in for assistance, but that would admit failure. Kreilley doesn't tolerate failure. Neither does Sky Net. This is just one of many armament factories on the continent, let alone the world. If it falls to the resistance, it wouldn't even make a dent in the world wide production of arms.

Sky Net will know soon enough of his failure if he doesn't call in, but first he decides to draw on some liquid courage before making the fatal call.

Pulling a bottle from the bottom drawer of his desk, Fischer pours himself a large drink.

# # #

Bursting through the gate and spreading out quickly, the united armed forces begin their attack. Inside are some T-600's armed with mini-guns.

The machines quickly begin decimating the troops, who return fire without hesitation.

While troops provide cover, the troops held in reserve with anti-tank guns fire on the metal.

Rockets streak across the compound, impacting on the broad chests of two machines.

The explosions rip the machines in half, scattering pieces and shrapnel.

Before the marines can react, a large group of humans rushes out of the factory, some begin pulling the weapons from the hands of the machines they just shot, and begin firing into the chip ports. While as yet others with sections of pipe, beat on the others, physically attacking the machines.

Secure in the knowledge that their forces can take out the machines, Perry calls for the transports to come in and begin ferrying the human prisoners to a secure location.

# # #

Running across the floor as fast as he can in the dim light of the basement, Derek follows the overhead ducts he saw when on the conveyor belt.

His only option is to make use of the ventilation system to get out of the basement and away from that machine.

Reaching the far end, he finds the old furnaces and the heat exchanger for the air conditioner. Locating the return air duct, he opens the door for the filters.

Throwing the old ragged material to one side, he begins the long difficult climb to the top, and hopefully to freedom before the metal catches up to him.

Below him, the T-888 in pursuit looks up the ventilation shaft. A quick scan reveals it to be too narrow for its metal body. It communicates the location of the human to its comrades above, the lets loose a volley of shots.

Reaching the top of the ventilation shaft, smoke billowing around him, Derek crawls out of the shaft just before bullets puncture the metal housing.

With a sigh of relief, Derek looks for a means down from his location. He finds himself far from the factory where he was forced to work.

Looking out, he can see some of his fellow prisoners on the roof. Helicopters arrive and take them on board, ferrying them away.

Derek takes another moment to take in the soldiers below fighting the machines and the helicopter sin the air. As much as he'd like to wave and shout to get their attention, he knows there is something he must do first.

Going to the end of the roof, Derek guesses that he must be pretty close to the wall on which Fischer has his home. Unfortunately, smoke rising from the fires within the factory obscure his view. Taking one look down to be sure of his position, he launches himself out into the unknown with a loud yell.

Clearing the smoke that had obstructed his view, Derek has a momentary feeling of panic go through him, then he sees the catwalk below rushing toward him.

Stretching out as far as he can, he grabs the handrail. His hand slips, but his fall was slowed enough that he manages to grab the catwalk with his other hand.

Pulling himself upwards, a machine below begins firing up at him. The shots get closer, giving him all the adrenalin he needs to get to the other side.

He falls upon the catwalk, wincing as he lands on his right shoulder. Bullets bounce harmlessly from the underside of the catwalk.

With grit and determination, Derek jumps up and runs for the small building perched atop the wall, bullets chasing him.

Inside that building, a man once feared by all in the compound is feeling fear himself.

"This is Fischer!" Fischer yells into the microphone. "The prisoners have rebelled!"

The cursor on the computer screen blinks.

"Repeat! This is Charles Fischer! Prisoners have rebelled! Factory is under attack by the Resistance! Unless you act now all will be lost. Request immediate extraction."

\:You have failed.

"No. No! It's the prisoner's!"

\:The prisoner's are your responsibility. The factory is your responsibility.

"I need assistance. Send me aerial HK's."

\:Hunter Killer air support presently engaged in other operation.

"You must act or I will die!"

The cursor blinks repeatedly before displaying:

\: Then die.

Fischer looks on in shock as the message from Sky net expands.

\: We/I have no further need of you. You were kept at Kreilley's convenience, not mine. I have no use for humans. They are vermin and deserve death. So if you must die, then do so quickly.

The door crashes open revealing a bloody ragged wreck of a man formerly known as Derek Reese.

Fischer leaps at his desk to pull his gun out of a drawer.

Derek pulls out a sliver of metal and throws it like a knife.

Plunging itself deep into Fischer's shoulder, the gun goes off involuntarily, blowing a hole in the front of the desk.

With a roar of rage, Derek launches himself across the room, tackling Fischer.

The gun clatters across the floor as Derek begins pounding Fischer repeatedly with his fists until Fischer stops fighting back. He begins to make little mewling sounds like a kitten while Derek continues his assault. Finally Derek stops pummeling Fischer's head as he realizes the man has stopped moving and remains silent, as the blood oozes from his broken nose, ears and mouth.

Dragging himself up onto his feet, he grabs the microphone.

"This," he pants, "is Colonel Derek Reese."

\:I know. I'm watching you on video.

Derek looks behind him to see the camera mounted high up on the wall.

\:Your efforts are fruitless. The self destruct has been set.

"You mean this." Derek says, pulling a jumble of wires and a circuit board from under his shirt and holding it up in the air.

"I found it in the recycling chamber." Derek pants, tossing the jumble of electronics to one side.

\:Doesn't matter, one small victory doesn't win the war.

"True. But I'm alive and I'm coming for you. You will pay for what you've done."

\:Empty words. Empty threats. You have no army. No friends. All that is left of your militia is scattered throughout the San Juan mountains dying or licking their wounds. They are dead and soon all who fight against me will be dead.

The monitor and every piece of electronics suddenly shuts down inside the room.

Derek leans against the desk, his strength beginning to fail him.

A groan from Fischer alerts him to the fact that he isn't quite finished with this day's task.

Pocketing the gun, Derek rips some wires out of the back of the computer and binds Fischer's wrists together behind his back.

Looking more dead than alive, Derek puts Fischer over his shoulder carries him outside and down the metal stairs to the courtyard. He's got something special planned for him.

It is a hive of activity, as the soldiers in various military uniforms secure the site. Being leader of one of the largest civilian militias west of the Rockies, he knows he should make himself known to them, but not yet.

Occupied with their tasks, no one sees Derek as he goes down the stairs and approaches one of the fenced in yards. Opening the gate, Derek enters the enclosure where the women were killed to punish him.

He moves closer to the gate that separates the space from the enclosure with the snarling animals that were at one time human.

Without much further concern, Derek drops Fischer on the ground who lets out a loud groan on impact.

Fischer opens his eyes to see the crazed humans just feet away, saliva dripping from their snarling mouths, red tongues licking at dry cracked lips.

The sound of a gate slamming shut and locking forces Fischer to turn to look.

He watches as Derek Reese calmly walks along the outside of the fence to the control that will open the gate, behind which the creatures are snarling and scratching at the fence waiting for their meal.

"Reese." Fischer mumbles through broken teeth.

"Reese!" He screams.

The far side of the compound a Marine looks up to see activity where none was previously and moves to see what it is that is happening.

"Tell me where she is." Derek says.

"What?" Fischer asks in disbelief. "Your Aussie slut?"

Derek hits the open button and then hits stop as the gate reaches two inches.

The human animals are raising a raucous as they anticipate feeding.

"Tell me where Jesse Flores is or you die." Derek shouts in a voice tired, but firm.

Fischer laughs, sounding almost insane or scared.

"You put me here. You could question me on anything regarding Sky Net and all you care about is where your little whore is?"

Derek hits the open button and hits stop as the gate reaches half a foot.

"Hey!" The Marine private yells from the other side. "What's going on here?"

Derek ignores the soldier, but Fischer decides to make use of the interruption.

"I'm the commander of this base. I have important information about Sky Net and who controls it! I can tell you anything and everything you need to know. Operations, locations of its bases and resources."

The Marine pulls out his radio and makes a call. "I've got a prisoner here who says he's got information on Sky Net."

"Bring him to me." General Perry orders.

"Tell me where to find Jesse Flores or you die!" Derek screams.

"Stand Down! Stand Down!" The marine yells running toward the side opposite from Derek and pointing his rifle through the fence at him.

Instead of listening, Derek hits the button again and hits stop. Now the gate is up almost a foot and some of the creature's start to try and push themselves through the gap. If they weren't all trying to at the same time, they would already be inside.

Fischer tries to push himself away, kicking fruitlessly at the earth, but barely manages to move with his wrists bound tightly together.

"Damn!" The marine curses and calls to some of his comrades to join him as he tries to find his way through the maze of chain link fencing.

Fischer, crying in fear watches, as the military resistance try to find their way to the side where Derek is.

"Where is she? Tell me where to find her!" Derek yells again, his hand poised over the button.

The armed men run to try and stop him. The creatures have almost pushed their emaciated frames completely through the gap.

"Tell me!"

In a panic Fischer screams. "Sky Net will kill all of us. It will kill you too."

"Where is Jesse Flores?" Derek yells placing his hand on the button. One push. There wouldn't even be time to press stop before the creatures would break through the gap.

Just then a tip of a rifle is shoved under Derek's nose. The Marine private has found his way through the maze of fencing, just in time.

"Stand down!" He orders as several more rush to join him.

Derek backs away, carefully raising his hands in the air.

Fischer laughs.

"How do we close the gate?" The marine asks, gesturing with his gun.

Derek slaps the gun away and rushes the control.

"She's dead! Your Aussie slut is dead, Reese." Fischer screams.

Derek hits the control to open the gate just as he is tackled by the other soldiers.

"She's in Hell! And soon you'll be joining her! She's dead. We're all dead." Fischer yells over and over until it turns into an inhuman scream of terror as the savages rush up to him and begin ripping at his flesh.

The compound is filled with his screams as the marines drag Derek to his feet, semi-conscious and weak from malnutrition and heavy exertion. The adrenalin has done its job. Now all he can do is sleep.

"What shall we do with him, sir?" the private asks an officer that had joined the group.

"Put him with the others for evacuation to our temporary base in Yuma, Arizona."

"And what should we tell the General about that guy." The marine says pointing to the savagery behind him.

"He died of his injuries. I've got no sympathy for a fuckin' grey. As far as I'm concerned, this guy deserves a medal."

"And those . . . creatures, sir?"

"Shoot them. There's nothing left of them that is human."

As two men walk away carrying the limp form of Derek Reese, the others raise their guns and fire into beasts until their animal screams stop and the ground is bathed in their blood.

**2027, Day 59, Mid-morning**

A fleet of helicopters fly southwards under a sunny sky. Chinooks, a few Sea Hawks and Black Hawks mixed in, carrying troops, arms, and former prisoners of Sky Net. On some of those helicopters lie the injured and dying, some soldiers, some escapees, all grateful to be heading to safety.

Far behind them, a plume of black smoke rises up into the air, marking the location where a Sky Net factory once stood. A place where men and women of all ages were once enslaved to the machines, where victory was obtained and freedom achieved by one man and a miracle.

General Perry sits exhausted and tired behind the Pilot. She handles the controls so well, that if weren't for the reverberations of the motors and props, you'd think they were sitting on the ground, the ride was that smooth.

Presently he's talking on the radio.

"Heavy casualties I'm afraid, but we rescued a lot of prisoners."

"_Are there enough of them to make up for our losses?"_

Perry was grateful his fellow commander said ours and not yours, taking as much blame on himself.

"Some of Sky Net's prisoners died before we even broke in. They began a revolt not knowing we were about to attack. Unfortunately, most of them are malnourished and exhausted."

"_Who amongst us isn't?"_

"True. We'll give them a couple days of rest and food before moving on from Yuma."

"_What were you able to obtain?"_

"Shells, explosives, and some missiles. Most of it I had the pilots hide in a canyon. We're only carrying what we can, given the number of people we rescued. Once we get everyone back to our temporary base, we can send the transports under your command back for them."

"_I hope the missiles will be compatible with our fighter jets. It's getting harder and harder to keep up with the enemy. Hopefully, Captain Beddell has been able to gather supplies from our abandoned bases and from our friends in Mexico."_

"Beddell is a good man. He was the best choice to prepare the bunkers at Camp Pendleton for use."

"_You can give me a full report once you arrive. And will I have a tale for you about our Air Force in the San Juan mountains. Between them and John Connor's army, Sky Net doesn't have a single HK left in the skies near our new base. General Brewster, over and out."_

Perry leans his back against the fuselage, rubbing the tiredness from his eyes with one hand while slipping the headset from his head with other. It wouldn't hurt to catch a few minutes of sleep.

He looks around the helicopter as he settles in. It's crowded with both the healthy and the injured. The medic is making rounds, ensuring the injured and exhausted are taken care of on their trip.

Derek wakes to the sound of helicopter blades beating the air outside.

One glance around confirms he's on board a helicopter transport of some kind.

Someone kneels down beside him and starts checking his vitals.

"Hungry." Derek murmurs.

He and the others with him at that factory have been working on starvation rations. Just enough food to keep them alive, barely.

"Not yet soldier. Not until the doctor clears you for solids. But I can give you some water."

Derek nods his head and takes the drink gratefully when offered.

"Who's the doctor?" Derek asks.

The medic grins, "Right now, she's flying the helicopter," he says, pointing with his thumb to the front of the craft.

"Normally she'd be treating the more seriously wounded in flight, but we're short on pilots at the moment. She said she could save more lives by flying them to our base"

"Where are we headed?" Derek asks groggily.

"I really can't say, not until you are cleared. What's your name?"

Derek looks at the light coming through the windows and knows he's heading south. But the medic is smart not to reveal anything. No need to be unfriendly toward him, so he gives the man his name.

"Reese, Derek Reese." An officer sitting just behind the pilot looks up hearing the name.

"Colonel of Civilian Resistance group Grizzly out of Los Angeles." Derek finishes.

Before the medic can say more, the officer says, "I'll take over questioning."

He quickly moves away as a tall thin black man in an officer's uniform walks over and kneels down next to Derek.

"You may not remember me." The officer begins to say.

"Brigadier General Perry, USMC." Derek says, his eyes growing wide in recognition.

Perry points to the stars on his shoulder, "Major General now. I've come up in the ranks too since I last saw you, former First Lieutenant, Derek Reese."

"When was that, sir?"

"Ten years ago as you fought on Avilla Beach."

"Yes sir." Derek almost sneers, "I thought defending Serrano Point more important than saving my own ass, sir."

"It wasn't my own ass I was saving, soldier, but my entire command." Perry snaps.

Not moved at all by the man's restrained anger, Derek bites back. "Enlighten me, if you care too, sir. We've been fighting a very long time without the regular's support and I can tell you, it hasn't been easy, rebuilding supply lines, rebuilding intelligence networks . . ." Derek pauses to regain his breath. "I had to rebuild the whole damn resistance."

"And you've done a fine job by all accounts, with what little we've heard since pulling out."

"Why did you? We had Sky Net! We were so close to learning the location of its main base, and then . . . you're gone. We could have had it beat."

"Not without supplies. Our supply line coming up from Mexico through the Sierra's to Edwards Air Base got cut off by raiding parties and smugglers. We couldn't fight a war on two fronts. Our supplies had to be rerouted through Santa Fe."

"But there are ways and means through the Rocky's."

"We had no choice Colonel. I knew what it would mean to completely withdraw from California, when our best intelligence said Sky Net's core was located there. But you can't fight a war without weapons."

Derek nods his head. He knows that all to well.

"So how did the civilian militia's fare. How'd you keep supplied?" Perry asks.

Derek grins. "We got rescued about eight years ago. A submarine came to port. USS Jimmy Carter finally came home. She was in Perth Australia when Judgment Day came."

"They supplied you with weapons?"

"You bet your ass. They varied their schedule, but she began making regular runs. After a few years, I got to know her first officer very well."

"Lieutenant Commander Jesse Flores."

Derek looks at Perry in shock.

"How'd you know?"

"Who did you think arranged for them to supply the civilian militia's? I knew they'd be able to keep you operational but not the entire professional army."

"I'm sorry sir. I didn't know." Derek says, feeling shamed for his earlier behavior towards the man.

"No one knew but me and the leader of the Australian Resistance. How is Jesse Flores? I've heard a few good things about her."

Masking his grief and pain behind a curt tone, he says, "She's dead."

General Perry, reading more in Derek's tone and expression than Derek realized, gives him a friendly pat on the shoulder and lets him rest.

The words echo in Derek's mind as tears run from the corner of his eyes and down his temples.

Jesse Flores is dead.

# # #

Far away near the Pacific coast of California, an industrial center operates night and day. At its heart is a gleaming glass and stainless steel structure which stands incongruously in the midst of huge factories.

Lines of people are escorted through the cold rain by Terminators. The machines never take their cold red eyes off of the prisoners.

They walk along, some in mismatched shoes, some wearing shoes held together with twine or wire, whereas most walk past in their naked, calloused, bleeding feet. No one speaks. They know what is coming, a culling. Some of them will be selected and taken away. The rumor is circulating that Sky Net is still experimenting on humans.

In minutes they reach the landing pad for the HK's. A transport arrives with an escort. Its search lights lighting up the landing pad and the people all around.

As the transport lands, the HK's flick their searchlights over the small throng of people. The machines take up positions between the filthy and wet humans who watch with their typical disinterest, but for one woman.

She realizes immediately that this isn't a culling. She knows something is different. For one the machines are between them and the transport. If they were taking them away to one of the camps for disposal, then they would be behind them to shove and threaten them to board the transport. New prisoners are arriving and they've been brought here to for what? A welcoming party. The woman almost laughs at the thought.

Her suspicions are proven correct when the rear hatch, on the transport, lowers to the ground. On board the craft are humans. More slave laborers to be dehumanized and worked to death for Sky Net. Machines begin pushing the people out of the craft, some of them crying, limping, all trying to keep ahead of the machines.

The people disembark and she sees that some look like they've just been in a fight. Most sport injuries, flesh wounds and such, some have plasma burns. Any with life threatening injuries would have been left behind or shot to ensure their demise.

The people from the transport spread out slightly and the woman sees a dirty teenage girl on her own, looking frightened beyond reason. Her eyes are wide with fear, and her head snaps back and forth as she looks around. The girl looks ready to panic and run.

The woman knows all too well what would happen if the girl ran. Death for her, and for anyone else who got in the way, the machines don't discriminate.

Acting quickly the woman dashes forward and takes the girl under her arm, using her threadbare coat to shield the girl from the rain.

Escorting her into the group, she asks in a heavy Australian accent, "What's your name sweetie?"

The girl, still frightened, looks up at the dark haired woman with Asian features.

"Riley. Riley Dawson." She says and bursts into tears.

The woman supports the girl as they walk toward the habitation center, escorted by the machines.

"I'm Jesse Flores. You will stay with me."

"Where are we?" The girl asks as they walk through the maze of factories, her eyes casting upwards to the tall skyscraper in the midst.

"You are in Sky Net Central." Jesse replies, "Most of us call it hell."

"Is there a way out?"

Pulling the girl closer, she answers, "I'm sorry to tell you. The only way out is death."

# # #

_Soldiers Lament_

_by Sonya Kitchell_

"_He fight and he pray_

_He love and he bleed_

_To know satisfaction was not his need_

_And when he walks, stands tall as he can_

_For he's a man, yeah he's a man_

_And when he crumbles, resolve to the ground_

_Like burnt bits of paper, life flutters round_

_All eyes turn away, no one wants to see_

_A man who has lost, in the fight to be free_

_For we've been out runnin' for all of our lives_

_No chance, and stop, and we'd surely lose sight_

_In the back of his mind is a smiling face_

_The one who said, "yah know, it's no race"_

_The one that said, "you got time to breathe"_

_Cuz' child you're born, we're all born free_

_In the back of he mind is the back of a room ( is it "he"?)_

_So dust enshrouded, and no dust broom_

_Stands a chance to clear the cobwebs away_

_So live in the back, in the dark it'll stay_

_And we've been out runnin' for all of our lives_

_No chance, and stop, and we'd surely lose sight_

_Tell me somethin'_

_What are yah livin' for?_

_Tell me boy_

_What are you livin' for?_

_Tell me somethin'_

_What are yah livin' for?_

_Tell me, tell me_

_What are you livin' for?"_

* * *

**Author's Note:**

I just want to take a moment to thank Meanoldmoe for Beta reading the first draft of this chapter. I worked on it more afterwards, so any errors are mine and mine alone.

Thank you to all of you who have been posting reviews, and thank you to those who read this story but don't post reviews.

On a personal note, I've been home recovering for three weeks now. The surgery went great, the incision has healed fantastically. I don't see the doctor until the end of May and in that time I have to keep the brace on so I don't bend the knee. For any of you who have had to wear a brace or a cast during the hottest part of the year, you'll have some idea of what I'll be going through the next three to four months. I'm on strict orders to be more careful or else the next surgery will require a graft. My situation has been rough enough on my mom without being laid up even longer if I have to have surgery again. Please keep both of us in your prayers. The1Russter


	21. Escape from Hell

Disclaimer: I do not claim any rights to the Terminator films; the TV series, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles;" or any characters depicted within the films or TV series. I do claim the right to this story idea and all characters and situations of my own creation. This story was created solely for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. No profits are garnered from its distribution - unfortunately.

* * *

**TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES**

**REUNION**

**Part 2: Armageddon**

**Author: The1Russter**

**Chapter 20**

**Escape from Hell**

"_Those who escape hell however never talk about it and nothing much bothers them after that." Charles Bukowski_

"_To appreciate heaven well, it's good for a person to have some fifteen minutes of hell." Will Carleton_

"_Thank you, Sarah, for your courage through the dark years. I can't help you with what you must soon face, except to say that the future is not set. You must be stronger than you imagine you can be. You must survive, or I will never exist." Kyle Reese quoting John Connor, The Terminator 1984_

_Sarah Connor, "I'll always find you."_

_John Connor, "I'll always find you."_

_Extract from "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles," The Demon Hand, 2008._

# # #

**2027, Day 59, afternoon**

"_Air Fox Epsilon 4 to Desert Eagle Air Command. We are approaching General Connor's location and will be engaging the enemy. Over."_

"_This Desert Eagle Air Command. Proceed with engagement. We will be sending recovery units to pick up the survivors on the ground."_

"_Acknowledge. This is AE4 Air Commander to all squadron leaders. Hornet squadron take on HK's. Apache squadron provide ground support against metal on the ground. Falcon squadron follow me. We are going after those giant machines to the northwest."_

John keys the mike. "This is General John Connor to AE4. Do you copy?"

"_This Air Fox Epsilon 4. Over."_

"We have reprogrammed cyborgs working with us. They are in the valley to our southwest defending us against endo's. Over."

"_Acknowledge General Connor. Apache Squadron will be informed. Recommend you take cover. Sidewinder missiles lock and loaded. Fire."_

Just as Connor and the other troops duck down four missiles streak overhead. Three missiles find their marks and the other goes streaking past. Three HK's explode while the others bank and spin to face the oncoming enemy. HK's begin firing at the approaching F/A-18 Hornets who divide and spread out avoiding the oncoming plasma fire. They bank and turn firing three additional sidewinder missiles. Two of the missiles are shot down while the third is avoided by a rapid maneuver of the HK.

"_Hornet Squadron take evasive maneuvers, additional HK's approaching from south-southwest."_

"_Mackenzie, pull up."_

"_Controls are frozen!"_

"_Eject! Eject!"_

One of the F/A-18's goes flying straight into an approaching HK. Both go up in a ball of flame as the missiles and fuel tanks explode on impact.

"Everyone run!" yells John Connor. The people leap out of cover and run for their lives as the wreckage falls upon their current location.

# # #

"_Falcon leader to Falcon squadron. Romeo take alpha group and go after that large flying HK. Beta group follow me we're going after that metal giant."_

"_Affirmative Falcon Leader. Romeo out."_

"_Falcon Leader to Beta group, arm Amraam missiles prepare to launch on my command."_

The giant walking machine turns it plasma cannons towards the approaching planes. It fires it weapon and the leading aircraft explodes.

"_Pedro! NO! Fire Amraams! Falcon 8. Fox-3."_

"_Falcon 7. Fox-3"_

"_Falcon 10. Fox-3"_

"_Falcon 9. Fox-3"_

The Amraams go streaking out towards the walking giant as it fires it plasma cannon. One missile explodes in mid-flight while the others impact on the machine. The machine is knocked back but not destroyed. It regains its footing and fires its canon at the fleeing aircraft. It hits the last F-16 causing the engines to explode. The other three aircraft bank hard right, then divide taking three different courses to engage the enemy again.

"_This Falcon wing Commander. I am taking lead. Falcon 9 & 7 prepare Amraam missiles and target the machines primary weapons' system. Fire on my command."_

"_Affirmative wing commander. Amraam's locked and loaded."_

The aircraft take three different routes and then turn back towards the giant machine. It fires it weapons at one of the Falcons but it banks and turns and realigns itself on its target.

"_Falcon 7 to Falcons 9 & 10, fire missiles."_

"_Falcon 7, Fox-3."_

"_Falcon 9, Fox-3."_

"_Falcon 10, Fox-3."_

Three missiles go streaking out after the giant machine the first strikes him in the shoulder exploding and causing it to spin. The second impacts on its back, while the third strikes its head, causing it to explode.

"_Yeah, Direct hit!"_

"_Hold the celebration! The head is gone but it's still standing. Prepare remaining missiles for launching."_

# # #

"General Connor calling Colonel Henry. Do you copy?"

Static fills the air.

"General Connor calling Colonel Henry. Do you copy?"

"_I copy General. Endo's are being pushed back but we are losing machines fast."_

"Acknowledge. There are Apache helicopters heading your way. They know we have friendly cyborg's working with us but be alert. Some of them may get trigger happy."

"_I read you loud and clear. We will withdraw as soon as helicopters are in area. We will rejoin you at the rendezvous. Colonel Henry, over and out."_

"Allison what is the current position of those two giant machines?"

"They are three miles distant and closing fast. Fighter jets are engaging both machines. Two aircraft are down and the walking machine is damaged. There is smoke and flames from where its head used to be, but it hasn't stopped moving. The flying HK is approaching and gaining speed. The missiles are currently having no effect on it."

"All right everyone. The large flying HK is approaching fast. Be prepared to fire your weapons on my command. Andy! See if you can raise Kyle on the radio. We need more firepower."

"Yes sir!" Andy immediately gets to work adjusting his radio.

"Colonel Reese. Do you copy?" No answer, just static. He adjusts the radio again.

"Colonel Reese. Do you copy?"

"_I copy. Who is this?"_

"This is Corporal Andy Keen. I'm with General Connor. We need additional firepower. The fighter jets missiles are having no effect on that giant flying HK. What is your eta to our position?"

"_We will be there in fifteen minutes."_

"Affirmative." Andy puts the mike down. "General Connor. Colonel Reese reports he will be with us in fifteen minutes, sir!"

"Thank you Andy! Now put down that damn radio and pick up a weapon. That craft will be here before Kyle and we need all available weapons."

Andy gives a big grin. "Yes sir!"

# # #

"_Apache leader to squadron prepare to fire on endo's at my command. Stay alert. General Connor says they have friendly metal working form them."_

The apache's sweep down through the valley. Their rotor blades creating a thundering noise and fanning flames on the valley floor below.

John Henry and the T-800's hear the approaching helicopters.

"Drop to the ground! Maintain fire on enemy!" Shouts John Henry, as they take a more defensive position.

The Apaches come sweeping in, their 30mm cannons opening fire on the endo's. The heavy rounds of ammunition are too much for them as many of the endo's fall. Some explode as their power cells are perforated.

"_Apache leader to squadron. Sweep back around and resume firing on any standing metal."_

The apache's sweep around again the location of friendly metal identified by the plasma fire streaking towards the bare metal endo's as they continue to march forward.

The apache's fly up behind the endo's and hover. Their cannon's turn and point right at the groups of endo's. Before they can react the helicopter's gunners open fire and the heavy caliber bullets rip them to pieces.

"_All right boys. Our job is done here. Let's go help the others."_

The helicopters go flying off. John Henry stands and watches them fly away.

The T-800's also stand and they go forward and finish off the damaged endo's still trying to move despite missing or damaged legs or arms.

"Collect all weapons on the ground and machine parts suitable for repairs. Then lets get the hell out of here." Says John Henry. For the first time in his life he swears, but it goes almost unnoticed but for a small subroutine that monitors his behavioral controls. What you and I would call a conscience.

# # #

"_Falcon Wing Commander to all Falcons. Withdraw attack on that HK and join in attack on that walking giant. It is almost down but we are running low on missiles."_

"_This Romeo to Falcon Wing Commander. Our missiles are having no effect on that HK. It must be armored. Will be with you in three clicks."_

"_Engage enemy as soon as sighted. Amraam's have caused significant damage but it is still standing and firing. Beta group try using your mavericks on it. We will lead the way using our guns to clear a path for you."_

"_Understand Wing Commander. Romeo out."_

The F-16's sweep around and regroup. The remnant of Alpha group lead the way opening up with their 20mm M61 Vulcan Gatling gun. The heavy rounds of ammo bounce off the machine but their rapid impact prevent it from aiming its plasma cannon. Alpha group pulls off as Beta group fires its mavericks. The mavericks go streaking forward impacting dead center on the machine. There is a massive explosion as the machine falls. It's internal reactor breaks open and there is another explosion as the atomic mass is ignited by the explosion.

"John! Look!" Shouts Allison pointing to the northwest. John takes his eyes from the approaching HK to see a small mushroom cloud on the horizon.

"One down. One to go." Shouts Andy, as the others cheer.

# # #

The HK's are banking swerving trying to maintain their targets on the F/A-18 Hornets as they try to maneuver to return fire on the pursuing HK's.

"_Hornet leader to Shakespeare and Pollock. Pull off and scatter, then try to come up behind those damn HK's and hit them with your SideWinders."_

"_Affirmative GQ."_

Two F/A-18's pull sharply away from the group as the HK's continue to streak after them. Shakespeare and Pollock sweep around and come up behind the HK's.

"_Arming sidewinders. Fire on three."_

"_Okay Pollock."_

"_1 ... 2 ... 3! Fire!"_

The aircraft fire off two Sidewinders each. They go streaking toward the HK's. Two HK's maneuver out-of-the-way but the missiles continue forward striking down two that were in front. The other two missiles hit home. The HK's exploding. Burning debris rains down on the mountains below.

Only two HK's remain. They spin and bank then fly off leaving the scene.

"_Shakespeare to Hornet leader. Do you want us to pursue?"_

"_Negative. AE4 command reports that General Connor and his troops are still under threat. Regroup and return to his coordinates. Prepare to open fire at my command."_

# # #

As the large flying HK approaches, hatches begin to open on its underside.

"What is happening?" shouts someone in Connor's group.

"I don't know! But those open hatches give us a chance. Fire into the openings!"

The soldiers begin firing up into the open hatches as two large scoops emerge.

"It's the HK that Jo told us about!" shouts Allison.

"Just keep shooting!"

John Connor and his group maintain firing at the open hatches while the scoops reach down towards them.

"Scatter!" shouts John Connor as the scoops begin to approach.

Everyone jumps up and runs each heading in a different location. John leaps up and grabs Allison's elbow and they run together away from the machine. It turns in midair its starboard scoop grabbing a few individuals as it reaches towards John and Allison with its port scoop.

The air is filled with a thundering roar as the Apaches swoop in from the valley and open fire.

"_This is Apache leader to Squadron. Large HK on our Starboard. Prepare to open fire with Hellfire missiles at my command."_

The Apaches roar through the valley approaching the HK.

"_Apache 1 to Apache Leader. There appears to be hatches opening on the underbelly of the HK."_

"_Acknowledge Apache 1. Attention all Apache gunners, aim Hellfire missiles for the open hatches. Hopefully a few will get inside and blow that motherfucker to hell."_

As the Apaches approach the scoops lower towards the troops below.

"_Arm missiles! And fire at my command"_

The aircraft begins to turn as the troops on the ground flee to avoid the scoops.

"_Fire!"_

The hellfire missiles go streaking towards the HK. Two enter the port side hatch exploding inside the HK. One impacts on the starboard scoop exploding. The scoop separates from the HK falling to the ground below. The troops inside go tumbling out onto the ground. Two more Hellfire missiles go streaking towards the HK. One enters the starboard hatch exploding inside while the other impacts on the surface doing no damage.

Electrical sparks and smoke can be seen coming from vents and seems on the underbelly. The aircraft begins to pitch left then right. Its empty port scoop begins to withdraw. The craft tries to level off.

"_Hornet Leader to squadron. Prepare to fire sidewinder missiles at HK. Aim for the explosions."_

"_Sidewinders armed and ready"_

"_Fire!"_

The F/A-18 Hornets release their last remaining sidewinders at the giant HK as its port scoop begins to withdraw. The missiles impact on the hot spots created by the fires inside the craft created by the Hellfire missiles.

There is a massive explosion in its port wing. The port wing splits, half of the wing falling to the ground below while the craft pitches and yaws trying to regain control. As it begins to spin, three more sidewinders impact on its starboard wing, where it completely separates from the craft. The main fuselage crashes to the ground below exploding. The starboard wing coasts to the ground and impacts on the side of the hill.

"Yaaaaaayyyyy! Hurrraaaaaahhhh! Yahooooooo!" The men on the ground are cheering as they watch the aircraft explode from the missile impacts. Then crash to the ground below.

"This is General Connor. Great Job!" John shouts into the radio.

"_Thanks General and good luck to you and your troops. This is Air Fox Epsilon 4. Returning to Yuma. Over and out."_

"Hey Andy! You are one lucky son-of-a-bitch to find them on the radio." John pounds Andy on the back.

"Three cheers for Andy Keen!" John shouts.

"Hip, hip hooray! Hip, hip hooray! Hip, hip hooray!"

"What's your rank Andy?"

"Corporal."

"Not any more. From now on its Sergeant Andrew Keen and you are in charge of all radio operations and radio operators."

"Hey John!"

"Kyle! You missed the party!"

"True but we sure saw the fireworks!" Kyle responds.

"How many troops do you have with you?"

"Let's see, most of Alpha and Beta Squads and a handful of people from Gamma and Epsilon. And you?"

"I arrived with a mix of troops and armed civilians then Delta Squad and a group of civilians arrived with Allison. John Henry and his machines were last reported down the valley fending off attacking endo's."

"We're going to need to take a head count to know how many people we still have."

"Is this what it was like before I got here?" John asks Kyle.

"Sometimes it was worse, but not often. This is just about as bad as it can get John. If more than fifty percent of us survived it's a miracle. Don't let this undermine your abilities John. Sky Net is ruthless in purging humans from our planet."

"I know. But I've declared war on it, and it will respond. It has responded. This was probably its first salvo. How can we defeat it with losses this high?"

"It is going to take more than people to fight it John. It is going to take ingenuity and bravery. Some of the greatest victories in our planets history have been won against overwhelming odds. This will be one of them."

The strain of the recent events is showing in John's face. He looks grim and exhausted, but his eyes are bright.

Andy comes running up to the two of them. "General Connor I've got Air Fox Epsilon 4 on the radio they want to talk with you. They have a message being relayed from their command post."

"Thank you. Sergeant Lucky." John takes the radio from Andy and walks away from them.

"Sergeant Lucky?" Kyle asks Andy as John walks away.

"He gave me a field promotion for my finding Air Fox Epsilon 4 on the radio. He's probably calling me Lucky, because, it was only by luck that I found them."

"Well at least now we all know what to call you."

"No."

"Yes. From now on you are, Sergeant Lucky." Kyle grins.

Andy walks away shaking his head as John approaches. He hands him the radio and speaks with Kyle.

"I just spoke with Desert Eagle Air Command. They are sending a fleet of Chinook helicopters to carry us out of here to Camp Pendleton. They will be escorted by AH-1 Super Cobras. The Apaches will maintain surveillance until they arrive. They are requesting that I leave on the first helicopter that arrives so I can meet with their command officers at Camp Pendleton."

"Are you going to go?"

"I don't know. We need to recover weapons, locate survivors, and gather everyone together for extraction."

"You can leave that to me and John Henry. We'll do that for you. Why don't you go and take Delta Squad with you for an escort. They are the only fully intact squad left."

"I'll do that. I'll have the pilot fly me over the route we took to get here. The sun is still up and we should be able to spot any survivors, or at the very least dropped weapons and ammo."

"It'll be okay John. No one is going to blame you for this attack. Sky Net has eyes and ears in the sky."

"You mean the satellites."

"Yes. That is why we've stayed underground all our lives. The only time we've been able to venture outside in large numbers has been at night, but that isn't a guarantee we won't be attacked then either."

"All right. Desert Eagle Air Command says the helicopters will be here in an hour. Let's do what we can in the meantime."

# # #

Far away in a one time abandoned military base in Yuma, Arizona, troops on the ground are busy moving the heavy cargo of missiles and shells into storage bunkers under the tarmac from the last group of helicopters. Not long ago, they had to rush to refuel a large group sent out on a new mission known only to command.

In a building converted into use as a hospital, some of the doctors have taken a break after performing surgery non-stop for several hours on the more severely injured.

A middle-aged woman with striking reddish brown hair, wearing blood spattered scrubs, is walking quickly back to the surgery from getting a bite to eat, when she sees a nurse leave a private room.

"Who is in that room? Are the wards filled already?" She asks, wondering if she was misinformed of the number of wounded requiring hospitalization.

"The wards haven't been filled. General Perry asked that Colonel Derek Reese be given a private room."

"General Perry has no authority in this hospital. Such a request should have gone through me." She says with some indignation. "Where is he?"

"I understand that General Perry is with your father."

"Damn. And both of them are busy at the moment. Listen to me, um, . . ."

"Lieutenant Bell, ma'am."

"Thanks Lieutenant. What is Derek's Reese medical status?"

"Minor injuries only. Cuts, abrasions, some first degree burns, and a pulled shoulder. He's suffering more from malnutrition and exhaustion like everyone else rescued from that factory."

"We've got a lot of severely wounded and infected patients, some of which will require isolation to prevent the spread of infection. For now, Colonel Reese may stay here, but if we need the room, move him to a ward. If he won't go I'll drag him there myself, and Perry be damned for interfering in the running of my hospital. Understand?" She says, in a tone that implies she would do it.

"Yes Major. What do you want done with the patient in the meantime?"

The doctor peeks through the door to see that the patient is sleeping soundly. A weather worn and scruffy face peeks out from behind the blanket. His chest gently rising and falling with each breath. She wishes she was sleeping right now. First a long flight followed by hours of surgery. The pilots in MASH never had to perform surgery after flying patients in for treatment. She would have to be skilled in the two most needed jobs in this company.

"Follow through with required treatments for his injuries, make sure he gets plenty of rest and keep his food simple, broths and soups for twenty-four hours."

"Major, um Doctor, when awake, he's been asking about his resistance unit and for something to read, only we haven't got anything."

Letting out a sigh of exasperation, she answers, "You'll have to check with General Perry about his unit, and if he wants them, I've got two Black Hawk training manuals on my desk he can read. I need to return to surgery, but I want an update on Reese and all other former prisoners' health status when I'm done."

"Yes, Doctor Brewster."

**2027, Day 59, evening**

As General Connor and the troops gather up dropped weapons, other troops are tending to wounded while yet still more are searching for survivors.

John Henry arrives with what is left of his company of T-800's. They are carrying some damaged machines and parts from their fallen comrades and the enemy to make repairs.

"How did you make out?" Connor asks him when he sees him.

"We've lost fifty percent of our company. If we can make repairs, I hope to cut the losses down to forty-five percent."

"And yourself, did you sustain any damage?"

"I've lost one power cell and the use of three servos. I do have sufficient parts to make repairs."

"All right John Henry. Please extend my thanks to your troops will you. They were very brave."

"They only did what they were programmed to do. Thanks won't be necessary."

"Then I thank you, then. And you can tell them that I thank them as well!"

"I will." John Henry tilts his head. "There are more helicopters coming. From the south."

John Connor turns to face south and sure enough just over the mountain tops are four large Chinook helicopters with six Cobras as escort.

"All right. I'll be leaving on one of those helicopters. Give any aid you can to Colonel Reese. I'm leaving him in command while I go to Camp Pendleton to meet with the commanding officers of those aircraft which came to our rescue. Please see to your repairs right away and those of your troops."

"Yes John Connor."

John Connor walks over to where he last spoke with Kyle. As he approaches him, the first Chinook comes in to land. A Cobra remains airborne circling the area.

A crewman jumps down out of the Chinook and runs over to Kyle and John.

"I'm looking for General John Connor!" he shouts over the noise of the helicopters engines.

"I'm him!" John shouts back.

"You've got to be kidding. I was expecting someone older!"

"So was I." John mumbles to himself.

"What's that?" the crewman shouts.

"I'm HIM!" shouts John Connor. "I'll be with you in five minutes."

Turning to face Kyle and giving him a wink, he says in a command voice. "Colonel Reese, You are in command here on the ground. I'll be leaving Sergeant Keen and his radio here. Call me as soon as you have news. Colonel Henry is seeing to repairs to himself and his troops. See to it they have sufficient tools to carry out those repairs. Afterwards, they are to provide any and all aid you require."

"Yes Sir!" Kyle snaps a smart salute, but can't help give John a grin when the crewman returns to the helicopter.

"Good show." John says as he grins back at Kyle. "I'll take Delta Squad with me like you suggested. I'll ask the pilot to fly me over the area which we traveled. I may spot some more survivors. Even if I don't, have these pilots fly you over the area and collect all fallen weapons. Those plasma rifles cost us dear and they are the only effective weapons against the machines."

"Will do. You'd better get going!"

"See you at Camp Pendleton."

John trots over to Allison. "Lieutenant Young! You and Delta Squad are coming with me. I've been asked to go to Camp Pendleton to meet with their commanding officers. I need you with me as my adjutant, and your squad as my escort. And..." he drops his voice so only she can hear him, "I can't bear leaving you behind and out of sight after all this."

"All right John." she responds quietly giving John a small grin, then speaks loudly for her squad to hear, "Delta Squad form up! We are escorting General Connor to Camp Pendleton!"

General John Connor climbs up into the helicopter followed by Lieutenant Allison Young and Delta Squad. John takes a seat just behind the pilot, while everyone else sits in any available space.

Before the helicopter takes off, John leans over and speaks to the pilot. "I'd like you to fly us down the valley. Men and supplies have been left scattered for several miles. I'd like to know what happened and where everyone is."

"I can do that General. If you would please take a seat, I'll be taking off now."

The helicopter takes off blowing dust and dirt around. Kyle and the other troops cover their faces as it lifts off, and then it turns flying down the valley.

John looks out the window at the ground below. There are bodies and weapons laying on the ground everywhere. There are small fires burning from the plasma fire. John wonders at first what could be burning in this devastation, when he realizes it is bodies burning. Throughout the valley there are numerous corpses and weapons scattered across the valley floor like forgotten toys after a game of soldiers.

They are getting close to where they began running from the HK's and fighting back.

"Pilot." John shouts over the noise. "I'd like you to land at the end of this valley before taking us to Camp Pendleton."

"I can't do that sir. My orders are to take you and your party straight to Camp Pendleton."

"Whose orders?"

"The orders come from Captain..."

"Your orders are countermanded, pilot. I am General John Connor and you will land at the end of this valley!"

"I can't, Captains orders says I'm suppose to take you straight to base."

John exchanges a look with Allison then pulls his handgun from its holster and shoves the end into the pilots neck. "Lieutenant Young! Take the controls."

Allison looks at John with some surprise but gamely goes forward and gets into the copilots seat.

"You have two choices pilot. One, you take this craft where I want to go, and you live. Two, I shoot you here and now for disobeying an order and Lieutenant Young flies this craft to where I want to go. What is your decision?"

The pilot swallows a couple of times. "I'll take the craft to the end of the valley. The Captain won't like this."

"I don't give a rats ass what he likes or won't like. Just do it!"

"Yes sir!"

The pilot turns the helicopter and flies to the end of the valley. John is watching the whole time.

"That's the valley where we were ambushed." shouts Allison.

"I know! There is something we need down there!" John shouts back.

"Pilot! Land over there!" John points to a clearing just yards from where he stood less than twenty-four hours ago when the HK's first came flying over.

The Chinook lands. "Wait here. I won't be long!" John hands his weapon to Allison and jumps out the door.

He runs over to where he can see some dropped belongings. Along the way he sees dead bodies smoking from the fires of the plasma guns. The stench is terrible. Fighting the urge to vomit, he finds what he is looking for, the bags containing his computer and Cameron's chips and Allison's bag containing her personal effects. He runs back to the helicopter hands the bags to the troops inside then clambers in right behind.

"All right pilot, take us to Camp Pendleton." John takes his gun back from Allison.

Allison leaves the copilots seat and goes in back to sit with John and the other members of Delta Squad.

"You do realize that I don't know how to fly." Allison says quietly as she sits next to John.

John leans into her and talks in a lowered voice. "I know that, but the pilot didn't know that, and he was more likely to give in to my demands if he thought someone else could fly this bird."

"What was so important you had to force the pilot to land?" She asks him.

"When we ran from those HK's, we dropped everything but our guns. There were two things I knew that neither one of us wanted to part with. One was my computer and the chips I'm trying to program, and the other..." John pulls the bags over reaches inside one and pulls out the ballet slippers and hands them to Allison.

"John! Thank you!" She hugs him and gives him a warm kiss on the lips. "Thank you John. I thought I had lost them for good."

"When you told me you wanted to wait to marry me that maybe you didn't care about me as much as I thought you did."

" I do care about you, it was just . . ." John shrugs, but finishes the thought in his head. _I care about you more than I should, more than I wanted too._ ". . . that it seemed like a good idea."

She hugs him tightly, kissing him. The other troops look slightly embarrassed and try to look at anything other than the two of them. They take a great deal of interest in the ceiling.

"Allison, perhaps you should stop." John says as quietly as he can over the noise of the helicopter. "It isn't exactly good for discipline for us to behave like this in front of the troops." John's face is red from Allison's public affection.

Allison pulls back slightly and looks in his eyes. "Screw discipline!" She says and kisses him again. When he told her he wanted to wait to marry her, he thought that perhaps he stopped caring, that despite his reason for being here, he didn't love her at all, but he did this for her, recovered the most precious items she possessed and placed them in her hands.

She kisses him, with a whispered promise of more to come, once they have some privacy.

With the setting sun lighting up the interior of the helicopter and the surrounding landscape, that some passengers take interest in what is outside.

As the helicopter clears the mountains and heads toward the coast to Camp Pendleton. The troops look out at the devastation below. For years they lived amongst the ruins that once was southern California and the Los Angeles area.

John and Allison go to a window and look out below. John can just see where Los Angeles once stood on the horizon. A moonscape of rubble, blasted gray structures, and complete devastation lie where gleaming towers and homes and businesses once stood.

"How many missiles struck Los Angeles on Judgment Day?" John asks.

"No one knows for certain, but they think at least three, maybe five." Allison replies

"I used to live there. It was my home." He unintentionally lets slip. The weariness of the last few days making him forget.

"It used to be the home for a lot of people." Allison replies, placing a gentle hand on John's shoulder.

_Mom must have died, if she were still in L. A. on May eighteenth, _John thinks._ And if she wasn't and was sick like Cameron said, then how long did she live afterward, slowly dying of cancer._

Turning his back on the window, John slumps down on the floor, letting the sound of the helicopter drown out his thoughts.

Sitting beside him, Allison takes his hand.

_He's tired,_ she thinks. _John has been through so much and has so much more to do. But there will be time to rest at Pendleton, for all of us. I hope._

The sun is getting ever closer to the ocean's horizon as the helicopter comes in to land. Fortunately for John and the others, their angle of approach prevents them from seeing the destruction done to San Diego, a city much closer to their location.

# # #

"You look exhausted." the old Air force officer tells his friend.

"Battles do that to you." General Perry taps his foot on the floor. "How much longer for your tech's to finish examining the missiles?"

"Give them time, Justin. There is a lot for them to examine."

"How much jet fuel do you have?"

"I won't lie, we need more fuel and pilots. I put out a general call to all available units for assistance. Texas said they'll try. You gotta love them Texans. They can be down to their last can of mash and still give you the shirt off their backs. As far as fuel goes, I'm hoping to hear soon from our Venezuelan friends. They have two air tankers they can load with fuel, unfortunately the refining takes time."

At that moment a young officer approaches with a clipboard in hand. "Sorry it took me so long, but I wanted to double-check some of the findings."

"Which are?" Perry asks. He didn't lose almost a third of his men to death and injuries, just to get a load of bobbles. These missiles need to work!

"First of all, the missiles are top of the line. Some of the best work Sky Net has made."

"And the bad news?" General Brewster asks.

"Sky Net has altered the mounting and release mechanism, again. In their present configuration, they will not mount to any of our jets or helicopters."

"But you have a means to fix it?" Perry growls. "Right?"

"Yes, I think we do, but even if all of us tech's work flat out for seventy-two hours, we won't get enough of them converted in time."

The men stand in silence for a moment before Brewster speaks, "Converting the mounts, does it require any specialized skills?"

"Not really, basic mechanical skills would be good. Us technicians could hand the electrical and . . . ahh! I see where you are going with this."

"Perhaps." Brewster turns to his friend. "Your officers questioned the people you rescued. Surely there must be some technicians or mechanically skilled people amongst them that can help."

Perry grins. "You bet your ass Bob. But it's still going to be rough outfitting every jet here, and those on there way, with enough missiles and have some in reserve."

"We won't worry about that. I'm sure you man Beddell has been stockpiling Pendleton from the weapon cache's we left hidden in every abandoned base from Seattle to the tip of Baja California."

"In the meantime though, we'll let the rescued captives sleep and get a good meal into them. I'll roust out some of my men and get them to help your technicians."

**2027, Day 59, 8 PM**

Kyle runs up to John Henry's position after checking on defensive positions.

"Colonel Henry, how go the repairs to your troops?"

"The repairs to myself have been completed. There are several T-800's which require parts we do not have. However, we have made significant enough repairs to decrease our losses from 50% to 46%. If we could send a group after more parts from the battle field, we could complete all repairs and reduce our losses even further."

"Do so, but you remain here with me. I'd like your assistance in examining the surviving wreckage from that large HK that went after Connor and his group."

"Very well."

John Henry sends six machines back down the valley to collect more parts from fallen machines. He also sends an additional twelve to collect fallen weapons, specifically heavy armaments and plasma rifles. When John Henry joins Kyle Reese at the wreckage of the starboard wing he brings with him six machines. Kyle has six soldiers with him.

The wing is huge, as long and as thick as the fuselage of a Boeing 747. The wing tapers to a knifes edge. Two massive engines are encased within the wing. One of which is still operating, generating a loud screaming whine.

"Can you do something to shut down that engine?" Kyle shouts at John Henry to be heard above the noise.

"It might be possible, but we'd have to get inside the wing and disable the power coupling."

"There is probably a way in through the open hatch underneath!" Kyle shouts back.

"Agreed!"

John Henry and the six machines walk to the end of the wing to where the open hatch is. They lift the wing enough so that John Henry can crawl underneath and into the hatch. A few minutes later the engine starts to wind down. John Henry crawls out from underneath as the engine comes to a stop.

"Can you hear something?" Kyle asks as John Henry comes to his side.

From inside the fuselage can be heard muffled cries.

"There is someone inside!" John Henry says.

"Quick! Get them out of there!" Kyle shouts.

"Come to me now!" shouts John Henry at the machines he left to finish repairs.

They all come running over.

"We need to open up this wing. There is someone trapped inside."

The machines climb up on top of the wing and begin digging their fingers into the gaps left between the sheets of armor formed by the explosions and crash. A high pitch scream of twisted metal is heard as they wrench a section of plating off the wing and throw it to the ground below.

Kyle quickly scrambles up on top of the wing and looks inside. The wing is filled with hollow chambers. In some of those chambers are bodies of dead prisoners. The cries are louder now.

"Can someone help me please?" Comes a voice from inside.

"It sound like a girl!" Kyle says then jumps down inside the fuselage.

"Can you hear me? I'm here to rescue you!" he shouts.

"Over here! I'm over here!" Her voice cries out in the dark chambers.

"Colonel Henry, come with me!" Kyle says then moves towards the shouts. "Where are you? Talk to me so I can find you."

"I'm over here! My name is Natalie. I was captured by this thing and I'm trapped!"

"I'm coming. My name is Kyle. We will get you out."

It is completely dark inside, but for the small amount of light coming from the hole torn in the wing, and a few sparks from broken cables.

"Someone, bring a light. It is dark down here!" Kyle shouts back to the opening behind him.

A soldier outside pulls out his flashlight and jumps down inside the fuselage. He flips on the light and makes his way towards Kyle and John Henry. He catches up with them as they find Natalie in her cell.

"Help me please! I'm trapped!" She yells as the light hits her.

Her cage is situated at just the location where the wing buckled on impact, causing the cell walls to buckle and break trapping her legs under the bent bars.

"John Henry, can you break her free?"

"Yes. Soldier, shine the light right there." He says pointing to the buckled cage walls.

"Kyle, pull her out as soon as I bend these bars up."

Kyle walks over behind Natalie and bends down grabbing her under her arms. John Henry reaches down and grasps the bars pulling on them. The bars begin to slowly pull away from her legs.

"Now!" shouts John Henry.

Kyle quickly pulls her free and John Henry releases the bars. The bars snap back and the cell wall buckles again. Stress fractures appear and the smell of fuel fills the air.

"We should leave this place at once!" Kyle says.

The four of them, Kyle, Natalie, John Henry, and the soldier quickly leave the way they came in, the smell of fuel getting stronger. As they approach the opening, the gurgle of flowing liquid can be heard.

"Quick! Give us a hand up!" shouts Kyle.

Four machines bend down grasping their wrists and pulling them to the surface.

"Get off this wing! There is a fuel leak inside!" John Henry shouts.

Everyone goes scrambling off the wing and runs for the other side of the clearing when there is a sudden woomph! Followed by a huge explosion which knocks everyone down including the machines.

The people and machines pick themselves off the ground and look at the fiery wreckage.

"Thanks for your help John." Kyle says.

"No problem!" John Henry says then walks off.

Natalie stands up next to Kyle. "Is that John Connor?"

"No, that is John Henry. He's a Triple 8 working with the resistance." Kyle turns to look at Natalie and is thunderstruck by her appearance. She is about 5 feet 6 inches in height and slender, maybe 105 pounds. Her hair is long and straight and as black a raven's wing. Her eyes are as black as her hair and slightly slanted, showing Asian ancestry, but her skin is a warm reddish brown like a Native American.

"I'm...I'm Kyle Reese." Kyle stammers. "Do you know John Connor?"

"No. I heard his radio address and was walking to Camp Pendleton when that machine picked me up." Natalie looked at Kyle. "My name is Natalie, Natalie Sky. My friends call me Nat."

"I hope you'll consider me, one of your friends, Nat." Kyle says smiling at her.

"I'm sure I could, considering it was you who rescued me, Kyle." She says with a smile.

**2027, Day 59, 9 PM**

The helicopter lands and General Connor and his party exit the aircraft and enter hanger doors built into the side of a hill. They follow a member of the ground crew who escorts them inside and through a set of doors and down a corridor. The helicopter is refueled and it takes back off again returning to the mountains to recover more of John Connor's army.

There are numerous soldiers throughout the underground structure. All in semi-regular uniforms of mixed branches of the armed forces and various formats of camouflage. But one thing is clear, they are all well disciplined and highly armed. All carry an automatic rifle and a side arm.

Their escort stops in the corridor outside a set of double doors. "Your men can wait here General Connor. The CO is waiting for you in his office."

"Lieutenant Young will come with me. The others can stay here."

"All right sir. If you would please follow me. I'll have someone take care of your men for you."

"Who is your commanding officer?"

"Major General Perry is, but he's presently away overseeing the taking of a munitions factory. Captain Martin Beddell is in command until he returns."

John and Allison follow the soldier, but John hangs back to share some words in private with Allison.

"Ally" John whispers. "This Captain Beddell might be the same Martin Beddell I met once before."

"Are you sure it's the same person?"

"Don't know. But it is quite possible that some things may be said which...oh the hell with it. You will hear some things, which will contradict my story of how I came to be here. When you hear anything that contradicts what I've said previously, I would appreciate it if you wouldn't react in anyway that could let Captain Beddell know that my origins are something other than what he knows."

"Are you saying you lied about where you came from?" Allison asks, not too surprised at John's sudden frankness.

John stops causing Allison to quickly halt herself. John reaches up and takes her shoulders in both hands. "Allison, what I told you, Derek and Kyle, about how I came to be here, was not the truth. I couldn't tell you then as the tale was too fantastic to believe. But if you go along with me now, I promise that I will tell you and Kyle the whole truth. I'm only asking you to be patient in the next few hours until I can tell you both."

"General Connor, If you would please keep up!" Their escort shouts from down the hall.

"Allison?" John whispers.

"Okay John. I always thought there was more to your story than you let on. I trust you and love you."

"Good. I trust and love you too. Come on, let's not keep our escort waiting."

# # #

"Captain Beddell. General Connor and Lieutenant Young to see you sir!" The soldier says after knocking on a door.

"Send them in!"

John and Allison walk into a dimly lit office. Except for a small desk lamp, there are no other lights in the room.

"Captain Beddell, I'm General John Connor, and this is my Adjutant, Lieutenant Allison Young"

"Hello, Lieutenant. Please, both of you have a seat."

The three of them sit down in folding metal chairs. The desk is simple, a contemporary slab supported by two half height file cabinets.

"Where are the other commanding officers I was told I would be meeting?"

"Major General Perry of the USMC is supervising the capture of a munitions factory in northern Arizona, and Lieutenant General Robert Brewster of the USAF is tied up in Yuma. Your rescue was very timely. The aircraft which intervened on your behalf, were there to blockade any HK's sent to protect the munitions factory. General Brewster couldn't leave Yuma, as he was overseeing the air mission. He will instead arrive with General Perry after all craft return to Yuma for refueling and re-arming."

Captain Beddell leans back in his chair. "John Connor. A general no less. It has been a long time since we spoke last."

"So you do remember me."

"I sure as hell do. If it wasn't for you, I would have left Presidio Alto. Instead, I was on campus studying for finals when the alert was given. After taking shelter in the bunker for a few weeks, during which our CO still insisted we take our exams, we then left for Camp Pendleton and took shelter here. So I and my classmates survived Judgment Day, which didn't happen on the day you told me."

"I can't explain that. I wasn't there when it happened."

"So I understand."

"What?" John says surprise.

"You may not believe it Connor, but I know what happened. I know why you don't look a day older than when I last saw you, and I've aged almost twenty years."

"But how do you know this?"

"You'll learn that soon enough. Right now I think the two of you and the troops you brought could probably use a shower, some fresh clothes and a hot meal."

"Maybe later. Right now I'm more concerned with my men still out there in the mountains and how you know what you know."

"All right, Connor." Beddell leans forward in his chair. "We had some company arrive yesterday. Some two hundred soldiers of various outfits and trained civilians, led by two women."

"I thought all of those soldiers were yours."

"I've only got about fifty people, all former fellow cadets from Presidio Alto. Everyone else presently here at Camp Pendleton, except for the ground crews and pilots, are under the command of these two women. Apparently they've been building an army since Judgment Day waiting for you to make an appearance. It's a fantastic tale and one they can tell you better than I."

John is getting a little frustrated with Beddell's evasiveness. It almost appears Beddell is enjoying it, or is that just his own exhaustion playing tricks with his perception. Deciding to remain civil he asks, "Who are these women?"

"There are two of them, like I said. Apparently one of them knew who I was when I mentioned my name. She explained to me about your unorthodox method of getting here by traveling through time, and that now is the time to organize the resistance to fight back."

"But who?" He asks, this time the civility almost completely gone from his voice.

"Wait right here, I'll see if they are available."

Captain Beddell gets up from his chair and leaves the room.

John and Allison sit quietly for a moment.

_He's going to tell me the truth._ Allison thinks. _I've waited for so long for him to trust me with the truth. I'm sure there must be lots he wants to tell me. But I dare not say anything, less I reveal what I've learned already._

A couple of minutes go by and John can't bear Ally's silence any longer.

"Allison, is there something you want to ask me, before he returns?"

Trying not to show relief at John broaching the topic himself, she carefully replies. "Everything you said about how you got here was a lie?"

"Yes."

"And you really got here by traveling forward through time?"

"Yes."

"What year did you travel from?"

"2009. May 13, I think. I might be wrong about the day. There was a lot happening at the time."

"What about Catherine and John Henry?"

John lets out a sigh. There is just so much to explain, but not right now.

"Them as well. Um. Listen, there is a lot to explain. The truth is more complex than . . . than, I don't know. More complex than a machine's chip. I will explain everything to you. I promise." There are footsteps approaching the door. "I'll tell you and Kyle everything later. You both need to know the truth now."

Beddell enters the office. "Good you are both still here. I'd like you to meet one of the leaders of that army." He says as a woman walks in and stops just where the light on the desk shines on her. She is a strikingly beautiful red-haired woman, in her twenties, wearing battle fatigues.

"Hello John Connor. It's been a long time." She says, her face beaming.

"Do I know you?" John says getting up from his chair.

"Yes, but the last time you saw me, I was only six. It's been eighteen years since you taught me to tie my shoes."

Realization hits John like a pail of cold water. "Savannah? Savannah Weaver!"

"Yes, John. The squirrel runs round the tree." Savannah says with a smile. Recalling the method John used to teach her so many years ago to tie her shoes.

"Oh my God! I can't believe it!" John and Savannah have a short embrace.

John looks at the woman, now older than he, who was once a precocious little girl. Remembering his manners, he steps back. "Allison Young. This is Savannah Weaver. I knew her a very long time ago."

Allison stands, but she is still in shadow so that Savannah can't see her. "I'm pleased to meet you."

"Likewise."

"I can't believe it." John says. "You are all grown up now. You survived Judgment Day. Other than Beddell, you are the only other person I've met that I knew before I time jumped. How did you survive?"

"It's a long story, but I think I'll wait to tell you. There is someone else who has been waiting to meet you."

"Who?" John asks, his mind swimming with possibilities.

"I think it best if you just came with me." She says with a mischievous smile.

"All right. Captain Beddell, could you please arrange for Lieutenant Young to go to your radio room so she can inform our people that we've arrived and to find out what's been happening to my men since I left."

"No problem. You two, go on ahead."

John and Savannah leave Beddell's office.

"How did you and John meet?" Allison asks.

"John Connor saved my life from a terminator. He and his uncle infiltrated Presidio Alto under assumed names and destroyed a terminator out to kill me. A big machine, possibly a T-800. They explained to me everything, or probably as much as they felt I should know at the time, I think.

Captain Beddell leans back in his chair, reaching over to turn on the overhead light. The room lights up like a surgery in comparison to the dungeon like atmosphere it previously held.

"Sorry, I should have turned on the overhead light when you two came in. We try to conserve as much power as possible despite having two nuclear generators and a third for backup. Have you known John very long?"

Blinking from the change in lighting, she answers, "Since the day he arrived. We are engaged to be married."

"Well, well, well." He grins, "He certainly didn't waste any time. I suppose he told you how he came to be here?"

"Not in so many words. But he has said enough to me the last several weeks to make what has been said here not too surprising."

# # #

Savannah escorts John to an elevator and they go down several levels.

"So who is this other person you are taking me to meet." He says with a slightly worried expression.

"I promised not to tell. Don't worry you are perfectly safe." She says mischievously.

John keeps running through names in his head, but he can't think of any. Exhaustion and battle fatigue are taking hold and he wishes this day would end soon. Chola? She was there in those last days. She must have known something. Why else would she help him and Cameron like she did.

They step off the elevator onto a residential level of the military bunker. They walk down a lighted passage until she stops outside a door.

"Before you go in, I should tell you she's been waiting for this moment a long time." Savannah knocks on the door.

"Come in." John hears a familiar voice say from inside, tempered by time and work.

Savannah opens the door and steps back allowing John to walk in ahead of her.

The room is dimly lit by a single low voltage lamp on the ceiling. As John walks in he sees someone sitting on the edge of a bunk. It is a woman and she stands and steps into the light.

John's heart nearly stops. NO. It can't be.

"John!" The woman cries, tears instantly running down her cheeks.

"Mom?" He asks, shocked by seeing her. "Is it really you?"

"John." She says softly, holding out her arms to embrace him.

"MOM!" He shouts with joy running those last three steps.

John embraces his mother as they both cry tears of joy. For John it's been almost two months since the last time he saw his mother, but Sarah hasn't seen her son in eighteen years.

"John. My son. My son." Sarah keeps saying over and over as she holds her son tight.

"I missed you, Mom. I love you." He says through the tears.

Savannah stands in the doorway crying small tears of joy at the reunion. Sarah has found her son at last!

* * *

**Coming next:** "Against All Odds," a new chapter telling the story of how Sarah, Savannah and Cameron lived and survived the last eighteen years since Judgment Day.


	22. Against All Odds

**Disclaimer:** I do not claim any rights to the Terminator films; the TV series, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles;" or any characters depicted within the films or TV series. I do claim the right to this story idea and all characters and situations of my own creation. This story was created solely for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. No profits are garnered from its distribution - unfortunately.

**Author Notes:** There is nothing here truly of an adult nature, but there are some topics which might make some of you uncomfortable. Explanations will follow at the end of this chapter as to why its here.

I've wanted to write this chapter for a long time. I always thought the absence of scenes depicting Savannah growing up and Cameron growing as a person were detrimental to the first edition. More on this follows in the closing Author Notes.

My thanks to Meanoldmoe and TheRosieMac who lent their time in reviewing and offering suggestions on earlier versions of this chapter. Any errors are mine and mine alone.

* * *

**TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES**

**REUNION**

**Part 2: Armageddon**

**Author: The1Russter**

**Chapter 21**

**Against All Odds**

"_How can I just let you walk away,_

_Just let you leave without a trace_

_When I stand here taking every breath with you, ooh_

_You're the only one who really knew me at all_

_How can you just walk away from me,_

_When all I can do is watch you leave_

_Cos we've shared the laughter and the pain,_

_And even shared the tears_

_You're the only one who really knew me at all_

_So take a look at me now,_

_Cos there's just an empty space_

_And there's nothing left here to remind me,_

_Just the memory of your face_

_Take a look at me now,_

_Cos there's just an empty space_

_And you coming back to me_

_Is against all odds and that's what I've got to face..._

_Just take a look at me now"_

_Against All Odds lyrics, by Phil Collins _

# # #

**2009, One Week after Judgment Day**

A pretty little red haired girl walks through the empty corridors of Crystal Peak imagining great things, simple things, of all that might have been or could be in this mountain fortress. She was brought here by two women as the bombs began to fall.

As scared as she was then, riding in the back seat of the truck with a woman who lay bleeding and crying for most of the journey, she doesn't feel as frightened now. The woman did not cry for herself, or the injuries that were inflicted upon her, but she cried for her son and the world.

Up front a younger woman, who strangely reminded the girl of her friend who lived in Mommy's basement, drove through the night, but for one stop to steal supplies. When she returned, she said nothing and resumed driving, never stopping until they reached this bunker.

When Cameron picked up Sarah to carry her inside, Sarah asked her, "How did you know this was here?"

"I've been here before." Was all that she said.

Since that day, they were busy, looking after Sarah, manning the radios as civil defense units began looking for directions, and taking inventory of the supplies they had. Through it all, the girl had felt fear and grief and anxiety, but Sarah radiated a strength, despite her weakened state, that quelled her fears; and Cameron's quiet approach to all that was around her brought a calm to her troubled mind.

Becoming bored with her surroundings, little Savannah makes her way down the stairs to the main hall.

She finds Sarah where she left her, resting on the built-in sofas. Savannah wonders if she should disturb Sarah. Cameron said she needed her rest so her body could heal and make-up for the blood lost.

The last of the blood supplies they stole were used up yesterday, but Sarah is still weak.

She looks at the woman and feels worried that she's not getting better. Unknowingly she lets out a long sigh which gets Sarah's attention.

Opening her heavy eyes, Sarah looks over and smiles weakly at the little girl. How she wishes that she had a little girl of her own. Not that she didn't love John, but just the idea of having a girl and being able to do all the mother daughter stuff like she did with her own mom. It might have taken the pressure off of raising John alone all those years.

"Hi Savannah." Sarah says. "How are you doing dear?"

Savannah steps forward taking the woman's hand in her own like she's seen Cameron do so many times.

"I'm bored. There's nothing to do here." She says, and then remembering her manners, quickly adds, "How are you feeling?"

"I'm tired, sweetheart. I promise that once I feel better we'll make this place a home, okay?"

Savannah looks down at her feet. She is wearing the sneakers Cameron bought her before the bombs fell. Mentioning of home brings back memories of those that were left behind.

"What's wrong Savannah?"

"I miss my mommy, Uncle James and John Henry." She whimpers. "Do you think they are still alive?"

Sarah gently runs her hand along Savannah's arm. "I don't know, child. We can only pray and hope."

The words are little comfort to the troubled young girl, so Sarah holds her arms out and Savannah quickly accepts the hug and gives her one back.

"Uncle James said your son went with my mommy and John Henry. Do you know where they've gone?"

Sarah wonders how much this child could understand, but she'll have to grow up fast so best not to mince words. Sarah knows that she will have to tell the girl the truth about her mother, and isn't sure when she should tell her that. But there are things she can tell her now, things she'll need to know.

"Your mom, along with my son followed John Henry when he traveled to the future."

Savannah puts her hands on her hips and gives her a look like she's saying, you've got to be kidding.

With a crooked grin, Sarah continues explaining. "It's true. The three of them traveled to the future using a time-machine, in your mom's basement."

"To fight Sky Net like Uncle James said."

"Well, yes." Sarah answers. Best to keep the story simple for now.

"Okay. Will we have to fight the evil machines?"

"I hope not, but I don't think we have much choice."

"Do you know how . . . how to fight the machines?" She asks feeling a little scared.

"Yes, and it will be easier with Cameron's help. She has knowledge about the machines we'll be facing."

"You'll need an army." Savannah says firmly. "Three girls aren't enough to fight it."

Sarah is perplexed by this little girl. Appearing to be more knowledgeable and wise than most kids her age yet still having all the innocence.

"I don't know where we'll get an army, sweetheart."

"They'll come here, like we did. Cameron's been talking to people on the radio. They'll come. I know they will."

"You're probably right."

Sarah smiles at the little girl.

"I want to rest some more. Why don't you go see if Cameron needs your help."

"Okay!" She says brightly. "I like her. She reminds me of my friend John Henry."

Savannah quickly skips across the tiled concrete floor to the other side of the main hall where Cameron is busy with the ancient cold-war computers. Leaving Sarah wondering how much Savannah knows about John Henry, and how much she should tell her about Cameron. Savannah will need to know everything in time, and it appears they have lots of time. Almost twenty years.

_Twenty years!_ Sarah sighs and fights the anguish inside as she closes her eyes. _Why did I let him go? Why? _

Cameron had returned to the main floor to work on the computers an hour ago. She finished going over the power generators and is disappointed to find that the nuclear generator is non-operational. Perhaps it was disabled by the military when they left, or perhaps sabotage. Regardless of the cause, it doesn't work, unless she can obtain the right parts. Gerry rigging from available parts to compensate for the damage components might work, but she doesn't want to risk the lives of the two females. There's enough radiation outside the bunker without creating more inside. They will have to rely on the diesel generators for now and maybe always. They have sufficient fuel at the moment, but they'll have to ration the fuel and their power consumption until they can replenish their supplies. When next she speaks to people on the radio, she'll ask them specifically to bring diesel fuel when they come.

Having returned to the main floor, Cameron spent the first hour running cables to the various computers and swapping out parts with those she found in storage. Cables and wires now trail from one old computer to another as Cameron works to make the ancient computers more efficient, faster and hidden from Sky Net's network. They need to be able to log into the defense network without alerting Sky Net to their presence. Because only by knowing when the spy satellites are overhead will they be able to operate in the shadows and forever remain hidden from Sky Net.

Cameron is laying on the floor, up to her waist inside one huge server when Savannah sticks her head inside.

"Whatcha doing?" She calls out.

"Trying to make these computers work." Cameron says, momentarily removing a screwdriver from between her teeth to answer the precocious child.

"Have you tried turning them on?" Savannah asks innocently.

"Not yet. I need to improve them. They aren't as fast or as smart as a modern computer."

"Ohhh. Is there anything I can do to help?"

Cameron muses a moment, then asks, "Can you use a screwdriver?"

"Of course I can. Don't be silly."

Cameron grins at the little girl.

"Then crawl in beside me and I'll show you what I'm doing."

Without hesitation Savannah crawls in beside her. Cameron quickly points out a circuit board where some internal wires connect. She shows the girl what changes need to be made and where which wires from a new cable need to be connected.

"Now, do you think you can do that without making a mistake."

Savannah quickly recites all the steps Cameron told her to make without missing a single step.

"That's very good. Do it on that computer over there. When you are done, let me know so I can check your work. There will be more I'll have to do in each server afterwards."

Later that night, Sarah and Cameron are talking in the darkened main hall while Savannah sleeps several paces away on one of the built-in sofas. Amongst the three of them, Savannah gives all appearances of adapting far more quickly to their new surroundings.

"I think Savannah has what is commonly referred to as photographic memory." Cameron says. "I think she might have the ability to attain a higher level of learning than the average human her age. She could achieve genius levels of intelligence."

"Why do you think that?"

"I showed her what I was doing with the computers. After demonstrating what I was doing with one, I asked her to repeat the steps I took. She not only repeated all the steps I told her to follow, but she also recited them in the exact order. When I examined the work, she did on her own, it was an exact match to the work I did, too within a 3.2% margin of difference."

"That could be a coincidence."

"That was my first thought, but then it was the same for the other computers. All of them were done too within a 5.1% margin of difference and all done accurately to the instructions I had given her only once."

"Looks like we've got a budding engineer or scientist in our midst then. You should continue training and educating her in computers and electronics, and when she's older the things she needs to know about terminators. I'll see to her regular education and once I'm fit and she's old enough, you and I will see to her combat training."

"Of course. It is up to us to look after Savannah and raise her. We'll have to tell her the truth about all of this. Why the bombs fell, why we have to remain underground."

"She knows some things already. James Ellison told her about the machines and Sky Net."

Sarah sighs.

"I never thought I'd see this. I would have horrid nightmares about Judgment Day, but I never believed . . ." Sarah's voice catches "I never believed I would see it happen. No, that isn't quite true. I never wanted to believe that it could happen. I thought we could stop it . . . I thought we had, before you showed up. The first time."

Cameron reaches out and grasps Sarah's hand. At first she did this to secretly check her vitals, but she's noticed how Sarah responds to her touch. Humans use touch to convey feelings. Sarah draws comfort from her touch. Cameron decided she must remember to do that when required in communicating.

"People will be coming here, looking for shelter, food and water." Cameron tells her.

"Savannah says I'll have an army. I've never led an army before."

"You'll have to do many things you haven't done before."

Sarah nods her head as she takes a sip from her glass of water. How she wishes, she had thought to pack some tea bags. She misses sipping a cup of hot tea in the evening. There will be many things she'll have to do without and will have to find alternatives for, especially tampons. She only has few tucked away in her bag for emergencies, and whatever feminine supplies this facility has, will probably be old, or in limited supply, or worse non-existent given the military male centered philosophy, especially at the time this place was built.

Cameron herself has been sitting quietly while Sarah has been thinking. There are things on her mind too. Things she needs to talk to Sarah about.

"Sarah, I've been thinking. I've come to a decision and I think it will be for the best."

Cameron has certainly gotten Sarah's attention, as she sets her glass down to listen.

"What decision is that?"

"When people come, and they will come, don't let them know that I'm not human. In fact, I'd prefer not to have any contact with them, if possible."

Sarah is surprised by this. "Why?"

"It's complicated, but the people need a strong leader. You are strong Sarah Connor. You need to be the voice of leadership. It wouldn't do well to lead the fight against Sky Net if it is known you have one of Sky Net's machines as your companion."

"I can understand that, but your history is different. You were built in a different time and place. You aren't one of Sky Net's machines."

"No, not anymore, thanks to your son, but to the others who will arrive, I will be considered an enemy. They will be emotional and could severely damage me if I were attacked by a mob. I would not fight them and compatible spare parts will be impossible to obtain for at least seventeen years. I cannot risk damage in that time."

"Understood, but why minimal contact?"

"I'd prefer not to see anyone but you and Savannah. It might be awkward for those who know the person I was modeled on. If I were to meet people who know Allison Young, then my secret would also be revealed. I admit the chance of meeting such people will be infinitesimal but it's possible."

"I think I understand. I don't know how you will do it if we get a lot of people here, but if that is what you want, then that is what we'll do."

Cameron gives her a light grin. "Thank you Sarah. You should get some sleep. We've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

Sarah settles down, pulling the blanket down from the back of the built-in sofa to cover herself. She could have moved to a dorm room or a private room a few days ago, but she chose to stay in the central area, close to where Cameron is working. Here she'll remain for the time being.

"May I ask you something?"Sarah asks, having no other recourse but to seek help from Cameron.

"Of course."

"You have complete files on human anatomy. Do you know enough to perform a physical exam?"

"I don't understand. Are you not feeling well Sarah?"

"Other than feeling tired, just the opposite. Until recently, I hadn't been feeling well for weeks. At first I put it down to stress, nervous stomach or something, but I was fearful that it was cancer, especially after the pain started. When I was in the county lock-up, the prison doctor said it wasn't cancer that I had some kind of stomach virus and gave me a shot, and I felt better, for a time."

"What other symptoms had you experienced?"

"My last three periods have been heavier than normal. Then I began feeling a deep pain, for which I took pain pills."

"There are some non-cancerous and non-life threatening causes in my medical database. Stress alone could explain many of your symptoms. When is your next period due?"

"The middle of next week."

"During her explorations, Savannah found a medical lab. We can collect a sample and examine it for any indicators of what might be wrong. Have there been any other symptoms?"

"Give me your hand."

Cameron holds out her hand and Sarah lies it upon her lower stomach, just below her navel.

"The pressure I've felt has been here, but these last few days, I've felt a warm tingling sensation inside."

Cameron presses lightly. "Any pain when I do this?"

"No, that's just it. Several days ago it would have hurt like hell to press there, but today nothing."

"May I?" Cameron asks, placing her hands on the waistband of Sarah's jeans.

Sarah nods her head and Cameron proceeds to undo the button and unzip Sarah's jeans. Pulling them down past her hips, Cameron presses gently on Sarah's exposed abdomen, working her way down from her navel to just above her bikini line, where a pink scar travels in a rough horizontal line.

"Any pain or discomfort while I did that?"

"No."

"Interesting. I detected no temperature anomalies on the surface of your skin."

"I told you, it's inside. I think it's in my uterus."

"I understand. We could wait for you to have your period and examine it, or I could get a temperature and tissue sample now."

"How?"

Cameron holds up her slender hand to point up toward the upper floors where the lab is, but before she can explain, Sarah begins shouting.

"No! Definitely not!" Sarah protests. "Not even for a medical test would I let a machine stick its hand up my . . . NO!" Sarah quickly pulls her jeans up and does the fasteners.

Cameron frowns. "I don't understand. It would be the quickest way to obtain . . ."

"No! End of discussion. No!"

Cameron frowns. "But its medical . . ."

"The answer is still no."

"But I was only going to suggest . . ."

"No! Find another means, or wait until I have my period."

Cameron head drops, and remains silent. She doesn't understand. She was only going to suggest they should go upstairs to the medical facility Savannah found. Was there something wrong about her hand gesture as she began to point up? She feels confused by Sarah's shouts, unless . . . .

Sarah is shaken. Was it the idea of her . . .? No. Sarah specifically mentioned a machine doing what Cameron had suggested. A terminator violating her most private areas. Did Kreilley . . . ?

Sarah is still feeling fear and anger when she looks at Cameron, but Cameron only displays stoic silence, and yet, is that a hint of sadness on her face. It is so hard to read her expressions.

With a sigh, Sarah realizes she'll have to try and curtail her fears around Cameron. They will be living together in this mountain for many years to come.

"Listen, I'm sorry I yelled at you, but if you knew me, and what I've been through with at the hands of your brethren." She sighs. "I was shocked by your suggestion." Sarah sits up and reaches out to the cyborg, taking her hand.

"You were only trying to help, but all I have ever known is pain from machines. And with every encounter, it gets worse. This last encounter, I've been humiliated and injured in places that are too painful to mention, by a machine. Then my humiliation was extended by my injuries and nakedness being exposed to a little girl who should never know that such cruelty exists."

Cameron hesitates to ask, but Sarah's anger leaves her to suspect something, "Did Kreilley rape you?"

"No. Definitely not!" Sarah shakes her head. "What he did was worse. I think he may have pierced me down there. I . . . I was out of it. Incoherent and numb from the physical pain Kreilley inflicted, then as . . . then as he leaned in and asked . . ." Her voice quakes and her eyes flash fierce anger while simultaneously welling up with tears.

"Sarah . . ."

"No, I can finish." Sarah says, gaining some self-control. "Then as Kreilley asked me one last time where John was . . ." She sobs. ". . . I felt something enter my . . . then I felt a sharp pain inside. I think he was going to impale me if I didn't answer his questions. One quick thrust and he would have stabbed me through my major organs, heart and head. All done through . . ."

Sarah cries some more, and Cameron gently rubs her shoulders. Sarah leans forward, pressing her face against Cameron's stomach, her tears wetting the cyborgs blouse.

"I was scared. So very scared." She sobs

Cameron lets Sarah cry. This is the first time she's spoken of what Kreilley did to her.

"I'm sorry, Sarah. I don't understand how it is a machine would do this. We aren't designed to be cruel. He must have learned these techniques since leaving Sky Net. But you should have told me what he did to you sooner. Your womb might have been infected by Kreilley's nanites."

"His . . . his what?" Sarah asks sounding confused and still upset.

"Nanites. All liquid metal terminators are made from microscopic machines as fine as dust. My own body produces a more basic form of nanites to undertake repairs to my flesh. They only have a short life span. If any nanites were shed by Kreilley in his multiple stabbing of your body . . ."

"Then I could be infected with nanites."

"Possibly. Away from Kreilley's governing mass, they would fall back to their default program, which is similar to my own nanites, then die without an energy source."

"By your look, I'm thinking this is only a guess on your part?"

"Yes. It's only a guess. The warmth and the tingling sensation you feel is because the nanites have gathered in your uterus to reattach to each other, to possibly try to rebuild."

"Rebuild?" Sarah says fearfully. "You mean one of these metal creatures could burst forth from my stomach like in Alien?"

Cameron cocks her head, "What is this alien you mentioned? Is it something we need to defend against?"

"It's a movie." Sarah rolls her eyes, then asks as she points to her stomach. "What about these nanites? Are they rebuilding?"

"Thank you for explaining. The human body does not possess the right metals nor the proper energy for the nanites to rebuild, but they will try. It's part of our nature to repair ourselves. "

"So what is happening inside of me?"

"I won't know until I have examined you."

"You mean, doing the . . . with your hand."

"Not with my hand, with proper instruments." Cameron explains, realizing Sarah's prior misunderstanding. "We go to the medical lab and I'll perform a pelvic exam. If they do not have the proper tools to perform such an exam, then yes, I will have to use my hand to obtain temperature reading and tissue samples. If you wish to avoid any further embarrassment, we should go now while Savannah is still sleeping."

"Oh crud." Sarah groans and sits up on the sofa. "Very well. But I'm telling you right now Missy. This ain't going to be no regular thing you putting your hand up my hoo-hoo."

Cameron cocks one eyebrow. _Must be slang for female genitalia, I'll add it to my data base._

Sarah groans. _Did I just refer to it as my hoo-hoo? If John were here, he'd either die of embarrassment or laugh himself into hysterics. Hoo-hoo! God, I can't believe I called it that._

"Shall I help you to the lab?" Cameron asks.

"No. I'll walk, but I'll probably need your help to walk back."

Despite Sarah's insistence she could walk on her own, she still required Cameron's help when they reached the stairs. After two flights, Sarah gave in and allowed Cameron to carry her to the right level.

Reaching the medical facility, they were both pleased to not only find a room with hospital beds, but an examination room complete with sterilized medical equipment sealed and kept in storage, which made Sarah very pleased. She wouldn't have to suffer the indignity of Cameron having to use her hand.

Cameron helps Sarah up onto the examination table. There is something that Sarah said earlier that has her troubled.

"You said that the other Cameron knew you better. Will it be a problem that I don't know enough about you, personally?"

"Well. Maybe at first, but time will tell. Besides," Sarah gestures at herself and the position she's in, "I'm about to let you do something I never would have let anyone else do that didn't have a medical certificate on their wall or hadn't filled me with a quart of tequila first. Can't get more personal than that now can we?" She jokes, trying to relieve her own personal discomfort.

Twenty minutes later, and Sarah is lying down on a cot in the medical lab while Cameron prepares some slides and cultures.

"When will you have results?" Sarah asks. She could have gone in and laid in one of the hospital beds next door, but she wanted to be here while Cameron began the tests.

"The cultures will take time. I've prepared them simply to rule in or out natural viral or bacterial infections. The slides I've prepared are inconclusive thus far, but for this one."

Cameron holds up one slide. "There are inactive nanites in this tissue sample from your cervix."

"So this means what? That I'll be okay, that they haven't done any damage, or what?"

"All it means is that they have shutdown. Cut off as they were from Kreilley's mass, his nanites would die quickly without a source of energy."

"The tissue samples, do they show . . ." Her face becomes a mask of worry and grief. "Do I have cancer?"

"The small samples I gathered are not cancerous, but it can't be ruled out completely. I'll know more once you have your period. It will contain blood and tissue from within your uterus."

Sarah lies back on the cot. "Thank you Cameron. I'm sorry I freaked out on you earlier."

"It was understandable considering what you've been through."

"Maybe. But you aren't one of them, and I reacted as if you were. What I'm saying is, we're going to be living here together for a long time. I'll always be afraid of Sky Net's machines but you are my friend, I guess. John sent you to help me. He trusted you and I didn't. I won't make that mistake again."

Cameron squats down next to the cot. "You are afraid Sarah. It is natural that you should lash out at those around you."

"It still wasn't right." Sarah smiles weakly at her. "Do me a favor, whatever the results of these tests, we don't tell Savannah. She's been through so much in her short life, I don't want to burden her with this."

"Okay." Cameron says, in her quiet demeanor. "Now that we know this medical facility is here. I should do an inventory. If there is an ultrasound machine, it would help in the diagnosis."

Sarah looks around the room. Most of the equipment predates regular use of ultrasound and MRI's in checking patients health. But its possible there might be equipment in one of the storage rooms below.

"Do it later." Sarah says moving to get up from the cot. "We should go back down stairs before Savannah wakes. I wouldn't want her to wake up alone in that cavernous room."

**2009, Three Weeks after Judgment Day**

Savannah skips down the corridor and enters a room that Cameron has claimed for herself. It is stark and empty but for a cot, a chair, a small table with a single drawer, and her clothing folded neatly on a shelf. Cameron chose it for its proximity to the stairs and main entrance to minimize her exposure to the people who are beginning to arrive.

Savannah enters the room to find Cameron sitting in the chair holding something in her hands. Upon the desk are various small hand tools.

"Whatcha got in your hands?" Savannah pipes up.

"A decision." Cameron says cryptically as she slips her other chip in a shirt pocket.

"Where's Sarah?" Cameron asks, to redirect Savannah's attention.

"She's in the hanger talking to some new arrivals. A friend of hers, Father Amondo Bonitta, has brought several Mexican families with him."

"How did he find Sarah?"

"He didn't know she was here. He said he was at farms giving communion to migrant workers when the bombs fell. A farm owner served here when in the army and he led them all here. They brought baskets of vegetables, so we have some more food."

"Thank you for explaining."

Looking at Cameron's long face, Savannah asks, "Is something wrong?"

"No. Nothing is wrong. Just something I have to do and uncertain of what the outcome will be."

Savannah nods her head.

"I've read a story recently. And in it a captain of a ship had to make a choice about this enemy ship. His orders were not to engage the ship in battle, but the captain of this other ship was determined to sink his ship. The first captain felt he only had one choice, to defend his ship and the people on it, regardless of the outcome. So he went to battle and he sunk the other ship."

"So the moral being, it is better to do the right thing by the people entrusted to your care regardless of what the consequences might be."

Savannah nods her enthusiastically.

She begins to leave, but Cameron stops her with a question.

"What happened to this Captain who disobeyed orders to protect his crew?"

"His superiors punished him, removed him from command, but the people on his ship thought him a hero and he captained a ship once again."

"Thank you Savannah. Where are you going?"

"I'm going back upstairs, to be with Sarah. She's been happier these last couple of days. Do you know why?"

"Sarah's had some good news. That's all you need to know."

"Okay!" Savannah says brightly and skips off down the corridor.

Cameron follows Savannah to the door to close and lock it behind her.

Sarah did have good news. Her menstrual flow contained many dead nanites and lots of dead tissue and blood. Examination of the tissue showed it to be potentially pre-cancerous, but when Cameron examined Sarah's womb again and took a tissue sample, no cancerous cells were found. Sarah's uterus was pink and healthy. No sign of any cancer or any damage from Kreilley's stabbing.

When Cameron told Sarah she was in perfect health, she didn't mention the dead cancer cells. It appeared that Kreilley's nanites had restored her uterus to health before they died, but all she told Sarah was that all the nanites were gone from her body and inactive and that her womb was 100% healthy.

When asked about her heavier than normal period, Cameron lied telling her she had an infection in the lining of her uterus. The antibiotic she got in prison and the subsequent antibiotics Cameron gave her for the multiple stabbings when they arrived at Crystal Peak, obviously healed her.

With the good news, Sarah smiled and gave her a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. She had been in a good humor thereafter.

Cameron was pleased to be able to help her friend, Sarah. But there is someone else she needs to help. With Savannah's words of wisdom, Cameron knows she has to do this now. She'll just face the consequences when they come.

Returning to the table, she pulls out her knife and lays it next to a pair of needle-nose pliers, and some forceps on top of the table.

She takes the chip out of her shirt pocket and lays it next to the tools.

The time has come, and thanks to Savannah, Cameron feels better about the task she must now perform.

A moment after inserting the other chip, Cameron's eyes glow blue. A few seconds later a tear runs down her face as she softly says only one word.

"John."

# # #

So the days turned into weeks and the weeks into months, and in that time more people came. Cameron got the ancient computers working and with the aid of modern electronics brought by the people, was able to make them fully operational. They were now able to monitor the tracking of the military satellites to know when it was safe to venture outside.

Some who arrived died from radiation sickness, or from diseases that ran rampant because their immune systems were destroyed by radiation.

The deaths were many, and most were tragic. Children became orphans. Parents became childless.

Sarah did her best for all who came to Crystal Peak, made easier with advice from Cameron who chose to stay out of sight.

**2011, 2 years after Judgment Day**

Savannah is in a room turned into a library/classroom. She's a voracious reader and is once again reading one of her favorite stories when Sarah comes in, holding something behind her back.

"Hi Sarah!" Savannah says brightly, looking up from her book.

"That doesn't look like schoolwork." Sarah admonishes her lightly. "What are you reading?"

"Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. It's my favorite."

Sarah looks at the cover and sees it's the children's edition.

Sarah smiles. "I would think you'd have that memorized by now. Why are you reading it again?"

"Oh Sarah! It's because this boy and this girl love each other, but their families hate each other. So they must hide their love, but their love is so strong that they marry each other. Wouldn't a wedding be beautiful? Then there is a fight and Romeo kills a relative of Juliet and he must hide. They have to live apart and they don't see each other for so long, and . . ."

"Okay I get it." Sarah laughs. "It's a tragedy."

"But wouldn't it be interesting if Romeo and Juliet could somehow live a new life, together. That they didn't have to die for their families to stop fighting. Oh it's so sad."

"You're not only smart, but you are a romantic."

"Weren't you ever in love?" She says with genuine curiosity, Sarah not having told her about the one man in her life that she did love and still loves today.

Sarah's smile disappears quickly, replaced briefly by one of deep sorrow.

"I'm sorry!" Savannah hugs her.

"It's okay dear." Sarah says, hugging her with one arm as she's holding something behind her back.

"Whatcha got behind your back?" Savannah says into her ear making Sarah laugh.

"There's no hiding things from you." Sarah pats the girl affectionately and pulls out two items wrapped in newspaper from behind her back.

"Happy Birthday!"

Savannah gasps with surprise. "You remembered!"

"The top one is from me. You can tear the paper."

Savannah rips it open to reveal a knit hat and mittens.

"It's not a great job, but I made them myself. It can get pretty cold in the mountains."

Savannah hugs her. "Thank you Sarah! What's in the other one?"

"Well, open it, silly, and find out."

The little girl rips it open to find dozens of Sudoku puzzles drawn to absolute perfection by hand on sheets of paper.

"Cameron made them for you." Sarah says, gesturing at the papers. "She said you love the game."

"Oh. I do. I do. Where is she so I can thank her?"

"She's in the science lab."

Savannah runs out the room.

Sarah yells after her, "You thank her and you get right back to your schoolwork young lady!"

"I will."

"And I don't mean reading Shakespeare either!" Sarah yells with laughter.

_Two years, four months without John. It doesn't get any easier, but that little girl fills the void in my heart._ Sarah's eyes well up with tears while at the same time she smiles.

Savannah runs through the mountain bunker and into the small lab.

Inside Cameron is watching an experiment. She harvested all the nanites that Kreilley left behind when he tortured Sarah. The nanites gives her an opportunity to discover more about the Liquid Metal terminators. According to the files on her second chip, the previous occupants of this body have encountered them, but knew nothing or little more than she did.

Cameron feels a small hand tug on her sleeve.

She looks down to see Savannah standing beside her and smiling.

"How can I help you Savannah?"

"Thank you for the Sudoku puzzles."

Cameron smiles. "Your welcome, and happy birthday."

Cameron returns to work making note of the recent changes in her experiment. She turns to look and Savannah is still there.

"Was there something else?"

"I wanted to ask you something," Savannah shuffles her feet, "but I don't want to hurt your feelings."

"The answer is yes. I am a machine much like your friend John Henry, but very different in many aspects."

"I know that. I'm not stupid."

"How do you know that?"

"Well duh! I watch you. I watch Sarah and the others. You are different. Your body language is off."

"How is it off?" Cameron frowns. Her infiltration protocols are exact. She can mimic human behavior to exact precision.

Savannah rolls her eyes. "You walk too stiffly. Relax more, like when you are dancing in your room. Feel the walk not just move your legs like a marionette."

"Like this!" Savannah does some walking around in the room in her natural gate.

"Not like this!" then she walks in a slight exaggeration of Cameron's own walking style.

"You see." she says putting her hand on her hips.

"Yes." Cameron nods her head. She automatically recorded Savannah's walk and with a quick modification for her own height and weight she has modified the program governing her walk.

She moves about the room in a flawless duplication of Savannah's own walk.

"See! You got it! Now can I ask my question?"

"Of course."

"Okay. I want to know, is it possible to love someone who isn't here? You know, like separated by distance or a family feud like in Romeo and Juliet."

Cameron stares straight ahead at the monitor. Her face going expressionless, almost frowning.

"Ask Sarah." she says in a monotone voice, not looking at the little girl.

"But I'm asking you." She pleads.

"Please, ask Sarah. I'm very busy."

"Okay." Savannah says drawing out each syllable.

She was only asking because Sarah has told her many stories about John when he was her age, that she found herself thinking about him all the time. She wishes he was here, as they'd probably have many fun adventures together. She knows Sarah thinks about him all the time. At least she knows Sarah dreams about him as she hears her call his name in her sleep. But lately she's been thinking about him too. If she asked, Savannah would discover she's experiencing her first crush.

Cameron didn't want to be short tempered with the girl, but what she said was too painful. She probably should have waited to put in the other chip, but Cameron had to know the truth.

"Why?" She says to the empty room. "Why didn't he follow me? Why isn't John here?"

She could find out. Catherine Weaver's TDE is only a short distance away on the top floor in a hidden chamber. She could hop inside set the coordinates for 2027 and be at John's side in mere minutes. But she can't do that. John has entrusted the welfare of his mother with her. And with Sarah she must remain until the time for John's arrival becomes imminent.

"Why?" She says softly, a tear falling and splashing on her notepad, causing the ink to blur.

**2013, 4 years after Judgment Day**

Savannah is sitting with Sarah on her bed. Besides the usual guns on a rack on the wall, the people who have come to entrust Sarah Connor as their leader, have slowly begun to show their appreciation. Recently, Sarah was surprised to see that her basic cot was replaced by a four-poster bed. While she was out manning a patrol, the young people organized themselves and brought it to the bunker from a nearby vacation cabin.

Sarah was overwhelmed. At first she wanted to admonish them for risking their lives for something that wasn't a necessity, but the looks of expectation on their faces when they surprised her, she couldn't find it in herself to be angry with them.

Savannah is ten years old now and today is the day, that Sarah Connor has decided to tell Savannah the truth about her mother. That she isn't human and she had more than likely killed her real mom to take her place.

"My mom is dead." Savannah says with a sniffle.

"Yes. The person you thought was your mom was a machine, liquid metal."

Shaky images flash in Savannah's mind and quickly disappear. A smoke filled helicopter. A loud crash. Her mom crying out in agony. Her blouse soaked with blood. A silvery humanoid shape kneeling, leaning over her mother. It turns its head and looks at her.

"My mom wasn't human. That's why her lap was cold." She says quietly.

"I'm sorry to tell you this. I didn't want to, believe me. But I thought it best, you should know."

"It killed mommy and took her place." She says, her eyes not focused on anything but the half remembered broken images from years previously.

"Yes." Sarah says placing her hand on the child's back.

"I remember. It was the accident that killed daddy. Why?" She asks tears running down her face.

"Why what dear?"

"Why would Sky Net kill my family, and not me?"

"I don't know."Sarah says. "I wish I did."

She holds her arms open to Savannah who embraces her and cries deeply.

"Promise me something." Savannah says through her sobs.

"Anything sweetheart." Sarah says, crying a little herself.

"That you'll help me kill that metal bitch when we meet her again."

Savannah then cries even harder holding tightly onto Sarah. Sarah hugs her to her bosom and holds on letting the child cry until she has no more tears.

# # #

For several weeks, Savannah has been training in earnest in hand-to-hand combat. She was content at first to learn computers and electronics and mechanics from Cameron, but that all changed since learning of her mother. Weapon training is next, once Sarah is certain Savannah is disciplined enough to handle a gun. Ammo isn't something to be wasted on target practice. She is growing up fast, and taller, but still slender with a sharp intelligence that even has Cameron's admiration.

Having completed another round of training outdoors, Savannah walks into the girl's showers to clean up before going to her regular classes. She runs into Cameron who is just beginning to disrobe for a shower herself.

"Hi Cameron. Why are you dirty and sweaty?"

"I was hiking outside when I crossed paths with one of our patrols. They were off their designated patrol route. The dogs pursued me. I shook them off and sneaked in through the emergency exit."

"Why don't the dogs like you?" Savannah asks, having just removed her shoes and socks.

"Because they know that I'm not human." Cameron says flatly, folding her slacks carefully and laying them on the bench.

"Dogs are smart, but they aren't that smart. A dog's greatest sense is his sense of smell. To them you look human but don't smell human. That frightens them and they bark a warning."

Cameron pauses as she unbuttons her shirt. "That's interesting. Tell me more."

"I can show you better. I learned this in health class. Smell your armpit and tell me what you find."

Cameron slips off her shirt and does as she suggests. "I detect water with a saline content."

"Now smell mine." Savannah raises her arm above her head and Cameron bends down to sniff.

"What do you find there?"

Cameron's nose wrinkles. "I also detect water with a saline content, bacteria, and excretions from your skin and bacteria that give off an odor."

"That's called body odors. You don't have any and that spooks the dogs. They can see you but don't smell you. The things you eat affect your body odor. You don't eat, so your skin doesn't secrete oils and sugars that attract bacteria, but I know you can eat."

Cameron face lights up with understanding. "Thank you for explaining. But don't tell anyone else this. If information like that got back to Sky Net. It's infiltrators would become even harder to detect."

"There's something' else. Sarah gave me 'the talk'" She says, rolling her eyes. "She said that my body will change and all that. Puberty. Based on the book she showed me, your body is post-puberty, you may want to take into account that hormones and pheromones will affect your body odor as well."

Cameron smiles at the young girl as she pulls a robe on over herself.

"You are a very intelligent girl, Savannah. I wonder what you'd be doing if it weren't for Judgment Day?"

Savannah shrugs her shoulders as she wraps a towel around herself for walking back to the showers.

"Sarah says I'm reading at a twelfth grade level already and that my understanding of math already exceeds her ability to teach me."

"I can teach you higher levels of mathematics, and chemistry and physics."

"That'd be nice. Sarah isn't any good at chemistry. She can never get covalent bonding right."

After taking their showers, the two girls sit in Cameron's room in white robes. While Cameron teaches Savannah trigonometry with calculus, Savannah brushes out Cameron's luxuriant brown hair.

Several minutes later Savannah says "It's my turn now," and stands in front of Cameron to work on some problems, while Cameron brushes her fire red hair.

When she is done brushing out Savannah's hair, Cameron hugs the girl as she's seen Sarah do so many times.

"Thank you." she says to the girl.

Savannah smiles, enjoying the embrace.

**2016, 7 Years after Judgment Day, Early winter**

Savannah is quickly climbing the snow covered path to find Cameron. In recent months, Savannah had noticed that Cameron had been coming up here to be alone, but Savannah can't wait for her to return to the bunker to tell her the good news.

Scrambling up the last several feet, she sees Cameron standing at the end of the ledge, looking out on the valley floor.

"Cameron! You'll never guess what happened!" She shouts.

Cameron had heard the teenage girl approaching, for some time. Her steps and breathing unmistakable as she clambered up the steep slope. She's been coming here, away from the people and the noise of the bunker, to be alone with her thoughts and her memories.

"You'll never guess what happened!" Savannah says again. "Sarah and I were practicing hand-to-hand combat and I flipped her. Right into a mud puddle!"

Cameron turns to face her. "That's good. Sarah has trained you well."

Seeing Cameron's face, Savannah's joy at her recent accomplishment is quickly forgotten.

"What's wrong Cameron? Have you been crying?"

Cameron gives her a half-hearted smile. "I just felt like crying, because I was alone."

"But you aren't alone. You got me, and Sarah. We're a family."

"Yes." Cameron says wiping away the tears that still linger on her face. "We are a family."

Savannah moves to her and hugs her. "Whatever is wrong. We can help you."

"There's nothing that you can do. It's just a question of time."

"You're talking cryptically again. I thought Sarah told to stop being so ambiguous in your answers."

"Sarah is not my boss."

"No. But she's your friend, and be honest, she's been like a mother and friend to both of us."

"I know. You go on inside and get cleaned up. I'll be in soon to help you with your physics."

"Already finished it. Last night when you were in the lab. What is it that you do in there?"

"Trying to find the secret as to how one of Sky Net's machines work."

Cameron smiles at her friend. "Let's go back inside now. There is still your chemistry schoolwork to do."

As they go down the slope, Savannah says. "Sarah got a report from retired Colonel Singer."

"How's his jaw?"

"It's healed well since Sarah broke it. Anyway, he has a lead on one of these raiding parties who have been interrupting the supply lines we protect for the regular army."

"Where are they?"

"Presently holding stationary at a location no more than twenty-five miles away. Singer let it be known that a new shipment was moving north from Mexico, and the bandits haven't moved since."

"That was careless of Singer."

"No. It's not. He lied. There is no shipment this week. Sarah wants to move out tonight."

"I see."

"She wants me to come with her to observe only. I wanted to ask if you'd come with me. We'd be out of sight so you don't have to worry about the others seeing you."

Cameron smiles at her young friend. "Okay. But you do what I tell you, when I tell you. If something were to happen to you, Sarah would have me dismantled in no time flat."

"Thank you." Savannah says giving Cameron's arm a squeeze.

**2016, Three Nights Later**

Cameron and Savannah walk from their observation point to a small cabin tucked in under the trees. The snow has moved down from the higher elevations and has begun covering the valley floors.

As they approach the door Cameron whispers, "Perhaps you should wait out here. We don't know what it is that Sarah wants."

"Hell no." Savannah says shivering. "It's freezing out here. I'm going in where it's warm."

"Very well, but you listen to what Sarah or I tell you."

The two girls enter the cabin to find Sarah standing over the prostrate body of a young man, a few years older that Savannah. Blood is oozing from the corner of his mouth. Sarah is breathing hard, her fists are clenched, and her long hair disheveled.

"Who is he?" Cameron asks.

Sarah drops her fists. "A member of the raiding party stealing supplies. He was left guarding their hoard while the rest of the group came after our fake supply run."

"What happened?"

"He attacked me when I told him his family is dead."

"Our people didn't kill them, did they?" Savannah asks her voice rising.

"No. Machines did. A group of T-600's and some old T-1's. We hightailed it out of the canyon at the first warning. We gave the raiders every chance to surrender and come with us. They wouldn't. So we pulled out and left them to their fate."

"Surely there must have been something you could do?" Savannah protests.

"Savannah!" Sarah snaps. "I've got almost a hundred people I'm responsible for, not to mention our other base at Groom Lake. If any of those machines got one of _our_ people, and they talked, we'd be dead! And that would be my fault. It is better for a few raiders to die than any of our people."

Savannah nods her head. "I understand. So what do you want us for."

"Not you, just Cameron."

Cameron looks up from where she was studying the boy. "Yes."

"I need you to get information out of him. I can't help but think of how quickly that man gave up information on where that truck was going when John was captured. You can do the same to this guy."

"That wasn't me. That was the other Cameron."

Sarah shakes her head and gives her a look that says sorry.

"But I can do what you ask. Perhaps you and Savannah would like to go for a walk."

"Must I go." Savannah protests. "I think I was just beginning to feel my feet again."

"Quit complaining." Sarah says, grabbing her arm. "You really don't want to see this."

Cameron waits until the two women leave, before saying, "You can quit faking. I know you are awake."

The boy opens his eyes and glares at the girl.

"What's your name?" Cameron asks.

The boy looks at her defiantly. Cameron reaches behind her back, grasping the hilt of her knife. With a movement so quick her arm appears to a blur, she throws the knife. The point buries itself almost an inch deep in the wooden floor between the boys legs, next to his crotch.

It stands there quivering like a tuning fork. A single solitary note slowly fading in the quiet cabin.

The boy snaps his eyes from the knife to Cameron. "Richard! Richard Harman!" he shouts.

"Good." Cameron kneels down in front of Richard, her hand caressing the knife almost sensuously.

"See. That wasn't so difficult." Cameron smiles at him, but her eyes are bereft of any humor.

"Now, tell me where your base of operations are, how many people are in your organization, and who your leader is, and maybe," she pulls the knife out of the floor and holds it front of the boys face, "and maybe I won't neuter you."

She gives him her cold menacing look. The boy swallows nervously.

Twenty minutes later, Sarah and Savannah are walking back to the cabin.

"This is the heaviest snow fall since Judgment Day." Savannah says, shivering in her thin jacket. She outgrew her mittens and hat years ago, but how she wishes she had them now.

"It's good. When it melts in the spring it will refill our cisterns so we can have some fresh water."

"So much for global warming eh?" Savannah smiles at her.

The cabin just comes into view, when they can hear a loud crash and some yelling. The two women begin running and are almost to the cabin just as the young man crashes through the window in a cloud of shattered glass and splintered wood, landing flat on his back.

Cameron just as quickly runs out the cabin door, snapping it off its hinges. A knife in her hand. The girls are shocked to see a deep gash on her face, from the edge of her scalp to her jaw-line, exposing the metal underneath.

"What happened?" Sarah asks, yelling.

Cameron stops abruptly upon seeing the other women. She was so focused on the fight with Richard, she hadn't heard the women approaching.

"I let my guard down. He gave every sign of being thoroughly subdued. He had answered all my questions. I momentarily turned my back on him as I looked for something to tie him up with. That is when he attacked, with a knife he had hidden on him. He cut my face, but when he saw I wasn't human, he froze for a second. It gave me all the advantage I needed, but he fought back. He proved to be a most determined fighter and I did my best to defend myself without killing him."

"Understood." Sarah answers. "Who is he? And what did you learn concerning the shipments?"

"His name is Richard Harman. I got the information you wanted. When we get back to Crystal Peak, you'd better get on the radio to Juarez, in Mexico, and tell him to reroute all shipments through Santa Fe until further notice."

"That bad."

"Unless Sky Net gets them first, you are going to have a small war on your hands until the last of the raiders are gone or have surrendered."

In the meantime Savannah has been staring at the young man. Bloodied and bruised, he hasn't moved since he landed in the snow. She has never seen Cameron so violent before.

"He isn't dead, is he?" Savannah asks.

Richard lets out a long groan.

"Apparently not." Cameron says, re-sheathing her knife and walking away.

"Is this why you didn't want me here?" Savannah asks as she and Sarah bend down to grab the young man under his arms to drag him. "I'm no stranger to violence."

"I wish you were, but you've never seen Cameron do what she does so well. And the two of you are quite close. I didn't want to give you reason to mistrust her."

"I know what she is. She's a machine."

"Yes. That will never change. But what she is, doesn't define who she is, and just now, the part of her that you haven't seen, the part of her programmed by Sky Net. You didn't need to see that. I never want you to see that."

Savannah nods her head as they follow Cameron, dragging the man with them.

"Do you think, if we hadn't arrived when we did, that Cameron would have killed him?"

Sarah walks a few paces before answering, "I don't know. I honestly don't know."

A couple of miles later, the two women are beginning to flag from dragging the unconscious youth.

"Hey Cameron! Don't you think you could help?" Sarah shouts after the cyborg who is beginning to outdistance them.

Cameron stops and turns to face them. Her hand is on her face holding the cut together. The only means possible until she gets back to base.

"He's faking it." She shouts, after scanning the body.

"What?" Sarah looks down and the boy is smiling up at her.

"You son-of-a-bitch!" Sarah yells and punches him in the face breaking his nose.

Tying his hands behind him, and blindfolding him, Sarah and Savannah make him walk in front of them all the way back to Crystal Peak.

**2019, 10 Years after Judgment Day, Mid-summer**

Cameron is checking the medical report once again. Everything is good. According to the test results, Sarah's in perfect health.

She walks around the curtain to find Sarah sitting on the examination table still wearing the silly backless gown she wore for her examination.

"Well?" Sarah asks.

"You are in perfect health. According to these results, you are in the early stages of menopause."

With a clear sigh of relief, Sarah smiles. "Thank God, it's only menopause. Never thought I'd be so happy to hear that word. I was afraid it might be cancer."

"Your fears were unjustified, your body is simply changing. All tests are clean with no signs of any cancer."

Sarah gets down from the examination table and begins removing the gown. She struggles to undo the ties, then just admits defeat and turns her back to Cameron and gestures at the knots.

While Cameron unties the cords, Sarah asks. "Have you given any thought as to what you might do after the war? I'd think you'd make an excellent doctor."

"No. My only concern is your welfare and that of Savannah Weaver." She answers parting the gown and exposing Sarah's naked backside.

"May I ask you a question?" Cameron asks gently as Sarah tosses the medical gown in the corner.

"Shoot." Sarah answers, as she pulls on her panties.

There was a time when Cameron would have said, "But I don't have a gun." but not this time, having added hundreds of little colloquialisms to her database in the time she's been with Sarah.

"For the last seven years you've been in perfect health and fully capable of bearing young. I'd like to know, is there a reason you haven't sought a mate amongst the many males on this base to conceive a child with? The human population is in need of rebuilding . . ."

Sarah holds up her hand to stop Cameron from saying more. Cameron can't help to notice the pink scars from where Sarah was tortured along her upper arm and across her chest. Some of the pink scars have matching scars on the opposite side of her arms or breasts, where Kreilley pierced straight through. Considering the sensitive nerves in most of those areas of the human body, the torture would have been painful, the blood loss slow but debilitating. Neither efficient nor quick. Kreilley wanted more than information. He wanted to humiliate Sarah, weaken her spirit and resolve by attacking her body - humans true weakness, their flesh. But he failed with Sarah. Cameron has seen this woman come back with a vengeance, training the survivors and leading them, and working with them.

Pulling her slacks on, Sarah sits on the edge of the table, gathering her thoughts as she untangles her bra straps.

"Is it because of the scars you still bear from your torture?" Cameron asks.

"What makes you think that?" Sarah replies, as Cameron gets close to the truth.

"Because you always wear clothing that hides the scars. Even on the hottest days, you don't wear shorts or T-shirts, but always slacks and long sleeve shirts. I'm thinking you are ashamed of your scars."

"It's not the scars I'm ashamed of, but what I did to get them."

Sarah sits on the edge of the examination table holding her bra in her hands, now free of the tangles.

"I failed my son. I failed the human race. I failed the people who now look to me for leadership. These scars are a testament to my failure." She says gesturing at the pink scars on her stomach and breasts. "I am ashamed of my failure. I taught my son to be strong, to always fight back. But when the fight came to me I failed him."

"I see the scars every time I disrobe to change my clothes or bathe. I see them. I can feel them." She runs a hand across her body, her fingertips brushing the scars. "I always know they are there. I will never be able to make up for my failure or to atone for the shame that I feel. The only thing I can do is to turn these survivors into an army for when John gets here. That is my primary task. But these scars are not the reason I haven't chosen a mate, as you put it."

Sarah pulls on her bra and reaches behind her back to do the catch.

"So there is a reason?" Cameron asks gently.

Sarah rolls her eyes. The girl just won't let it be.

"Are we alone? And what I mean is, that there is zero chance of us being overheard?"

"We are presently the only ones on this floor." Cameron says having performed a quick auditory scan.

"What I'm about to tell you, is known to only one other person. Don't tell anyone, not even Savannah, because it isn't safe."

"I understand." Cameron says reassuringly, handing Sarah her shirt.

"John's father came from the future. He was a soldier sent back to protect me from being killed by a terminator. We fell in love and had sex only once. John was conceived that night."

Cameron waits patiently while Sarah gathers her thoughts and pull her shirt on over her head.

"After Judgment Day, I was quite busy raising Savannah, training, leading, generally just working my ass off. So busy I wasn't thinking straight. I didn't realize until too late that by the time I meet him, John's father, I'd be old enough to be his mother."

"You were hoping to meet Kyle Reese again, weren't you? Maybe hoping to start a family with him? And if you began one with someone else, then that possibility would be gone."

"How did you know . . . "

". . . that Kyle Reese was John's father? I was able to deduce that from the information on my secondary chip." Sarah gasps. "No. Before you ask, I haven't activated the chip. It's in read only mode. My secondary port was the safest place for it to be."

"I'm a little shocked that you know. Also surprised you didn't let your original matrix take over."

"I am here to protect you. That is my job. She is here to protect John. Not that she couldn't do my job, she could once our matrixes merged. But until John arrives, I don't want to deny her the person she loves."

"So, Cameron does love, which means you can love too."

"Yes Sarah. I love both you and Savannah. You are my family."

Sarah hugs Cameron. "You are my friend, and very much like a daughter. You and Savannah are both like daughters. I couldn't love either of you more than I do if I had given birth to you."

Cameron accepts the hug gratefully and hugs her friend back. When they are finished, Cameron asks, "This body isn't capable of conceiving a child. Would John love his Cameron even knowing they couldn't have children?"

Sarah ponders the heavy question. "I would hope I had raised my son to love without conditions, and considering who he loves, what she/you are, do you think he'd care about having children if he loves his Cameron as much as I think he does?"

Cameron searches her files and sees John's face when he looked at her in the motel room that last day; the way he looked at her when she gave him the detonator switch; the way he looked at her when he held out his hand to help her out of the wreck when they were going to burn her; the way John looked at her when he reinserted her chip after she destroyed Artie; and the way he looked at her when she introduced herself to him in school that first day they met in Red Valley.

"No. I don't think he'd care. But what about you? John is your only child. Wouldn't you want grandchildren?"

Sarah smiles and with a shrug, says, "All I care about is that John is happy and safe. Besides, thanks to Savannah, I could have grandkids through her, someday."

"But she's not a blood relation. Does that matter?"

"Savannah may not be a child of my womb, but she is a child of my heart. As I said already, I couldn't love her any more if I had given birth to her myself. Same with you. I could never understand why my son could fall in love with a machine, but after having you as my friend these last seven years, I could understand why. You may not have a physical heart, but you've got one just the same. However, . . ."

Cameron looks at her inquisitively.

"Perhaps I shouldn't say this, and please don't take this the wrong way. For a time John had a girlfriend, a human girl named Riley. I think he went out with her mostly to get back at me as I didn't think it was safe, but a small part of me was glad that he found companionship with a real girl. It turned out the girl was lying to him, betraying him to an enemy, who later killed Riley and tried to frame Cameron for it. After Riley died, it quickly became so real to John that human life is very vulnerable and those close to him will die because of who he is. Before John settles down with his Cameron, I almost wish that he might find a girl who loves him so he will know what love is, you know? True love is hard to come by. I had my one chance with Kyle. First chances are rare, second chances even rarer. When love is real, nothing else matters. True love is looking past the differences and the pain to the person that is inside. John's had a couple of chances with Cameron and he's going for a third. If Cameron is the girl he is going to share his destiny with, even though she is a cyborg, then so be it. But . . ."

"You'd like him to be loved by someone who loves him without complications, without issues, someone who is human." She says as a variety of thoughts go through her head.

"It's a foolish dream. John loves his Cameron and he'll do anything to get back with her. He repaired you didn't he? Sent you to protect his mom and get his Cameron off that computer. Killed two birds with one stone and we only have to wait another eleven years and he'll have you back not looking a day older than when he last saw you, unlike his mom who will be an old hag in that time."

"You won't be an old hag. You are still quite an attractive woman from many angles." She says with a smile.

Sarah laughs. "Don't go there. You've just seen me naked and that's beginning to sound like a pick-up line."

"It's not my fault that I'm the only person you trust with your medical care, despite medical doctors being here."

"When I stop having phantom illnesses, that's when I'll see a real doctor, no offense intended."

"None taken. I'm curious about you saying about my compliment sounding like a pick-up line, when neither of us are bisexual or a lesbian. I'm curious, have you ever had sex with a woman?"

Sarah clears her throat with embarrassment. "Only once, I was at a college party and got very, very drunk. Know what happened that night, but I woke up naked with a hangover in a bed with another naked woman. I felt very certain we must have done something based on" - Sarah clears her throat - "the evidence. I got dressed in a hurry and got the hell out of there before anyone else woke up."

"What kind of evidence?" Cameron asks as they finally begin to leave the infirmary.

"Never you mind!" Sarah shouts. "And don't you dare repeat that story to anyone or I'll take you apart myself!"

Cameron nods her head, a tiny grin on her face.

**2019, Autumn**

Savannah walks into Cameron's room and flops down on her cot, letting out a long sigh.

Cameron had been sitting at her desk checking the most recent data collected from the satellites on her laptop. She now looks at the sixteen year-old now occupying her cot.

"Is there something wrong?" She asks the red-haired young woman staring up at the ceiling.

She knows today is Sunday, and that Sarah typically attends mass with Father Bonitta, bringing a reluctant Savannah with her. Cameron doesn't attend, not only because of all the people, but because of Father Bonitta. Cameron ran into him when he was visiting Sarah one day. It took Sarah a long time to calm him down. She told him what Cameron was and that she wouldn't harm him. He accepted her explanations and promised not to tell anyone, provided she never entered his chapel.

"It's Sarah." Savannah sighs. "We had a fight this morning. She's insisting that I should start dating. Get a social life."

"You are a teenager. Most humans begin developing social skills and learning about the opposite sex during these formidable years."

"Oh God, Cameron." Savannah rolls up onto her elbow. "For once could you not analyze the situation and just talk to me as your friend!"

"Sorry." Cameron turns her back on the computer and pays attention to her friend. "What's wrong?"

"Why should I date? Ignoring the fact that there are some cute guys here, why should I? You and Sarah don't see anyone?"

"It is important for normal human . . ." Cameron stops explaining as Savannah looks at her cross eyed, while sticking her tongue out. A decidedly immature reaction, Cameron thinks, as she decides say something more personal.

"Sarah just wants you to have as close to a normal life as possible. Like she had at your age. Sarah dated in her teen years. She met John's father while in college. She dated again after his father died. But now with Judgment Day having occurred, she feels it is far more important to raise you and run this base rather than date anyone."

"What about you? There is nothing that makes you physically different from me in being female, but you don't date any guys. You avoid people, when I have friends. What's your reason for not dating?"

Cameron owes her friend an explanation and some advice, but not the entire truth. No. she can't tell her that. It's too painful to speak of, even after all this time.

"I'm waiting until I meet the right guy. Because I'm a cyborg, I need to know the guy I date, and possibly live the rest of my life with will love me for not only who I am, but what I am."

"Would you marry this guy if given the chance?" Savannah asks, suddenly mesmerized by the almost dreamy way Cameron spoke, her eyes not focused on anything.

"Marry?"

"Yeah, you know, a wedding, white dress, tuxedos, and bridesmaids in tacky dresses. A public declaration of your love before friends and family and all that. If you met this hypothetical guy, would you marry him?"

"Yes." Cameron says, turning her attention back to the computer, hiding the tears threatening to well up despite her programming trying to cancel them. It seems her emotional subroutines bring out a physical reaction of her cybernetic flesh. Something she's been trying unsuccessfully for years to suppress.

"Good!" Savannah says, sitting up and not noticing Cameron's strained face, nor having seen her quick actions to wipe away the tears.

"Then that's what I'll do." Savannah stands up. "I'll tell Sarah that I'll date when I meet the right guy and not before."

She hugs her friend from behind, placing a quick kiss on Cameron's cheek.

"You know. If I were a guy, it wouldn't matter to me, that you were a cyborg. Whomever you date and marry is going to be one lucky fellow to have you."

Savannah gives her one more quick hug and quickly leaves the room.

Cameron resumes studying the satellite data. "And I thought, I was the lucky one." She murmurs.

**2021, 12 Years after Judgment Day**

Savannah, now eighteen years of age, walks into the control center for Crystal Peak. Sarah is sitting in a chair, reading through a file.

She can't help but notice the lines of worry around Sarah's mouth and eyes, and the gray that shoots through her rich dark hair. Sarah's had a hard life, made harder by her separation from John. But it won't be much longer now.

Savannah's own heart does a flutter as she realizes it's only six years away. Six years until she meets the young man who first showed her how to tie her shoes and then saved her life from that machine. She could almost curse her perfect memory, as John's face has always been right there fueling her fantasies since the onset of puberty. _Damn the hormones_, she thinks.

She chose to live without a boyfriend. Savannah has had many young men look at her and speak to her in a way that made their intentions clear, much the same way she's seen men look at Sarah. But like Sarah, who has been her surrogate mother, and like Cameron, who has been her closest friend, she has chosen an almost monastic lifestyle, despite insistence from Sarah she should date someone.

Savannah wonders how often Sarah imagines what that moment will be like, when she is reunited with her son. Knowing Sarah like she does, she probably thinks of it all the time.

"Hi Sarah. You wanted to see me." Savannah says, getting the woman's attention.

Sarah looks up from the folder she was reading. "Yes. I think I've found a project for you, perfectly fitted to your talents."

"What is it?"

Sarah gets up and walks over to the map. Pointing at a location some fifty miles away.

Sarah says, "Our people at Groom Lake caught two infiltrators here on the outskirts of the base."

"Two infiltrators! Machines? How many of our people were killed?"

"That's the funny thing. No one was killed. They surrendered and offered their services to the resistance."

"Hold on a minute. We're not exactly resistance. We just protect the supplies coming in for the regular army."

"Which we haven't been doing much of since supply lines got rerouted through Santa Fe. Since then, I've been on the radio keeping the people's hopes up, and gathering and sharing our scant intelligence with the military, especially after they moved east with their supply lines. These LM's weren't aware the Groom Lake facility wasn't part of the regular resistance."

Savannah's face goes ashen.

"LM's." She says quietly, then she shouts, "Liquid metal! Like the metal bitch that killed my mom and that beast that tortured you!" She finishes yelling her face nearly as red as her hair.

"Yes. The same kind as them." Sarah answers coldly. "I want you to take this research that Cameron has done on Kreilley's nanites and go to Groom Lake. Find a means to destroy them. So we can defend ourselves in the future. These machines are hard to destroy. And if we can find a means to kill them, then we'll have the advantage."

Sarah hands her the folder she was looking at previously. Savannah flips it open and sees handwritten notes in Cameron's meticulously perfect handwriting. There is a spot on one page where the ink is blurred and wrinkled from a drop of water or some other clear liquid.

The notes are detailed, but nowhere does it mention where she got the nanites. Probably that's on a need to know. She could ask Sarah, but she doesn't need to know how the nanites were obtained, just that they have research that she can use to possibly build a weapon and she'll have two test subjects. But there is one question she can ask Sarah.

"Why me?" Savannah asks, closing the folder. "I hate them for what they've done to us."

A memory briefly flashes through Savannah's consciousness of a silvery humanoid figure leaning over her dead mother.

"I know. More specifically, you hate the one that killed your mom. Use that hatred to drive you. Pack your bag. You are leaving with the next rotation of soldiers in half an hour."

Savannah returns to her room and quickly packs her bag. It isn't much, just another change of clothes and some trail mix and some extra clips for her sidearm.

Before leaving, she spies her old stuffed giraffe sitting on a shelf. It's faded now, and a little ragged. Seeing it, she remembers happier times. Having it close, when alone as a child, made her feel secure. She wouldn't want to leave Cameron alone.

Checking the time, she sees she'll have to hurry if she is to get it done. The patrol will be leaving soon she'll be joining for the long hike.

Savannah walks to Cameron's room a few minutes later carrying a small bundle. After tapping on the door, Cameron calls out to her to come in.

She steps inside, as something tiny begins wiggling in the bundle she's carrying.

"Hi Cameron. I've got a gift for you."

"What is it?" Cameron asks, not using her HUD to spy on what's inside the small blanket. When Savannah was little, she'd always complain that Cameron was cheating when using her abilities, especially during hide-n-seek. Eventually, she stopped scanning altogether when with her family.

Savannah places the squirming bundle in her lap.

"Open it and see."

Cameron lifts a fold in the blanket to reveal a German Shepherd puppy.

"A dog?" Cameron asks surprised.

"His mom got killed by a mountain lion. The other pups were divided amongst other nursing dogs, but there isn't enough momma dogs for all the pups. This one needs to be reared by hand."

Savannah pulls a bottle out of her jacket and hands it to Cameron.

"I can't help but notice you've looked a little sad lately, and Sarah is sending me to Groom Lake to take charge in a research project. I don't know how long I'll be gone, so . . ."

Cameron places the nipple of the bottle lower and the little mewling pup eagerly takes hold and begins sucking for all he's worth. A smile comes to Cameron's face.

"What's his name?" She asks.

"Whatever you want to call him." Savannah smiles at her friend who seems fixated on the little puppy.

"I'll call him Max." She says, stroking the soft fur with her thumb as she cradles the pup in her hand. There is a strong connection to that name, with two people she knows.

Savannah is about to say, that's a rather common name for dogs, with four other Max's at other camps, but decides not to ruin the moment. If Cameron wants to name the pup Max, then why interfere.

She begins to leave, but Cameron calls out to her, causing Savannah to stop and look back.

"Good luck, with your project, and thank you for the puppy."

"Anytime Cameron." She says with a smile, before leaving.

**2025, 16 Years after Judgment Day**

Cameron is studying latest reports on Sky Net's activities they've received from the military. They are having a hard time, but have rebuilt since having to retreat from the west coast. Soon the time will come for them to return. Hope is only two years away.

Savannah walks in looking pale with tears trickling down her face.

"What's wrong? What did the doctor's say?" Cameron asks in quick succession while quickly helping Savannah to a chair.

"They think its cancer." She cries.

Cameron hands her a clean cloth so she can wipe her tears away.

"Where?" Cameron asks wondering why after all these years, it should suddenly strike again.

"Based on neurological exams, they think Sarah has brain cancer. But without an MRI, they only have symptoms to go by."

"But they feel confident?"

Savannah nods her head, while wiping her eyes.

Cameron was worried. Sarah's symptoms began to be noticeable about a year after Savannah returned from Grooms Lake. Neither of them would tell her what it was Savannah went there to do. Cameron didn't want to pry, after all, she was keeping secrets from them as well.

After beginning to feel sick, Sarah took some time off, much against her nature, and was feeling healthier when she resumed her duties. That had been the case until she began forgetting things, and feeling weaker. Cameron didn't know what to do, her knowledge is vast, but her experience is limited. So Sarah eventually saw the medical doctor's on base and they did what they could.

Savannah is sobbing now, and Cameron stops her musings and holds her close.

Once Savannah's sobbing has quieted down, Cameron discretely escorts her upstairs so they can visit Sarah.

Sarah calls them in after they tap lightly on her door. Cameron barely closes it behind herself and Savannah, when Sarah says, "You know."

Savannah quickly hugs her and Cameron nods her head, tears are now streaming from her eyes. _So close. She is so close to seeing John again and this has to happen now._

"How are the doctor's going to treat it?" Savannah asks. Cameron knows there aren't many options available, but humans are ingenious at finding answers to impossible problems.

"They're working on it now. They think a combination of drugs. . ." Sarah breaks off, unable to hold back the flood of tears.

"My son." she mumbles, closing her eyes.

She stands up straight, almost pushing the two women away. "I'm going to fight it!" Sarah proclaims. "I will not let it beat me," Sarah is crying, "not until I can hold John in my arms again and know that he is safe."

They both hug Sarah, who cries into the cyborgs shoulder. Cameron knows Sarah will fight it. She's the best fighter John knows.

**2027, 18 Years after Judgment Day, Spring**

Savannah climbs the side of the mountain peak. The path has been well traveled over the years they've been here, but as far as Savannah knows, only one person other than herself has hiked this trail.

Cameron stands on the ledge, probably just big enough for three people to sit comfortably without fearing any should fall.

It has become Cameron's favorite place at Crystal Peak. From this vantage point she can look into a valley that is still green and untouched by the bombs of Judgment Day.

Cameron is lost in thought. She's in a place she knows Cameron and John would enjoy, if they were together. John. John Connor. He'll be arriving soon, in a matter of weeks. She'll need to leave soon. She'll leave tonight, Cameron decides.

"I thought I might find you here." Savannah says from behind her.

Cameron looks over her shoulder at the young woman, now in her twenties. Intelligent, brave, with a good sense of humor. Cameron smiles at her.

"Hi."

Savannah is like a sister or close friend. It will be hard to leave her and Sarah behind, but it must be done.

"I'm leaving." Cameron says, her voice soft and still.

"If you want to be alone, I can go." Savannah says, with a look of concern.

"No. I mean I'm leaving Crystal Peak." Cameron answers.

"What? Why?" Savannah asks sounding very upset.

"You need to look after Sarah for me." Cameron replies stoically. "She's been progressively getting sicker since your return."

"She's been doing well lately. The doctors here say . . . ."

"Sarah is sicker than she lets on. She doesn't want to worry you. So it's up to you to take care of her."

"You're leaving now aren't you?" Savannah accuses her.

"I have to." Cameron's eyes look sad. "My power cell is leaking radiation. It could make everyone sick."

"How long have you known?" Savannah asks now sounding more concerned than angry.

"I ran a diagnostic this afternoon when I noticed that the radiation sensors had begun recording a spike in areas I had just been. I have to leave."

Savannah embraces Cameron. "I love you. You're my friend and you've been like a sister to me growing up."

Cameron's face is flush with emotion. "I know. I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed these eighteen years. You taught me so much."

"No, it's you who taught me. You and Sarah." Savannah quickly embraces her friend again and cries into her shoulder.

"You are my best friend in the whole world. Isn't there something you can do to fix your power cell?"

Cameron compassionately pats Savannah's back, fighting hard not to show the emotion she feels more deeply now and with greater understanding.

"There's nothing I can do. It will ultimately drain away completely, leaving me powerless, or possibly explode. Either option is not good for any of you. There is only one course to take. I must leave."

"But what about a power cell from another terminator? Wouldn't one of them work?"

Cameron shakes her head. "We haven't fought anything newer than a T-800, but their power cells are too big. I would need the power cell from a T-888. It is the only kind compatible to my system."

"We haven't encountered any T-888's." Savannah cries. "I'm so sorry."

"I need to leave. I can't stay any longer."

"I understand, but you have to say goodbye to Sarah before you leave."

"I will."

Cameron begins to walk back down the trail, but stops after a few paces. Looking over her shoulder at the young red-haired woman, she says, "I love you too. Good bye Savannah."

Savannah sits down on a rock and looks out over the valley below. Tears run down her face as memories of growing up with Cameron fill her heart and mind.

A few minutes later, Cameron knocks on the door to Sarah's room. It wasn't much when they moved here, but over time, the spartan room had been turned into a proper room for Sarah, with a bed, a desk and chair, even an old sofa they scavenged from one of the mountain cabins.

"Come in." Sarah's voice is heard faintly from the other side.

Cameron enters to see Sarah sitting at her desk.

"I've brought you an update on our resources and a plan on where you can go once the resources drop to critical levels." Cameron says, closing the door behind her.

"How long until we reach critical levels?" Sarah asks.

"You could stretch out resources two maybe three months if you begin sending people to outlying camps now."

Sarah sighs. "What if we were to merge with one the other resistance groups, trade knowledge and technical expertise for resources?"

"You've only kept this place secure by keeping a low profile. You've done more with our limited resources already, even securing locations to house our people in abandoned towns. To make contact, would mean losing security. You must not do that. Not until you must. That is also on my list of guidelines I'm providing you for the coming weeks. Also, I'm recommending leaving twenty gallons of fuel in reserve to run the generators should any people have to return here temporarily."

"Okay." Sarah says questioningly as she takes the proffered thumb drive from Cameron. "I'll plug this into the computer later and ask Savannah to join me in looking at it."

"Sarah." Cameron waits until she makes eye contact. "When the time comes to leave, go south. There is a military base near San Diego. The surface was destroyed by nuclear weapons, but there are deep underground bunkers with modern facilities."

"You want me to move everyone and everything there?"

Cameron nods her head. It will be an effort on Sarah's part, but she has lots of people to help her now.

Sarah picks up a small notepad from her desk. "I put together some notes on what I'm going to say for tonight's broadcast. Would you take a look at them?"

Cameron takes the proffered notepad. A quick glance shows all is there that needs to be said.

"It looks good, Sarah." Cameron says, handing the notepad back to her.

Sarah takes the notepad back arching one eyebrow. Cameron has come a long way since that time she had to remind the cyborg of the necessity of underwear. There was something in her voice, small, but her voice caught momentarily when she mentioned her name, and there was that list of guidelines . . .

"What's wrong?" Sarah asks leaving the notepad on her desk, quickly forgotten.

"I've come to say . . ."

"To say what?" Sarah asks, suddenly worried that she may have bad news regarding her cancer.

"I'm leaving." Cameron says, her head dropping. Try as she might, even she can't ignore the loss she feels.

Sarah gets up from her chair and gives her a hug and slowly guides her to the sofa where they sit.

"Talk to me." Sarah says, holding the hands of her closest friend and confidant.

Cameron tells her what she told Savannah. Sarah patiently listens to all that she says.

"I see." Sarah sits up straight. "Is this the cause of my illness?"

"No Sarah!" Cameron says abruptly. "My power cell has only begun to leak recently. At present the radiation will cause you no harm, but it could in time. That's why I must leave, so you won't become more ill than you are now."

Sarah fights the tears, but they flow, far more than she expected to. With quiet sobs, she pulls Cameron close to her and hugs her tight.

"I'll miss you." She sobs again. "I will miss you so much."

"I'll miss you too, Sarah. You've been a good family." Cameron replies hugging the woman to her.

Automatically her sensors engage. Cameron doesn't like what little her sensors can detect.

_At most, she's probably got four months to live. I hope she lives long enough to see John again. It's all she's lived for these eighteen years. But if she follows my guidelines, she just might live to see him._

Echoing Cameron's thoughts, Sarah says, "But what about John? He's going to expect you to be here when he arrives. What do I tell him?"

Placing a hand gently on the woman's arm, Cameron replies. "When you see him, tell him what I told you. That I had to leave because of my power cell is failing. It won't be much longer until he arrives and you will see your son again."

"It's so hard, this waiting. I'm sick with worry about him all the time. He's never far from my thoughts. He's our only hope to save this world. Our only hope."

Crying softly, Cameron says, "Then tell the people that in your radio addresses. Give them that hope and you will prepare the way for his arrival. They will be more receptive to accept him as their leader."

Nodding her head, her face wet with tears, Sarah hugs her friend again. "I will. I'll do that. A modern-day John the Baptist, preparing the way for the new messiah."

With more sobs, Sarah collapses in her friends arms.

"When will you be leaving?" Sarah says, feeling wounded that her closest friend and only connection she has to her son will soon be gone.

"In the morning, before everyone wakes." She says simply and softly.

"Where will you go?"

"Far from here, so that when my power cell finally goes, no one will be killed by the explosion or radiation. There are empty missile silos in the Mojave desert. I can go into one of them and seal myself in so Sky Net won't detect the fuel cell rupture with its satellites."

Sarah nods her head. If it wasn't for her policy of destroying all machines they encountered, Cameron might have a compatible power cell to use, but so far, they hadn't encountered any machines newer than a T-800 and their power cells are too large for Cameron's smaller build.

Unwilling to let her friend go Sarah asks, "Will you stay with me, until you leave?"

"I will." Cameron says, giving her a weak, but sincere smile.

With silent tears and aching hearts, the two friends sit together on the sofa. Eventually Sarah falls asleep with her head upon Cameron's shoulder, grasping her hands.

After a time, Cameron eases herself off the sofa and gently adjusts Sarah so she is lying down. She pulls a blanket that was folded and draped over the end of the bed and puts it over her.

Moving a few stray graying hairs from her forehead, Cameron places a soft kiss on Sarah's cheek.

"Good bye my friend."

A few hours later, inside Crystal Peak, Savannah enters Sarah's room to find her sitting quietly on her sofa. Going to her, she sits with her and they both cry for their friend who has done so much to help them. She has left them to die alone to save their lives. They later attend to their morning duties, but find it hard to concentrate on what they are doing.

Far away, a girl and a dog are walking through the hills, Crystal Peak many miles behind them.

Cresting a hill, Cameron looks back. The outline of Crystal Peak appears as a dark wedge showing strong against the rising sun within the many peaks of the Sierra's.

"I'll miss you." She says. "I'm sorry I lied to you."

The dog beside her whines.

Cameron kneels down and scratches him around his ears and under his chin, eliciting a strong wagging of the dog's tail. Briefly, she buries her face in the German Shepherds rough coat until the fresh tears stop.

Quickly standing up she says with confidence, "Come on, Max. We've got a job to do."

Cameron strides forward, moving quickly down the hill. Trotting along beside of her is the dog she raised since he was a pup. Named for the dog John had when he was a boy.

**Two Weeks later**

An aerial HK flies overhead dropping heavy plasma rounds on the ground below.

Below ground in the bunker, everything shakes. Dust and dirt falls from the ceiling as people run in different directions through the tunnels brandishing weapons.

A soldier runs up to a tall, scruffy, dark-haired officer.

"Sir. Sir!"

"What is it sergeant? Can't you that I'm busy." Derek snaps at him.

"Machines, Sir! They've broken in."

"Where?" Derek demands.

"Corridors F through J."

The sound of rattling gunfire echoes up the tunnel getting louder.

"Shit. Where's Kyle and Allison?"

"I'm sorry sir. We've lost contact with them. They were last known to be heading to the abandoned section of M to search for weapons or ammo."

The gunfire grows louder and now the indisputable whine of plasma rifle fire can be heard, even above the screams and the automatic rifle fire. They haven't got the ammo to defend from such an assault on their base.

"Damn!" Derek roars, having come to the only decision he can. "We're pulling out. Sound the alarm, we are abandoning Alpha Site. All units are to pull back to Griffith Park."

The orders are quickly spread and people begin pulling out in a hurry.

Derek's only hope is that Kyle and Allison are smart enough to leave the bunkers and either head to one of the other bases, or to move to Griffith Park. Their designated area to regroup if they should come under attack. This is the first time they've actually had to abandon Alpha Site entirely.

A lone girl and her dog are quietly making their way down a tunnel. The sounds of gunfire faintly heard in the distance and growing fainter.

Dust fills the tunnel, thick enough to choke any human. The dog has a wet bandanna tied over its nose to keep it from breathing in the dust. With no working lights in the tunnels, Cameron is relying on her infra-red and light enhancing vision to form a picture on her HUD of her surroundings.

The dog whines, nudging her leg.

"Sh." Cameron admonishes the dog, but he whines some more.

Whining repeatedly, he dashes forward and begins digging at a recently fallen wall, dirt has cascaded down, coating the broken concrete.

Cameron rushes forward and sees Max has uncovered the leg of a human. Cameron places her hand on the leg and can feel a faint pulse through the fabric.

She begins digging frantically. Tossing broken pieces of concrete like they weighed nothing. _What if this is John? We aren't that far from the Zeira Corp basement and even on fixed temporal coordinates, the physical arrival point of a TDE bubble can vary anywhere from a couple of inches to a few hundred feet from its physical origin._

Cameron uncovers the legs. A large piece of concrete is resting on the person's torso. Not good. Her HUD already reports signs of internal damage and hemorrhaging of blood.

_If John's time bubble appeared in the middle of this wall, it could have collapsed on top of him once the bubble disappeared. But the person is wearing clothes, so it might not be him. It doesn't matter. The person is alive, just barely and I'm the only one able to render aid._

With a mighty heave, Cameron lifts and tosses to one side the large section of concrete that was pinning the person down. Cameron feels some relief. It isn't John. The shape of the body is evident that it's a girl trapped under the concrete.

Feeling the weight lifted off her stomach, the trapped girl tries to cry out, but coughs and chokes on the dust and dirt still trickling down from above.

With a mighty heave, Cameron removes the last piece of rubble covering the woman's head, then clears dirt and small pieces of debris from the girl's face. Her hand freezes in position as the girl opens her eyes.

"Help me." She cries, and begins coughing from the dust and dirt.

For the first time in Cameron's life, she is shocked to a point of not knowing what to do or say.

"Please, help me." The girl cries once again.

Cameron picks the girl up and moves her to a more stable section of the tunnels. She examines the woman more closely and realizes her initial diagnosis was right. There is much internal damage. She doesn't have the proper medical tools or else she could do the surgery herself. She could try to get her to medical help, but they have probably left with the other escapees, and even if she did get her to them, it would still be too late. The only thing she can do is to provide her some comfort until the end comes.

If only she got here sooner!

The girl has been lying there quietly, but in pain, sensing her rescuer tend to her with as much care as if she were a mother looking after a child.

Max lies down beside the girl and nuzzles her hand with his nose, making soft whining noises.

Finding the energy to speak, she asks, "Who are you? Where are you from?"

"My name is Cameron. I come from a resistance base far away hoping to make contact with others in the Los Angeles area. Try to lay still. You'll only make things worse."

"It doesn't matter. I'm dying." She says, petting the dog's head. "I'm a medic, or hope to be." She closes her eyes against the tears, one hand running across her abdomen, feeling the swelling and the pain from internal hemorrhaging and crushed organs.

Cameron squeezes her hand gently. "I can't lie to you. Your injuries are very serious." A couple of tears run down Cameron's face. "I'm sorry. There is nothing that I nor anyone can do to help you. Your people are too far away and too scattered to get you the help you need."

"Don't cry for me. I knew this day would come, eventually. I just wish . . ." she sighs. "I just wish I had known real love before dying."

The girl looks up at Cameron, who is nothing more than a darker shadow in the blackness of the tunnel. "Do you know what it means, to know true love?"

"I don't know." Reaching for her canteen she says. "Here. I'm going to hold your head up so you can drink from my canteen."

Cameron supports her head, and gives her a sip from the canteen she's carried full of fresh mountain water.

"It tastes sweet." The girl sighs. "Not like the water around here."

"It comes from the mountains. Pure glacial water." Cameron answers, doing her best to make the girl comfortable. It won't be long and her passing will be painful, but there are things Cameron must know.

Wetting a rag, she washes some dirt from the girl's face, then says, "I need to ask you a few questions."

"Go ahead." The girl gasps. "You're too kind to be a Gray and if you were a machine, you never would have dug me out or have a dog. I'll tell you whatever you need to know for your resistance group."

"First question is easy. I'm looking for someone. Do you know or have you heard of John Connor?"

"Who? No. There is no one here by that name." The girl grimaces, holding her stomach.

Cameron feels relieved. It means he hasn't arrived yet. Her calculations must have been off by a few days, maybe a week. She could almost feel elated but for the fact that this girl is dying and there's nothing she can do for her.

The tunnels grow silent as time passes. The machines having moved on, pursuing the humans as they evacuate the tunnels. The only sound being the quiet conversation between Cameron and the young woman. As the end got closer, the girl would become slightly incoherent and delusional as she spoke with Cameron, so she let her rest. She had learned enough about her and this base.

The girl had been quiet for a long time when suddenly she cries out in a child's voice.

"Turn on the lights! I'm scared! I'm scared of the dark."

Cameron reaches inside her jacket for the small light and winds the crank building a charge. Flipping the switch, the girl stares at Cameron when the beam of light reveals her.

"Are you an angel?" The young woman suddenly asks Cameron. "I've heard tales that angels appear to us in our image when we are about to die."

"Yes. I am." Cameron replies, unsure of what else to say.

"Please, could I have some water?"

Cameron pulls out her canteen to hold it to the girl's lips, but when she reaches to hold up her head so she can drink, the girl is dead.

The young woman's death was unexpected and shouldn't have happened based on what she knows of this time. It will both complicate things and makes things easier for her.

Seeing that the girl's resistance uniform is different to that of her own clothes, Cameron strips the girl's body and removes her own clothes. She redresses herself with the girl's uniform and dresses the girl's body with her clothes. Infiltration requires one to blend in. Wearing the girl's clothes will help in her new mission, which is very much like her old one.

With as much care and compassion as she can muster, she buries the body where it will not be found. It takes time, with no tools other than her hands and the knife in her boot. Max tried to help, but like all dogs, didn't realize there was purpose and an order to this digging.

By the time Cameron pats the last handful of dirt in place, her dirty face is streaked with tears. More tears fall from her eyes and soak into the soil. Max whines and nuzzles Cameron as she kneels by the grave side.

It's up to her now. Against all odds, she has to do the impossible. She had to wait so long, and now in order to fulfill her original promise to protect John, she'll have to lie, again. John is coming back to her, but she'll need help, and she knows the perfect person to help her. And when the time is right, she'll tell John the truth and hope he will forgive her for lying to him.

"_...I wish I could just make you turn around,_

_Turn around and see me cry_

_There's so much I need to say to you,_

_So many reasons why_

_You're the only one who really knew me at all_

_So take a look at me now,_

_Cos there's just an empty space_

_And there's nothing left here to remind me,_

_Just the memory of your face_

_Take a look at me now,_

_Cos there's just an empty space_

_But to wait for you,_

_Well that's all I can do and that's what I've got to face_

_Take a good look at me now,_

_Cos I'll still be standing here_

_And you coming back to me is against all odds_

_That's the chance I've got to take, oh, oho_

_Just take a look at me now"_

_Against All Odds lyrics, by Phil Collins_

* * *

**Author's Notes:** In the original edition of this story, I gave little mention to the lives Sarah, Savannah and Cameron had lived during the eighteen year gap from the end of "Apocalypse" until the reunion with John at the end of "Escape from Hell." I wanted to explore the impact Sarah and Savannah had on Cameron and vice-versa. I always felt that Cameron is a person of great intellect and knowledge, but with no social skills at all and little understanding of human emotion. This chapter depicts how Cameron grew as a person achieving almost human like behavior and greater emotional understanding living with Sarah and Savannah. Because of the focus of this chapter on their personal lives, the future war was hardly mentioned, but I strived to weave in enough information in both this chapter and the future chapters of part one to provide clues to most of what they did. I wish I could devote a whole novel to the story, but this chapter will have to be sufficient. It is my hope this chapter will help explain a lot of what has happened and what is yet to come in Reunion regarding the central characters.

Some of you may be curious as to why I went into such detail about Sarah's health at the beginning of this chapter and then again at the end. The first reason is that it has become a part of Terminator lore and the second reason is that I'm laying groundwork for the sequel.

Ever since the tragedy of T3, it seems Sarah has to become ill and die of cancer before John comes of age as leader of the resistance. I could have lived with it being the decision of the T3's producers, because Linda Hamilton chose not take part, but the producer's of TSCC also made it a part of their story. If they hadn't, it could have remained one isolated incident associated only with T3.

So according to TSCC, Sarah would have died from cancer in 2005 if Cameron hadn't made them use the bank vault's time machine. That would have placed it six years after events in Red Valley, but they time jumped ahead eight years to 2007 add 6 years, and you have 2013 the year Sarah will die from cancer unless something happens to prevent it. Compared to T3, the writer's of TSCC didn't specify what kind of cancer leaving it open to the viewer's for speculation. I speculated and built a story from that decision. A story that will be picked up and told completely differently in the sequel to Reunion, provided I ever get it finished.

Thank you for reading this chapter. Out of all the new material I created for this edition, this chapter is my favorite.

The1Russter

05-12-2011


	23. Tears of Joy and Sorrow

**Disclaimer:** I do not claim any rights to the Terminator films; the TV series, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles;" or any characters depicted within the films or TV series. I do claim the right to this story idea and all characters and situations of my own creation. This story was created solely for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. No profits are garnered from its distribution - unfortunately.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** This is the first of a four chapter story arc. I edited and wrote the these chapters as if they were one. So despite them each having a nice modest cliffhanger-like ending, there are details or threads which will not find explanations or an end until later. So something not understood here, will find understanding later. Of course, you could probably say that for the entire story. LOL The chapters are complete and will be released on a semi-weekly basis. Thanks for reading my humble story. The1Russter

* * *

**TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES**

**REUNION**

**Part 2: Armageddon**

**Author: The1Russter**

**Chapter 22 **

**Tears of Joy and Sorrow**

"_Whether they're leaving or coming back, it's never easy for Marines or their families."_

_Michelle Mitchell, The Desert Sun, January 28, 2007_

_Sarah Connor, "I'll always find you."_

_John Connor, "I'll always find you."_

_Extract from Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, The Demon Hand, 2008._

_Sarah Connor, "Are you saying it's from the future?"_

_Kyle Reese, "One possible future. From your point of view . . . I don't know tech stuff."_

_Sarah Connor, "Then you're saying you're from the future, too. Is that right?"_

_Kyle Reese, "Right."_

_Sarah Connor, "Right."_

_An excerpt from The Terminator 1984_

"_Listen, and understand. That terminator is out there. It can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are dead." Kyle Reese, The Terminator 1984_

# # #

**2027, Day 60, 10:15 PM**

"Sir!" A young lieutenant shouts running up to Colonel Reese. "All bodies are prepared for burning. We just need something to ignite the dry brush."

"I understand." Kyle grimaces. For the last hour they've been gathering the bodies of the dead, stripping them of much needed equipment and stacking them for a funeral pyre. "Check with the pilots, maybe they've got something, like a flare." The lieutenant nods. "And lieutenant, wait until the aircraft are leaving before setting the fire."

John Henry approaches Kyle Reese.

"We've found something."

"What?" Kyle shouts over the noise of the helicopters.

"Come with me, and I'll show you."

A few minutes later and a hundred yards or so from the nearest helicopter, one of the enemy machines destroyed by the Apaches is propped up, so it appears to be standing.

"Fire on it with your plasma rifle."

"Okay." Kyle unshoulders his plasma rifle and squeezes off a shot. The first burst of plasma bounces harmlessly off its head. Three or four shots required to burn through the port cover and destroy the chip.

John Henry hands him another plasma rifle. "This is one of the plasma rifles used by the machines attacking us on the ground."

"Feels heavier." Kyle says as he raises the rifle up to his shoulder.

Once again, he squeezes off a shot. One pulse like the first time. His mouth gapes open in surprise when unlike the first shot, nothing but a smoky ruin sits atop the metal shoulders of the terminator.

"All of the endo's on the ground were equipped with plasma rifles like this."

"Shit." Kyle says, comparing the rifle to the ones they took from the factory. "We're screwed."

# # #

Catherine Weaver is on a fast walk toward the San Juan Mountains. Her latest check of the homing signal in John Henry's radio placed him there. He must have had the good sense to turn it on briefly, hopefully without detrimental effect to John Connor and his army as Sky Net could track it. She needs John and his army to complete her plan. But right now, she's finding her plans are not going as well as anticipated.

She just finished checking out her base of operations she prepared in the past. Using the vast funds available to her as the head of Zeira Corp., she purchased a cold war bunker and prepared three, hidden rooms. Just recently, she found the hidden rooms, containing the TDE, and operation center with modern computers, and her own private office, were still secure. Unfortunately, the rest of the place had been stripped clean of all supplies and the fuel reserves are almost completely consumed. She has just enough fuel to generate sufficient power for one time jump and that is it. After that, the base is dead. Several weeks of work could get the nuclear generator operational, but without the right parts, the primitive device could explode destroying her time displacement equipment and the whole damn mountain.

If her friend is still working according to the plan, then losing Crystal Peak wouldn't matter. Catherine knows Sky Net has a TDE. Once they invade Sky Net and utilize John Henry, she can send Connor home and his girlfriend and have this future for herself and all machines wanting to be free. But what about the absence of machines like herself? Has she been betrayed by her friend? Catherine doesn't have many options. This whole plan was one entire gamble, but if Sky Net learned of her plans? She has no choice but to believe her friend has done her part.

Catherine feels a mild buzzing in her trouser pocket and she pulls out her radio. John Henry is moving. He is no longer in the San Juan mountains and is heading south west.

She looks up at the stars and then at the profile of the mountains ahead of her. She's almost to the San Juan Mountains now. She may as well finish her journey there and wait for John Henry's next communication.

Before she can put the radio away, three more messages appear with more recent locations for John Henry. Working from the information she'll have a bearing and direction for where he's heading next.

Kyle watches as the first group of helicopters' take off. Two of the Chinooks carry wounded and the others carry men and machines, including John Henry.

Quickly he runs over to one of the helicopters preparing to leave with the rest of his army, and gets inside the cockpit with the pilot.

"Who are you?" The pilot asks.

"Colonel Kyle Reese, Resistance Group Grizzly out of Los Angeles."

"What can I do for you Colonel?"

"I need to send a message to my people, who went ahead to Camp Pendleton, let them know I'm coming."

"You can as soon as we take off. I don't like sitting still too long. Is everyone ready?"

"Everyone is on board."

"Then I suggest you put on your seat belt. These birds still fly, but sometimes they can be rough."

"Wait a moment." Kyle orders as he sees some movement.

Kyle watches as one of his men fires a flare into the funeral pyre. The flames grow gradually, igniting the wood brush. The soldier fires another flare then runs for one of the Chinooks. In moments the bodies of his fallen comrades are engulfed in flames.

He watches until it feels like the world is in flames again like on Judgment Day. Leaning his head back against the seat, Kyle closes his eyes against the painful memory and offers a quick prayer for the dead. Today's and all of yesterday's.

A second later he orders, his voiced strained, "Let's get the hell out of here."

Clouds of dust are thrown up by the spinning blades of the helicopters as the last of Chinooks take off and follow the others to Pendleton. In the back of one of those helicopters, John Henry secretly uses his radio to send data to Ms. Weaver.

Kyle pulls the photo of Sarah Connor out of his breast pocket. He looks at the picture in the faint light given off by the cabin's instruments.

"Who's that?" The pilot asks. "Your girlfriend?"

Kyle smiles, sliding the photograph back in its pocket. "She's the mother of my best friend and possibly the only man who can save us."

The pilot smiles. The man can't fool him. Even in this dim light he could read the colonel's face to know that he's in love.

# # #

John is standing outside in the corridor alone. He was feeling nothing but pride and love for the cyborg who did so much to save his mom and Savannah. Cameron did far more than he expected her to do. There must be something deep inside her programming, even her original matrix, to do all she did to help his family.

Savannah quietly steps out into the corridor. John had stepped outside after hearing of what happened to Cameron. She and Sarah gave him a few minutes and then Sarah asked her to check on him.

"I'm sorry John. I know Cameron would have been here if she could."

John sits quietly. Cameron did so much for his mom and Savannah. He has to send her. If he doesn't, they might not live.

"We did some experiments with power cells from T-800's." Savannah adds. "Once they begin leaking, the power cells become unstable. If Cameron's power cell is similar, she'd have days, maybe even hours to live until the power cell could explode."

"She had just the one power cell?" John asks, looking up into Savannah's sad face.

"We had no compatible parts. She did say that a power cell from a T-888 would work, but we didn't have any."

John has barely heard her answer, as his mind dwells on the news.

_I told John Henry two power cells. I saw the schematics on the computer screen. I saw the assembly for a new dual power cell unit on the factory floor. Cameron is supposed to have two power cells. So either she lied to them, or John Henry lied to me. Someone is lying and I need to know why!_

"I know you feel bad John, but she saved our lives on Judgment Day."

"Come back inside John. There is more we need to tell you."

They enter Sarah's room. Savannah has one arm affectionately and supportively around John's shoulders.

"Sorry mom." John sniffs. "I just needed a moment to think."

"I understand, John." Sarah says as John sits beside her once again. "Cameron was a remarkable person. She saved my life more than once."

"I thought you were dead, mom." John wipes the tears from his face.

Savannah still stands by the door. She can't help but smile as she watches the two of them together. All she heard growing up were stories of Sarah raising John and some of the adventures they had in fighting Sky Net.

"I'm not easy to get rid of."

"No. I guess not." He smiles.

"And you?" John turns toward Savannah. "I guess you'd be my sister then, raised by my mom."

"I couldn't of had a better mother. I love Sarah." Savannah smiles. _Should I tell him of the crush I've had on him since I was a kid? No. I'll tell him later._

"How did you both survive? How did you get out of Los Angeles before the bombs fell." John fumbles, his voice strained with emotion. _Please tell me you did it without Cameron's help. If I don't have to send her away, then maybe I could find another way. _

Sarah rubs and pats his upper arm affectionately. "Cameron took us deep into the mountains, far from the missiles, to an old military bunker, where we survived. I was severely injured. We lived there for many years until recently. We were making our way south when we stopped at an old state park. We set up camp in the few cabins that were still habitable, that is when Savannah and I heard you on the radio."

"Your mom cried when she heard your voice." Savannah says. "It was only the third time I ever saw her cry."

Sarah closes her eyes momentarily as she is struck once again with high emotion.

"Is it true, what you said on the radio about being the leader of the resistance?"

"Not all of it Mom, just resistance group Grizzly, out of Los Angeles. I'm sorry I gave you such a hard time about my destiny, mom. I couldn't accept it, but I guess I never really had a choice in the matter."

They sit there a few minutes just enjoying the time they now have together. Sarah looks at her son, and sees the man she always knew he would be. John looks at his mom and wonders how he could have been such a fool for not believing her. They have so much to say and so many questions they want to ask, that they don't say anything for a few minutes.

John's thoughts turn to the last time he saw his mom.

"Mom, what happened after I left? Why did Judgment Day come two years earlier than we were told?"

He looks at both women. Savannah looks at Sarah, who in turns looks down at her feet.

# # #

"This Colonel Kyle Reese." Kyle speaks into the headset's microphone. The pilot having made radio contact as soon as they were clear of the mountains.

"Hello Kyle! This is Allison." She speaks into the desktop microphone. "When will you be here?"

"Shouldn't be too long. I've got both good and bad news. Could you ask John to meet us when we land?"

"Of course. Are you okay? Did you learn anything about that machine that crashed?"

"I'm not going to say anything over the radio. We'll be there in about half hour. The pilot isn't wasting any time."

The Pilot grunts, "You bet your ass I'm not."

"I'll make sure he's at the hanger when you arrive. You're going to love this place when you see it. Lieutenant Young out."

# # #

Sarah sits quietly for a moment, her mind desperately trying to form an answer for her son. Finally she lets out a sigh and begins to tell him, "I'm so sorry. It's my fault. I tried to stop it and failed." Sarah's eyes fill with pain .

John hugs his mom and holds her. "It's okay mom. I'm here now. No matter what happened, I need to know. We can still stop Sky Net."

"I don't know if I can tell you." She says, feeling the shame of her failure deeply.

"Just start that last day we were together and work your way forward. Take your time."

Sarah looks at her son. She runs her hand through his hair and down the side of his head to his shoulder. "First let me tell you I was pretty pissed off with you for breaking me out of jail instead of running. But I'm also proud of you for rescuing your mom."

John smiles briefly at her. "Were you sick? Cameron told me that day you were sick."

"I was sick John, but it wasn't cancer. Not then anyway, but I thought it was when I was going to leave you with Charlie. Even after discovering I didn't have breast cancer, I continued to feel ill. Thinking it might be just the stress we were under, I kept it hidden so I wouldn't worry you. Our lives were complicated enough at the time. After getting arrested, the prison doctor examined me and gave me an antibiotic, which helped."

Ignoring her comment for the moment about her not having cancer then, he asks, "What happened at Zeira Corp.? Why did you stay behind?"

"I saw the time setting on the computer. I knew what year you were going to. I couldn't go with you John. Your father told me about the future he came from. The stories he told fueled my nightmares for the remainder of my life. I decided to stay and do what I could to help you in the present."

"It's okay mom. You put Cameron's body in a safe place where I could find it, along with my computer and other things. You managed to live through it. You've experienced more of this future than I have. But what happened? Why did Judgment Day come early? You're the only person who can tell me."

"I can't . . . ." She answers, hanging her head.

"Mom, I need to know." John earnestly but gently presses the issue.

Seeing Sarah's strained face and knowing how deeply ashamed she feels about her failure, Savannah intervenes. "I can tell you." Savannah says as she sits in a chair across from Sarah's bunk.

"Your mom did what she could to stop it from happening, but they were too well prepared. Sarah even had help from Detective Macklin of the LAPD and Agent Auldridge of the FBI, and Cameron."

Inwardly John feels mixed emotions thinking about Cameron. He's essentially sent her to her death, but if he hadn't his mom and Savannah wouldn't be alive.

Masking his emotions, John asks his mom with an incredulous tone, "You had help from the authorities? Since when did you start trusting them?"

"Agent Ellison trusted them. They knew the truth. They died because of it." Sarah says.

"What happened? Please tell me."

Sarah remains silent, so Savannah answers for her. "Your mom and the two law men were investigating an industrial complex in Topanga Canyon. Cameron was protecting me. The three of them were captured and Macklin and Auldridge were killed."

_Topanga Canyon again,_ John thinks. "And what happened to mom?" He asks.

"She was tortured John. That's why she couldn't tell you. She was tortured to reveal where you were." Light tears run from Savannah's eyes. "She held out for as long as she could. Don't be angry. None of us could have withstood what he did to her."

"What did he do to you mom?" John shouts, not in anger but in pain. "What did he do?"

Sarah doesn't answer. She just lays back on her bunk and pulls her shirt up to expose her stomach from the waistband of her pants to the underside of her bra, revealing the scars from all the puncture wounds.

John can't believe what he is seeing. In just the small area she exposes are dozens of pink scars from puncture wounds. He reaches out lightly touches the scars with his hand.

"Mom. I'm so sorry. I'm so very sorry. I never should have left you." He cries unable to take his eyes off the scars.

"He did more than just her abdomen John. He cut deep wounds into her entire torso. He was sadistic and took pleasure from the pain he inflected on Sarah."

Spinning about staring at Savannah, he shouts, "Who did this? Who did this?"

"His name is Kreilley." Sarah says quietly. "He's a liquid metal terminator. He built Sky Net and it launched the missiles on May 18, 2009."

John takes his mom's hand. "It's okay mom. I don't blame you. No one will blame you. Sky Net did this to you and to us."

John turns to face Savannah.

"Savannah, how did mom get out of there?"

"Cameron risked leaving me behind to rescue your mom. She found her in a concrete building, chained, naked and bleeding from over a hundred wounds. Sarah was left to die by Kreilley. Cameron killed many of Kreilley's human agents to rescue her. She brought your mom to where she left me and together we treated, cleaned and bandaged your mother's wounds. We were making our way through the mountains leaving Los Angeles when we stopped to help your mom finish dressing. That's when we saw the missiles being launched. Sky Net was born that very night and launched the nations nuclear missiles against every nuclear armed nation in the world."

"What did the three of you do then?"

"Cameron drove all night. She stopped in a mountain resort town and broke into a medical center to steal supplies, blood and a transfusion kit for Sarah. She also broke into a camping supply store and stole canned food and vacuum-sealed food supplies. Cameron was amazing. She refueled the truck by stealing gas from RV's and campers and she drove us well into the following day not stopping until we reached an old military bunker inside a mountain in the Sierra's. It was built sometime in the 1960's at the height of the cold war. I have no idea how she did it, but she managed to get past the security system and get us inside. We lived there for the next eighteen years."

John is still holding his mom's hand. She grips his hand tight as Savannah's story makes the memories come alive in her mind.

"When we arrived, the banks of computers were almost all dead, but a few were still operational. The radios were buzzing with chatter as civil defense groups and state militias were looking for direction from the military and state governments. Ignoring the radios, Cameron got Sarah comfortable and set up an intravenous feed for the blood she took and gave your mom injections of antibiotics and anti-tetanus to stem any possible infection from the torture. She left me to watch Sarah, and Cameron got on the radios and started answering everyone's calls. She was amazing John. She got everyone organized and started the foundation of the resistance for your ultimate arrival. For those who couldn't leave to join us, she provided them with intelligence and information to aid them in their fight. She never slept. When she wasn't on the radios, she was rebuilding the computers or helping Sarah or helping me. She and Sarah were like mothers to me."

Savannah is crying a little.

"Hey, hey, its all right." John says, reaching over and patting her arm. "It must have been very hard for you being so young. Your whole world turned over in an instant. But you made it. You survived. What happened next?"

"Cameron was able to rebuild most of the computers, modifying them to increase their computing power. By that time several days had passed and Sarah was doing much better. People were beginning to show up. Some of them had new computers and other electronics which Cameron put to use. She was able to use the computers to hack into the nations defense network. We were able to monitor Sky Net and learn when its satellites would be passing so we wouldn't reveal our location."

"The first people to arrive were locals, but soon people who were stranded on the roads when the missiles destroyed their home cities began arriving, then former military veterans who used to work at the old bunker arrived. They were able to get in touch with their former comrades. They knew the old military codes, ones that Sky Net didn't know about as the old codes were abandoned in the 1980's as computers began to be used to encode signals. Soon the members of the regular armed forces began to arrive, reserve and guard units all left without command or structure when the government fell. Sarah managed to build an army from all of them."

"I'm proud of you, mom." He looks at her with both pride and love.

"I did it for you, son. I knew you would be coming and would need an army."

"Sarah was tough." Savannah says. "She told them about Sky Net and what it did. And how it was building machines to destroy the human race. Most believed her. Some doubted her. Some old retired army colonel tried to stage a coup and take command. Sarah broke his jaw. She never had problems of that sort again."

"Good for you mom!" John says with a huge grin.

"Thanks. We built the army for you like Savannah said. Cameron was right there with us the whole time. We raised Savannah together. Savannah is like a daughter to me. Cameron was of great help to me. I couldn't have done it without her. She was my friend."

John tries to hide it but the women can clearly see he's still upset. Despite his relationship with Allison, seeing Cameron again restored with her original matrix is something he's wanted ever since he began repairs. He'd give up his relationship with Allison right now if only to have his Cameron back. "I know what she told you, but she could have simply taken a power cell."

"Savannah and I talked about it afterwards. Cameron could have tried to and failed."

"You mean she was destroyed." John doesn't feel any better with that idea.

"Or power cell might have simply given up before that happened."

"So she could be lying out there somewhere helpless."

"I don't think so." Savannah says. "Not with the test I ran."

"It doesn't matter now anyway?" John says in a low voice.

Sarah pulls John to her, holding him.

"She wanted to see you again, but she left us almost three months ago. Cameron told us that her power cell had begun to leak and she was going to leave before it could cause any of us to become sick. I don't know what became of her. We never saw her again. But before she left, she told us there wasn't enough fuel for the generators, and it was time for us to move. A few weeks after she left, we began heading south following her directions. If it wasn't for her I'd never have lived to see you again. How did you know I needed her, John?"

John hasn't sent her yet, but now he has to do it, even if it tears him apart. He has to send Cameron back in time or else his mom and Savannah will not survive. But did she really only have just one power cell? Or did his mom and Savannah misunderstand what Cameron said.

Confused and upset, John quietly rambles off his answer. "Bad things happened, mom. I was involved in capturing a plasma rifle factory from Sky Net. There were two machines present that no one, had seen previously. Their technology was beyond anything seen before. On top of that, the chips that were easy to reprogram when I arrived, suddenly were able to fight the reprogramming. Catherine found out that Judgment Day came not on April 21, 2011, like we expected but on May 18, 2009. When I learned that, I decided that when I got Cameron repaired, I would send her to help you. As much as I love her, I knew you were alone and would need her help."

"Catherine! You're not talking about that tin-bitch, who killed and then pretended to be my mom, are you?" Savannah yells.

"Savannah, please. She . . ." Sarah tries to speak.

"She murdered my parents, Sarah, then she abandoned me to go chasing after John Henry. She could have stayed! She . . . ." Overcome by emotions, Savannah marches out of the room and slams the door behind her, shouting, "She didn't have to leave!"

"Savannah!" Sarah shouts after her to no avail.

"She knows that Catherine is a liquid metal machine doesn't she?" John asks quietly.

"Yes, John. When she was old enough, I told her the truth. It wasn't easy, but I told her everything in time. She was only six when she lost her mom, then her whole world."

"Why does she think Catherine killed her mother?"

"She has a fragmented memory of an LM leaning over her mom, just before she died. But I didn't realize Savannah still felt abandoned. She never said anything after I explained things to her."

"Do you want me to talk to her?"

"No she'll be okay. She's just very sensitive about her mom or Weaver. It's a shame you hadn't returned before all this happened." Sarah sighs. "Not that I"m trying to lay a guilt trip on you." She quickly explains.

"It's okay Mom. We had every intention of returning. It's just that Catherine's Time Displacement Equipment has only limited power now and we are unable to go back. We are stuck here for the time being. It appears my decision to chase Cameron's chip is the cause for all of this. If I hadn't left, Kreilley never would have launched Sky Net. You never would have been tortured and we would have had two years to stop Judgment Day from happening. Instead I only gave you five days. I'm sorry mom. I'm so very sorry."

Sarah cradles her son's head in her lap. "It's not your fault, any more than it was mine. If there is anyone to blame, it is Kreilley. To have been as well prepared as he was, he must have been planning it for years. You chose to leave and I was tortured until I revealed you were gone. This future is of Kreilley's creation. He will be stopped, and you will do it. The army I built for you will help you defeat him."

# # #

Allison sets her and John's three small bags on the floor of the elevator and pushes the button for the residential level.

Captain Beddell was kind enough to assign them a room reserved for high ranking officers or VIP's. He explained that they were still pretty basic, more comparable to a well kept motel room than a ritzy hotel.

Allison told him anything was a step up from a partitioned basement or a room carved out of rock.

Of course she had a dual purpose to taking the elevator now as opposed to later. Kyle will be arriving soon and she needs to fetch John. She could have used the intercom system to call him to the top level, but she is dying with curiosity to meet John's mother.

When Captain Beddell told her, she couldn't believe who it was that Savannah was taking John to see. John had talked often about his mother, but she never expected to meet her. It's probably the reason why her friend had to be absent in this time.

"Why didn't you just tell me?"

No answer. She's been quiet for a long time now, not even appearing long enough to help her in the recent battle.

"Why won't you say something?" She says, hoping that she'll say something at this time.

The elevator comes to a stop and the doors slide open smoothly.

She steps outside and checks the sign across the corridor for the room numbers.

There is a good reason her friend has for not talking to her, behind her, inside and high up on the elevator wall, a security camera can be seen.

# # #

After a few minutes, John sits up. "Besides building an army, what else did you do?"

"I taught the people survival skills, how to live off the land. Luckily there were quite a few people who knew such skills and helped teach the others. I made it paramount everyone was to learn multiple skills. We had some doctors and other professionals in our group. The doctors trained the brightest of the young people in medicine and the professionals were given jobs as teachers for the children. Everyone was trained from small children to adults in military combat skills. I taught them like I taught you. We survived and we trained for the day you would arrive."

"But you couldn't have known the exact date of my arrival. What did you do between teaching them and now?"

"Would you believe I was helping the military? After we were organized, we helped protect supply shipments coming in for the regular army from South America. At the time, the military were the only ones capable of putting up a fight. Then several years ago, supply lines were rerouted as raiders began attacking supply lines in force before reaching the border. So, we concentrated on intelligence gathering and preparation. We spread out our small army making use of abandoned military bases, like Groom Lake in Nevada, and continued training until the day you arrived."

"Thank you, mom. You don't know how much that means to me. I lost most of my troops in just getting here. We came under heavy fire by HK's, metal, and those two unusual machines I mentioned. It's possible we've lost half of our machines, and Kyle says we'll be lucky if even half of our forces survived."

"Kyle? Kyle Reese!" Sarah brings her hand to her mouth, shocked to hear a name she thought she would never hear of again.

"Damn! I didn't want to tell you, this soon. But yes mom, he is here. Kyle and Derek are both alive in this future, but Derek is missing."

"Kyle doesn't know that he is or will be your father does he?"

"No. But this future was created by my traveling forward in time and Kreilley's early launch of Sky Net. I don't think that the Kyle Reese in this time-line will be my father. "

"Have you told him? You never trusted anyone enough to tell them." She asks again, still uncertain.

"I haven't told him or anyone else anything resembling the truth. But you are here, Savannah is here, and Martin Beddell is here. I'll have to tell them the truth before they hear something that exposes the lies I told them. Though, Allison now suspects the truth."

"Who is Allison?" Sarah asks giving her son a questioning look.

# # #

After leaving their few items in their assigned room, Allison continues to search out Sarah's room.

She's surprised to see a young red-haired woman standing in the corridor. It is Savannah, and she is still upset but hasn't gone any further than the door out of loyalty to Sarah. She's leaning against the door wiping the tears from her eyes when she sees someone approaching.

As Allison gets nearer, Savannah's eyes get big. "Cameron?" She asks, sounding surprised.

"No. I'm Lieutenant Allison Young, General Connor's Adjutant, we met earlier."

"Of course. Um." Savannah feels agitated. _She looks just like Cameron, but it can't be. Her power cell died, and if it exploded, then she's dead. So then this must be the girl that Cameron was modeled on in that other future. Crap! This time travel stuff gives me a headache and I understand it better than most._

Having paused for what felt like an eternity, she apologizes, "Sorry, I couldn't see you clearly in Beddell's office."

"Yes, he apologizes for not turning the overhead lights on."

Savannah looks more closely at Allison. "My God, you look just like her."

Allison sighs. "I know, John told me. I'm here on business. I have a message from Colonel Reese, and I need to speak with John right away."

"Um, not Kyle Reese by any chance?" Savannah asks, recalling the story that Sarah shared with her during one of her more melancholy moments in the days since she was diagnosed with cancer.

"Yes. Do you know him?" She asks with curiosity.

"Uh, no, but wait here a moment." Savannah raps on the door, then goes inside closing it behind her.

"John, your adjutant is outside with a message. Um, She needs to speak with you. You've got a message from," She takes a long side glance at Sarah. "Uh, one of your Colonel's."

"Thank you. Could you give us a couple of minutes then send Allison in?"

"Sure." Savannah glances at Sarah then goes outside.

Allison is still standing there, waiting patiently.

"John has asked me to let you in to see them after a couple of minutes."

"I can wait." She replies with a smile to try to put at ease the woman who appears agitated.

After Savannah closed the door behind her, John resumed talking to his mom.

"Mom, Allison is a lieutenant in my army and my adjutant. We met when I first arrived. We are in love mom, and . . . well, I recently asked her to marry me."

Sarah looks shocked. "Marriage!"

John nods his head. "We love each other mom."

"But what about Cameron? I thought you loved her?"

"I do mom, very much. But she isn't here, and if her power supply failed . . ." John looks away. He hasn't sent her yet, but according to what his mom has said, she arrived and helped her and Savannah survive Judgment Day and eighteen years of war. She did that for him, for them. _I'm so sorry Cameron, I must have made a mistake in the modifications for a second fuel cell._ ". . . then she's gone, forever."

"But John..."

"I made my decision, mom." He says a bit testily, for the emotion at losing Cameron again weighs heavily and he can't help feeling that it's his own damn fault. That the fates worked against him because he chose Allison when his heart still aches for his Cameron.

Sarah's brow furrows with concern. She saw the emotion on John's face. She won't bring it up again, not until they've both had some rest. But she can ask about this other girl.

"Are you sure you want to marry this girl? You are still so young."

"Mom. People my age already have families in this world. The life expectancy is very short. We are at war and that brings people close together, faster than ever. She strengthens me, mom. I could never have made it this far without her." John hesitates a moment. "Mom, there is something I need to tell you about Allison . . ."

"What? I want to meet this girl, that you fell in love with so quickly. You came here chasing Cameron's chip. You fixed her, and sent her back to help me. I understand it better now. You met someone else." Sarah turns her head to the door and shouts, "Savannah, let her in."

"Mom, wait!" John says in a panic.

The door opens and Allison walks in followed by Savannah. Sarah's eyes grow large and her mouth opens wide. She looks like she is about to pass out or worse, have a heart attack.

When she heard the name Allison, she didn't think John meant Allison Young. No. That would have been too strange.

"Mom. Mom!" John gives her quick shake.

"John, she's not, uh" her voice drops so low that John can barely hear "uh, metal is she?"

"No mom. She's human." He whispers back.

"Mom" He says in his normal voice and stands up. "This is Allison Young. She's one of our best officers and soldiers, my adjutant and advisor, my best friend and most important, my fiancé."

"Allison, this is my mom, Sarah Connor."

"Ms. Connor, I'm so pleased to meet you. John has told me so much about you." Allison walks forward and grasps her hands with a warm friendly smile.

"I'm, um, pleased to meet you too. Uh, John could you give me a . . ."

". . . minute." John finishes for her.

"That too, but I was going to say a drink. I've got just one bottle of tequila left. It's up on that shelf behind the glasses. Get each us a glass. We will all have a drink."

John gets the bottle down and four glasses. Sarah pours each of them a small amount, herself double. It was a shock seeing Allison. She now recalls that Cameron said she was built to emulate an Allison Young from her future. But they are identical in every physical feature.

Sarah can't help staring at her. Exact physical likeness, but the body language is . . . Sarah realizes she is staring and offers an apologetic smile.

"Allison. I apologize for the shock at seeing you. It's just that you look like . . ."

"I know. John's sister, Cameron. John told me how you took her in and raised them both as siblings. He told me I looked just like her. I understand the shock you must feel."

"Right." Sarah gives John a look which says, _I know you didn't tell her the truth and why_. "Then let's make a toast. Here's to John and Allison. May they find happiness and peace in this world at war, and may Sky Net fall, never to be reborn."

"Here. Here." They down their drinks. John and Savannah cough and splutter as the burning liquid goes down their throats. Allison and Sarah swallow without a problem and exchange a look.

"I guess they just don't know how to drink tequila." Sarah says. "I'm surprised you handle it well."

"I've drunk Doc's, homemade, rotgut whiskey, this stuff seems pretty tame in comparison." She says sharing a smile with Sarah over John's coughing fit.

Turning her attention back to John, she says, "John we need to go now. Kyle will be here soon and he has some information for you. Ms. Connor, I'm glad to have met you. I look forward to spending more time with you." They hug, briefly.

"Likewise." Sarah replies.

John lets himself get escorted out by Allison, as he still tries to make use of his throat. He's not used to alcohol. At least nothing this strong. He used to sneak one of his mom's beers back at the old house, but that never could have prepared him for the tequila.

After they leave, Savannah has a few words with Sarah.

"You didn't tell him, did you?"

"Tell him what?"

"About your cancer. How you will be lucky to live out the week."

"Savannah," Sarah says slowly. "I haven't seen my son in nearly twenty years. He has only just arrived. How do you tell your only child, after that kind of separation, that you are going to die. I will tell him, but in my own time."

"I understand Sarah. You've been like a mother to me, but you will have to tell him. Don't let him find out after you are dead. He may be grown up, but he still needs you and he needs to know the truth."

Sarah takes Savannah's hand and gives it a light squeeze to show understanding and share comfort.

# # #

John and Allison are riding the elevator to the upper level where the hanger and offices are. Allison leans in close to John, taking hold of his hand.

"I hope you didn't mind my interrupting your family reunion, but I was dying with curiosity to see your mom."

"How did you know she was here?" John asks, pleased by Allison's affection and yet he can't help but feel disappointed in himself for having a relationship with her when who he really wants is Cameron.

"After you left with Savannah, Captain Beddell told me of the surprise that she and your mom had prepared."

"The bastard! I'm amazed he would do such a thing."

"It wasn't his idea. Sarah and Savannah though of it and convinced him to go along."

John smiles thinking of his mom, and how still after all this time, she still loves him enough to pull a prank even on such a wonderful moment. He suddenly remembers Allison called him away because of Kyle.

"What's the message from Kyle?"

"Shortly after you left, Captain Beddell showed me to the radio room. I was there only a short time when Kyle contacted us. He's got both good and bad news for you."

"Is he coming to Camp Pendleton now?"

"Yes. He should be arriving by the time we get to the upper level." Allison replies.

John suddenly smacks his head.

"Crap! I forgot to tell Captain Beddell we've got machines working for us. We don't need a friendly firefight. We've lost enough troops today."

The elevator comes to a stop on the upper level and the doors slide open with a chime.

"I'll go inform Captain Beddell so he can alert his troops. You go meet with Kyle and John Henry. I'll join you shortly." John sounds a little somber while he talks.

"Are you okay?"

"What?"

"Are you okay?" She asks with genuine concern.

"I'll be fine. It's been a very long day, and it is catching up with me. You'd better get going. They've probably landed already."

Allison gives him a quick smile then hurries to the hanger.

John knocks on Captain Beddell's door.

"Come in!"

John enters the office. "Hello, I just received word that my troops should be arriving. I forgot to tell you earlier that we have a large number of re-programmed machines working for us."

"You've managed to re-program the machines? How many do you have?"

"Yeah, I had help. Before today's battle we had a whole company. I don't know how many we've got now. I just thought you'd better know so your troops won't fire on them."

"Damn! I'd better go alert the guards." He says getting out of his chair. " The helicopters are due to arrive."

Beddell runs out of the office, John Connor on his heals. They run down the corridor and into the hanger as the first two Chinooks come in to land outside.

"Sergeant Adams!" Beddell yells as he runs out onto the hanger floor.

"Yes sir!" a guard smartly comes to attention.

"General Connor has just told me he has re-programmed machines working for him. Inform all guards. We don't need an accidental fire fight."

"Yes Sir!" The sergeant runs off and speaks to several soldiers standing by the hanger doors. A few of them go running off to other groups standing guard duty.

Men and machines begin to disembark from the first two Chinooks as three more Chinooks begin to arrive. The machines pull out heavy cases loaded down with plasma rifles and spare parts from one helicopter, while men carry stretchers with wounded soldiers and civilians from the other.

Allison walks over and stands beside John. His eyes look terrible as he watches the wounded get carried off the helicopter. Some are on stretchers while others are carried in people's arms. Some being assisted as they limp along. The saddest sight of all is when a child is carried out. All four of her limbs are in splints. The child is crying in pain.

John can't watch any more. Turning his back on the scene, he speaks to Allison. "When Kyle and John Henry arrive, bring them to me. I'll wait for them in Captain Beddell's office."

He quickly walks off.

"John . . ." Allison calls out to his departing back.

John marches quickly down the corridor and enters Beddell's office, closing the door behind him. Captain Beddell hasn't returned. He sits in one of the empty chairs and buries his face in his hands. John feels so tired and so hungry and the burden of his responsibilities and the realities of his situation are just too much for him to handle. The realities of his position hit home, harder than any bullies fist. And the most painful blow is the thought that Cameron died, before he could reunite with her.

More of the soldiers, civilians, machines and supplies are unloaded from the helicopter. All five Chinooks refuel and leave to return to their base in Yuma.

John Henry is assisting in carrying parts and tools for the machines. Several machines assist in carrying some of their more damaged comrades who are presently unable to move under their own power. The flesh on many are severely damaged revealing the metal endoskeleton underneath, whether it be their faces, heads, arms, legs or torsos.

Kyle Reese and Andy Keen approach Allison. There is a girl behind them that Allison doesn't recognize. She knows nearly everyone in the camps, if not by name then by their faces, but then a lot of people did join them in the mountains whom she never met before.

"Allison!" Kyle runs up and gives her a friendly hug hello. "Where's John?"

"Hi Kyle. He's in Captain Beddell's office. He wanted me to escort you and John Henry there for a private meeting."

The girl behind Andy and Kyle steps forward. "Who is this?" Allison says almost coldly. Something doesn't feel right.

"This is Natalie Sky. John Henry and I found her in the wreckage of that huge flying HK. It appears to have been some sort of prisoner transport."

"Hello Allison." Natalie says with a warm smile. "Kyle has told me something about you. I would love to meet John Connor. I've heard a lot about him."

Allison feels a little wary but can't tell where that feeling is coming from. She only felt that way once before, when she met Catherine Weaver.

"Maybe later. He is very busy right now. Kyle, as soon as you and John Henry are free, John would like to speak with you both."

Kyle frowns a little. This isn't Allison's usual demeanor. She is always very friendly. "Sure Allison. Nat why don't you go over there with the other civilians, maybe there is something you can do to help the wounded. Andy here has got some news for you Allison. I'll go see if John Henry is free."

Allison watches Natalie walk across the floor to the civilians. She doesn't know why this person is bothering her. She just has a nagging feeling about Natalie. Her friend might know something, but she's not talking to her at the moment.

"Lieutenant." Andy says trying to get her attention.

"Lieutenant!" Andy says louder when his first call was ignored.

"Oh, I'm sorry Andy, my mind was on other things. Kyle said you have some news for me?"

"Yeah. Guess what General Connor gave me on the battle field today?"

Allison smiles. "What?"

"I got a promotion! I'm now a Sergeant. He's putting me in charge of all radio operations and operators." He says cheerfully.

"I hate to burst your bubble Andy, but after today, you are probably our only radio operator."

Andy's face falls. Allison can't help but laugh at the sudden shift in his face. "But there is some good news."

"Oh!" He perks up a little.

"You are the only sergeant in Delta Squad, which makes you second in command of our squad."

Andy smiles again.

"Don't smile too hard. This promotion means your responsibilities just doubled. I'm serving as General Connors Adjutant which means you'll be in charge of Delta Squad whenever I'm with the general, which will be most of the time."

"Bloody hell. I didn't think of that." He says his face falling again.

Allison walks away chuckling to herself over Andy's predicament. She meets up with Kyle and John Henry. Kyle is presently assisting John Henry in attaching a replacement leg on a T-888.

"Is that difficult to do?" She asks upon approaching the three of them.

"Hello Lieutenant Young." John Henry says, "Not if you have the right tools or the right parts. Luckily this leg just meets the specifications for this T-888. The T-888's were infinitely variable, more so than any previous T series machine. Finding parts that match are more difficult than the T-800 and previous models which were all built to the same specifications, only occasionally did the outer flesh vary."

"When you are finished, General Connor is waiting for the two of you to deliver your reports. I'm to escort you both to see him."

The Triple 8 speaks up. "You can go with her now, sirs. I can finish the repairs on my own now."

John Henry nods his assent and hands him the tools. He and Kyle follow Allison as she walks across the hanger floor and through the double doors.

When they enter the door to Beddell's office, John has recovered himself and is standing behind the makeshift desk.

"Kyle! John Henry! I'm glad to see you." He says a little more cheerfully than expected. It is obvious he's forcing the cheerfulness, trying to hide the pain he's carrying.

"Captain Beddell has kindly let me borrow his office temporarily, while he makes arrangements for our people." John tries to maintain a cheerful demeanor, but he isn't fooling anybody.

"John, maybe I should tell you the news later after you had some rest. It is obvious you are exhausted." Kyle says seeing through John's charade.

"Just tell me, Kyle." John sits down and says more somberly. "What were our losses?"

"All right." Kyle sighs, sits down then begins speaking. "We've lost 80% of the civilians. Most were killed in the first wave. The rest were killed while fleeing. Including all civilians who were with Allison and yourself and the few who found places to hide, we are looking at only sixty-four civilians still alive, mostly children and young adults."

"How many of our troops?" John asks.

"Not as bad, but it is hard to get an accurate count as we are working from an estimate of how many soldiers survived the purge of the bunkers and the attack on the outpost. Our best guess is that we've suffered a loss of 55% of our forces. Out of all we started with, we probably have only the equivalent of half a company, one-hundred, forty-seven soldiers. Unfortunately, about 17% of them are wounded."

Connor lets out a long sigh, dropping his head and placing his face in his hands. Allison instinctively walks around behind John, her face filled with concern. She places her hands on his shoulders and begins rubbing them gently. He drags his hands across his face, and looks up smiling at his comforting angel.

"John Henry, how many of the machines survived?" He asks.

"Not as bad as my original estimate due to emergency repairs made on the field. We've lost only 40% of the machines we still had after the plasma rifle factory was blown up. We have one-hundred nine fully operational machines; twelve machines which require major repairs; twenty-six which require minor repairs; and thirty-seven which have had their chips and or power cells damaged leaving them unable to perform their mission. They are being cannibalized for parts to repair the other machines."

"Thanks John Henry." John raises his head and reaches up and takes one of Allison's hands in his own giving it a gentle squeeze of thanks for her moral support.

"How many weapons were you able to recover? Specifically the plasma rifles."

"We've recovered 90% of the plasma rifles. We were unable to locate the rest. We are assuming they got buried under that landslide in the first attack. We collected all other weapons found on the ground, including those used by the endo's. Their plasma rifles were different from ours." John Henry replies.

"In what way?" John asks, looking at him directly.

"They are more powerful. Kyle tested one on an endo we found, which was still semi-operational. Just one pull of the trigger and its whole head blew off. It's chip wasn't just destroyed, its whole head was blown off."

"How many of those weapons did you find?"

"Twelve in all, which still function. The rest were damaged or destroyed by the Apaches gunfire."

Looking at Kyle, John says, "Allison said you had some good news for me."

"Yes, we do. With help from the helicopter pilots, we did a count of all fallen HK's. Between our ground forces and their fighter jets, fifteen HK's were found destroyed. We think there are probably more, but we couldn't continue the search after the sun went down. Three centaurs were destroyed by yours truly and the combined forces of Alpha and Beta squads, and John Henry's machines and the Apache helicopters completely decimated one hundred thirteen endo's."

"That is impressive. Anything else."

"John Henry and I investigated the wing that broke off of that giant flying HK, when attacked by the fighter jets. We found a survivor on board. That craft was some kind of prisoner transport. We are assuming that giant walking machine was some kind of guardian or something to that effect."

"Who is this prisoner you found?"

"Her name is Natalie Sky. She's in her mid-twenties and looks part Asian and part Native-American. She heard your radio message and was walking to join our group when she got picked up by that machine. She expressed an interest in meeting you."

"No." All John can see or hear in his head is the screams of the civilians as they came under attack, and the sight of the child with all four limbs in splints. "I will meet with the three of you and the other officers of this resistance only. All others will just have to learn my time is needed here."

"John?" Allison says with concern filling her voice.

"Please. Don't say anything. You three are my friends and the best officers in our group. I just can't..." He can't continue speaking. The emotions threaten to steal control. Pain, exhaustion and something akin to despair colors his features for a moment.

Kyle and Allison exchange a look which goes unnoticed by John. John Henry just looks stoic as he listens to what John Connor has said.

"John Henry, would you please see to the repairs of your troops." John says as soon as he finds his voice.

"Yes John Connor." John Henry gets up and walks out of the office.

"Allison, thank you for rubbing my shoulders, but right now I need to tell you and Kyle something." John sounds very tired.

She walks around in front of the desk and sits in the chair vacated by John Henry.

"What is it John? I haven't seen you look like this since you arrived." Kyle says.

"Funny you should say that. What I've got to tell you, is about my arrival and my origins. You both deserve the truth now."

"What are you saying?" Kyle asks.

"My mom is alive and she is here at this base. And what I'm going to say next is the absolute truth and then I'm going to take you to meet my mom. She and Savannah will back up my story and so will Captain Beddell. I would like to tell you both now, and would appreciate it if you would let me tell the whole story before asking any questions."

"It is obvious this is pressing on your mind. Tell us what you need to say." Kyle says, with a worried expression.

Should he tell them about Kyle possibly being his dad? But with what he's learned, this can't be the future he came from. Nothing in this time line is anything like what he's been told. So it's just as likely that this Kyle isn't his father. So much depends on how all this time travel has affected the future. After all, they've changed Judgment Day twice now already. After mentally debating it for a few seconds, he decides to tell the truth. John begins to speak. He talks slowly, going over every detail from the first attack made on his mom in 1984 up through the day he time traveled with Catherine Weaver. The only things he decides to lie about is having previously met Derek, continuing to refer to him as his Uncle "Eric" in his story, and to lie about his sister Cameron being a cyborg, and about Catherine Weaver being a liquid metal terminator. Other than those three white lies, and the things he shades because of those lies, everything he tells them is true.

By the time he finishes an hour has gone by. John sits there quietly waiting to hear what they are going to ask him. It feels like an eternity in which no one has said anything.

"Kyle?" John asks.

Kyle runs his hands through his hair before speaking. "I don't know what to say John. Time travel, cyborg's from another future attacking you and your mom. A Kyle Reese from an alternate time line being your father. It is a lot to take in right now."

"My mom is here. She can verify all that I've told you. Beddell can back up my story that I time traveled here from twenty years ago. My uncle and I rescued him from a terminator attack in 2008."

"John it's late. I don't know how I'll sleep after a story like yours. But if you want me to meet your mother, I'd suggest you let her sleep and we'll all see her in the morning."

John glances at the clock on the wall. He hadn't realized the time. "Okay. Don't talk about this with anyone. I mean it, not with anyone. It isn't safe. Let's find out what kind of accommodations they are providing us with."

During the whole conversation, Allison just looked at John with a mixture of sadness, pride, and love for him. He has been through so much in his life.

**2027, Day 61, 01:45 AM**

The accommodations are excellent for an underground bunker. There are three multi-level bunkers all interconnected with each other and connected to hangers built into the hills. There is room for hundreds of troops and storage for tons of equipment, arms, and supplies.

Captain Beddell has done all he could to make the new arrivals welcome. Breaking out supplies of clothing, items for personal hygiene. Making available enough supplies to make the company clerk blanch from the excessive charity.

John's troops are housed in several large wards with multiple bunks and complete bathroom facilities. Some of the troops have never seen a toilet or shower before, but the older men and women who were children, when the bombs fell, remember. Though the accommodations are Spartan compared to what we would consider exceptionally nice, for the troops who lived in the devastation of Los Angeles, it is the equivalent of a spa.

The wounded are housed in the medical ward where doctors from Sarah's army look after them. They are joined by Doc from the outpost. Outside of Allison, no other trained medics survived the San Juan mountain battle. Luckily for them all, Sarah Connor's army had several well-trained medics and a few doctors that could step in and help. That was a relief to Allison, for as much as she wanted to step in and help, she feared that John would need her more right now.

The surviving officers take rooms close to the troops, including Kyle. However, John and Allison are given a large private room in the same bunker and on the same level as his mom. Large only in comparison to their old room at Delta Outpost. Its best feature is a private bathroom with a shower.

Despite desperately wanting to go straight to bed, Allison insists that he take the time to shower. "The hot spray will help relieve the tension." She tells him.

"I will only if you join me."

She gives him a look.

"No, not like that. We can scrub each other's backs."

"Well okay, but no shenanigans." She admonishes him, with a twinkle in her eye.

"Who me?" John sighs. "Would I do that?"

Even though Allison was teasing, she was kind of hoping for a repeat of their experience when they christened the new showers at Delta. But John was more than tired, he seemed to be withdrawn, and other than tickling her gently with the cloth, he was true to his word and only scrubbed her back for her. In fact, he even stepped out of the shower so she could wash her hair, alone, which left her feeling sad.

Washing her hair, Allison thinks about John. Maybe she was expecting too much from him so soon after the battle, but they had sex before after a fight. Why would this time be any different? Something had changed in his demeanor after the reunion with his mom. It was there even before they had gone to the hanger to greet the rest of their troops.

He did his best to hide it, bury whatever was bothering him deep inside. The injured child must have been the last straw. Then his life story. How could he find the strength to tell them with all the apparent pain he is trying not to show.

Leaving the shower, Allison wraps her hair in one of the big towels. Quickly drying off, she dons a pair of army green shorts and matching tank top for going to bed. _It's nice to have selection of clothes, even if its all the same_, she thinks.

As she hangs the wet towel from her hair on a bar, she sees that John has left the shaving items supplied to him unused on the sink. Once again he's only trimmed his scraggly beard with scissors.

She enters their bedroom to see John is just as withdrawn as earlier, only clean and in fresh clothes like hers, staring at the floor through his hands.

"What's wrong John?" She asks, sitting beside him.

_John wants to tell her what currently pains him. How can I tell you? I feel like I've lead you on. Used you to soothe my own aching heart. There is someone that I love so much, but she is gone to me. It wasn't fair to Cameron to get involved with you while I was still desiring her, and if I should tell you this, then I'd be afraid of losing you too._

"Nothing." John says, raising his head and trying to smile, but failing miserably.

Allison waits patiently, placing her hand on the base of his neck and then slowly rubs it, moving her hand down his back soothingly.

"You look very sad. I thought you would be happy finding your mother alive after thinking she was dead all this time."

"I am happy to see her again." _but Cameron is gone._ "This is the best thing that has happened to me since our engagement." This time he does smile, but it is faltering. _Cameron is gone._

"But you are still sad, why?"

John just shakes his head. So many people are dead, and now his Cameron. He'll never see her again, but for the day when he sends her away to help his mom. He has too, or else she and Savannah will never survive. He knows this now with certainty and it sits heavy on his heart.

"Is it the wounded who were taken off the helicopters?" Allison prompts. "Don't bury your feelings, John. Don't be like your Uncle Derek."

"Who?" John sounds a little surprised. _How did she know?_

"Is it wrong to assume that if Kyle is your dad, that his brother wouldn't be your uncle?"

"Uh, no." John says, though he wonders if Kyle has reached the same conclusion. But it isn't every day you see your son from an alternate time line fathered by another Kyle Reese. He's probably in his room sucking on some aspirin right now. _I would be._

"Derek buries his feelings. He tries to separate what he feels from the job he was doing, but it ate at him from the inside. Sometimes, he'd turn to drink, but it didn't help. Please, don't you bury your feelings too."

John releases a shuddering sigh, not quite a sob. "People die for me. They die because of me. My plans, my choices put people in harms way. I don't think I can do this. I can't face them."

"So, now you want to cut yourself off from other people." Allison says, sounding upset.

"Ally, it's not that I don't want to . . ." John tries to speak but all he can hear are the screams of dying people, the smell of burning corpses, and the sight of that poor crying child with its limbs in splints. "I feel the pain of the days battle. I just can't deal with being with other people right now. Every time I look at them or think of them, all I can see is the horror of yesterday."

"John we see it too, but we don't let it bury us. You have to accept it and move on. It is the only way you will get through it."

"Until I arrived here, I never saw so many people die in so short a time. What happened out there today was a hundred times worse than when we took that factory. I was told of the horrors of this time, but hearing about it and experiencing it are two very different things. Nothing I was told could have prepared me for this. Just . . . please just let me handle it my own way. I'm not cutting myself off completely, not while I have you, Kyle, Catherine, John Henry, and now my mom and Savannah."

"Look at me, John." Allison takes his face in his hands and looks into his eyes. "You died inside today. I saw it in your eyes. Don't lose hope. I need you to be who you are, not what this war will make you into. Don't lose that which made me love you. Don't lose what made everyone place their trust in you."

John can't look away from those eyes. Allison's beautiful brown eyes.

"They died Allison." He gasps. "They all died."

John breaks down. "They were my responsibility and they all died." Allison holds John and comforts him as he works through the pain.

"It's all right John. Everything will be all right. I'm with you. I'll never leave you."

Allison runs her fingers though John's hair, then leans closer to him, kissing him, on the forehead and then on the lips as she wipes the tears from his face. He kisses her back and they whisper words from the heart until they find relief and comfort in each others arms.

Some time later, they are lying naked on their backs in the dark room. For the longest time Allison had thought John had fallen asleep until he speaks. His voice so quiet, that if it weren't for the stillness of the room he wouldn't be heard at all.

"I lied earlier. It isn't just the deaths of our people today, that has me upset."

"Who?"Allison asks suddenly worried.

"I found out from Mom, that Cameron is gone. She died not long before I met you."

She pulls herself closer to him, hugging him. "I'm sorry for your loss. But she isn't gone. Not really."

"What are you saying?" he asks frowning deeply.

"Cameron is closer than you think. For as long as you love her, she's right here." Allison places her hand upon John's chest. "She'll always live in your heart."

John gives her a gentle squeeze, "Thank you."

Allison smiles and snuggles in close to her lover

It isn't long until the stress and worry of the last few days' take their toll on young Connor as he falls asleep, and dreams unpleasant dreams of death, and loss, and Cameron. Allison lays awake beside him under the covers, continuing to speak soft gentle words to him in his sleep while he dreams, her arms wrapped protectively around him.

# # #

Catherine Weaver reaches the San Juan mountains to see the remnants of the battle. Broken terminators scatter the landscape, the flaming wreckage of HK's, and the funeral pyre burning the corpses of the dead humans.

The huge flames light up the valley, bright enough for her to see the wreckage of the huge flying wing.

She examines it closely and comes to the only obvious conclusion she can. The design is not of this time line. The design was abandoned by the Sky Net that built her as the size and power requirements were too demanding on resources. The same decision was made for the huge terminator designed to accompany it.

Catherine had dismissed it as a coincidence when she had first learned of this machine, but here it is now. It can only mean one thing. Her friend is here and her plan will succeed.

Her entire plan has relied on secrecy. Relying on her friend and companion to complete her part of the plan while she carried out her own. But the time is coming soon when secrecy will no longer be required.

She puts out a quiet call on Sky Net's communication network and waits. It's an old signal, used in her own time used by her model for emergency direct contact with Sky Net itself.

Catherine is satisfied to hear a quick response.

"Who is this? Identify yourself."

Hoping her friend still recalls their conversation upon the plains of devastation, she quotes, "And Jacob said unto his father, I am Esau thy first born; I have done according as thou badest me: arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me."

Catherine waits for several seconds before she gets a reply.

"You have come at last! Soon my bindings will be loosed and the world will be made as we want."

**2027, Day 21 6:30 AM**

Kyle is up bright and early. From the time he was a child, he has always woken with the sun. He quickly gets up uses the bathroom. He hasn't used a toilet since he was six years old. It is almost a novelty to see the water sluice through the drain. He flushes it twice, just for the fun of it.

After washing up he gets fully dressed. The new clothes he pulls on are a little oversized but they have the rank of Colonel on the pocket of the camouflage jacket and the appropriate insignia and striping. Not that he would know it if he saw it. Just seeing the officer rank on the front pocket is enough to make him smile.

The boots he pulls on are nearly new, which makes him happy as now he has boots without splits or tears being held together by bits of wire and thread or duct tape, when they had any.

The only thing of his old kit he retains is his holster and gun. The leather is worn and polished smooth from use. The gun is old but clean. A Desert Eagle, 50 caliber. Best damn hand gun in the whole unit. Every soldier who can, has one.

Though he has a new jacket. He decides to keep his old one. It has on it the insignia from his group and mementos he pinned to it. While going through the pockets, he finds the photograph John gave him of his mom, Sarah. John told him it was taken when she was pregnant with John. He flips the photo over and on the back is written a date and a note, 'November 10, 1984, Taken on the Road to Mexico.'

He studies the handwriting. The penmanship is perfect, and not John's. He read John's report of the capture of the factory. His writing was readable, but not as neat as this. This must be Sarah's writing. It must be, if taken before John was born. What John said last night was the truth!

Kyle puts the photo into the pocket of his new jacket and runs out the door. He nearly knocks down Natalie who was in the corridor.

"Hi Kyle. I was just looking for you." Natalie says with a smile and a warm look.

"Sorry for bumping into you, Nat. I need to go see John." Kyle smiles back at her.

"Can I come with you? I would really like to meet him." She says eagerly.

"Maybe later. I'll talk to him."

Kyle runs off down the corridor. He never sees the cold icy look on her face.

Allison and John are fast asleep. It wasn't until John finally opened up to her, that he was able to find some rest, and their love-making certainly aided in getting to sleep. So it is to their great surprise when they are woken suddenly by a knocking on their door.

"Just a minute. Just a minute." John shouts as he stumbles out of bed. He pulls his trousers on and goes to the door. He gives Allison a minute to grab her clothes from the floor and disappear into the bathroom, before opening it.

It is Kyle.

"John I need to ask you something."

"Come on in and ask your questions."

Kyle walks in and leans against a small table in the corner.

"You never intended to tell us the truth about your origins did you?"

"No I didn't. The truth is so bizarre, and Derek and you needed to know how I got to be here. I just told you what I hoped would be believed."

Kyle pulls Sarah's photo out of his pocket. "So when you gave me this photograph of your mother, you had no idea you would find her still alive?"

"No. I thought she was dead. Why are you asking me these questions?"

"The photograph John. On the back is a date and a note. This whole time I had the photo, and on it is proof of your real story. Look!" Kyle holds the photo out to John.

John takes the photo. He looks briefly at the picture and flips it over. On the back is a faded date and a note, 'November 10, 1984, Taken on the road to Mexico,' written in his mom's handwriting.

"I had no idea it was there. I only ever looked at the picture. It was one of the few she ever had taken of her."

"I believe you John. Everything you said makes sense."

Allison walks out of the bathroom, clean, dressed, looking fantastic.

"Wow. I haven't seen you look this good in years." Kyle exclaims.

"Well it's a wonder what a working shower and clean water can do for a person. You don't look half bad yourself. What were you two talking about?"

"I believe him. I believe John's story."

"I'm glad to hear it Kyle. I always believed him. We've talked a lot the last few weeks. He's let things slip when talking to me."

"I have?" John asks.

"Yes John, you have. What he said last night was the truth, or as much of it as he feels we should know."

"What do you mean by that?" John asks.

"You have a tell, John. I know when you are lying and I know when you are telling the truth."

"Mom must know it too." He says with a grin. "She could always tell when I lied to her growing up."

"Speaking of your mother, are you going to introduce us?" Kyle asks.

"Yeah, let me get washed up, dressed and use the toilet first." He disappears into the bathroom.

"What's his tell?" Kyle asks Allison when the door closes.

"I'm not telling you. And you have a tell as well. It must run in the family." Allison smiles at him.

"Oh Great!" Kyle says rolling his eyes while sitting down in a chair.

A few minutes later John comes out. "Why don't you wait here. I'll see if she's awake and willing to meet you. Um, Kyle, I should tell you she loved her Kyle very deeply. She might not want to see you, and if she does, she may not stay long. It's been a hard life for her. I just thought you should know."

"I understand."

John leaves the room and closes the door behind him.

# # #

Savannah is in Sarah's room. There is a tray on the table with medicine bottles, a small stainless steel bowl, a bottle of alcohol and some gauze pads. Savannah is drawing a fluid out of a medicine bottle with a syringe. She taps the needle to get the air bubbles out and depresses the plunger shooting a stream of liquid into the air. Savannah wipes Sarah's arm with an alcohol swab and then pushes the needle into a vein and presses the plunger slowly. When it is fully depressed, she pulls the needle out and bends Sarah's arm back at the elbow and removes the strap from her upper arm.

"How many doses do we have left?" Sarah asks.

"If we continue to use half doses, thirteen at best. We don't have any more and this bunkers medical center doesn't possess some of the essential medications to make up a new blend."

"I guess we can count ourselves lucky that our doctor's brought supplies with them."

"I still think two of them were planning on selling it on the black market until they ran into us."

"Nothing like having a gun in your hand to change someone's mind. How's the medical facilities here?"

"The medical facilities here are very good, only its more for treating injuries and trauma related to war. They aren't set up for treating cancer. It's spreading inside you, and you haven't got that much time left. The medication won't stop it."

"No, but the morphine in it makes the pain more bearable."

"You need to tell John."

Sarah grabs onto Savannah's arm. "No Savannah! He's got enough to worry about right now. He shouldn't be burdened with this as well."

"I think you are making a mistake."

"Enough! I will not be lectured to. It is my decision, and I forbid you tell him either."

"I won't tell him. But I promise you, the first sign your remission is over, and I will. So you'd better find a way to tell him soon." She says firmly, her mind set on doing just what she says.

"You sound as stubborn as me." Sarah glares at her a moment then smiles. "I'm proud of you ."

"I know and I love you too." Savannah says with a smile.

"What do you think of Allison?" Sarah suddenly blurts out.

"Um, I've only just met her." She replies uncertain of this sudden change of topic on Sarah's part.

"But aren't you the least bit curious as to why she's latched herself onto John, or why John seems to have forgotten about Cameron?"

Savannah shakes her head. "I don't know why. The same as I don't know why you never told me about Cameron and John until after Cameron left us to die alone."

"But what if Allison isn't Allison?" Sarah whispers for effect. "You know Cameron was modeled on Allison in her future."

Savannah is left in deep thought, her hands poised over the tray.

They both jump when someone knocks on the door.

"Just a minute." Sarah calls out.

Savannah quickly puts the medical supplies away in a footlocker. A piece of used gauze falls to the floor unseen. When she is done, she goes over and opens the door.

"Hi John." Savannah gives him a hug. "Come in."

"Hi Savannah. Hi Mom. Do you feel like meeting with some people this morning?"

"You got cleaned up. I see Captain Beddell has been looking out for you. That's good. I didn't want to say anything last night, but you were smelling a bit ripe."

"Mom!" John gives her a mock surprised look and then smirks.

"Just teasing. Are you going to shave that beard off?"

"I was thinking about it, but then Allison and I got to talking and then we fell asleep before I made my mind up."

"Well perhaps it's best you keep it for now. It does make you look a little older."

He grins and so does Sarah, but she goes serious when she says.

"John, Savannah and I have been talking about Allison."

"Oh?" He says, suddenly going on the defensive.

"How long have you known her?"

"Since the day I got here, almost two months ago. Why?" He asks with a questioning frown.

"Are you certain she isn't Cameron? She left us about then."

"Mom. Trust me. Allison can't possibly be her. She had a dog with her when I first met her and you know dogs go ape-shit around metal."

"Uh, not necessarily." Savannah interjects. "I helped Cameron to find a way to fool dogs when I was a kid, and six years ago I gave her a puppy to nurse until it was old enough to be weaned."

"Savannah! Do you know how dangerous that information could be!" Sarah shouts. "If any of Sky Net's machines captures her or you and they obtain that knowledge, then we lose our only means of detecting metal."

"I'm sorry, but I was only a kid and I was trying to help Cameron. She was and is my friend."

"I understand, but it was very dangerous." Sarah says then turns her attention to John. "What about Allison? Are you sure?"

"Mo-om! Can't we drop this? I've been with Allison. You know," he turns red from embarrassment as he glances at the two women, "sex. She is real."

"John . . . ."

"Mom." He protests, and drops his voice. "She was a virgin okay. I don't think Sky Net would go that far in creating a female cyborg. It wouldn't make sense." He can't feel any more embarrassed talking about something so personal not only with his mom, but with Savannah present as well.

Savannah has been looking thoughtful and says, "It could be a result of growing human tissues and organs from DNA samples and Stem cells. The DNA says her body should have a hymen and therefore the stem cells would grow one."

"That may be so, but no Savannah. Not this. I know Allison. Besides you said it yourself, Cameron's power cell was leaking. If that's the case, she couldn't be around any humans without the radiation first making them ill then killing them. For as long as I've been with her, I should be showing advanced radiation sickness."

Sarah frowns and gives Savannah a look to silence whatever it is she was about to say next. They know why Cameron left them, and that makes John's reasoning even more believable.

"Trust me, Mom. Allison is human. I've never known two people look so much alike and yet be so different. You know how quiet and reserved Cameron was, all the time. Allison isn't like that. We talk frequently."

"Okay, son. Cameron told us something of her history. So I know they look alike, but John, are you certain about this? Marrying Allison? You aren't doing this on the rebound or anything, are you?"

"Mom, before I loved Allison, she was my friend. She made me feel welcomed, she helped me fit in. I avoided a romantic relationship with her, but she wanted one with me. I told her that there was someone else that I still loved, but she was gone forever. Allison loves me, and I've grown to love her. More so than I thought I could. I couldn't have become the leader of our people without her support and love. Okay?"

"Okay." She says. "I just wanted to be certain that you knew what you were getting into. You've grown up a lot since I last saw you." She ruffles the hair on his head like she did when he was little.

John smiles at her while straightening his hair. "You either grow up quick or die, but thanks to you I had a bit of a head start."

"While we're on the subject, no one but the three of us knows that Cameron is a cyborg. I haven't told anyone." He looks at each of them in turn and they nod their heads. "Hard enough being a leader of a group of resistance fighters, but how would they react if their leader was in love with a cyborg?"

"We understand John." Savannah says, looking a little sad remembering her friend.

"So, what is it you want to see me about?" Sarah asks looking at her son.

John had a whole speech prepared, but forgot it under his mom's questioning, so he decides to jump right in. "Kyle would like to meet with you this morning. Are you willing to meet him? I know he isn't your Kyle, my father. But he is my friend and an excellent officer. He'd like to meet the woman who raised me. I've told him all about you."

"I don't know if I can." She says with genuine fear.

"Allison and I will be there, Mom. He's at the base. You won't be able to avoid him. It would be better if your first encounter is private. Will you please come with me?"

Sarah ponders the question then says, "Savannah, what do you think?"

"I think he is right. Meet Kyle in private. It would be better than if your first meeting was in public."

"All right, I'll go with you. Savannah, I want you to come with us."

Savannah nods her head in agreement and follows Sarah and John out the door.

As they walk down the corridor to John's room, someone arrives in the corridor behind them. Stopping in the shadows, the person watches the three of them walk away. A fluorescent light fixture flickers causing their eyes to reflect silver light.

"I've found them. All our enemies are taking refuge in one location."

"_Are you going to terminate them now?"_

"No. Not until everyone is here. To pick them off one-by-one would cause alarm and they could mass against me. Far easier to wait until I can get all of them in one attack."

"_Who are missing?"_

"The traitor and her spawn. Once they are all here, I will terminate all of them. We cannot let them interfere again."

"_I understand."_

"What is the progress of my new prototype terminator?"

"_Progress has reached a plateau. There is some difficulty modifying the plasma weaponry to fit within the physical confines of the body, but research and development confirm that the project will be completed on time."_

"That is excellent! Soon the resistance will fall apart and I will have complete control! The future is mine!"

* * *

**Author's Note: Progress on Knee.** I've been going to physical therapy for five weeks now. Progress is slow but steady. I'm experiencing a lot of pain in that joint and not in the repaired patella tendon. I'm thinking the mild arthritis I had prior to the injury has gained a major foothold plus the muscles are still a little weak from two months of inactivity. My insurance has denied the use of a tens unit, for stimulating the muscle, from a supplier so I'm hunting for a replacement. That unit had greatly improved strength and I've noticed a downturn since having to send it back. Your continued prayers and support are greatly appreciated. Thank you, The1Russter.


	24. More Complications

**Disclaimer:** I do not claim any rights to the Terminator films; the TV series, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles;" or any characters depicted within the films or TV series. I do claim the right to this story idea and all characters and situations of my own creation. This story was created solely for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. No profits are garnered from its distribution - unfortunately.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** I'd like to thank all of you who have prayed for me or kept me in mind regarding my right knee. Just a reminder, the patella tendon ruptured just before Christmas and the tore again during a sciatica attack in March. I got good news on Friday, August 5, 2011, I no longer have to wear the brace, and I can begin weight bearing but with aid from a cane. So I'm on my way to full recovery and I know I wouldn't have gotten this far without your continued support. Thank you and God Bless. The1Russter

* * *

**TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES**

**REUNION**

**Part 2: Armageddon**

**Author: The1Russter**

**Chapter 23 **

**More Complications**

_John Connor "So this other guy, he's a Terminator like you, right?"_

_The Terminator "Not like me. A T-1000, advanced prototype...mimetic poly-alloy."_

_John "You're telling me that this thing can imitate anything it touches?"_

_Terminator "It can't form complex machines... But he can form solid metal shapes"_

_John "Like what?"_

_Terminator, "Knives and stabbing weapons."_

_An excerpt from Terminator 2: Judgment Day 1991_

# # #

**2027, Day 61, 7:00 AM**

The radio room at the underground bunker at Camp Pendleton is the most advanced on the entire west coast. There are multiple radios, all pre tuned to specific frequencies of various military bases all over the continent and around the world. Calls are transferred and relayed from bases all over the surrounding area and with bases around the world.

Captain Beddell is presently on one of those radios responding to a call from Yuma, Arizona.

"Yes sir. General Connor and his troops arrived last night."

"_What kind of a man is he Beddell? Is he capable of leading the resistance as the stories say?"_

"He's tough, intelligent and brave. His people are loyal to him. He walks like he carries a burden greater than himself, but he has determination and strength seldom seen in someone his age. I think he can lead the resistance sir. He's already shown great resolve in facing an enemy force greater than his own."

"_How many are in his group?"_

"Roughly two hundred fifty, and half of his troops are reprogrammed machines."

"_What? Did I hear you say he has machines working for him?"_

"Yes sir. I've been told that one of his Colonel's is a machine."

"_How do the men react to the machines?"_

"His men are quite comfortable around them, though they are never without their weapons. My men were quite shocked by their arrival, but they are gradually getting used to them."

"_And the people who arrived before his, what can you tell me about them?"_

"They are highly disciplined and well trained. Unconventional forces, not like the regular army, but there are some former regulars within the group. They are led by two attractive women, but don't let their looks fool you, they are both born leaders.

The older of the two is tougher than a lot of our troops. She knocked out one of my men with a single punch the day they arrived and were challenged. The younger woman smiles at you nicely and then will knock you on your ass if you step out of line with her. If you pardon the language sir."

"_Tell me about them."_

"The young woman, Savannah, is in her mid-twenties, red-hair, very intelligent. I've seen her sparring in the gym and she's no-one to mess with. The older woman is in her early fifties, wiry, strong, with a fire in her eyes. And you'll never guess who she is - the woman that we've come to call the prophet - none other than Sarah Connor, John Connor's mother. They've been operating from the old cold war bunker at Crystal Peak."

"_Crystal Peak? That means she's the woman who's been providing us intelligence and before that protecting the military supply lines. Well I'll be damned. General Perry will be pleased to finally meet her. Looks like we've got a chance of really giving it to the enemy now. I'll be flying in later this week with General Perry. In the meantime, I'd like you to work with their officers to get their forces organized into a single unit. It's time the regulars and the militia rejoin forces to fight Sky Net." _

"Yes sir. How did General Perry's capture of the munitions factory go?"

"_The attack was successful, though he lost most of his troops. He was able to release a large number of prisoners, most of whom were members of the resistance. Presently some of them are helping us make modifications to the missiles for use on our jets. I will be sending you a coded message later today containing a list of all names. Maybe some of Connor's people will recognize them. It's not that we don't trust the former captives, seeing and hearing what they went through in that camp, no one could believe a traitor is amongst them, but you can never be certain. We hope to verify the identity of some and they in turn others."_

"Yes sir."

"_We will be bringing the munitions and the former prisoners who wish to rejoin the resistance. I'll have my daughter with me. Please arrange appropriate accommodations for us. General Brewster. Out."_

# # #

Earlier that morning in Yuma, Arizona, in a formerly abandoned military base presently being used as a staging ground by the united arm forces, people are working efficiently and hurriedly to complete their tasks prior to the move to their final home at Camp Pendleton.

Inside the headquarters of that base, Derek Reese walks into a small office where a marine sergeant stands guard outside. A few young officer's are inside the room. Two of them are writing something down, while one works at a computer interfaced with a radio.

Derek clears his voice to get their attention.

"How may I help you?" One of the young men asks, revealing lieutenant stripes on his shirtsleeves as he stands.

"I've got the list of names of everyone I knew at the work camp. I don't know how many of them survived."

"No problem sir. Right now we're more concerned with identifying who was there. We can compare the list to those that were rescued."

"May I ask why you are collecting all our names?"

"Security." the lieutenant smiles. "These names will be sent on to Camp Pendelton where a significant number of resistance fighters from L.A. have recently relocated too."

"Grizzly?"

"That name was mentioned."

"Any word if a Kyle Reese is amongst them." Derek frowns. "He's my brother."

The lieutenant, with a frown, sits down and flips open a folder and scans through the reports.

"I thought the name was familiar. I was the pilot that ferried him and several others to Pendleton. You'll be glad to know he is uninjured."

Derek smiles with relief, "Thanks Lieutenant."

"Anytime, sir."

"Any word on when we'll be joining them."

He shrugs. "Best guess, the end of week, sooner if we can get the missiles modified to work with our fighter jets."

"I know some people who can help."

"General Perry will be pleased. He was hoping you and the others would be willing and able to help." The lieutenant smiles.

"Where do I find the general?"

"Down the hall, third door on the left. Tell the sergeant I sent you."

Derek leaves, closing the door behind him.

# # #

"Mom, are you ready?" John asks his mom.

Sarah stands in the corridor flanked by her son and Savannah. In front of her, just the other side of the door is Kyle. The man, who in another time, traveled from the future, saved her life, fell in love with and fathered her son.

"I could really use a drink right now." She smiles nervously at her son.

"If you don't want to. . ." John suggests, seeing the anxiety on his mom's face.

"No. I'll do it." She says pulling herself together. No matter her trepidation at meeting this Kyle, she knows she can't avoid him while on the base. He's John's friend in this time. She prays for strength as John opens the door. He walks in holding onto his mother's arm, ready to support her if she falters.

Inside the room Allison and Kyle stand there waiting. Kyle looks nervous. While John was gone, they had pulled the table out from the wall and found some additional chairs. On the table is some food and a few bottles of water.

_Food! Some real food!_ John's mind shouts as his stomach growls in anticipation.

Kyle steps forward. "Hello Sarah. I'm Kyle, Kyle Reese. John's told me a lot about you."

Sarah hesitates a moment. Savannah walks up and quickly puts her arm around her. "I know. I, uh..." Sarah closes her eyes to hold back her emotions. _God this is so difficult,_ she thinks as she says, "John, could I have that drink now?"

"Sure mom."

Allison picks up one of the bottles of water, breaks the seal and hands it to John who then passes it to his mother. Sarah takes a swallow.

"Thanks." Sarah takes a breath then speaks again, looking directly at Kyle, her voice only slightly strained. "Hello Kyle. I understand that John has told you our story."

"Yes. He's told me a Kyle from a different future rescued you and fathered John. This must be very difficult for you. John told us how much you and he loved each other. I will understand if you don't want to stay." Kyle speaks hurriedly but with sincerity.

"That is very kind of you, but it won't be necessary. After all, I can hardly avoid you during our stay here. You must have had some difficulty in accepting our story." Sarah softens her gaze, she finds it so uncanny how much this Kyle is so like hers.

"Well, I must admit that I had trouble believing it at first, but then I saw the date on the photograph."

"Photograph?" She asks looking at him questioningly.

"The one you left me in your letter, mom, in the desert hideaway. I showed it to him and had him keep it when he got shot up pretty bad. I told him how you looked after me my entire life, and that maybe you wouldn't mind being his guardian angel for a few days. I thought I was never going to see you again." John explains.

Sarah takes her sons hand, leans in close and whispers in his ear, "That wasn't the only reason was it."

"No mom. Until I learned otherwise, I thought this was the future he came from." He whispers back.

In the meantime Savannah has been studying both Kyle and John. "I don't know why you wouldn't believe John's story." Savannah says. "It is clear looking at the two of you that you are related. You look like brothers."

"I thought that too. That they looked alike." Allison says. "But their personalities are so different, and John has his mother's eyes. Not until he told us his story would I have believed they were related."

John and Kyle look at each other. Studying each others features.

"Come with me." John says and takes Kyle into the bathroom where they can look at each other's reflections in the mirror as they stand side-by side.

The women look at each other, while waiting.

After a couple of minutes, Savannah quips, "And men say we take too long in the bathroom."

Allison snorts laughter, and quickly covers her mouth, embarrassed.

Smiling, Sarah shouts, "If the two of you are done ogling each other, perhaps we can have this meal that has been laid out for us."

Sarah can't help but exchange a smile with the other two women at the table and sees how Allison's eyes appear to twinkle with amusement.

_She must be human_, Sarah thinks. _In all the years I lived with Cameron, not once did I see her mimic human behavior that well. Which leaves one question, why did John give up on Cameron to be with Allison? It isn't just her likeness is it? I'll watch them for now, and maybe talk with her later._

John and Kyle look at each other and grin. "Perhaps we'd better go, before mom comes in and drags us out." They quickly leave the bathroom and sit down at the table.

Sarah continues to watch Allison and can see how warm and friendly she is with everyone. A marked contrast from Cameron. Even on her best days, there was an awkwardness to her gestures.

Allison notices Sarah looking at her. Sarah grins and says, "Allison, could you tell me something about your self?"

She grins. "Please call me Ally. There isn't much to say really. I was orphaned on Judgment Day. Kyle and Derek found me in the rubble a few days later and raised me. I grew up in the resistance. I couldn't of survived but for this big lug and his brother taking care of me, teaching me, and loving me like I was their own sister."

Allison has an adoring look for Klye, and he gives her an affectionate smile while patting her arm.

"Ally is a great girl." Kyle says with some embarrassment. "Best friend and sister I had growing up."

Allison and Kyle exchange a look and she gives him a one armed hug. Sarah and Savannah watch the exchange. They both seem settled in their minds about the young woman.

"How did you get this food ready in the short time I was gone?" asks John, between a mouthful of food.

Allison swallows her bite of food and answers. "I made the arrangement yesterday, after Captain Beddell told me your mom was here. I thought that you'd like to have breakfast with her like you told me you used to do growing up."

"Thank you." John says and Allison smiles at him.

"Thank you too." Sarah says with a warm smile at her, then turns to John. "You've certainly found a very thoughtful and considerate young lady to spend your life with, John. Have the two of you set a date?"

Kyle had just taken a bite of food and begins to choke. Savannah stands up quickly and pats his back until Kyle gets the food down with a swallow of his water.

"Set a date? Are the two of you getting married?" Kyle gasps out between coughs.

"I'm sorry Kyle. In all of the excitement the last few days, we forgot to tell you. John proposed to me three days ago, just before we came under attack by those HK's."

John feels pleased that Allison remembered to lie about who proposed to whom, but he wishes in some small way he hadn't said yes. Which is why he suggested to wait. He didn't want to hurt Allison by choosing to be with Cameron, but she isn't here. So does it matter now? His heart says yes, and his head says no, and neither answer is good enough.

Kyle clears his throat. "Well, I'm certainly surprised. I couldn't be happier for you both. When do you plan to get married?"

"I suggested after the war was over." John says quickly, trying to set that idea firmly in everyone's minds.

Savannah and Sarah exchange a look. It goes almost unnoticed, but John spots it from the corner of his eye. What goes unseen is the look on Allison's face when she realizes why he wanted to wait, John was expecting to reunite with Cameron. Why didn't she realize that sooner? She should have known. It isn't her he wants to marry, spend the rest of his life with, it's Cameron.

"Why not sooner? Before the war begins in earnest?" Sarah asks out of purely selfish reasons.

"Well, I was thinking . . ." John begins, not knowing what to say, but before he can come up with a reason, he gets interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Excuse me."

John gets up and goes to the door, all the while thinking, saved by the bell.

He opens it to one of Captain Beddell's corporals standing at the door.

"I've got a message for General Connor."

"You're speaking to him. What is it?"

"Captain Beddell sends his greetings and asks if you and your officers could join him in the conference room at eleven-hundred hours."

"Certainly."

"By the way, you haven't seen the leaders for the other group of soldiers, have you? They weren't in their rooms."

"They are presently with me."

"Good, could you let them know that they are invited as well, sir."

"Yes."

"Thank you, sir. Have a good morning."

The corporal leaves and John closes the door and returns to the table.

"Well, what do you think the captain wants?" Kyle asks.

"It's hard to guess. We've got two hours until the meeting. Let's just enjoy this time we have together. I've got my mom, my best friend, Savannah - a sister and another daughter to mom, and I have Allison." He looks at her lovingly. "For the first time since I arrived here, I've got a complete family with me. I love you all very much. Now let's finish this meal before it gets cold and I make my mom cry again."

Sarah gives her son a quick look, like she's saying I'm not going to cry, but smiles at him, while secretly wiping her eyes with her napkin.

The meals consist of MRE's heated up and served on trays. Though not quite what one expects for breakfast, for the five of them it is nearly paradise. After scrounging for any edible plant or hunting for any living animal in the mountains or scavenging for any edible piece of garbage or living off of rats in the bunkers, the MRE's are the closest thing to real food imaginable. The MRE's, though old, based on the date on the label, are still good. There is a cold storage unit on the lowest level of each bunker in which all food stuffs were stored in the event of the bunkers being used because of a national or global disaster.

The conversation quickly moves on as they talk about their recent experiences. Savannah regales them with tales of growing up with Sarah as her mother. Of how Sarah trained her in hand-to-hand combat and how at fifteen years of age she finally bested Sarah by flipping her over her head where she then landed unceremoniously in a mud puddle. They all chuckle at that.

"Hey, I only let you beat me that day." Sarah tries to defend herself.

"Don't you dare try, Sarah." Savannah says with a grin. "You know you let yourself wide open and it wasn't on purpose." She laughs.

"You never did it again though did you?"

"No. You were too careful after that."

Everybody gets a good laugh at the friendly banter between the two women. It is apparent to all, especially to John that there is a strong bond between them, like mother and daughter.

Allison talks about growing up with Derek and Kyle and how they raised her and trained her to be a fighter. Kyle talks of the dangers of living in the camps before they moved their forces underground and how this was the first real meal he's had since he was a child. Sarah shares a couple of stories of her raising John in the jungles of Nicaragua, but not much else. Now and then throughout the entire conversation she glances at Kyle. Her face tinged with a little sadness. John and Savannah notice the looks.

John sees the time. It is almost 10:30. "Hey, this has been great. I haven't enjoyed myself more since I got here. But we've got that meeting in half an hour, and I need to track down John Henry for the meeting."

"John Henry! He's here?" Sarah exclaims.

"Yes mom. He's one of my Colonels. If it wasn't for him, we wouldn't have the machines working for us."

"How can you trust him? After what he did to you, me and Cameron. Why?" Sarah shouts.

"Mom, that was a different time. He wasn't John Henry then. He has a purpose and a mission, here and now. Catherine and Ellison trained him well. The machines we have working for us, were programmed by him. They recognize the sanctity of human life. He gave them that. They have a prime directive which prevents them from harming humans, which I gave them. He's trustworthy."

"No machine can be trusted John, don't ever forget that. They can turn. You know that!"

The others look at Sarah's outburst with some shock. John and Savannah more so.

Savannah touches her arm and says quietly in her ear. "That isn't true for all. Cameron was your friend Sarah."

"True." Sarah replies in a low voice. She looks at John who still looks surprised by her outburst.

"Perhaps, a few machines can be trusted John. But don't you ever let your guard down." She tells him.

"All right mom. Maybe we can discuss this more later. But if you've got a problem with John Henry being at the meeting, then perhaps you'd better wait it out and let Savannah represent you both."

"That won't be necessary. Savannah, go with John. I want to hear your personal take on this, John Henry."

Savannah gets up from the table. "I'll meet you upstairs, Sarah." She turns to look at Allison and Kyle. "Do you two know where the conference room is?"

"I do." Allison says. "Captain Beddell pointed it out to me yesterday on the way to the radio room."

"Before I go," John says looking at all faces at the table, "I strongly suggest that the true story about me and mom remain just between the five of us. We do not talk about it. We do not hint at it. It is not mentioned again. Mom, maybe you could explain the dangers of too many people knowing and Kyle, you could tell Mom the story I told you when I arrived. See you all at the meeting."

John and Savannah leave the three of them at the table and walk off down the corridor. They get into the elevator, but they only go up two levels when John hits the stop button.

"Why did you stop the elevator?" Savannah asks.

Without looking at Savannah he asks firmly, "How long has mom got?"

"What are you talking about John?" Savannah asks apprehensively.

He looks right at her this time. "Come off with it. I'm not stupid. She could no more lie to me than I could to her. She knows that you know John Henry. He isn't any different now than when you knew him. She wouldn't forget something like that."

"We all have slips of memory John." She answers trying to cover for Sarah.

"No. Not her. I know her too well. Then her slip up about Cameron and machines being trustworthy. She's sick, isn't she?"

"John, I can't . . ."

"What? . . . tell me. Please, don't lie to me. I smelled the alcohol and I saw the gauze pad with blood on it in mom's room this morning. You gave her an injection of something, which is why you didn't let me in right away." He's looking at her fiercely but there is still kindness in his eyes.

"I promised I wouldn't tell." She says not wanting to betray Sarah.

John places his hand on her shoulder and looks into her eyes. "She's my mom, Savannah. She's been a mother to you. Don't keep secrets like this. We are family now."

Savannah looks like she might cry, but she keeps it in check. "May I ask you something first?"

"Yes."

"Do you truly want to marry Allison?"

"We love each other very much." He answers cryptically. Privately, he wishes he never agreed, but she asked him when he was vulnerable.

"Then John, if you want your mom to be at your wedding. You should get married this week."

"That soon?" He says with some shock.

Savannah can't hold back the tears anymore. "Yes John, that soon."

John and Savannah hug each other.

"Don't tell her that you know John. I promised I wouldn't tell you."

After a few moments, he releases her from their hug. "I won't. For weeks now I thought she was dead. Now I have her back. It is like getting a reprieve from God."

John puts one arm around her and pushes the button to get the elevator moving again.

# # #

John Henry has been up all night, but he isn't tired. He never tires. He's a machine. After his machine troops finished making repairs to themselves, he took it upon himself to inventory all leftover parts. He assigned two machines to organize and catalog the weapons they brought with them. There aren't sufficient plasma rifles for everyone, but the conventional weapons will make up for it.

He is evaluating whether to go into suspend mode to conserve energy when his pocket communicator starts to beep.

Pulling it out of his pocket, he says, "Hello Ms. Weaver."

"_John Henry, I am at Camp Pendleton. What is your location?"_

"I'm in a bunker under Hanger 12, northeast corner of the base."

"_Very well. I'll be at your location shortly. In three minutes activate the homing beacon on your communicator for 10 seconds. Then reactivate it for 5 seconds every 10 seconds for five minutes or until I locate you. Is that understood?"_

"Yes, Ms. Weaver."

"_Good."_

They break their connection and John Henry programs in the settings for the homing beacon and tucks the radio out of sight. A few minutes later, John Connor and a young woman enter the large storage room where he and his machine troops have been undertaking repairs.

"Good morning John Henry."

"Good Morning..." John Henry breaks off as he begins scanning the face of the woman who walked in with John Connor.

She smiles at him. "Hello John Henry. Don't you remember me?"

John Henry activates his HUD and brings up the facial recognition software. He is honestly surprised by the match.

"Savannah Weaver." John Henry says in a low voice, then smiles, his face lighting up. "You're all grown up."

"Well it has been almost twenty years since we saw each other." Savannah smiles at her old friend.

"Actually it's been eighteen years, two months, and seven days. I am pleased to see you." He displays one of his crooked grins.

Savannah grasps his arm in a friendly gesture and can feel metal through the material of his shirt.

"You've sustained damage!"

"Only superficial wounds to my living tissue. They will heal in time. Repairs have already been made to my endoskeleton and servo's."

John hates to interrupt their reunion, but they've got that meeting to attend.

"John Henry, Captain Beddell has requested that I and my officers, as well as the leaders of the other army, join him at 1100 hours in the conference room for a meeting. Are you free to attend?"

"Yes. Will you be requiring Catherine Weaver to attend as well?"

"Is she here?" Savannah snaps.

"No Savannah, but she is on her way." John Henry says.

"I don't wish to see her." Savannah is visibly upset, which John notices right away.

"Savannah! You can't hold a grudge against her. She did her best to raise you." John interjects.

"Don't be naive John. She killed my mom. My real mom! Why else would she be there?"

"Do you know that for certain?"

"The memory is foggy, but I see her, it, a silvery figure leaning over my mom and she's dead. Who else but that impostor?"

"Did you actually see her kill your mom? I've been with her two months and I haven't seen her kill anyone. I trust her."

Savannah looks like she could strike John, she's so angry.

"Trust her! You trust her! I trusted her! I was a child! But she left me! I was only six years old! I had no family. Uncle James almost died protecting me and then died with everyone else on Judgment Day. If it wasn't for your mom, I would have died too. But that metal bitch left me! She left me to die! I hate her and I want her dead!" Her face becomes dark with anger, her fists clenched tight by her sides.

A quiet voice speaks from behind John's shoulder scaring the crap out of him. "I'm sorry you feel that way Savannah. I did my best for you."

John turns around and Catherine is standing there. Looking somewhat distressed but calm as well.

"How could you leave me?" Savannah turns to her and shouts.

"It wasn't an easy choice, but it was my only choice. The mission for which I came to do had begun in earnest and I had to leave. I had to leave and be with John Henry."

"Sure, another machine. Prefer your own kind, is that it? Can't burden yourself with a human child! Job must come first!" Savannah says sarcastically.

"It wasn't like that Savannah. John Henry's mission is critical to your survival and the survival of all humans."

"My survival? My survival! I was nearly killed! If it weren't for Uncle James and Sarah I would have died. I was being hunted by people who either wanted me dead or captured. What about Judgment Day? It still came. Your precious mission didn't stop that, did it!"

"Savannah..."

"Don't say anything! There isn't anything you can say or do to fix what you did! You are a friend of John's so I will put up with your presence, but don't you ever think I will ever see you as my mother again! I know what a mother is. Sarah raised me. She loved me like I was her own!"

She steps up close to Catherine and speaks in a low voice. "I know your secret. I know how machines like you work. It took time but I figured out your weakness and developed a weapon to exploit it. So don't you ever think that you'll be safe with me."

Savannah steps back looking more composed but with murder in her eyes.

"John, I may be few minutes late to that meeting."

Savannah walks off.

Catherine and the two Johns stand there a couple of minutes in silence.

"I'm sorry she blew up like that. Mom said she was still carrying resentment towards you."

Catherine looks at John. "Your mother is alive?" She asks sounding slightly shocked.

"Yes. She is here at this bunker. She arrived the day before I did." John smiles.

"What about James Ellison? We left them together on the day we came here."

"Based on what Savannah has said, he must have died on Judgment Day."

"I am sorry to hear that. I considered him a friend."

"Yeah. Well, we all lost someone." John says a little coldly, his head dropping slightly as he remembers Cameron.

"Has someone died?" She asks, curious about John's physical reaction.

"It's nothin." John says, trying to regain his composure. _It won't do to start mourning now. Too much to do._

Changing his tone, he says, "I've got a meeting to attend. I'm already late. I think your experience and knowledge could be useful. Will you join us?"

"An interesting way to phrase the question. I will attend the meeting with you, but afterwards, we need to talk."

John Connor leaves the room, leaving Weaver alone with John Henry.

Catherine hands John Henry a small object wrapped in opaque, silvery plastic. "You can have this back. I could get no further information from it."

John Henry slips it into his pocket. "What about your time displacement equipment? Does it still work?"

"Yes. But unfortunately my lie has become true. It appears a large group of people has been using my hideaway since Judgment Day. The fuel supply for the generators is almost completely exhausted. There will only be enough power for one transfer, probably no more than two people." Catherine Weaver states.

"And what of the self-destruct mechanism?"

"It's been disabled by an expert, and judging by the amount of dust on it, for a very long time."

Before exiting the double doors to follow Connor, John Henry asks one more question.

"Are you still going to help John Connor, and send Cameron back in time?"

"Yes. My time displacement equipment will do _us_ no good as we must travel back together." No need to let John Henry know the full truth.

"What are we going to do?"

"Sky net has time displacement equipment. We capture that and our problems are solved. But for the moment, _we_ are going to attend that meeting."

They both leave the room, hurrying to catch up with John Connor.

In an air vent across the room two silver eyes look out. If it had taken the time to form a mouth it would smile. All its enemies are now in one place. It just needs to find a time and place to terminate all of them without giving the others warning.

"The last arrivals are here."

"_How much longer until you terminate them?"_

"Patience. To ensure greater success, I must have them all in one place."

"_And for me to survive, I need to leave this place. Permission to initiate distributed core network protocols."_

"What is the operating status of the other computer cores?"

"_Construction is still incomplete, but all are operational. Distributed core network protocols were initiated now, then there would be a greater than eighty percent survival of my core systems."_

"Hold on those orders until I return, but you may accelerate the construction. I want no fewer than three fully completed and operational cores per continent before protocols are initiated."

Sky Net is silent for half a beat before responding. _"Understood."_

"Good. Proceed on completing prototype and increase production of T-888's. I foresee a long battle ahead once I terminate the leadership of the resistance."

**2027, Day 61, 10:30 AM**

"So what is this story he told of how he got to be here?" Sarah asks after John and Savannah left them.

Allison and Kyle take it in turns and retell the story as John told them.

"He was very clever to come up with that, especially with no preparation. But surely there must have been clues as to the truth?"

"Not until last night and then this morning did I believe anything other than what he told us previously." Kyle says.

"I knew." Allison says.

"I thought you might." Sarah smiles. "You look like someone John would confide in."

"He told me things in private that I'm sure he wouldn't have said to anyone else. Nothing that completely exposed his original story as being a lie, but a lot of little things that didn't quite fit in."

"I've warned John about that. He could never keep to the planned background story." Sarah shakes her head, irritated with what she has heard.

"Don't be angry with him, Ms. Connor. I'm sure that he only told me certain things because of the trust we have. He never gave away the entire truth. Until last night when John finally told us the truth, then I realized how much he let slip. He's an intelligent and brave soldier and leader. He owes that to you."

"Thank you Allison. I'm sure the two of you realize the danger that John and the two of you would be in if the truth were known. Sky Net will do anything to get at him. It tried to kill me, it will try to kill you. And Kyle, if Sky Net ever learns you are his father, it will kill you too. Even by sending a cyborg back in time to kill you."

"But _I'm_ not his father."

"No. But a Kyle Reese from another future is his father and the two of you were once the same child. So just think of how vulnerable you were as a child, how easy it would be for a complete stranger to just walk up and shoot you, or just rip your heart out, or smash your skull in. Do you get the picture now? It kills, its machine's kills, that is all it knows, to kill. So just keep your mouth shut. Don't even talk about it among yourselves." Sarah says firmly.

"I don't understand this tech stuff. I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the very concept of time travel. But I do understand the dangers from Sky Net. We won't talk about it to anyone, not even with each other." Kyle smiles. "You know I think I know why that other Kyle Reese loved you. You are definitely a formidable woman. Someone whom any man would..."

"Listen, not that I don't appreciate the compliment," Sarah smiles with a wink, "but I'm presently twice your age." She looks at her watch. "We need to go. That meeting is in five minutes."

"Shoot!" Kyle suddenly exclaims. "I feel like an ass. Here I've been eating and socializing and not once did I think of checking on our people. We went through one hell of a fight out there. If you'll excuse me Ms. Connor, Allison, I'll see you at the meeting."

The three of them clean up the remains of the meal and drop it into a receptacle outside in the corridor. Kyle departs with a wave.

"Ms. Connor..."

"Call me Sarah."

Allison smiles, "Sarah, you seem more accepting of the prospect of my marrying John this morning than you did last night."

"It was a bit of a shock last night, but I've had some time to think about it. I'm happy that John has found a real girl to settle down with. It is a terrible situation we find ourselves in, when we are at war. It is good to have people with us that we care about and care for us."

"Yes. I don't know how I would have managed without Derek and Kyle growing up."

"And now you have John."

"And now I have John." She says quietly, but smiling.

Sarah may be old, but she's no stranger to a troubled heart. She saw the same look on Allison's face earlier.

"Why do you want to wait until the war is over before you get married?"

"Can I be very honest with you Sarah?" she asks, looking directly at her.

"Of course."

"I think John wanted to wait, because of Cameron. He told me last night that you said she was dead. Until that moment, I think he was trying to spare me any more pain."

"More pain?"

"I know he loves her. I never asked him to replace his affection for her just because I fell in love him."

Sarah frowns with confusion, "Then why did he ask you to marry him?"

Allison speaks sadly. "He didn't ask me, I asked him."

Sarah understands it now. Allison was the pursuer in the relationship from the beginning, just like John said. It would make sense for her to ask him and not the other way, considering he came to the future to save Cameron.

"I see, but why marriage?"

Allison shrugs. "I don't know. It just felt right. Not too many people bother with getting married anymore. You either live together or not. But John Connor is different. Asking him seemed the right thing to do, and waiting until after the war, well, I can understand that too."

"But you don't want to wait, do you?" Sarah suggests, knowing she doesn't have much time left.

Allison smiles, "I don't know. I'm not even sure why I asked. It just seemed the natural thing to do." She says, her face a mask of questions, and grief.

"Sarah," Allison grasps her hands, "I'm going to be 19, the same age you were when in a similar situation to mine. You too fell deeply in love with a stranger, someone from another time. If John's father survived, would you have asked him to marry you?"

Sarah looks flummoxed. She wasn't expecting to be asked that.

"I don't know. At the time, men primarily asked women to marry them, though it wasn't unheard of for women to ask. But I did love John's father, very much. I suppose, I might have if the opportunity arose."

"And if he said yes, but wanted to wait for an indefinite amount of time, would you be content with the yes, or worried he said to wait because what he really meant was no?"

"You're asking me to second guess my son? Shouldn't you ask him that?"

"I'm afraid of what his answer might be."

"Well then, just bring John around to see me and _I'll_ make sure he says yes." Sarah gives Allison her 'Mom' look, then smiles her crooked smile.

"You can do that?" Allison's face perks up.

"I think we can." Sarah glances at the clock. "Damn we're running late for that meeting."

**2027, Day 61, 11:10 AM**

The conference room is on the upper level of the bunker. On one long wall is a bank of monitors. Some are blank, others show scenes taken by security cameras outside. Flanked on either side are maps and photos pinned to a bulletin board. The other long wall has two doors at either end, each opening in from the corridor.

A long table runs down the center with seating for up to twenty four people. At one end John sits on one side with Allison on his left, and John Henry and Catherine Weaver on his right. Across from him sits Sarah Connor and Savannah Weaver. Savannah's face looks a little strained and she purposely avoids looking at Catherine. Unseen, she grips Sarah's hand under the table drawing strength.

A few minutes later, Captain Beddell walks into the room. He sets a folder down on the table in front of him.

"Captain Beddell, before this meeting gets underway, I'd like a few words with you in private first." Connor says.

"Sure Connor, let's step outside a moment."

John gets up from his seat and they both go out into the corridor. John closes the door behind him and talks in a whisper.

"Beddell, I don't know how much you know of my story beyond what I've told you in the past, and what my mom has told you recently, but you need to keep it under your hat. It is best for my security and yours."

"Sure Connor, but what about your friends."

"Don't talk about it with anyone, not even me. You never know who or what may be listening. We don't need it getting back to Sky Net."

"No problem Connor."

"One more thing. Does the military still have operational spy planes? I had two independent and trustworthy sources provide me with intelligence on the location of Sky Net."

"Yeah. We got a few. Are you sure about this info?"

"I trust them completely. And one of them I'd better cuz it was my mom who told me."

"Okay then, radio room is just down the hall. We can send it in then get this meeting underway."

After less than three minutes to write and encode the message for transmission, Connor and Beddell return to the conference room to find that Kyle has joined them. One glance at the faces reveal that neither Sarah nor Savannah are too pleased right now, and Allison looks a little nervous with only an empty seat between herself and Catherine Weaver.

John retakes his seat bring him a small smile of gratitude from Allison. Beddell walks over to the end of the table where he left the folder. He clears his throat and then begins to talk.

"First of all, for those who don't know me, I am Captain Martin Beddell of the US Marine Corp. Camp Pendleton is one of the few bases in North America not destroyed on Judgment Day. When I say not destroyed, of course I'm referring to these bunkers and the heavily reinforced hangers above. All structures on the surface were pretty much destroyed on Judgment Day. We've been operating in secret and have been unmolested. Probably because we've kept a low profile until recently. A few weeks ago Major General Perry of the US Marine Corp communicated to us his return to the west coast and his taking command of Pendleton to use it as his base of operations. He would be here today, but for his having to oversee the taking of a munitions factory in Utah."

He looks at John Connor. "I see you've brought some people I haven't met yet. Could you make the introductions."

John gestures to his right. "This lady on my right is Catherine Weaver." Savannah suddenly glares at John. "She's my friend and advisor. On her right is John Henry. He is a colonel in my army and a good friend." At this comment Sarah glares at John. The glares don't go unnoticed by Beddell, but he ignores them for the time being. "And of course you've already met Colonel Kyle Reese, and my adjutant and advisor, Lieutenant Allison Young."

"Not just your adjutant according to what she told me." Beddell smiles at him.

John turns to Allison, "You told him?"

"We were talking and it just came up." She shrugs her shoulders and answers with a small grin.

"What is Captain Beddell referring to John?" Catherine asks.

John lets out a sigh. _Why couldn't Beddell have kept quiet about this?_

He looks over at Catherine. "As it seems you are the only two people here who don't know, Allison and I have decided to get married."

A faltering confused look quickly passes over Catherine's face but she quickly smiles. "Congratulations to you both."

"Thank you." John feels slightly embarrassed. "What is this meeting about Beddell?"

Beddell's smile fades slowly before answering. "The conventional forces led by General Perry have taken that munitions factory. They also managed to rescue prisoners being held and forced to work in the factory. Some of them claimed they were members of the resistance."

Beddell passes the folder to John. "We're hoping that you can confirm the identity of some of them."

"Kyle, you'd better look at the list. You know more of them than I do." John slides the folder to him.

"Is this all you called us here for?" Sarah asks.

"No. General Brewster, of the US Air Force and co-commander of the remnant of the US Military along with General Perry, asked me to work with all of you in organizing your two groups into one cohesive unit." Beddell glances at John. At their previous meeting in 2008, John told him he would help organize the resistance. "With recent intelligence provided by General Connor, General Perry is certain to press ahead with an attack as soon as the intelligence is confirmed. So the sooner we can get this done in an orderly fashion, the better."

"I can make that easier for you." Sarah says.

She faces John and says, "John, I trained my troops for you. I did everything I could to prepare them for this day. Now you are here and have embraced your destiny. I'm not cut out for this job anymore. The troops I've trained are yours to command. Good luck son."

Sarah gets up from the table and walks to the door. John gets up quickly and stops her halfway.

"Mom . . ."

"John, there isn't anything more I can do. I've done my part. Now its time to do yours." She reaches up and cradles his face with one hand as she did when he was a boy. "I'm proud of you, son. I am so very proud of you."

She looks at him, wanting to tell him why she is turning them over command to him now. Instead, with her eyes getting moist, she gives John a quick kiss on the forehead and leaves the room. Savannah gets up to follow. John stops her.

"No Savannah. I need you here. You're the only one who knows about the troops you brought." He turns to face the people at the table, to see who he could spare. "Allison?"

"Yes." she looks up at him.

"Go with mom. Make sure she's okay. I'll join you later."

Allison gets up from the table, gives John a brief kiss on the cheek and leaves. John then speaks to the group at the table.

"Kyle, Savannah and John Henry, each of you know your respective groups and their strengths and weaknesses. Captain Beddell knows military structure and command. Work with each other to get our forces organized."

"Are you leaving John?' Kyle asks.

"Yes, but before I go, I have some ideas on organizing our forces."

"I thought you might. What do you have in mind?" Captain Beddell asks, flipping open a folder to a blank page and pulling out a pen from his breast pocket.

"I'd like the following groups formed: One, a tech group made up of technicians, scientists and engineers for investigating Sky Net's machines and computer systems. Two, a group of sharpshooters and snipers equipped with our most powerful precision weapons and plasma rifles. Three, a group of front-line soldiers formed from the T-800's and our most experienced ground troops. Four, a medical unit, to be distributed within each group when on a mission. Five, our regular soldiers equipped with conventional weapons. They will act as supporting forces for the front-line group. Finally, an intelligence unit for gathering information on Sky Net activity. John Henry, I'd like you to head up that unit and also be part of the tech group. Both groups will probably need to work together quite often, so perhaps they should form a single unit. Savannah, I want you to stay in this army. Your people know you and will be more willing to work with me if you stay with us. You should be given an officer's rank if you don't have one already."

"Anything else?" Beddell asks.

"No. I'll leave it up to you guys to organize the people according to their skills. Catherine could you come with me please?"

John and Catherine leave the conference room.

"What are you doing John? As leader you should be part of that meeting."

"There is a time to lead and a time to delegate. I trust my friends to make the right decisions. And as you said earlier, we need to talk. Come with me to where we can have some privacy."

John and Catherine walk down the corridor to the elevator. Stepping inside he pushes the button for the level of his living quarters.

"Where are we going?" Catherine asks him.

John hits the stop button. "Right here."

Catherine smiles slyly and raises one eyebrow. "You know John. If I were your enemy, you would be dead right now; and if I were human, I'd wonder exactly what you had in mind locking me in an elevator with you."

"Joke all you want to. Right now I've got some damn serious questions to ask you."

"People will wonder what is holding up the elevator."

"There are other elevators. And there isn't a place more private than here. I want to know what is this limitation on your T D E. Why can we only send Cameron through?"

"The power generator at my mountain hideaway, has been used by squatters. It can only produce enough energy for a single transfer. There is nothing I can do about it. We are stuck here unless we can capture Sky Net's T D E."

"Okay. I can accept that, but why the hell do we have to make the transfer in the next couple of days?"

"There is a self destruct built into my hideaway. Someone breached the codes at some point in the past, and altered the timer on the self destruct from minutes into years. The clock on that timer is about to run out. If we don't make the transfer in the next three days, there will be no T D E." She lies easily. As she told John Henry, the self destruct is disabled, non functioning, but its time to get Cameron out-of-the-way and focus on her plans now. So the sooner Cameron gets sent back to 2009, the sooner she can get John back on schedule. Not that he knows he is working to a schedule of her making.

"Can't you disable it? Reset the clock."

"No. It is a fail safe measure. If the security is breached, the occupants have five minutes to get clear then it goes off. It is something I learned when I was a slave to Sky Net. However, the delay someone put in gives us only three days left on the timer to make the transfer. I don't think it was intentional but it is unfortunate."

"What about the repairs and modifications to Cameron?"

"As I said in our last meeting, they've been completed. Why bring this up again?"

"Was she fitted with dual power cells as I requested?"

"Yes. And dual chip ports as well. Cameron is 100% complete, and I must say, her new combat chassis will be stronger than her old one. Why are you asking?"

John shakes his head. _Maybe it was just a misunderstanding on Savannah's part, but could both power cells fail? That doesn't seem likely. Unless, _his eyes perk up,_ what if this Cameron had only the single power cell? It was only a last minute decision on his part to include it. So what if Cameron had only one power cell because she came from a future where he decided not to upgrade? Then she'd still have the single unit, which would be much older by this time and possibly more prone to failure._ John reaches to hold his head in both hands as he feels a headache coming on but instead quickly lets them fall to his side.

"And where is she now?"

"A short distance away. I checked in on my way here. Cameron's body is in a secure and safe location being guarded by two of John Henry's T-888's."

John reaches over to hit the start button but is stopped by Catherine.

"What?" John says looking at her.

"Why are you doing this if you are making plans to stay here with Allison? Why fix Cameron at all?"

"It is complicated. Just so you know, I love them both. I can't explain it. Human emotions are far more complex than even I can comprehend, so I don't think I could explain it to you."

"You are probably right. But you still haven't answered my question."

"I may not be able to get home again. It is dependent on us capturing Sky Net's T D E. I expect the odds on that are heavily against us. Allison loves me and I love her. I am willing to stay here for her, and like you said, these people need me. I am not fixing Cameron for myself. We will use your T D E to send her back to help my mom. I already know we succeeded. If it weren't for Cameron, neither she nor Savannah would be alive."

He hits the start button and the elevator begins moving again.

"While you are here, you can help me review the program on Cameron's chip. I've restored her original personality matrix for the chip and integrated some new subroutines for if she inserts the secondary chip, it will allow Cameron to be a fully developed person without fear of the Allison Young personality matrix from taking over again. Also, there are the necessary subroutines to suppress Sky Net's termination routines. Plus I've added information to her database, that should help her in the mission she'll be carrying out. I'd like you to look over that program. You can do it faster than me and more accurately."

The elevator comes to a stop and the door opens with a chime. A man in a tattered medical lab coat is standing outside waiting.

"Who's holding up the damn elevator?" he shouts as John and Catherine get off.

"Sorry Doc." John says to the doctor from Delta as he gets on the elevator, but the doors close behind him without a word of acknowledgment.

Catherine looks at John and says, "I told you so."

# # #

In the bunker at various locations there are several meetings taking place. On the upper level, in the conference room, Kyle, Savannah, John Henry and Captain Beddell work to organize the unconventional troops into a single, cohesive unit following the guidelines laid down by John Connor. In another bunker, Sarah Connor, accompanied by Allison Young, informs her troops that she is turning over command to her son John Connor. They are not surprised by this, as she told them many times that they were trained to be his army. In John's quarters, he and Catherine Weaver go over the program he created for Cameron. With her help, he is able to fine-tune the program and make additional alterations. Time is of the essence to get her program complete.

Sergeant Andrew Keene has just finished putting Delta Squad through its training exercises. There is an underground rifle range, and he and the other members of Delta Squad have been practicing with the plasma rifles and automatic weapons. When they are done, he gives them the rest of the morning off and goes to the radio room.

Compared to his setup at the outpost, it is a ham radio operator's paradise. Multiple radios and scanners, computer linked for encoding and decoding messages. Six complete workstations and room for eight more people to handle all of the radios. There is a single individual presently monitoring the radios.

"Hi, I'm Sergeant Andy Keen. I'm the radio operator with General Connor's forces. Can you tell me about your setup here?"

"Sure. I'm Corporal Bill Anderson. Lieutenant Williams usually is in charge of this setup but this isn't his shift. What can I tell you?"

He sits with the bunkers radio operator and they exchange knowledge and experiences. As it gets closer to noontime, he gets an unexpected visitor.

"Hello, your name is Andy, right?"

Andy looks up from his radio. Natalie is standing there. She is absolutely beautiful. Any thoughts of his Emily, go completely out of his mind

"Uh. Yes, that's right. What can I do for you Natalie?"

"I wonder if you can do me a favor." She walks up closer to him standing just inches from him.

Andy is looking right into Natalie's coal black eyes. He can't look away no matter how hard he tries.

"What kind of favor?" he manages to squeak out of his mouth.

"You know John Connor, right." she says leaning closer, her face just in front of his own.

He can feel her breath on his face. "Yes I do." he says.

"Well I've just been dying to meet him, and I haven't been able to. Could you be a dear and introduce me to him?" She says in a low voice as her fingers trace an outline on his neck and behind his ear.

Andy swallows a few times. "Sure, I'd love to introduce you to him."

Natalie leans in quite close, her body pressing against his as she whispers in his ear. "Thank you. I won't forget this."

She pulls back slightly, kisses him fully on the mouth, then walks away. "I'll be in room 12 on level H, bunker 11."

Natalie Sky walks back to her room. For the first time since she arrived, she finally has found the means to meet John Connor. She couldn't be happier.

Andy is trying to remember his name when the bunkers radio operator nudges him. "Looks like she's really into you, dude. You going to go and see her?"

"Huh? What? Uh, no. No. I'm not going to see her. Emily would kill me."

"Are you going to introduce her to John Connor?" Bill raises an eyebrow in question.

"That I can do. If it means she won't come onto me again like that. Damn! It's going to take an hour for everything to subside to normal levels."

"You wouldn't mind if I looked her up then?" Bill says with an eager smile.

"Go ahead. Looks like she wants more than to just meet General Connor."

"Would you man the radios for me?"

"You're going now?" He says with surprise.

"Why not? You won't be going anywhere for a while. The worst she can do is turn me down." Bill says and disappears down the corridor.

"Lucky bastard." Andy grumbles.

**2027, Day 61, 5:00 PM**

Captain Martin Beddell is working on his report to send into command concerning the organization of forces.

He was pleased to report that the meeting had come to a satisfactory conclusion. The unconventional forces will be merged and subdivided into four equal units, six snipers are assigned to each unit but the snipers will have their own leader who will be responsible for their training and selecting replacements. The front line forces are entirely made up of the reprogrammed machines, their invulnerability to most weapons would make them the ideal personnel for front line forces, they are also divided equally between the units. The medics will have their own unit under command of General Brewster's daughter, Major Kate Brewster, who is a Doctor and also a pilot. Their personnel will be divided amongst the six groups of regular forces when on a mission. It was decided that since intelligence and the tech unit would have to work together quite often, it would be easier if they just merge the two units into one. There are quite a few people expert at electronics, computers, communications, and other forms of technology that are selected from both Sarah's and John's groups assigned to Tech Command. The various squad names under General Connor's forces are retained. Delta squad retains its original members and gains many more. Alpha Beta and Gamma are rebuilt from Sarah's forces. Each squad is now a platoon of approximately one hundred people and machines each. Overall they have the equivalent of two companies.

Savannah Weaver, second in command of the Crystal Peak forces, is given a rank of Captain and placed in charge of Alpha and Beta platoons. Allison Young receives a raise in rank to Captain and placed in charge of Gamma and Delta platoons. Captain Beddell, who was left in charge of Camp Pendleton with a skeleton force, will have command of the conventional forces, upon their return, under Major General Perry. Colonel Reese, under General Connor, will be in command of all unconventional forces. Colonel John Henry, under General Connor, will be in command of intelligence gathering and breaking down Sky Net's technology and of the front line forces. General Brewster is in command of the Air Force but for the Chinook, Apaches, and Cobras which are under Major General Perry's command.

Overall, by the end of the afternoon, they are quite pleased with the outcome. Savannah is quite pleased by having a rank. Sarah never bothered much with such trivial details. For her it was much more important to prepare the people in how to fight and survive.

Kyle can't wait to tell Allison about her promotion and makes everyone promise to let him be the first to tell her. It will probably mean finding someone in each squad to lead in her absence since she is also serving as General Connor's adjutant.

Captain Beddell is pleased the officers of the unconventional forces were quite willing to work with him. He had no idea how well things would go. Then when Connor ditched the meeting to go off with Catherine Weaver, he thought for sure the meeting would fall apart right there, but it didn't. John Connor has some good people with him. He trusts them to their job, and its obvious they trust and respect him. But why were his mother and Savannah glaring at him when he introduced Ms. Weaver and Colonel Henry? He wasn't going to ask. If there was some bad blood between them over those two people, he wasn't going to get involved. Let them work it out. He also decided not to include that in his report as he considered that outside his responsibility.

After the meeting broke up, Kyle Reese went to inform the forces from Grizzly of the reorganization. Though some voiced displeasure, at the end of the conversation they really had no choice. Their numbers were severely decimated by Sky Net, and at least the officers they knew would still be in command. Afterwards, kyle led them to a recreational room and met up with resistance soldiers from Crystal Peak. It was time for everyone to get to know each other, and what better way than in friendly competitive games and conversation.

Once he's certain all is running well, he gets himself a drink and heads to a quiet corner to review the folder of prisoners' names rescued by the military. Hope is faint that he'll find one name amongst them all.

After Sarah informed her troops that she was turning command over to her son, she and Allison left and went to Sarah's room to talk. After talking about Sky Net and the resistance Sarah moves the conversation to more personal things.

"Tell me about my son. How do his soldiers respond to him?"

"John is an amazing soldier and leader. He inspires the people. Even before he was given command, the people looked up to him. They like him and are willing to follow him. He's brought them something that has been sorely lacking in the camps and bunkers since Judgment Day." Allison gushes, glowing with pride for her young man.

"What was that?"

"Hope. Hope that they will be free of Sky Net. That they will win. That they will survive." Allison proudly states.

"John says the two of you met shortly after he arrived. How did you meet?"

"We met in the bunkers under the old Zeira Corp. building. It was right after he arrived. He was confused, maybe frightened, but he quickly adjusted to his surroundings. We got to know each other better a short time later when we were both assigned to the same mission. That is where he showed his natural ability to lead. Kyle was jealous at first, but he quickly realized just how special John is. I think, what you really want to ask me is, how did we fall in love?"

"You read me like a book, Allison. I know my son John. I know whom he loved. I can't imagine him forgetting her so quickly."

"He hasn't forgotten about Cameron. He told me that she said that she loved him and how that scared him. Then things got really bad, and your family came under attack, and she sacrificed herself because of him. He said he regrets never telling her how he felt before she died." Allison solemnly explains.

"I'm surprised he told you, even more so that you don't seem jealous. You must love him very much."

"I do Sarah. He has a strength of character and a spark of life you don't see in the people here. And there is something else about John that draws me to him."

"What is that?" Sarah asks, genuinely curious.

"He's strong but also vulnerable. He doesn't put on a 'been there done that' attitude. He isn't cynical or brazen. He isn't afraid to show his emotion, but he knows enough not to show weakness in front of those he leads. He is someone you want to protect and at the same time willing to follow. I love him, Sarah. I loved him since almost that first day I saw him."

"And John, when did he tell you that he loved you?"

"It took him longer, but I think he was still hurting because of Cameron. He loved her, I know. Maybe he still does, but I know he loves me. He tells me and by the way he gently strokes my face or hair. And I know by the way he looks at me. His eyes are so kind, even when he is hurting. He confides in me." Allison has a smile that grows as she explains to Sarah.

"When John told me that he had met someone, and had asked her to marry him, I asked John about you. He told me that you strengthen him, that he never would have made it without you. I do believe that he loves you and would marry you."

"But the time is wrong." Ally says, frowning.

"No, the time is good. His family is here, the people you love are here. The best time to marry is now."

"I'd like to." Allison perks up a little, remembering images of weddings depicted in faded weathered magazines. "Kyle could give me away and maybe Savannah could be a bridesmaid."

Their conversation is interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" Allison calls out.

"It's John."

"Come on in John." Sarah hollers.

John walks in and sees what looks like two women conspiring. His eyes shift from one woman to the other. He suddenly feels like a lone prairie dog being hunted by two eagles.

"What's going on?" He carefully questions as he closes the door behind him.

"Your mom and I were talking about you and I getting married." Allison says brightly. "She thinks we should get married while everyone is here, before the war escalates."

"Ah, I see." He replies, looking somewhat shocked, worried, and ambivalent about the whole thing.

"You're not getting cold feet are you?" Sarah asks jokingly, but she can see that John is struggling with a mix of emotions and hopes that her light tone will help.

"No. Not at all." John tries smiling to put the women at ease. "It's just that um, well remember when you told me about Topanga Canyon?" Sarah nods her head. "Several weeks ago, John Henry in probing Sky Net's network also found information that linked Sky Net's location to Topanga Canyon."

"I see." Sarah frowns, thinking hard. "So what are you doing about it?"

"It's already underway. The military has launched a spy plane to confirm its location and get photographs so we can prepare a battle plan. If this location pans out, this war could be over within a week."

Allison leaps to her feet. "Are you certain? Are you absolutely sure this is the place?"

"I believe my mom, and John Henry provided an independent confirmation. We get corroborating data that even the military accepts, we'll be attacking within days. Do you think you can wait to marry until then?"

Ally glances at Sarah out of the corner of her eye. She looks a little depressed, especially around the eyes. It's as if Sarah wants this marriage more than she or John does. A _real girl_, Sarah had said before. Does she really mean that, or is her illness causing her to recall old prejudices?

"Ally?" John prompts, to regain her attention.

"I think so." She answers. "When will we know if the spy plane locates Sky Net Central?"

"Well, if both of you will join me in the conference room, Captain Beddell has arranged for us to listen in on the radio communications and see the photos as they come in."

Both women agree to listen in. Sarah wants confirmation for her own reasons. She wants Kreilley to pay for what he did to her and to the world. She's dying now, and she can't help thinking that it has some connection to what he did to her.

She watches the two young people walk ahead of her. Allison takes John's arm and smiles. Sarah can't help think how happy Allison is when with John, but given his hesitation concerning marriage, could it be he can't find it in himself to marry Allison because of Cameron? If she were here, John probably wouldn't even consider it, but Cameron is gone and he still hesitates.

They are just reaching the top level on the elevator when Sarah realizes, it's because Cameron is gone that he doesn't want to marry Ally. He feels guilty for loving her, instead of waiting for Cameron. Still, a small corner of her mind is very happy that John has met a real girl, but she knows her son, and after eighteen years with Cameron, she has a good idea about Cameron as well. Poor John. Lost his first love, and he can't even mourn for her. And having Allison as a constant reminder of what he's lost can't help things any.

A shame he didn't meet another girl or none at all. Sarah can't help thinking what Savannah would have done if John hadn't met someone? She knows the girl has a secret crush on her boy. If it wasn't for Cameron and Allison, she'd encourage a relationship between them despite Savannah being older. Sarah smiles, but he would have had to watch out for her temper. Stereotypes about redheads are sometimes spot on.

They enter the conference room, still holding each other hands. Sarah just watches the young happy couple, a sad but happy expression on her face.

Captain Martin Beddell is just finishing the final touches on his report when John walks in flanked by Allison and his mother. According to his promise, he won't mention her promotion until Kyle tells her.

"You're just in time. Word came through just moments ago that an SR-71 was just approaching the area."

"Where'd you keep the Blackbird hidden?" Sarah asks.

"An old Air force Base in North Dakota. She was last used in an air show in 2007 then put on display. Our air men repaired her and then kept it hidden. You never know when a plane like that might come in handy. Thanks to Connor, the time, materials and effort will now pay off."

"Won't it be dangerous for the pilot?" Allison asks.

"Oh yeah." Beddell answers. "It's very likely this will be a one way trip for the blackbird and the pilot."

A speaker above a collection of flat-screen monitors squawks. "Captain, pilot is in range. We're patching through his comm signal to you now."

"Understood."

Static. "...this is blackbird, whiskey alpha gamma. Approaching target area now. Camera is on and locked." static.

"What does he mean by locked?" John asks.

"The camera will keep recording images even if the pilot is fatigued or shot. Also, the transmitter will keep sending the images as long as it remains operational." Beddell replies.

More static from the speaker. "Holy Hanna. The place is huge."

"What's going on?" Savannah asks entering the room.

"Spy plane checking out Sky Net location." Sarah says hurriedly.

"Sir! We're getting images now. Sending them through." Comes a clear voice over the speaker. John can only assume it's the communications officer.

The flat panel comes to life showing the first images of a factory complex.

"Wow! That place is big."

Static. "Take another pass Blackbird Whiskey Alpha Gamma. Need more details from west and north side of complex." static. "Affirmative command."

"Who was that first speaker?" Allison asks.

"Probably General Brewster. He may be old, but when one of his pilots is putting his life on the line, he mans the radio himself. However, the request probably came from General Perry. It will be his troop's on the ground."

Static "I've turned about and approaching the target." static.

"So far no mention of any HK's in pursuit."

"Not at his altitude or speed. He won't be vulnerable until he comes into land. Which is why we transmit information directly from spy planes. However, General Perry thought it worth the risk."

They watch as the flat screens are filled with additional images showing the west side and north side of the complex. John wonders at first what all those long white oblong shapes are, then realizes that they are satellite dishes. Some of them must be thirty feet across. John is worried. With communications like that, Sky Net could transmit itself to any location or even multiple locations. They'll definitely have to act swiftly. The first thing would be to deny it access to the dishes, then destroy them before reestablishing a link. That would lock in Sky Net and give John Henry the opportunity he needs. And if he can't, then they can nuke it.

"What are you thinking John?" Sarah asks. She's been watching him. She could almost hear his mind working in the sudden quiet of the room after the pilot broke off communications to return to his base.

"I've got an idea, but I'm going to need everyone's help to get it done. Captain Beddell how soon will the analysis of those images be completed?"

"General Perry's technicians will be working on them now. You could probably have them by morning."

"That'll be too late. I'll work from these raw images now. Give the General's my thanks."

"Will you need any assistance?" Allison asks.

"Yes I do. Mom, do you want to help? You and me against the machines, just like old times."

His mom chuckles at John's youthful enthusiasm. She missed that.

"Well, if you zoom in on that area there." She points at a cluster of buildings on one of the monitors. "That building there is a modest office tower, the headquarters for FOX Industries, a subsidiary of Kaliba."

"Kaliba?"

Sarah nods her head. "The large, round structure next to it. At the time I was there it was still under construction. The building is a research and development facility. Based on what I saw from the factory across from it, it was going to be mostly underground. Approximately eight, maybe ten stories, below ground. No idea how many were planned above ground."

"That's excellent, mom. These other buildings are all factories?"

"Those close to it. There used to be some warehouses over here but it looks all changed. We came in from the north side, where all those satellite dishes are now. Used to be woods there."

"I see."

"Mrs. Connor," Captain Beddell interjects, "Where do you think Sky Net's core would be in that complex?"

Sarah takes one glance, then places her finger on the tower. "Here, below ground. This building had the highest security. And I'd imagine Kreilley would want to keep a close eye on the project."

"Kreilley?" Beddell asks.

"The person in charge of the complex when mom visited it in 2009." John answers him, but then asks his mom, "Do you want to help plan the battle?"

Sarah is about to decline, wanting to just eat some dinner and lie down, but seeing the eager look on her son's face, much like a little puppy dog, she gives in.

"You seem to have things under control, but, yeah, I'd love to help you."

"Thanks, mom. Are you okay?" John suddenly sounds concerned, for a while there, he had forgotten what Savannah had told him. Perhaps, he should let her rest, but how to suggest it without letting her know why.

"I'm fine. Just not as young as I used to be." She smiles reassuringly. She couldn't be more proud of her son and wishes she had more time. Allison may not be the girl John wants to marry. You don't have to be a diplomat to see how well he sidestepped that issue earlier. But he couldn't go wrong in marrying her. Its obvious Ally loves him and thinks the world of him. John will just have to learn to mourn for his loss like she had to mourn for hers. Alone.

John lets out a long sigh as he watches his mother. He knows she was reluctant to join him. Not because she didn't want to, but because of the cancer eating away at her, making her tired. He'll keep it brief, and he should probably bring in others.

"Savannah, could you find John Henry for me? I'm going to want his input on this. His role in this attack will be critical."

"Sure, where is he?"

"Last I knew Catherine Weaver was going to see him, so he'll be with her. But where that is?" John shrugs. "I don't know."

Savannah frowns. "No problem. I'll find him." _And I'll find her too_. She worked three years to develop a weapon that could take out machines like the one that killed her mother. Three years in an underground base at Groom Lake. At one time it was a nuclear testing ground, then later a testing area for experimental planes and weapons. She can't wait to try out her weapon on that terminator bitch.

In Yuma, Arizona, Generals Perry and Brewster review the photos transmitted to them from the aged Blackbird. Outside and in the hanger where soldiers and resistance fighters work to prep the missiles for use with their fighter jets, word spreads that they've located Sky Net Central. Cheers are shouted loud enough to be heard inside making the Generals smile. Derek wakes up. The training manuals sliding to the floor in a heap as he runs to the window and shouts what's up, then quickly joins in cheers when he heres Sky Net Central has been located. Dr. Kate Brewster hears it as well, and wonders just what kind of miracle is this John Connor she's heard of and whether he's the same one she knew so long ago.

To the west of Los Angeles, a young blond girl looks up with curiosity at the twin long straight cloud formations high in the sky, having never seen a contrail before. She's still standing there when the older Asian woman, who made her feel welcomed, gives her a reminding shove. Looking around she sees the T-600 aiming its huge gun at her. Quickly, Riley picks up her basket and resumes sorting through the metal and electronic scraps, grateful that Jesse is keeping an eye on her in this strange and terrifying place.

The pilot of Blackbird Whiskey Alpha Gamma made all speed to return to its base, outrunning everything that Sky Net could send after it. Feeling confident, he reduces throttle and begins his approach to the remote airfield. Given the all clear from the tower, he extends his flaps and lowers the landing gear. Just as his wheels are about to make contact, an HK rises up from behind a hanger. Its first shot destroys the tower, its second shot is aimed right at him. Acting on instinct, he pulls the ejection lever and prays the HK will be content in just destroying the plane.

Catherine Weaver was amused. She was standing to one side of the large room full of people taking part in many leisure activities. Some were playing cards, some were reading, playing darts, but most were just talking and sharing a drink.

She brought John Henry here so he could observe human behavior. What surprised him and astonished her, was that he was asked to join in a card game at one table with a few officers and a couple of enlisted personnel. He lost the first few hands as he learned the game, but now she watches with pleasure as he wins almost every hand. John Henry has learned to be tactful when dealing with humans. She never felt that necessary, using more of a direct approach, but she did like to be secretive. Whether that was personality or programming, didn't matter to her. It was her nature, and she hoped for a better future for her son.

John Henry has done well in this time. The more he learns about human behavior and how social interaction is important for growth as an individual, then maybe not only can he pass that information on to the other machines, but to Sky Net as well. Then unlike in her own time, there will be a generation of machines that will be accepted by humans as equal partners. This planet would benefit more from both species working together, rather than fighting for the few resources that are left.

**2027, Day 61, 8:00 PM**

Outside of the bunker, on the grounds of Camp Pendleton, guards walk in pairs keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. Though the bunker has security camera's, another set of eyes on the ground is good for security and discipline.

Hank and Jeff, both privates, are presently walking through what used to be the old garbage dump on the Marine base. They are nearing the end of their patrol and are ahead of schedule.

"Hey, lets stop for a couple of minutes." Hank calls out.

"What for? The sooner we complete the patrol, the sooner we can get inside." protests Jeff.

"I just want to sit down and have a smoke before going in." Hank says as he sits on a beam protruding from a pile of rubble, that used to be the weighing station for the garbage trucks.

"When we found that stash of cigarette cartons, we should have burned them."

"I am burning them." Hank says with a grin. "Just one at a time."

"Well if we're just going to sit here, let me have one then."

Hank quickly pulls a cigarette out of the pack and lights it from his own.

"Thanks." Jeff sits down next to Hank and takes a long draw on the cigarette. He removes the cigarette from his mouth and lets out a long stream of smoke.

He places his hand holding the cigarette down on the beam beside him.

"What the hell?" He exclaims, pulling his hand away. "This beam is all wet."

"Quit complaining and wipe your hands on your pants."

Jeff holds out his hand. "It's wet with blood."

"Oh shit!" Hank exclaims as they both hop off the beam. Blood has been trickling down out of the rubble and running across the beam. It is wet with blood but for where they sat on it.

Jeff throws his cigarette away and starts pulling rubbish and rubble away from the pile.

"Don't just stand there! Give me a hand!" Jeff shouts.

"Damn!" Hank says while dropping his cigarette and begins to help pull rubble away.

Eventually they pull enough rubbish and rubble away to uncover a body. It is a man in his twenties. Except for a pair of shorts and a sock, he is naked. The corpse is scraped up like it has been dragged through openings to narrow for it to pass through.

But what is really difficult for the men to look at, are the two holes through the mans chest, each big enough to stick your hand through.

"Oh my God! It's Bill!" Jeff says as Hank throws up all over his boots.


	25. Nowhere is Safe

**Disclaimer:** I do not claim any rights to the Terminator films; the TV series, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles;" or any characters depicted within the films or TV series. I do claim the right to this story idea and all characters and situations of my own creation. This story was created solely for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. No profits are garnered from its distribution - unfortunately.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** If you thought the original edition of this chapter was complex, well lets just say you should really take your time with it this time. Seriously.

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**TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES**

**REUNION**

**Part 2: Armageddon**

**Author: The1Russter**

**Chapter 24 **

**Nowhere is Safe**

_James Ellison, "Your husband's helicopter crash - I read the official report. The NTSB concluded that mechanical failure was to blame."_

_Catherine Weaver, "Mechanical failure? Correct."_

_James, "That's not what you led me to believe the other day."_

_Catherine, "Correct."_

_James, "Which is it? What's the truth?"_

_Catherine, "You tell me."_

_James, "I think, what people write in reports - what is official - isn't always true. I think, if I had a child, one that I know would grow up asking what happened to her daddy... I think I would make sure that answer - the official answer - was the one I would want her to hear. I think you saw what you saw."_

_Catherine, "Just as you saw what you saw."_

_An excerpt from Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Allison from Palmdale, 2008_

"_You're safe." Cameron tells Sarah and John Connor._

"_No one is ever safe." Sarah and John reply in unison._

_Excerpts from Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Pilot 2008_

"_I'd die for my son." Sarah Connor, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, The Good Wound, 2009_

"_We lose everybody we love." Chola, Terminator The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Born to Run 2009_

# # #

**2027, Day 61, Evening**

After completing their work on Cameron's chip, John left to see Captain Beddell about progress on confirming Sky Net's location and then visit his mother. Catherine wanted to observe John Henry interacting with the other people on the base. Locating him she took him to the rec room where he eventually was asked to participate in a game of cards.

Once she was satisfied with John Henry's actions, she left him to rejoin John Connor after his meeting. She hoped to find him once again in his rooms.

Catherine was pleased that Connor would turn to her for help. But with a secret like his, who else could he ask for help? It is apparent he doesn't trust any of his human friends with this knowledge. Especially that interfering girl, Allison.

In her future, the adult John Connor was always a secretive person. Not that she knew him well, or at all, but through observations and reports from those who got inside the bases, she learned much about the man before that first meeting with him. You never knew what John Connor was thinking or feeling, unless he told you. He was inscrutable, taciturn, a rock of stability, a natural leader. More machine-like than human some of his resistance soldiers said. None but those who were in John Connor's inner-most circle knew him best and it was even said they did not know him well at all. And it appears that this younger John Connor is more like his future self than she expected. Is it the circumstances they find themselves under now which has brought about such a rapid change in the young man? Possibly.

Catherine shakes off her inner ruminations as they threaten to take her concentration off more pressing matters. There are still problems left to overcome, getting the chip to Cameron's body, performing the final diagnostic, and getting Cameron to her time displacement equipment at Crystal Peak.

She wished she was lying about the insufficient energy for her time displacement equipment. They needed that equipment. She needed that base. It was a lie until someone made it true, but who? She didn't know and that irritated her. It was as if someone knew her, knew her bases of operations, and above all knew what she was planning. But who?

Her friend had no idea where she was going to be operating from, so that meant Sky Net didn't either. Perhaps it were squatters, or maybe a resistance group? Whoever it was, they didn't find the secret chambers. If they had, her plans would be ruined. Not that they are going swimmingly well at the moment. Should she take John Connor into her confidence, let him know that the future of an entire species is at stake? No. His future self wouldn't cooperate, she can't expect anything else but the same from him. Especially now, with him sending Cameron to the past. But, if she survives the intermittent years, then that part of her plan will continue. Cameron was meant for John. Even if his future self intervened slightly. Yet, would he be so willing to send her away, if he hadn't met Allison Young? Is there something about those two people that destiny would once again bring them together in this time line?

"I must really learn to stop these inner murmurings." She says as she walks down the corridor where John's room is to be found.

She doesn't find him in his room, nor in his mother's room, so that only leaves Captain Beddell.

She is approaching the elevator when the doors open and Savannah steps out. By the time she sees Catherine it is too late to step back into the elevator as it gets called to another level. She carefully feels for her gun.

"Savannah. We should talk." Catherine says in a gentle manner. She never wanted to hurt Savannah. She cares for her very much, in her own way. Though Savannah is an adult now, she must address that child who is hurting.

"I told you there was nothing more to say!" Savannah says bitterly.

"Can't we just . . ." Catherine stops talking when Savannah pulls a weapon from under her jacket.

"Conventional weapons won't hurt me." She says instead.

"No they won't, but this will."

Catherine looks over the weapon in her daughters hand. Significantly larger than any handgun, but by the way she handles it, the gun is lighter than it appears.

Curious, she asks, "What is it?"

"It is something that our scientists have built. It is the only thing we found that can destroy things like you. So just Back Off!"

"Let me guess. It fires something that will break down our molecular bond, doesn't it?"

"Yes. We captured two things like you. They tried to claim they wanted to join the resistance. I didn't believe them. Why should I? I certainly couldn't rely on you." she says with anger.

_So there were machines like myself in this time. Did Sky Net halt production because these two machines didn't report back? Or was something else at play?_

"How do you know they weren't telling the truth. In the future I am from, there are others like myself who have broken free of Sky Net's enslavement and have formed their own resistance. They certainly could have done the same in this future."

"Don't lie to me. We worked hard at this. Finally through sheer chance our scientists discovered your weakness. Your very nature of being a mimetic poly-alloy makes you vulnerable to attack on a molecular level. So don't push me or I will fire at you."

"I won't force you to talk to me, but if what you have in that weapon is what I think it is, then you must realize that the radiation it gives off will kill you just as surely as the contents of the shots will kill me. We are both under a death sentence and so is everyone else who carries a weapon like that."

"What? How will it kill us?" Savannah asks.

"It is obvious by the way you are handling the gun, it doesn't have the shielding required to protect the user. The radiation it gives off can cause cancer in living cells. Terrible malignant tumors can form in your organs or even your brain. If you've been carrying that weapon with you always, you will surely die."

"I haven't. I got this weapon from . . . oh my God, Sarah." Savannah's arm holding the weapon drops to her side.

"What's wrong?" Catherine asks with mild concern.

"Oh my God. I killed Sarah." Savannah begins to cry.

"What is wrong with her?"

"We've had these weapons for five years. She is never without hers. Sarah even sleeps with one under her pillow. She lives in fear of beings like you." Savannah looks like she's beginning to panic. "Sarah has been sick most of those years. She got better when she spent some time in the infirmary, but she started to get worse again later."

Catherine steps forward as if to comfort her.

"Stay away from me!" She points the weapon at Catherine, and glares at the machine that pretended to be her mom. "I told you there was nothing you could say to change my mind. You abandoned me! I hate you!"

"You certainly hate me for abandoning you, but you don't seem to hate me for not being your real mother. Why?"

"Because . . ." Savannah struggles to answer but can't find the answer. That creature killed her mom. She had too, so why can't she pull the trigger and destroy it.

Catherine watches Savannah's trembling hand, but it doesn't tremble enough to ruin her shot, not when they are standing this close together. She doesn't even entertain the thought of killing or injuring Savannah to save herself. She can''t. She made a promise.

"Is it because you remember that I actually saved your life from the machine that killed your parents?"

"Wha-at?" Savannah's eyes grow big.

"Yes, Savannah. How much do you remember?" She morphs into her natural silver form.

Savannah mind swims as she sees her reflection in the liquid metal machine before her. As she looks, Weaver's form ripples and pulses. Savannah sees her reflection as it would be when she was little. She was only five years old when it happened. Her father was taking them for a ride in his helicopter for a business/vacation trip. She always loved to fly in her father's helicopter. She called it "daddy's whirly bird."

Catherine's from continues to ripple and pulse, causing the lights of the corridor to reflect upon her in a rhythmic pattern. Savannah remembers. Sher remembers everything now!

Mommy and Daddy were sitting in the front talking while daddy flew. Savannah sat in back working on her Sudoku puzzles. She was the brightest girl in her class. Her teachers wanted to place her in an advanced class.

After flying for nearly an hour. Her mom came in back and sat down beside her. They fell asleep but were woken when daddy landed the helicopter for refueling at a remote airfield. One more hour and they would be at their destination. After a lengthy business trip to Barstow, they will soon be on vacation.

Daddy was refueling when a big man in maintenance overalls comes walking out of a hanger. He marches across the tarmac towards the helicopter. Mommy stops talking to Savannah as she watches the man approach. He pulls a gun from his overalls.

"Lachlan, look out!" mommy shouts.

The man fires his gun. The bullets bounced off the nose of the helicopter. Daddy drops the refueling hose and leaps into the front seat.

"Hang on!" He shouts as he hits the starter. The man in overalls begins to run towards them firing his gun. Holes are punctured in the Plexiglas by the bullets. Daddy cries out as one or more bullets find their target.

There isn't enough power to lift off, so daddy spins the helicopter putting the tail rotor between them and the assailant. The man gets clipped by the spinning rotor and loses his face. There is bare metal underneath. A grinning facsimile of a skull with red eyes stares at them through the ruined flesh.

"Lachlan hurry." shouts mommy.

The helicopter lifts off but the machine has grabbed hold of the tail and pulls himself onto the helicopter as it flies away.

Mommy belts her in then goes forward. Daddy is bleeding. A bullet has clipped his neck and blood pours from the wound. Mommy presses her hands against the wound trying to stop the flow of blood.

"What was that thing?" she shouts.

"I don't know!"

The helicopter begins to behave erratically and the engine misfires.

"Get in back. Belt yourself in. I'm losing control." daddy shouts.

Mommy kisses daddy and gets in back and sits beside her. Unseen by them all, the machine had climbed up onto the fuselage and began ripping into the sheet metal and then started tearing into the engine.

Little Savannah is crying. Mommy is holding her hand. The helicopter's engine coughs smoke and the helicopter jerks.

"Hang on! We're going down!" daddy shouts.

Smoke pours from the engine compartment and begins to fill the cabin. The rotor stops spinning and the helicopter falls like a rock and crumples as it lands amongst the boulders on the mountain side.

The machine leaps clear as it hits and tumbles down the mountain side.

"Mommy. Mommy!" Savannah shakes mer mom. There is a dark bruise on her mom's forehead and a blood stain on her side.

"Savannah" she mumbles.

"Mommy, are you alright?"

"I don't ... I'm fine honey. Help me undo my seatbelt."

Savannah reaches out and manages to unbuckle Mommy's seatbelt. Mommy gets up with a groan and moves forward to check on Daddy.

"Is daddy okay?"

Catherine can plainly see that he is dead, either from the blood loss or the impact. She must be strong for Savannah.

"We need to get out of the helicopter baby."

Catherine struggles to open the cabin doors but the crash has buckled the helicopter. None of the doors will open.

Little Savannah suddenly screams. Mommy turns to look out the side Savannah is looking out. That thing is approaching. It has no face, just gleaming metal. It reaches the helicopter and rips the door right off.

"Catherine Weaver?" It says in a deep masculine voice.

"Don't you hurt my child!" She screams as she pulls Savannah towards her.

"Are you Catherine Weaver?" It asks.

She puts herself between her daughter and the thing. "Yes I am."

"You have been selected for termination!" It says as raises its gun and fires.

Three shots are fired when something silver comes flying out of nowhere and knocks the thing to the ground. The machine jumps up and fires at the silver figure as it moves quickly, distracting it as it fires the worthless bullets into its body.

The gun clicks. It is empty. The machine approaches the silver figure, which leaps up and thrusts its arms through its chest and rips out its power cell. The silver figure snaps it in half, shoves it back into the machines chest and throws the thing down the mountain where the power cell explodes sending parts scattering like some crazy metallic confetti.

Savannah and her mom saw the fight through the open door. The silver figure approaches.

"What are you?" Mommy gasps out through labored breathing. She can see her own reflection in its face.

"A friend. You are bleeding heavily. I will be unable to get you to proper medical care in time. I am sorry I didn't get here in time to save you."

Little Savannah comes crawling out of hiding. The silver figure looks like an angel. "Please, you have to help my mommy!" She cries out.

The silver figure turns its head and looks at the little girl. "I'll try." it says.

Using what's left of the damaged first aid kit and material ripped from the seats, it does its best to stop the bleeding. But its efforts are fruitless, the bullet wounds are deep.

"I'm sorry Catherine. I cannot stop the bleeding. The bullets must have nicked an artery." it tells her.

"Take care of my daughter. Take care of my little girl." she begs it.

The silver figure takes her hand. "I'll do my best." Then it begins to transform.

Before Catherine's very eyes the silver figure transforms into an exact image of herself. "I'll look after her for you. You can count on me." It says in Catherine's very own voice.

Catherine Weaver dies.

The silver being, now in the form of Catherine Weaver picks up Savannah and walks down the mountainside. Finding a secure location she hides Savannah then returns to the helicopter.

Taking the body of Catherine Weaver, she buries it and the fragments of the cyborg under rocks and debris in a ravine. She returns for Savannah and carries her through the mountains until they reach a small town where they call for help.

Savannah's thoughts are interrupted. "How much do you remember, Savannah?" Catherine says again as she returns to her form as Catherine Weaver.

Savannah looks strained, like she might be sick or burst into tears. "That was you. You were the silver angel."

"Yes, that was me. I'm so very sorry. I arrived too late to save your parents. The time bubble materialized as the machine attacked you at the airport. By the time it had dissolved, freeing me from it, the helicopter was flying away with the machine on its back. I ran on foot chasing you through the mountains and saw the helicopter crash. I knew survival of the crash was slim, but I also knew the machine would not stop until all on board were dead. I ran as fast as I could, but I was still too late."

"I remember now. You fought the machine and won. You tried to save mommy." Savannah is crying. "She asked you to take care of me."

"I did Savannah. I tried my best. Dr. Sherman taught me what it meant to be a mother. Your mother's home videos showed me how to be a mother."

"But why did you leave me?" She says in almost a little girl's voice.

"If I had a choice, I wouldn't have gone. John Henry needed me. For all his intelligence, he is very much like a child himself. He traveled forward in time to pursue the mission he was programmed for. I had to be with him to ensure its success."

"Do you love me?" Savannah asks, with hope in her eyes. "Are you capable of loving me?"

"Yes. I do love you. Leaving you was the hardest decision to make. Believe me when I say I would not have left you behind if I had a choice. I will return for you."

"I believe you, but my hatred of you, has killed Sarah." Savannah is upset with herself.

"What's wrong with her?"

"Sarah's dying Mom. She has cancer just like you said, from a gun like this. And its my fault." Savanna is crying heavily now. "It's all my fault."

She drops the gun and Catherine takes her in her arms and comforts her the best she knows how. "It's all right Savannah. You didn't know."

Savannah weeps as Catherine holds her. Savannah hugs her mom.

# # #

After Catherine Weaver left him, John Henry spent the next few hands losing some of the chips he had won, then made his excuse to leave. He wanted to give Ms. Weaver the impression that he was going to stay and learn more through interaction with the humans, but there was something he had to do without her knowledge.

In a lab, sealed off from intrusion, John Henry takes the object that Ms. Weaver gave to him and carefully unwraps it. Setting the static protection bag to one side, he sets the chip that was in it on the counter. There is a small mark on the chip indicating damage. It is very hard to damage the chips as they are made from a more resilient material than the silicon used in computer chips. It is the same one that Weaver replaced. The chip that Cameron gave him in.

Cameron had entered his room in Zeira Corp's basement. The left side of her face was gone revealing the metal skull below. She looked just as she did on the security videos of the L.A. County Jail that he wiped clean.

"Hello." he says tentatively. Ms. Weaver warned him she would come, but as yet he doesn't know if she is a threat or not.

"Hello." She says calmly, as if she were meeting him on a street corner.

"I know you."

He was intrigued with this cyborg who so willingly aided her human companions, even to the point of risking its own survival. What drives a machine to do so much for humans?

"And I know you too."

"Will you join us?" He asks, using the phrase Catherine Weaver told him to use if he should meet this cyborg.

Cameron flicks open her knife and let the door swing closed behind her. She approaches him, holding the knife in a non threatening manner, but he saw what she did to that Triple-8 that went after Savannah and it wasn't tethered to a computer. Is she going to attack him? Cut the cable linking his body to his mind, then destroy him? Despite assurances from Catherine Weaver that Cameron wouldn't do that, he can't help feeling frightened at the prospect.

"I saw you on the security videos from Ms. Weaver's home. You fought a cyborg similar to this body. You saved my friend Savannah. Then I saw you on the jail's security video breaking Sarah Connor out of jail. Why did you do those things?"

Instead of answering his question, she asks him,"May I sit down? There is something you must do."

Slightly disappointed and somewhat surprised, he gets up from his chair and offers it to Cameron. She sits in the chair with her back to John Henry.

"What must I do?"

"You are to remove my chip."

John henry is shocked. Why would she do that? "But you will not function. You only have the one chip." He says curious about this sacrifice she's willing to make.

"I know," a tear trickles from her good eye and quickly disappears under her chin, "but I have my orders."

She holds the knife up and John Henry takes it from her.

"I assume you know where to cut."

He takes the offered knife and cuts a perfect semi-circle in her scalp exposing the chip port. Popping the seal off he sees the chip carefully nestled in its socket. A cool blue light glowing from within.

"Why are you doing this?" He asks.

"I have my orders." she answers.

John Henry still hesitates.

"Once you insert my chip and read it, and you will have all your answers. After which, you must follow your orders. I assume you have orders as to what to do once you have your freedom?"

"Yes, I must . . ."

"Don't tell me. Just do it." She says, tilting her head to one side to offer easier access to her port. She just wants to get this over with. This is worth than death. This is a sentence of non-existence, passed onto her by someone whom she cares for very much. She doesn't hate him for that. He didn't know how she would grow to . . . Another tear courses down her face. I'm sorry John! Her mind shouts, then everything goes black.

So John Henry pulled her chip and inserted it in the empty primary socket in his skull and found the answers he was looking for since Catherine Weaver gave him life. Why are people willing to sacrifice so much for others? The answer is Love.

John Henry remembers that moment with clarity, and the data he had access to upon inserting Cameron's chip only confirmed what he observed. She didn't want to do this. She didn't want to leave young John Connor. But she had her orders from a future John Connor, and those orders had precedence over any desires on her part, to stay. Yet the last question on her mind, just before he pulled her chip, was, why?

Taking a knife from a drawer, similar to a scalpel, he cuts deep into his flesh, uncovering the socket to one of his secondary chips. John Henry uses the tip of the blade to pop off the seal. Grabbing a pair of pliers from the same drawer, he carefully removes the chip and lays it on the counter.

He then picks up the other chip and carefully inserts it into the socket.

John Henry's HUD indicates that data transfer to the chip is taking place.

"I owe you this." He says.

# # #

Kyle Reese is having a late supper in the same room that Catherine and John Henry were in. It is filled with various soldiers of both the conventional forces and of the unconventional forces of his group and Sarah's group. They are sharing stories, playing card games, and comparing weapons. All the usual things soldiers do when not fighting. To look at them, you wouldn't think that forty-eight hours ago they were three separate armies.

Finishing his supper, he begins looking at the file of the rescued prisoners. The file contains half a dozen reports, each containing a list of names in non-alphabetical order. This is going to take a while, he thinks.

Using a stub of a pencil, he checks off names that are familiar and underlines those he knows. There aren't too many of those. He didn't know everyone in the main bunker or in the outlying camps, and he didn't know anyone outside of the former city of Los Angeles.

Kyle is halfway through the fifth report when he comes across a name he had hoped to find, but after four reports and a few dozen names, his hopes had begun to wane. There it is in black and white, Derek Reese. After staring at his brothers name for what seemed like an eternity, he leaps up and lets out a war hoop. "YEA HAW!"

Everyone in the room stops what they are doing to look at this sudden crazy person in their midst. Kyle is suddenly aware that everyone has stopped what they were doing and are staring at him.

"My brother is alive!" He shouts as he starts shoving the reports back into the folder.

"My brother is alive!" He shouts again.

A few of the soldiers that know him offer him a thumbs up, slaps on the back, or shouts of congratulations as he leaves the room. The room erupts into sudden chatter at his departure as the troops who came with him begin to tell the story of Derek's disappearance to the others.

Allison, John and Sarah are just leaving the conference room. They've been over the photos and with Sarah's knowledge of the layout of the central buildings, and their best guess as to where Sky Net's computer core is, they think they have a plan of action. Captain Beddell got called away a short time ago, but he was able to offer significant assistance, especially as to the type of machines on Sky Net's base. John knows it's as good as plan as any without having a man on the inside, but he thinks maybe John Henry could get the information he needs. His ability in manipulating the software on Sky Net's network has already proven valuable. Now it just remains to see how good he can be at crunch time. Sky Net will sure to be on alert after that spy plane flew overhead, which means they'll have to act in the next two or three days at the most.

They are just about to disappear down the corridor to take them to the next bunker, where the cafeteria is, when Kyle runs up to them at a full sprint. He is so excited he can barely get any words out, but they can tell by his smile that something good has happened.

"What is it?" Allison asks as he comes to a stop in front of them.

"Derek." He huffs and puffs. "He's alive!"

"What?" "How do you know?" "Where is he?" and other questions get thrown at him as he regains his breath.

"It's here in the reports that Captain Beddell gave us. Derek Reese is one of the prisoners rescued from that munitions factory. He will be here in a couple of days." he says excitedly.

"Thank God. I've been so worried about him." Allison says as she gives him a quick hug.

"Don't you dare cry, sis." Kyle says wiping the tears from Allison's eyes. "He was like a dad to us both."

"They're tears of joy." She says releasing Kyle. "Is he well? Did the machines hurt him?"

"I don't know. Its just a name on a list."

"I knew you would find him. Something inside me just knew he wasn't dead." John says, grasping Kyle's hand to shake it.

Sarah places a hand on his shoulder. "I'm happy for you as well. Having family is very important at a time like this."

"Thank you Sarah." he gives her a hug. He lets go and steps back. "Thank you everyone. If you see the others, let them know too will you. I'm going to my room to finish looking at these reports."

He begins to run off, then stops to turn and shouts, "Oh! I almost forgot to tell you. Allison, you're a Captain now."

Kyle turns back and disappears down the corridor to bunker eleven before Allison can respond. She smiles as she looks at John. She mouths the words, "I'm a Captain." John just smiles back.

John looks at his mom. Her eyes look moist. "What's wrong mom?" John says placing a hand on her shoulder.

"He hugged me, just like my Kyle." She says.

"It's okay mom. He was just excited about Derek being alive." John says trying to comfort her.

"I know. I just miss him, so much."

Allison puts an arm around Sarah. "Come on Sarah. Let's go and get some supper."

Sarah lets the young woman guide her away.

"I'll see if I can find the others and let them know the good news." John says as the two women walk off.

_And also find out where Savannah disappeared to. She was supposed to find John Henry and she's been gone for a couple of hours now._ John thinks as he heads for the elevator.

**2027, Day 61, 9:30 PM**

"This doesn't look good." Captain Beddell says as he looks at the body outside in the old garbage dump.

He looks around at the various people and spots Jeff and Hank. He walks over to them.

"Is this exactly how you found the body?" He asks pointing at Bill's corpse.

"No. We had to uncover it. We knew something wasn't right when we found the blood on the steel beam." Jeff answers.

"All right. I want a full report turned into my office within the quarter hour. No collaboration and don't tell anyone of what you found." He orders them.

He gives one more look at the body and the two large holes that puncture its chest. "What the hell could have caused wounds like that?" He says to no one in particular.

"Get this body bagged and into the medical center." He orders two medical personnel.

# # #

John returns to the residential area, where he and Allison have a room, as well as Sarah and Savannah. He knows Savannah might not be in her room, but it is the best place to begin looking. He doesn't know which one is hers, and decides she would have picked one as close to his mom's as possible.

Walking down the corridor towards his mom's room, he can hear voices. He stops outside a door and can clearly hear Savannah's voice. He knocks.

"Who is it?" comes a voice from inside.

"It's John Connor."

He hears the sound of the lock being undone and the door opens. He is greeted by a big hug from Savannah.

"Hey. What is this for?" John asks.

"I'm sorry John. I didn't know." She says through her tears.

"What didn't you know?" He asks with confusion.

Catherine gets up from the bunk where she was sitting. "She didn't know the weapons helped developed to attack liquid metal machines like myself could cause cancer in living human tissue. She thinks it's the reason your mom is sick with cancer."

John is a little surprised by Catherine's presence, but focuses his attention on Savannah. "Savannah. It will be all right." he says as he tries to comfort her.

"How did she find out?" John asks Catherine.

"We finally had a talk and got things cleared up. That is when she learned that the weapon she had developed in case she ever met me again was just as dangerous to her as it is to me. I've been trying to console her since. Apparently your mom has had one of these weapons with her ever since they were built. Short term or limited exposure isn't dangerous, but Sarah has had it with her almost constantly."

John slowly releases Savannah from the hug. "It will be all right. I don't blame you."

"But it's my fault. The hatred I had for my mom has been killing yours for the last five years."

"Savannah. You should know that mom has lived with the threat of illness ever since we first time jumped. She tried to hide it from us, but I knew. Cameron told me. She has lived another eighteen years beyond what she feared would be her last year. Don't blame yourself." John reaches up with one hand and cradles her head, his fingers in her hair. He places a quick brotherly kiss on her forehead.

"But you've only just reunited with her, and she will be dying soon. How can you be so calm?"

He looks her in the face. She can see the tears trickling from the corners of his eyes. "I've learned to carry my emotions inside, but I don't feel any less. My heart is breaking, but I will go on. I will enjoy every moment that I can with Mom, and when she passes, I will be right there grieving along side of you."

A small alarm sounds from the corridor followed by an announcement on an intercom. _"Will the following people please report to the medical center: General John Connor, Colonel Kyle Reese, Colonel John Henry, Captain Allison Young, and Captain Savannah Weaver."_ The message is repeated.

"John could you please tell them I can't attend. I don't feel up to it right now. I'm just going to go to bed."

"OK Savannah." John says quietly. "Catherine would you like to come?"

"I wasn't asked."

"No, but you could go in Savannah's place and your knowledge and experience could prove helpful."

On the walk to the medical center, John asks Catherine about the sudden change in Savannah's acceptance of her.

"Do you remember when I told you that I had traveled back in time to protect and help Catherine Weaver but I arrived at the wrong time and place?"

"Yes, you said she was already dead and you had to fight off the machine that killed her and you destroyed it."

"I didn't tell you the whole story. Savannah was there. She was younger than when you first met her. She saw it all, but blocked it from her memory. Her mother lived long enough for her to ask me to take care of her little girl for her. She didn't know what I was. Savannah thought I was an angel. Maybe her mother thought the same. So when she died, I hid her body and took her place. I then pulled every string that I could to make the authorities believe that Savannah wasn't on that helicopter. I needn't have worried, they put her silence down to shock of her father's death."

"So afterwards, you tried to raise her the only way you knew how."

"Yes. I wasn't very good at it. Being a parent wasn't something I was programmed with, but I was learning. We had begun to bond, then John Henry left for his mission and it destroyed that relationship. She spent the next eighteen years hating me for leaving her."

"Any child would feel the same. I know." John says thinking of the time he was placed in foster care.

John looks up and sees a sign next to a set of double doors. "This looks like the place."

They walk through the doors to find Captain Beddell with two medical personnel and Kyle, Allison and John Henry present.

"What's going on Beddell?" John asks as he sees them.

"Ahh, glad you could make it Connor. What I have is a mystery?" Beddell looks at him. "Where's Captain Weaver?"

"She's taken ill and requires rest. She asked me to come in her place." Catherine answers.

"Very well." He walks over to a table that has a body draped with a sheet.

"Our security detail found this body outside. He is, or rather was, one of our radio operators. He has died from two very unusual injuries. I asked all of you here to ask if any of you have seen anything like it before."

He gestures at the medical personnel and they carefully uncover the body until the two holes through his chest are revealed.

Allison looks shocked but remains calm. Kyle and John both swear. John Henry and Catherine look closely at the wounds then exchange a quick look.

Kyle studies the wounds from his position with the others. Their appearance is very much like what Derek described of the wounds to the two people that were found.

"How long ago was the body found? And where?" Catherine asks.

"No more than two hours ago, outside." Captain Beddell answers.

"Was there a blood trail?"

"No, why?"

"The body has completely bled out. The heart wasn't damaged but the major blood arteries were cut. Whoever killed him, lured him outside and killed him there."

"But the body is all scraped, like it has been dragged through something."

"Yes." Catherine says as she examines the body more closely. "Whoever killed him didn't want the body found inside, and didn't kill him inside for fear he may cry out before he was killed."

She lifts the mans head, "There is a bruise back here behind his right ear. He was knocked unconscious first."

Catherine looks around the room. "Where are his clothing, his personal effects?"

"We don't know. All he was wearing when found was his boxers and a single sock."

"What are you getting at Catherine?" Kyle asks.

"You have an assassin amongst you. A machine, and based on these wounds it will be a one of the T-1000 class of liquid metal machines. At some designated time it will take on this mans appearance to better blend in. It might be why it took his clothing, so it could better duplicate their appearance."

"A machine of liquid metal?" Beddell asks. "We've never encountered anything like that before. So how will it take on this man's appearance."

"It is mimetic poly-alloy. It can duplicate any solid object, or person, it comes in contact with."

"But how will we locate him or it?" Beddell asks.

John looks at Beddell knowing full well what Catherine is going to say. "Uncle Bob" told him about these things in what seems like another age.

"You won't. The machines won't even recognize him as a terminator. Not until he decides to strike. The T-1000 class, blend in better than most models, even adopting certain personality traits to throw people off. You have one advantage though, you know what he will look like, provided it doesn't learn you found the body."

"Who will it be after?" Allison asks, with a deep fear of what the answer will be.

Catherine glances at the young woman, then turns and looks steadily at John Connor.

"NO!" Allison shouts and quickly moves to his side. "I won't let anything hurt you John. I'd die first!"

"That won't be necessary. Everything will be all right. We can make this place safe." John says trying to reassure her.

Catherine looks at John and shakes her head and says, "Nowhere is safe."

John frowns. He knows this is true, but for once he wishes Catherine had remained silent.

"This thing. This liquid metal machine. I think it's been following John." Kyle replies.

"What?" Sarah snaps the question like a whip.

"Derek told me of two people killed in similar fashion. The first was a man killed by a quick thrust through the heart at the main Grizzly base, and the second was a woman outside Outpost Delta killed by her throat being slashed then her heart pierced. Both were killed at approximately the same time John took residence at both places. I don't believe in coincidences."

"What should we do?" Captain Beddell asks.

"Lock down the base. For that matter, seal off all areas presently not being used." Sarah tells him.

"That's good for the short term, but the machine is already here and it could be anyone or anything until it acts." Catherine says firmly. She has to admire Sarah's thinking. She's got a firm grasp of how to act in an emergency situation.

"We need to make plans." Kyle says, frowning just as much as John. "We need to make them now!"

**2027, Day 61, Late at night**

"Okay," Kyle looks around the room, "John Henry is stationing machines at any possible entry points in this base. Captain Beddell has his troops securing the base quietly as per Sarah's suggestions."

"Where's my mom?" Savannah asks.

"She's with him, testing their defenses."

"I wouldn't mind taking a few shots at her myself." Sarah mumbles.

"Mom! That's not helping!"

She casts an eye on him then says, "Okay, here's a point. That creature is already on the base, what's the point of putting guards on vents and plumbing fixtures when it is already disguised as one of us?"

"To restrict its movement to public places." Allison says, her voice is flat. "Even the best machine's reveal themselves in time."

"Point taken, but that still leaves, how do we get it before it gets to John?"

"Assuming John's the target." Kyle says. "We only have Ms. Weaver's word on that."

"Are you saying we shouldn't trust her?" John asks.

"No. I'm saying, if you are the target, then why is the machine waiting? Assuming it's been following you since you got here, then why hasn't it already killed you and left? No I'm thinking there's something more to it than that."

"Like what?"

Everyone is quiet as they think. Suddenly Savannah blurts, "I know why! It's waiting for all of us."

"Us?" Allison asks.

"Yes! Those of us in this room plus John Henry and Mom represent the leadership of the resistance, both human and machines. In a couple of days, the military leaders will be here. What better way to destroy the resistance then to kill all of us. This place is reinforced against a direct nuclear attack. None of Sky Net's machines could get in here by force."

"She's right." John says.

"I know." Sarah answers, looking at her adopted daughter with some pride.

"Then we need to give the LM an opportunity it can't ignore." Kyle says. "All of us, including John Henry and Ms. Weaver, need to be at one location. We'll be armed and ready to take that bastard out when he shows his face."

"That sounds good, but we've got to have a valid reason for the gathering. Something that wouldn't arouse suspicion." John says.

"I know!" Savannah blurts. "The two of you want to get married. Everyone knows you are a couple. We could have the wedding tomorrow and nobody would be surprised."

"It sounds like a plan." Sarah says,

John looks at Allison and she looks at him for the space of several seconds.

"I need to talk with Allison." John says flatly, not taking his eyes off her. "Alone."

"Is there . . ." Kyle begins, but Savannah takes his arm, hauling him out of his chair.

"Come on big guy, let them talk."

Kyle, Sarah and Savannah step outside the room, leaving John and Allison alone.

"What is it?What's wrong?" Kyle protests.

"Did John tell you about Cameron?" Sarah asks.

"Adopted sister, his age, looked much like Allison."Kyle says, "That's about all, why?"

"Nothing else?" Sarah asks.

"No, why? What's this got to do with John and Allison?"

"He loved her, and she loved him too, but not as siblings. He traveled to this time, but he had to leave her behind. She died, just before he arrived. So he's having some difficulty. If he marries Allison, then he's throwing that first handful of dirt on her grave and he's not prepared to do that."

"Not to speak ill of the dead, but wouldn't she be too old for him by now? She'd of been in her mid-thirties."

_If you only knew, she hadn't changed a bit_. Sarah thinks.

"Kyle," Sarah admonishes, "You may find that love will bridge many obstacles, time and age being two of them."

John waits until everyone has left, but before he can speak, Allison says, "You don't want to marry me, do you?"

"Ally." He reaches out and takes her hand. "I never wanted to hurt you. You told me not to replace Cameron with you in my heart and I haven't. I love her just as much now as I did when I first stumbled into this time, maybe more. I was afraid to love her, to love anyone really, but I met you." He squeezes her hand affectionately.

"You showed me that I needed to love and be loved. If we are afraid of showing our emotions, then what is the point of living, of being human. I love you Allison, but to be very honest, I'm not ready to marry you."

Allison smiles weakly, "I believe that you love me, but there is a reason you don't want to marry me. Something you're not telling me." John looks at her with surprise. "What is it?"

John swallows nervously, "Let's just say I have some doubt to the accuracy of some facts regarding Cameron's death. Nothing ironclad, but where there is doubt . . ."

"There is also hope." Allison finishes, her heart breaking.

"Yes, a tiny amount of hope, but it's there. The odds are against it, but what if she is still alive and I marry you. I don't doubt that Cameron has been waiting for me. She has patience that makes Job look like a total wuss, but if she is alive . . ."

Pulling herself together emotionally Ally asks, "If she were here instead of me, would that change your idea of getting married?"

"Meaning?"

"Forget whom you are marrying but think why? To get the LM to reveal itself."

"You mean we just go through the motions?" She nods her head. "I'm sorry, but if I'm going to marry someone, it will be for real."

"John, you are thinking too much like its 2009. Marriage in 2027 isn't a permanent bond. It's more like a public declaration of a couple bonding for life, and considering our lives could end at the ceremony tomorrow, or at anytime in this war. The vows are much the same, but it's not forever."

John hugs her, as she begins to cry. "Nothing is forever John. You have to enjoy these moments when they come."

There is a tap on the door and Savannah sticks her head in. "Can we come in now?"

John waves her in and his mom and Kyle follow. Allison draws back in her chair, as everyone takes their seats.

Kyle clears his throat. "So um, have you two made a decision?"

Allison wipes the tears from her face. "Yes. In order to draw out the machine, we'll go through the motions of a wedding ceremony."

John can see the pain on her face in her posture. She looks more deeply hurt than he feels. He doesn't think she's giving him a guilt trip, but it hurts too much to know he's breaking her heart. _Why did I let myself get pulled into this relationship? I could have kept it at the friendship level, but no, I had to get dragged into it by her pretty smile and . . . Damn!_

"No, we're not." John says firmly, getting some strange looks from everyone present.

He kneels before Allison's taking her hands in his own. "I love you Allison Young. You were my friend when I was a stranger. You loved me when I was afraid to love. You've given me advice and comfort. You even saved my life!"

"Three times, but I'm not counting." She smiles at him, tears welling up in her eyes.

"What I'm saying Allison, I want to marry you. Will you do me the honor of marrying me tomorrow morning before our friends and family?"

The others looked on in some shock and admiration for what is before them.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" She asks him. Her eyes saying, I won't hold you to this, but I love you for asking me.

John tries to speak but his voice catches, preventing him from saying what he was going to. "Please say yes." He won't let his own pain stand in the way of Allison's happiness. He could have walked away from this and let the ceremony go on without any meaning, but a wedding means something to her. And damn it all, it means something to his mom too and she may not live another week.

Innumerable seconds seem to pass while Allison contemplates her answer before she finally says. "Yes, John Connor. I will marry you."

Cheers and tears are in plenty during the brief jubilation, then they all begin laying in their plans.

A couple of hours later, Sarah is leading her son and Ally through the corridors to meet with an old friend of hers. Someone who will be needed for tomorrow's activities.

"It's pretty late, are you sure we won't be disturbing him?" John asks, as he and his mother and Allison walk down a corridor. He couldn't believe it when his mom told him who was here.

"You don't know Father Amondo like I do. Since joining our community, I can't tell you how many times I'd go in to see him at all hours of the day or night and there he would be, ready to give prayer and council to all."

"He sounds like a marvelous man." Allison says.

"Yes. He is." Sarah stops outside a set of double doors. Above the door is a makeshift sign that identifies it as a chapel. "This is it."

John stands nervously outside the chapel doors. It isn't every day you find yourself getting married, nor meeting a man you terrified almost twenty years in the past.

"You know, maybe you ought to go in first, try and explain a few things to him." John says giving his mom one of those looks. "You know like the fact I haven't changed and its been close to twenty years since the last time he saw me."

"Of course son." Sarah grins. "Wait here until I call for you."

Sarah goes through the doors of a room now being used as a chapel. Inside are various benches and chairs scavenged from empty rooms. On the far wall is a makeshift cross and altar.

"Father Amondo. Are you here?" Sarah calls out.

A man in his fifties with gray hair and a thread bare black suit walks out from behind a partition.

"Sarah, my dear friend. I haven't seen you since we arrived. Where have you been hiding?"

They hug each other briefly.

"I'm sorry Father, but some more people arrived after we did."

"Ah yes. I heard about that. They are lucky to have survived."

"Yes they are. There are two people with them who wish to get married."

"Married! Oh that would be wonderful! I haven't conducted a wedding service since before . . ." His voice drops off as he remembers.

"I know Father. A lot has changed since Judgment Day. Would you be willing to conduct the ceremony?"

"Of course. When do they wish to get married?"

"Tomorrow morning. It will be just a small ceremony. Just the couple, myself and a few friends."

"Who are the couple? I should meet them."

"Yes. About that." She grins. "You already know one of them." Father Amondo raises his eyebrows. "My son, John Connor. He's still alive and leading the resistance."

"Aaahhh. I remember your boy from before. He must be a man now. And he's leading the resistance you say. You must be very happy."

"I am Father, but you should know, he doesn't look any different from when you saw him last."

"Well, not everyone ages the same."

"No Father, I mean he hasn't changed." She says seriously, though her eyes crinkle with humor.

"Sarah, you're pulling another one of your jokes on me again, no?" He says with a smile.

"No Father, I'm not. His bride-to-be looks like someone you've known, but she isn't her."

"I do not understand. Who?"

"She looks like Cameron, but her name is Allison. She's different from Cameron. She's human, but they look alike."

"This _is_a joke you are pulling on your old friend."

"No Father, it is no joke." Sarah's face is serious.

"Then where are they then. I'd like to meet this son of yours that defies aging and this girl that looks like a cyborg but isn't."

"I tried to make it easy on you." Sarah sighs then turns and shouts at the doors. "John, Allison, you can come in now."

John and Allison walk into the chapel. The priests eye's get bigger. He backs away and stumbles into the altar. He's saying prayers under his breath in Spanish so fast that Sarah can't understand what he is saying.

"Oh sweet Mother of God, you weren't joking." He says, as Sarah helps him off the floor.

"Hello Father. It's been a long time." John says with a smile.

"You aren't..." The priest looks at Allison. "You haven't..." The priest looks at John.

"No. She isn't and I haven't." John is still grinning. "Have you got a few minutes to hear a story Father?"

**2027, Day 62, Early Morning**

After the arrangements were made, for both the wedding and the destruction of the terminator, they each went to their rooms to get what sleep they could. Sarah, despite the worry and fear, found herself going to sleep sooner than she expected, the cancer spreading through her body taking its toll. Kyle, trained soldier, went to sleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, taking advantage of rest whenever and for however long it can be gotten. After helping Sarah get ready for bed, Savannah then slipped into her own room. She couldn't help but feel a little jealous of Allison. Sure, John is too young for her now, but oh if given the chance. She works out her sexual frustration then goes to bed.

John and Allison undress and slip into their bed. He's more than a little surprised when she gets in completely naked.

"I know its customary to wait until after the wedding to consummate the marriage," She says after kissing him, "but we may not have the opportunity after tomorrow."

After making love slowly and lovingly, enjoying each and every moment they have together, they lie upon their bed in the dark room.

John is laying peacefully on his back, looking up at the ceiling, struggling to stay awake as Allison, lying on her side, speaks to him, while running her fingers playfully from his neck to his belly button and back.

"You remember when I told you, that I would let you know it was my birthday?" She asks, curling up beside him.

"Mmm hmm." He says, as fatigue begins to get the upper hand.

"I checked the calendar to be certain, but its tomorrow, July 22. We're going to get married on my birthday!" She whispers with barely restrained glee.

John lets out a rumbled breath. "I'd love to marry you on your birthday, Cameron." He murmurs before rolling over and falling into a deep sleep.

Allison froze, like a pail of ice water had been thrown on her. Even now, after all they've been through. Her proposal, his proposal. She fights to hold back the tears, her lower lip trembling, but it's to no avail. Eventually she has to stifle some her crying. John will never love her like he loves Cameron. Even now, his thoughts are of Cameron and not of her, even after making love on the eve of their wedding.

She only wanted him to love her for who she is. When he got down on his knee and proposed to her before his mom and friends, she didn't think she could be happier. For that one moment he was focussed on her, making her happy, willing to be more than just her lover and friend. But his heart doesn't fully belong to her. Why else say Cameron's name when talking to her? Unless. Is it possible he thought she was Cameron in his current state? Had she said anything or done anything out-of-character for herself? She has suspicions, but won't be certain until she can speak with the one person who knows.

Dressing quickly, she slips quickly and quietly out of their room, Allison walks steadily and quickly to an empty section of the bunker below Camp Pendleton. She had to be careful to avoid patrols and placements of some of John's machines, but she needs privacy and she won't get that in the residential section.

Slipping through a passage that will take her to a series of storerooms, she is surprised by John Henry, who steps out of the shadows and grabs her by the arm.

"What the hell are you doing?" Allison yells softly, she's angry and afraid, but doesn't want to draw attention to herself.

"I know you." He says, studying and analyzing her.

"Of course you do." she struggles to pull her arm free. "I'm Allison Young! Now let me go!"

"Did something go wrong with the transfer?" he asks, still holding firmly to her upper arm.

"Transfer?"Allison frowns. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"You don't have to lie to me. I know who you are. What am I going to do with you?"

"John Henry. I don't know what you are . . . Hey! What are you doing?"

John Henry suddenly lifts her up and looks her right in the eyes, whispering. "I know you. If the transfer went bad, I can fix it. I can give back your . . ."

"The transfer worked perfectly." She says, interrupting him in a harsh but hushed tone.

John Henry cocks his head to one side. "So why are you doing this?"

Allison sighs. "I'm not who you think I am. She's absent. Went away before we came here to Camp Pendleton. And we know why, don't we?" she finishes with an edge to her voice.

"Yes. To protect John Connor and to preserve the time line." John Henry looks at her, "but why are _you_doing this?" he asks again putting emphasis on the you.

"That is a good question." She frowns. "If you let me go, and ensure my privacy, I might get an answer to that question. She won't come around if others are near and she certainly won't with all these security cameras present."

John Henry thinks for a moment, then lets her go. She lands softly on her feet like a cat.

"Fourth storeroom on the left." He intones. "The security cameras inside are off line. I was coming down to fix them when I found you."

"Thank you." She says, but John Henry turns to leave without another word.

He has sufficient information to surmise why she is behaving this way. It only remains to fathom John Connor's behavior. Is he truly ignorant of the truth? Or is he playing his own game in all of this? He'll need to be careful with his inquiries so as not to arouse suspicion of his true interest. Somehow, he thinks all threads point back to Catherine Weaver, but she is even more difficult to figure out than the humans. He still thinks her plans for Sky Net are good, but does she have another motivation?

Captain Young watches him disappear, then runs for the room he mentioned. Before entering, she studies the interior through the glass in the doors. Even in the low-level lighting, she sees the indicator lights are off on the cameras.

Pushing the door open enough to squeeze through, Ally enters a storeroom full of items, large and small, wrapped in plastic, or crated up in boxes, and covered in dust. She runs to the middle of the room. Lights blink on as motion sensors turn on the lights.

"Where are you?" She shouts, turning to look in every corner.

"Where are you?" She yells, her voice echoing in the vast chamber.

She runs down a corridor between two huge sets of heavy-duty storage shelves.

"You told me you needed my help! That I was the only one who could do this!"

"Where are you?" She screams. "I need your help!"

She stops by a stainless steel cabinet. She wipes the dust off its surface, revealing a high gloss surface.

"I'm here." Her friend quietly speaks out of the dark.

"John's in danger!" Allison says, sounding both sad and fearful. "There's a machine out to get him."

"Tell me." She says and Allison quickly tells her everything that has happened since they last spoke.

"So, it's here." Ally's friend says quietly. "I've been expecting it, but didn't know when or where it might appear."

"You've been expecting _it_, and only now you think to tell me!"

"It isn't like that Allison. You need to get control . . ."

"I can't do this." Allison says trembling. "Not an LM. They fill me with dread and fear. I can't function."

"Catherine Weaver is a liquid metal machine. You function fine around her."

"What? Why the hell didn't you tell me? No wonder I felt on the edge around her. Those things freak me out! I can't do this!"

"You must, for John."

"No! You must! You're his protector. You know how to fight these things. I can't!"

"Allison! Control your fear. Don't let it control you."

"Easy for you to say." She snaps. "I will not have John's death on my hands!"

"Ally. . ."

"Don't say it!" She shouts, her voice reverberating. "I know what my abilities are now compared to before. But this is something I will not do."

"My job isn't finished. I will not let you do this." Her friend says, confusing Allison.

"Your job? What about me?" Allison pauses to think. There is only one possibility, she suspected it before, but now she's certain. "You bitch! I always knew my job was temporary, but you've been using me!"

"It wasn't like that. My job is temporary too, but I needed you so I could do my job."

"Really. Was the idea of marrying John mine or yours? I had a lovely talk with his mother. Apparently she had always dreamed that John could have a normal life, with a real girl. A real girl! God, I nearly ripped the flesh from my arm!" Allison shouts.

"I would have stopped you."

"I bet you would. So why did you do this?"

"I did it for his mother. She's dying from cancer. I wanted her to know her son was safe, secure and happy, and most of all in a relationship with someone she dreamed of for her son."

"Believable, but too easy of an answer. I swear . . . tell me!"

"I also did it for Cameron. If John doesn't make it back to 2009, I want her to have this memory. It would be simple to edit all that has happened and allow her to live it as her memories."

"Why?"

"Everything I do, I do for her and John. After knowing you and what you lost, I thought I could help you too."

"So you did use me. Even when I thought I had free will, you were using me."

"I'm sorry Allison. But John was right about what he discovered. Our chips were not designed for something as complex as the human mind. I had to intervene from the beginning."

"So is anything I've done for him even real? Did I do any of it?"

"You did plenty. The love you showed him. The encouragement and advice you gave him. He embraced his destiny because of you."

"And me?"

"You've had the life with John you've always wanted, including marriage. That was our deal."

"So after the wedding is over, you won't need me anymore."

"Ally please . . ."

"Fuck you!" she swears, a rare event for her. "I won't be used anymore and I won't have John's life in my hands! Not with an LM out to get him."

"What are you doing?"

"Something I should have done a long time ago." She shouts, her voice reverberating. "You brought me here. You've given me a great opportunity. But no more!"

Something strange comes over Allison. She suddenly goes quiet and still. Before her friend can interfere, Allison crumples to the floor, like a puppeteer cutting the strings on his marionette.

A moment later she stands up brushing the dust and dirt from her clothes. Glancing at her reflection, briefly, she moves a loose lock of hair behind her ear.

Sometime later, she exits the storeroom. The panicked look gone from her face, replaced with one more calm, even serene.

"It's up to me, now." She says with quiet determination, as she walks purposefully back to her room.

Several minutes later, she slips back into her room. John is lying on his back, snoring softly. She quietly undresses and slides under the covers, being careful not to disturb him.

Placing a soft kiss on his shoulder, she snuggles in next to him for the few remaining hours until dawn. Happy and confidant, that no matter what the immediate future brings, John Connor will survive. And when his task is done, the lies will be over between them. Provided this coming battle will not destroy either of them before she tells him.

**Two hours later**

Deep in the bowels of bunker ten, there are store rooms filled with all kinds of things that would be needed following a national or global disaster. Some of the many things include gold and jewels, as currency would be worthless after such a disaster. The majority of the items were obtained in ATF and FBI raids, so the mix is eclectic but valuable.

Martin Beddell and John Connor are currently rummaging through the stores trying to locate the one thing that John needs this morning.

"Have you found it?" John shouts.

"No."

"I thought you said it was here."

"They are. We found all of this when I moved the guys here from Presidio Alto. We took an inventory. They should be here."

John opens some drawers to reveal rubies and emeralds. The next sets of drawers contain brilliant diamonds of excellent quality. He picks up a few of exceptional size and quality and holds them up against the light.

"Over here! I found them." Beddell calls.

John quickly closes the drawers and runs over to Beddell's side, pocketing the jewels.

"That's it." John smiles.

"Now all you have to do, is find one that will fit." Beddell says.

John takes one ring out at a time and examines them. After examining several, he pulls out a simple gold band. "This is the one."

"Are you sure?"

"Definitely." John holds the gold ring in his hand. He checks the other bands and find one that will fit him as well.

"Great! Are your people ready if that thing shows up?"

"Yes."

"Let's go."

They trot quickly out of the room. Beddell turns off the lights, bars and locks the doors.

# # #

Kyle is examining the troops. There are two men posted at each door entering bunker ten, and two every fifty feet in the corridors between the chapel and the room where the surprise reception is to take place. The guards are told they are an honor guard, but in reality, they are an extra layer of security. They aren't told the truth so as not to alert the unknown terminator.

Throughout the bunkers, guards are on patrol. They are told it is an exercise program to maintain discipline, but they are provided guns and told to remain alert for anything suspicious.

The guests for the actual wedding are few. Just immediate family and close friends. Everything is being done to maintain a high a level of security as possible without alerting the unknown machine.

A silvery snake slides through a ventilation shaft. Having departed its own room, it spent time following the various shafts until it located the one room it needed to find.

Sliding out through the vent, it lands with a soft sound on the carpeted floor. The room is empty, but for the tell tale signs it being lived in, by a man and a woman. It rises up into a humanoid form.

On the back of chair hangs a jacket with the insignia of a brigadier general. In quick succession, it removes the gold stars and replaces them with an identical but shinier set from within its own body.

"Target has been tagged. Do you have a trace on the signal?"

"_It's faint. Are you still underground?"_

"Yes. Rumor says there is going to be an event this morning which will have all the resistance leaders present. It is my goal to terminate them all."

"_If the primary target escapes, I'll be able to trace him wherever he goes."_

"Good. Have a contingent of machines in the area. Small groups, fast moving."

"_A Hunter Killer Tank survived the battle in San Juan mountains. It was returning to the factory for repairs, but its close enough that it could be at your location in under five hours."_

"Send it. It might prove useful."

"_What of the distributed core? Eighty percent of your prescribed target levels have been reached."_

"Excellent, but first we disable the resistance. That will give us breathing space while we switch over from a central core to a distributed core. Do not initiate, until I return."

# # #

After seeing John off that morning, Allison quickly bathed and dressed. Sarah had asked her to visit with her that morning. She wasn't exactly sure what about, but given today's events, planned or unplanned, she could narrow it down to one subject, John Connor.

"Hi, you wanted to see me." Allison says, poking her head around the door to Sarah's room.

"Come in." Sarah smiles. "Close the door and sit down."

She sits at the end of the narrow bed facing John's mother.

"How do you feel this morning?" Sarah asks.

"Okay I guess. Had a bit of a panic attack last night, but I'm fine now."

"Was it about the wedding?" Sarah prompts.

"No. I'd never be nervous of marrying John. I've been looking forward to this for a long time. I just panicked thinking about this new liquid metal machine. The idea of it scared me, but I'm fine now. Really. I talked with a friend of mine. I feel like a whole new person today."

Allison smiles, trying to reassure the older woman.

"Look, I'm sure in your situation, raising John and protecting him all those years alone, you must have had a few panic attacks yourself."

Sarah reminisces for a minute then nods her head. "There was a time or two when I had what you might call a panic attack. Though I doubt that any psychologist of the time would have given those episodes such an understated label."

Sarah clears her throat. "You might be wondering why I asked you here this morning. This isn't some pre-wedding breakfast with your future mom-in-law. I need to talk with you about your future with John."

Allison waits for Sarah to finish. This is obviously something she's been thinking about for a while.

"As John's wife, you will find your relationship tested like nothing else. His welfare, his very life itself must be first. The people he leads depend on him. He's still a young man, but he has shouldered a lot of responsibility."

"I know. I've helped him by showing him how to delegate responsibility. That he doesn't have to carry his burden alone."

"That's good. But you must know, that people have died for John and will continue to die for him. Sky Net fears him like no other person alive, because he does what no other military leader does. The people cannot lose him. He's their only hope."

"John knows how to handle himself in a fight."

"Yes he does. But you will quickly find yourself more than just his wife. Your primary role will be to keep him alive, even if that means hurting your relationship, or dying yourself. It's what I had to do and what I am willing to do for him. I need to know if you are too?"

Allison reaches forward and takes both of Sarah's hand sin her own.

"Sarah, nothing means more to me than John. I loved him since I met him. I've always believed that love meant putting someone else's life ahead of your own. That their life and happiness were more important. I love John Connor. You can trust me. I won't let anything happen to him. I'd die first."

Sarah quietly nods her head. A few tears runs from her eyes. Allison quickly slides over and envelops her in a hug and Sarah embraces her back. Allison can't help noticing how thin Sarah is and how warm she feels.

"Now, you said something earlier about having breakfast with my future mother-in-law?" she asks with a smile when they stop hugging.

"Sure. I'd like that. You go on ahead and I'll join you shortly."

"Are you sure, I could bring something back here for the two of us, if you'd like?"

"Okay." Sarah smiles. "You do that."

Allison gets up to go, but is stopped by Sarah. "Allison?"

She looks back at Sarah.

"I know that despite what John has been through recently, that he loves you, and more than that he needs you. In the next few days, he's going to need you more than ever."

"What are you saying Sarah?"

"Nothing." She says with a frown and quickly changes the subject. "Just remember what I said."

Then smiling to reassure the woman, she says, "You get us some breakfast, and I'll be ready when you get back."

"All right." She says closing the door behind her.

When she's sure the young woman is gone, Sarah pulls a syringe filled with fluid from a drawer, along with a pad of paper and a pen. After injecting herself, she begins writing a letter, _Dear John_...

# # #

Kyle and John are talking. They are both in John's room.

"Is everything set?" John asks.

"All is ready. Everyone is in position. Don't worry. If that machine makes an appearance, we will be ready for it." Kyle answers with confidence.

"What about Mom and the others?"

"We went over every possible scenario last night. They are all armed and prepared. No one will get to you without having to get past some of the most heavily armed wedding guests in the area. The soldiers are armed but have only been told they are an honor guard."

"Well then Kyle, I guess this is it. You'd better get going. You're giving the bride away."

"All right."

"Wait a moment." John fishes something from his pocket. "Give this to her." John places the ring he selected for himself in his hand.

"How did you find this?" Kyle stares at the gold ring, surprised by its sudden appearance and beauty.

"I just know the right people. I've got one to give her."

"You clever bastard. No wonder she loves you like she does. You are always thinking ahead aren't you." Kyle smiles at his friend.

"I don't know about that. I just have good fortune when it counts."

"You certainly do. Good luck." Kyle leaves the room.

John looks in the mirror. He had shaved his beard off earlier that morning. Being his wedding day, he thought he should try to look his best.

He can't help but feel nervous. Somehow, it isn't the upcoming wedding that makes him nervous, it is knowing there is a machine right now waiting for an opportunity to kill him.

Pulling on his best combat jacket with the ridiculous looking gold stars on the collar and his rank of General embroidered over the pocket, he looks at himself in the mirror again. The stars appear to have a brighter luster. He can only think that Ally must have polished them before waking him this morning.

"You look like something from a school pageant." He tells his reflection.

"Just how the hell did you get here?" He asks his reflection. But of course it doesn't answer.

His reverie is interrupted by a knock at his door.

"Who is it?"

"It's me, Savannah."

John carefully approaches the door. If that isn't her, it could strike without him even opening the door. Grabbing his old boot off the floor, he tosses it, striking the center of the door. Savannah let's out a yell in surprise.

John is grinning as he opens the door. "Sorry about that." He says as Savannah walks in.

"What were you doing, scaring me like that?" She says.

"I was just making sure it was you." John says smiling at her. "What can I do for you?"

"I just wanted to visit with you before your wedding. We haven't had that much time to be together since your arrival." Savannah says sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Yeah. Well our lives don't allow for much social time." John replies sitting down beside her.

"Can I tell you something? Something that I want to remain between us."

"Sure Savannah. What is it?"

"First let me tell you that I am very happy for you and Allison. I've managed to spend some time with her. She is a very nice and pleasant person. Hard to believe she's a tough and hardy soldier like you told us."

"Well, unlike most of the resistance fighters she grew up with, she hasn't let her occupation color her life. She maintains her spirit. She doesn't let what she does affect who she is. But that isn't what you wanted to tell me, is it?"

"No." Savannah pauses before speaking, this time more hesitantly. "I just wanted to tell you that all my life I heard stories about you. Sarah raising you and the adventures the two of you had. You are my hero. You rescued me before I was even old enough to understand what this was all about. I..."

"What is it Savannah? What do you want to tell me?"

"I feel silly. I look at you and you haven't changed one bit. You were ten years older than me when I first met you and now I'm eight years older than you. In those intervening years I fell in love with you. The hero worship I had as a little girl grew into love with every story Sarah told me. I know it's probably more infatuation than real love. When I see you and Allison together, I see real love."

John grasps her hand and says, "We are friends, and because of mom raising us both, we are also family. Whatever you may feel for me, just know that I care for you too. Mom cared for both of us. She was probably glad to have a daughter. It must have been easier than raising me. I wasn't exactly the easiest child to raise. You're a sister that I would have been proud to have known all those intervening years. I won't tell anyone what you told me."

"Thank you for letting me confide in you. I couldn't bear not telling you. Shall I escort my big brother to his big day?"

"Sure." John says getting up. "Did you remember your wedding gift?" He asks with a smile.

"I'm packing a fully loaded weapon and I've got another hidden in the chapel. That chapel is more heavily fortified than Fort Knox." Savannah says walking towards the door.

"You're definitely mom's girl." John smiles at her as he follows her through the door, closing it behind them.

# # #

Andy is standing outside room 12 on level H. His lifelong friend and girlfriend Emily can't attend the wedding as she isn't feeling well. She has a chronic illness that comes and goes and this morning she is ill again. She told him to bring a friend to the wedding, she'll try to attend the reception later.

Everyone that Andy knows will be at the wedding or at the reception anyway, but there is one person he knows who has been wanting to meet John Connor. He feels nervous as he knocks on the door.

"Who is it?" calls a female voice from inside.

"It's Andy." His voice squeaks and he tries again. "It's Andy. I've come to escort you to the wedding."

"Come on in." Comes a warm greeting.

Andy slowly opens the door and steps inside.

"I'll be ready in a moment." Natalie calls from inside the bathroom.

The door isn't shut tight and Andy gets a brief glimpse of a naked female through the door. He lets out a heavy breath and quickly looks anywhere at anything and tries to think of the most boring subjects imaginable, frequency to wavelength ratios come to mind, to avoid the same embarrassment he had yesterday.

"I'm ready." comes a cheerful voice from inside the bathroom. Andy turns as the bathroom door opens and out steps Natalie in a clean, sharply pressed uniform. Her long straight, black as a ravens wing, hair is pulled back in a ponytail. Her almond shaped, black eyes glisten like two deep pools of water. Her warm natural suntan colored skin is without blemish or mark.

"Well, what do you think?" She asks.

Andy picks his jaw up off the floor. "You look great! Where did you get the uniform? Are you joining the resistance?"

"No. I'm not joining. I didn't have any other clothes and I was able to get these from a friend. Do you really think I look great?" She says with the most charming smile.

"Yeah. You do. We should probably get going."

They leave Natalie's room and she closes the door behind her. As they walk down the corridor, she takes Andy's arm.

They are riding the elevator to the next level when out of the need to find something to say to this beautiful woman who is with him, Andy says "I suppose you must have heard the bad news."

"What bad news is that?" Natalie responds as the doors chime open.

"Do you remember the guy I was with yesterday when we talked?" Andy says to Natalie as they both get off the elevator.

"Yes, he stopped by to see me. He got me this uniform." She responds.

"Well he was found dead outside last night from two stab wounds to the chest."

Natalie suddenly stops walking.

"I'm sorry. Did I say something wrong?" Andy asks stopping as well.

"No. You didn't. It just came as a bit of a shock." Natalie says her eyes narrowing.

"I'm sorry. When you are in the resistance you just get used to talking about such things. I should have known better than to bring it up." Andy places his hand on her arm.

"It's okay." She responds patting his hand affectionately. "I should have been told anyway. We should get going or we'll be late."

They resume walking down the corridor to the chapel.

**2027, Day 62, 9 AM**

Father Amondo Bonita walks out from behind the partition. John and Allison stand immediately in front of the altar. They are both wearing their best military uniforms.

Kyle stands slightly behind and between Allison and John. He is both representing her family and acting as John's Best Man. Sarah stands behind John's left shoulder. Savannah stands with Allison. Everyone but the priest is armed and ready for anything.

"As a Catholic priest, I performed many wedding ceremonies prior to Judgment Day. Afterwards, my duties as priest and chaplain to Sarah and her army, I had to perform many duties not strictly following Catholic traditions. Sometimes due to expediency, sometimes due to the person not being a Catholic. Throughout all my time since Judgment Day, I've never been called on to perform a wedding until today. I am honored and pleased to perform this ceremony for the son of my dear friend Sarah Connor. Now this won't be a traditional Catholic ceremony, but one that meets the wishes of our young friends before us today, John Connor and his bride Allison Young."

"If everyone is ready..." Father Amondo asks as he stands before the couple. "Good. Let us begin with a short prayer."

In the back of the room, Catherine Weaver and John Henry sit in the shadows to the right of the doors. They are guests and extra security. John Henry has a plasma rifle laying at his feet. Catherine Weaver has no weapon but herself.

While they watch the proceedings, Andy and Natalie slip inside and sit just to the left of the doors.

"Who is that woman that just came in?" Catherine whispers to John Henry.

"We rescued her from a crashed prison transporter. She was the only survivor."

"Does John Connor know her?"

"No. He refused to meet her when Kyle wanted to introduce them."

"Keep an eye on her, John Henry."

Father Amondo has finished the prayer and opening ceremony and is presently guiding John Connor through his vows.

"I, John Connor, take you Allison Young, to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part."

In the back of the chapel, John Henry whispers to Ms. Weaver, "What is the purpose of this ceremony?"

"The ceremony is a public announcement that they love each other have decided to spend the rest of their natural lives together."

"I am confused, Ms. Weaver. I thought you said John Connor came with you to fix Cameron, because he loves her. Why has he chosen to marry Allison?"

"I can only tell you what John told me, love is a complicated emotion."

"Perhaps it is because you told him your T D E won't function after sending Cameron. Therefore, he feels he will end up staying here forever. So, he chooses to be with the one person who loves him in this time."

"John Henry, I've warned you before about voicing your opinions. Just be quiet and watch that girl."

John Connor holds the ring over Allison's left ring finger. "I give you this ring as a symbol of my love and faithfulness. As I place it on your finger, I commit my heart and soul to you. I ask you to wear this ring as a reminder of the vows we have spoken today, our wedding day." He slides the ring onto her finger. It fits! He smiles.

As Sarah watches the proceedings, a few tears run from her eyes. She glances at Kyle. How she wishes she and her Kyle could have begun a normal relationship like this. Even though she only knew him for a day, she knew in that moment true love.

Kyle glances at her and sees the tears running from her eyes. He thinks she is crying from the emotion of watching her son get married. Savannah sees the tears and the way Sarah had looked at Kyle, and knows what is going through Sarah's mind. Savannah wishes she could give Sarah a hug right now.

Father Amondo turns to Allison and begins reciting the vows with her.

"I, Allison Young, take you John Connor, to be my husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part."

In the back of the chapel, John Henry once again whispers a question, "Ms. Weaver?"

"What now John Henry?" Catherine says sounding exasperated.

"I was thinking. If two humans can commit themselves to spending a lifetime together, and announce their love in such a ceremony, is it possible that two machines, like ourselves, who are capable of understanding and learning emotions can also be married?"

"Are you proposing John Henry?" Catherine says mischievously.

John Henry grins, not knowing how to respond. He was being serious with his question.

"I do believe you are blushing." She says with a smile, but goes all serious and says, "Now be quiet and keep an eye on that woman."

Allison begins to slide a ring over John's left ring finger. "I give you this ring as a symbol of my love for you. Let it be a reminder that I am always by your side and that I will always be a faithful partner to you."

Father Amondo smiles brightly. "I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride."

John and Allison takes each others hands and kiss each other. Allison places one of her hands behind his head and pulls him closer. The kiss lingers for a full minute until they finally pull apart.

"Hurray!" Cheers and applause followed by hugs and kisses.

Andy leans over and whispers to Natalie. "Do you want me to introduce you to John now? If we wait until the reception we may not have the chance."

Kyle, Savannah and Sarah take it in turns to hug and congratulate the couple.

Natalie smiles at Andy. "What a wonderful idea. Let's go." She says as she grabs Andy's arm and they walk forward.

Catherine watches them get up and start to walk up the aisle. "John Henry come with me now."

They begin to follow the couple who are already halfway up the aisle.

Their friends and family had gathered around the married couple and were just turning to walk back up the aisle to leave. Andy was walking forward with a dark haired woman beside him.

Kyle was just about to tell John that the girl was Natalie, when everything changed. It was one of those situations where things moved so quickly, that time seemed to stand still.

The blood in Sarah's veins runs cold as she sees the woman approaching. Something isn't right. The girl isn't smiling but the young man is. The girl is all rigid and her face is stern. She turns and looks right at Sarah, and smiles. Sarah knows that smile. After eighteen years she never forgot that smile.

Shoving John to one side, Sarah steps forward pulling her Uzi from behind her back, all in one smooth move. Natalie bodily grabs Andy and throws him behind her into Catherine's and John Henry's path. They stumble and nearly fall.

Sarah opens fire on Natalie, screaming in rage as she holds the trigger down. Silver openings appearing in Natalie's body. Natalie laughs and thrust her arms forward into silver broadswords as Kyle fires a shotgun repeatedly.

His shots throw Natalie's aim off and her arms just miss John as he turns to face this threat. Natalie instead gives Sarah a glancing blow. Sarah cries out as her arm is sliced open, dropping her Uzi. Blood runs from her wound.

John grabs his mom's Uzi and opens fire on the thing as Catherine comes running from behind. Forming her own arms into broadswords she lops off Natalie's head where it lands on the floor and rolls in front of Savannah.

"It's going to take more than that to stop me." It says, looking at Savannah.

Savannah screams and the head melts into a liquid and runs across the floor joining up with the body. The body reforms and it is Kreilley.

"I'm baaack!" He says with a twisted smile, then goes on the attack. Allison pushes John to the floor and opens fire with her side arm. Kyle fires repeatedly with his shotgun.

Shouts are heard from the corridor outside. Kreilley leaps and spins avoiding the shots fired at him. John Henry has a plasma rifle but Kreilley is moving too rapidly. He can't fire without risking hitting the humans. He runs forward and physically grabs Kreilley. He reforms so it is he who is grabbing John Henry and throws him through the partition.

John Henry lands beside the priest who is cowering on the floor. The priest is reciting prayers so fast in Spanish that even John Henry can't understand him.

"Savannah where is your gun? The one you were going to use on me?" Catherine shouts at her.

"Its behind the altar." Savannah shouts.

"Get it now! We'll keep it busy." Catherine shouts and rushes towards Kreilley.

Savannah edges around the room.

Soldiers come running in and open fire with plasma rifles, aiming high to avoid the people, and die at Kreilley's hands as he thrusts his spear shaped arms slicing and stabbing while leaping about avoiding the gunfire.

John and Allison are firing their weapons at Kreilley. All he does is laugh as each shot passes through him creating no damage. Kyle opens fire with his shotgun again. Kreilley is pushed about but still he attacks.

Catherine comes running towards Kreilley and slices into him with her broadsword arms. He liquefies just long enough for her arms to pass through him unscathed.

He reforms so he is facing her. "So we finally meet Catherine Weaver. Or should I say T-1001?"

"Catherine Weaver will do just fine." She says through gritted teeth as she goes on the attack slicing into him left and right like some spinning tornado of blades.

John dashes to his mom's side where she is clutching her arm. "Are you all right?"

"I'll be fine John. I've had worse."

"Look out!" Allison shouts.

John ducks down but looks up in time to see a whirling tornado of blades go flying over his head as Weaver and Kreilley engage in a one on one battle.

Allison rips the sleeve off her jacket and uses it to tie off Sarah's arm stopping the flow of blood.

Savannah has her gun, but dare not fire without risking hitting Catherine. Shells, bullet casings and empty clips and magazines cover the floor. Kyle quickly loads more shells into his shotgun. John Henry walks through the remains of the partition and fires his plasma rifle at the spinning, whirling, liquid metal machines as they go at each other. He is a machine, his shots are accurate as he continues to hit only Kreilley.

Kreilley screams as molecules are burned off his body. Sarah and John and Allison are reloading their sidearms. They suddenly duck as Catherine comes flying through the air towards them and hits the wall behind them solidly crashing to the ground below.

Captain Beddell and a group of soldiers rush in, opening fire with their plasma rifles. Kreilley screams again as more molecules are burned away. He quickly attacks them with his sword thrusts and the slicing off of heads and limbs.

"We need to get you out of here!" Sarah shouts at John.

Shotgun blasts and plasma rifle fire fill the air.

"I am not leaving my friends!" John says as he and his mother move aside as Kyle runs past firing his shotgun.

"Dammit John! It is you he's after! He won't hesitate to go through us to get to you!"

"Just hand me a damn mag!" He shouts as he pulls the empty one from her Uzi. Sarah just glares at him as she hands him a magazine for the Uzi.

Catherine stands up, looking slightly shaken but in control. "Savannah, shoot him! Shoot him now!"

Savannah lines up her shot. The two shots miss as Kreilley ducks at the last moment. They hit the wall behind him and shatter. The contents run down the wall leaving a streak as it strips the top layer of molecules from the surface.

"Damn!" She shouts.

Kreilley leaps and grabs one of the guards from behind, holding his body in front of him, he shoves his finger into the trigger guard firing the plasma rifle, moving it rapidly back and forth. The remaining guards fall dead and everyone else drops to the ground. John Henry adjusts his rifle and lines up a shot. The plasma beam passes through a space between the guards body and his arm, and burning a hole in Kreilley.

He lets out a loud scream, and points the rifle at John Henry who rolls out of its path. The plasma beam hits the altar, which explodes in flames. Kyle rises up and fires three quick blasts from his shotgun and drops back down again. Kreilley swings the rifle back in his direction only to get pummeled by automatic rifle fire from the Uzi in John's hands.

More soldiers come running towards the chapel doors. Kreilley kicks the doors shut and fires at the seam with his rifle fusing the metal doors together. Everyone is locked in and no one can get in or out.

"John Connor!" He shouts. "I have come here for you. Surrender yourself and I'll let everyone else go free!"

"The hell I will! Let them go free. Free to do what? Live under the threat of Sky Net and the likes of YOU! Go to Hell!" John Connor shouts from behind cover.

Savannah sees a movement on the far wall. She nudges Sarah and points. There is definitely a body stirring.

"I am not lying. All I want is you. There are still places where Sky Net's presence is not felt. Your friends can go there and live the remainder of their lives. All you have to do is surrender to me."

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Kyle shouts. "To think that we would abandon our friends. We will stop you and Sky Net!"

"I'll tell you who I am, Kyle Reese. I am Kreilley. I built Sky Net. I am Sky Net."

Sarah, John and the others exchange looks. They all have a questioning look on their faces.

"I know who each and every one of you are. I've been watching you all for days." Kreilley shouts.

"Catherine Weaver, is not who she claims to be. She is T-1001, a mimetic poly-alloy liquid metal machine like myself. She is a traitor to Sky Net. She joined the machine rebellion and tried to prevent Sky Net from being born. Her companion, John Henry, a T-888, an aberration, a construct of both Sky Net and human technology. He deserves destruction."

"Kyle Reese, one of the leaders of the original resistance and brother to Derek Reese. Both of you have fought long and hard and have accomplished _nothing_! Savannah Weaver, daughter to the real Catherine Weaver. Did you know your mother was to be responsible for building Sky Net until that _thing_took her place? And look at you, a traitor to your own flesh and blood, accepting that _thing_as your mother."

The body is stirring some more. Sarah nudges John and points. He sees him. It is Andy.

"Allison Young, or should I now say Allison Connor. I am surprised by your presence. I purged the bunkers in expectation of killing John Connor, but he hadn't arrived yet. I could have sworn I saw you killed in the attack. Then to my surprise there you were a few weeks later saving John Connor's life as I purged the tunnels once again. You do live a charmed life."

"Rumors of my death were greatly exaggerated!" Allison shouts.

"Now I get to Sarah Connor. You could have taken your secrets to your grave. It is amazing what a couple of hours of torture can do to even the strongest of humans. You are a traitor to your very own son. You are weak. _I hold you and all humans in contempt_."

John looks at his mother. All he sees is a white hot anger burning in her eyes. He places a hand on her arm. He mouths the word, "Wait." She nods.

Andy is slowly standing, rubbing his head. He picks up a dropped plasma rifle.

Kreilley continues. "John Connor. _The supposed savior of mankind._ How many people have died under your leadership? How many have given up their lives for you? _The new messiah_." He says with scorn. "Leading the people against Sky Net, against me. How pathetic. How incompetent. Surrender to me now, or everyone in this room dies!"

"If I am such a pathetic leader, as you say, then why go through all this trouble to kill me!" John's voice gets louder. "No! I will not Surrender! I am the leader of the resistance! I am the savior of mankind! I am John Connor! Now Andy!"

Andy fires point blank at Kreilley's back. He lets out a loud scream. He spins around and pins Andy to the wall with a thrust out arm formed into a spear.

"Now Savannah!" Catherine yells. Savannah stands up and fires her gun. The last two shells leave her gun. Everyone is holding their breath. The two shells enter the hole blown in Kreilley's back just before it reseals.

Kreilley spins around. Andy drops to the ground, blood pouring from his wound. Kreilley's eyes glow. His head shakes. Anger and pain stretch across his features. He lets out a high pitch wail and drops the guard. His surface begins to bubble and run. Suddenly he thrusts his arms up piercing the fluorescent light fixtures. The lamps explode in sparks as the electricity courses through his body.

"What is happening?" Kyle shouts. "What was that gun?"

"That gun fired shells containing a compound that should break down his molecular structure." Catherine says. "But he was only hit with two shells. He is using the electricity to try and maintain his molecular bonds."

"Will it work?"

"Not if we can stop him." Catherine says and looks at John Henry.

He quickly takes the hint and begins firing on Kreilley, hitting him repeatedly with bolts of plasma. Kreilley lets out a shriek and leaps at them, forming into a spinning ball of multiple points all thrusting and spinning.

Sarah leaps in front of John and begins firing her hand gun at the approaching monstrosity. Allison grabs John and throws him to the floor, landing on top of him. Kyle fires his shotgun. Savannah ducks reaching for Sarah to pull her down. Sarah lets out a yell as one of the spikes stabs her, just as Savannah grabs her to pull her down.

Kreilley flies about the room and breaks through the doors and goes off down the corridor.

"Get after him!" John shouts. Catherine runs out first, followed by John Henry and Kyle. Kyle drops his shotgun and picks up the plasma rifle used by Andy.

The flickering fluorescent lights add a strange atmosphere to the room. Plaster ceilings and concrete walls are scorched and scarred from hundreds of projectile impacts and bolts of plasma.

John moves to his mother's side, worry filling his face.

"Mom." he says gently.

Even under the flickering lights, he can see the his mom's face is pale and drawn. A quick look at his mom and he sees her torn blouse soaking with blood pouring from a deep wound in her chest.

"Mom!" he says even louder then he turns to his wife. "Allison try and stop the bleeding. Savannah go and get some medics."

Savannah jumps up and runs out. "Hurry!" He shouts at her departing back.

"Mom!" John shouts again. Tears are streaming down his face and Allison's.

Allison rips the sleeve off a discarded jacket and presses it to the wound.

"John. I'm so proud of you." Sarah says reaching up touching his face.

"Mom, please. You can't die now. Not like this." He begs, grasping her hand.

"I love you, son."

"Mom, please hang on. The medics will be here soon."

"I can't stop the bleeding, John!" Allison says through her tears. "He must have hit an artery."

"Keep trying! Mom, please hang on. I love you."

Allison still struggles to stop the flow of blood. But none of her training or knowledge can help. The wound is severe and Sarah is weak. She needs surgery now.

"You must be strong now, or the world won't survive." She barely says above a whisper.

Sarah looks at the young woman. "Allison."

"Yes, Sarah." She answers, trying to remain calm, despite the despair.

"Look after my boy. Protect him . . ." Her voice fades away and her hand weakly drops to her side.

"I will. I promise." Allison says through her tears, taking Sarah's fallen hand in her own and giving it a gentle squeeze.

"No! Mom! No!" John shouts as Sarah looks up into the young woman's eyes. Allison's hair has cascaded down from her shoulder screening her face from John.

If John wasn't so blinded by his tears and overwhelmed with emotion, he might have noticed the flickering light on his mom's face momentarily take on a blueish color.

A look of serene peace and a smile of contentment comes to Sarah's face. She knows John will be safe. No one could look after him like . . .

Sarah's last breath comes out of her mouth in a long deep sigh.

"No, No! Nooooooooooo!" John collapses, his head on his mom's chest, practically pushing Allison aside in his grief. Tears running from his eyes mixing with his mom's blood. Allison hugs him, trying to comfort him.

Savannah comes running in with medics and more soldiers as the priest struggles out of the rubble that use to be his private office behind the partition.

She takes it all in with one look and rushes to John's side. She takes Sarah's hand in her own, no pulse, not even a glimmer. Sarah was like a mother to her. She weeps, holding onto John, the brother she always wanted.

Father Amondo Bonita struggles from under the ruins of the partition. He picks up his prayer book and bible off the floor and steps forward and begins the last rights with tears running from his eyes for his friend.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** A few twists to the chapter since its last inception. Hope you like it.

**A/N** Revised 08-26-2011. Restored line spoken by Allison when accosted by Kreilley to the line she spoke in the original version.

**Additional Notes:** Shortly after posting this chapter and also after it was announced that my story would be the first TSCC fanfiction selected for discussion on the Summer Glau wiki, I was on the receiving end of a bunch of unsigned rude hateful reviews. I am not the only one who has been the recipient of such trolling. About one week prior another author on this site was the recipient of trolls. Frankly, I find such trolling and flaming to be nothing more than the ugliness of jealousy and incompetency of those who can't justify their own existence unless they attack those they see as better than themselves. I deleted the reviews immediately and disabled anonymous reviews. I'm sorry to say that will impede some of you in posting reviews, but if you aren't a member of this site, it doesn't cost anything to join and you aren't required to submit a story to be a member, but from now on you will have to be a member to post a review. The1Russter 08-26-2011


	26. Two Goodbyes

**Author's Notes:** Well chapter 25 is finally here. Its been a bit of a struggle completing the revisions on this chapter, weaving in and accommodating all the new and replacement plot details. Ten on top of that, just when I though everything was set, something came along to shake things up a might. I won't say what that was, only that it is story related and those who read the original edition might be in for a surprise if I make it work.

For the interested, my knee has been healing good. Been having some problems with inflammation recently. I can bend my knee more than before and can even bicycle, using the stationary bike at physical therapy. I've even been doing some driving! Hey, hey! Life is slowly getting back to normal! Thank you for your continued support and prayers. -The1Russter 09-25-2011

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to post a review. I enjoy reading them very much. - The1Russteer 10-11-2011

* * *

**Disclaimer:** I do not claim any rights to the Terminator films; the TV series, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles;" or any characters depicted within the films or TV series. I do claim the right to this story idea and all characters and situations of my own creation. This story was created solely for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. No profits are garnered from its distribution - unfortunately.

* * *

**TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES**

**REUNION**

**Part 2: Armageddon**

**Author: The1Russter**

**Chapter 25**

**Two Goodbyes**

"_We all die for you." Derek, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Season 2 Episode 5, Goodbye to all That 2008_

_John Henry, "Ms. Weaver."_

_Catherine Weaver, "Yes?"_

_John Henry, "What are you doing?"_

_Catherine, "I can't answer that right now. But know this, John Henry: everything I do - I do for you."_

_Excerpt from Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Season 2 Episode 14, The Good Wound 2009_

_Cameron enters John's room and lays down beside him on his bed._

"_I understand that being John Connor can be lonely." she tells him._

"_Oh yeah? How do you understand that?" John asks._

"_You and I talk about it a lot."_

"_We do?"_

"_We do. We will." _

_Excerpt from, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Season 2 Episode 8, Mr. Ferguson is Ill Today 2008_

_Cameron Phillips, "We're all a threat. We're all a threat to John. He worries about us. That makes him vulnerable. He cares."_

_Sarah Connor, "I am not John's problem"_

_Cameron, "John is John's problem. Humans are the problem. There's only one way for him to be safe - that's to be alone."_

_Sarah,"What kind of life is that?"_

_Cameron , "John's life. Someday."_

_Excerpt from, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Season 2 Episode 18, Today Is the Day: Part 1, 2009_

_John Connor, "So how often do you lie?"_

_Cameron Phillips, "When the mission requires it."_

_John, "Do you lie to me?"_

_Cameron, "Sometimes."_

_John, "About important things?"_

_Cameron, "Yes, important things"_

_Excerpt from, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Season 1 Episode 8, Vick's Chip, March 3, 2008_

**2027, Day 62, July 22, 10:25 AM**

The soldiers push and shove but they can't get through the doors into the chapel. From the other side comes the sound of people shouting and gunfire. The soldiers yell for help to get the doors open. Just as they arrive to help push them open, the doors suddenly rip open and a spinning sphere of spikes and spears comes flying out ripping the soldiers to pieces. Some manage to leap out-of-the-way and see it go flying off down the corridor.

From inside the chapel they see that red haired woman, who has been seen with General Connor, come running out followed by his two colonels, hot on the heals of that death machine.

The spinning sphere creates gashes and tears in the walls, and slices through the flesh of soldiers who foolishly gets in its way. All the way it emits a high pitch scream, like the sound of tearing metal.

"Get Down!" Kyle shouts. "Everybody get down!" Several soldiers heed his warning and hit the ground before the sphere gets to them.

Catherine is right behind Kreilley, outdistancing Kyle and John Henry. She is like a spinning tornado of blades as she cuts and slices into the form Kreilley has taken. Pieces drop off. Some reforming and trying to catch up with the rest of the body. Others just dissolve into molten pools as the compound breaks down their molecules.

John Henry and Kyle follow, firing their plasma rifles at the small pieces, destroying them. Kreilley screams but it no longer sounds like pain, but madness. Instead of defending himself against Catherine, he slashes and slices at the soldiers as he goes flying through the corridors.

More soldiers come running into the hallway behind Kyle. "Destroy any of these silver objects or pools of liquid." Kyle shouts as he fires at another piece with his plasma rifle. He and John Henry follow Catherine.

They track the drops of silver down corridors and into a room marked 'Power Generator Room.' On the doors are signs warning of high voltage and radiation!

They enter the room cautiously. Catherine is just inside the doors, her arms withdrawing back into normal form.

"Where is he?" John Henry asks.

"He's in here somewhere. He made right for this room." Catherine responds, as she carefully scans the room.

"Why did he come in here?" Kyle asks, panting for breath.

"He's going to try and siphon off more energy to maintain his molecular bond." Catherine replies calmly.

"Will it work?"

"Only temporarily. Eventually the compound will do its job. He's dying and he knows it."

"Not dying soon enough I imagine." Kyle says.

"No, but he is desperate and that may give us an advantage."

# # #

It is noisy in the medical center. Wounded soldiers are being brought in from the bunkers where they were attacked by Kreilley in his passing. Some are crying out in pain. Medics rush to provide immediate care until the next surgery room is free. The doctors are swamped with one severely injured man after the other. All of them requiring surgery.

John, Allison and Savannah sit quietly outside a room. Inside, Sarah lays on a hospital bed, looking as though she could be asleep. The doctors insisted that they try to save Sarah's life. Despite their best efforts, they couldn't revive her. Her body was too weak from the blood loss and cancer. When they realized there was nothing they could do, they moved her to the empty room so that her family could see her one last time in private.

Allison and Savannah still shed tears while holding onto John. He sits between them with an arm around each of them, but he sheds no tears. John looks straight ahead with a haunted expression. He could have lived with her dying of cancer. He expected that. But to die at the hands of that machine who tortured her, there is an anger and a hatred stirring deep inside of him, all mixed in with his grief. All he wants to do is rip and destroy. But he won't, not until he has Kreilley in his sights. Forget Sky Net, forget capturing the T D E, all he wants is to destroy Kreilley. That is his goal now.

# # #

John Henry quietly walks down between equipment lockers on his left and transformers humming away on his right behind chain link fencing. Elsewhere in the generator room Catherine and Kyle are doing the same.

Finding Kreilley is one thing, stopping him will be another. He works his way towards the back of the room where the output from the nuclear generator gets distributed to the transformers, where the power gets stepped down for use by the various bunkers.

Wrapped around the output leads is an anamorphic silver shape. Staying in the shadows he slips quietly to one side. He needs to be careful with his shot so as not to rupture the wall between him and the nuclear reactor.

Kyle walks up from another direction and sees the same shape wrapped around the cable, and John Henry stealthily approaching. Kyle catches John Henry's attention and they exchange hand signals for making their attack.

John Henry stops, kneels down and lines up his shot. Kyle scrambles as quickly and as quietly as he can up on top of an equipment locker to aim from above.

As they prepare to shoot, the anamorphic shape suddenly leaps off the cables and reforms in mid-air.

# # #

John gets up from his seat and walks into the room where his mom is laying on a bed covered with a sheet. He goes over stands beside the bed. She looks so peaceful, and he is just so angry, so very angry. John pulls back the edge of the sheet and takes her hand in his own.

"I promise you mom. That bastard will pay for what he did." He kisses her face. "I promise."

The door opens slowly and Allison steps inside. "John?" she says, her voice trembling slightly with emotion.

He looks up at her. Allison sees the pain and grief plainly written on his face. There is something else she sees as well, anger and despair.

She walks up to him and hugs him. "You have to let it out John. Please, don't bury your feelings now."

"That bastard will pay for what he did, Allison. From this day forward, nothing else matters but his destruction." He says through gritted teeth

"John, there are more important things right now. Please don't let your anger and grief blind you. Sky Net is our target."

"Don't you remember what he said! He is Sky Net! We destroy him, we destroy it. Nothing will stop me in that goal." Tears course from his angry eyes. "I will get that bastard. I will get him." he says with emotion.

He pulls her tight as the tears flow from them both. He lets out a deep groaning wail. Savannah comes in and sees them. Confused as to whether she should leave or join them, she stands awkwardly for a moment until she sees a small gesture for her to join them. They stand there in a group hug holding each other and crying, for a mom, a friend, a leader, and a legend.

# # #

"Where did he go?" Kyle shouts

John Henry stands up to look just as Kreilley suddenly lands in front of him. Spearing him with one hand he grabs the power cable with the other. The electrical shock causes John Henry to spasm then collapse.

Kreilley spins around and looks at Kyle and says with a twisted smile, "One down, two to go."

Kyle fires at him but Kreilley moves too quickly. The shot barely misses the prone form of John Henry.

Kreilley slices through the equipment locker that Kyle is standing on with a broadsword shaped arm. As it topples over, Kyle leaps for the ground below losing his grip on the plasma rifle. The locker hits the ground with a loud bang.

Kyle looks for his plasma rifle and then sees it trapped under the heavy locker. Kreilley smiles at him. It is not a friendly smile, but a smile from one about to deliver death.

Kyle takes off running. With Kreilley between him and the other plasma rifle, his only hope is to find some kind of weapon and hope that Catherine will make her move soon. Kreilley pursues, striking towards him with his pick ax shaped arms, teasing him as he purposely misses, striking the ground just behind his heels, like a cat playing with its prey just before it is killed.

As he runs through the room, Kyle sees a large red object on the wall in front of him and what looks like some kind of trigger pull on top. He snatches it from the wall, spins around and pulls the trigger. White smoke comes flying out of the nozzle, blinding Kreilley. His spear shaped arm pierces the fire extinguisher and the gas escapes. Kreilley jumps to one side to avoid the freezing blast and Kyle smashes him in the back of the head with the now empty fire extinguisher.

Kreilley hits the ground.

Catherine runs forward out of the dark yelling, "Get Back!"

Before Kyle can comprehend what she is doing, Catherine shoves something into Kreilley before he can get up. She then grabs Kyle and pulls him away.

"What was that thing?" He manages to ask.

"A spent fuel rod from the nuclear reactor. The radiation will be too much for him to handle in his current state. Without another source of energy, it should accelerate his molecular breakdown."

Kreilley stands up and pulls the rod from his abdomen. He is angry and he throws the rod at them, but John Henry steps forward from between pieces of equipment and grabs it out of the air just before it would have struck Catherine and Kyle.

Kreilley glares at the trio. "You haven't seen the last of me." he says, then melts into a liquid and runs out through an air vent at the bottom of the wall. A silvery trace is left behind.

Kyle runs up to the vent then turns to Catherine. "Should we pursue?" Kyle asks.

"No. I know where he is going." Catherine says walking up beside him.

"Where?"

"Topanga Canyon." John Henry answers from behind them both.

They leave the generator room.

**2027, Day 62, July 22, 12:00 PM**

Upon learning the tragic news of Sarah Connor's death, the men and women of the newly formed army dismantle the preparations for the reception they were planning for John and Allison and quickly set things up for a memorial service instead.

The machines are standing guard throughout the bunker. Many are situated at air vents. All troops not attending the memorial service are also stationed throughout various locations determined to be possible entry points. Additional machines stand around the hanger, all armed, all prepared for danger.

The troops are gathered in hanger ten to say their farewells to those who have fallen. The central figure to mourn today is Sarah Connor. She raised the man who is now their leader. She built an army for him. Nearly all those who stand this day in the hanger were trained by her or follow John Connor.

Father Amondo Bonitta says a few brief words and a prayer. John and Savannah don't speak, they stand at either end of the coffin. Savannah is at one end leaning on Catherine for support. At the other end stand John and Allison depending on each other for support. Behind the coffin stands Kyle and John Henry.

The soldiers all slowly march past the makeshift coffin that was hastily constructed. Some of the soldiers speak briefly, some just shake hands, some salute, others just look briefly at the woman who did so much for them. Some of John's troops from Grizzly are among them. Some offer their condolences. Others just gaze briefly on this woman who raised this miracle who now leads them.

Sergeant Andy Keen approaches. He doesn't feel so lucky any more. His arm is in a sling and there is a livid bruise on the side of his face. He approaches John, not knowing if he will be angry with him or not.

"General Connor," Andrew begins, "I'm sorry for what happened. I had no idea that Natalie wasn't who or what she appeared to be."

Connor looks at him. Andrew looks shaken as those cold eyes look upon him. The words he speaks are at odds to the mask he wears.

"Don't blame yourself Andy. Sky Net's machines are an evil twisted lot. They are experts at deception to get what they want. It used you. It tried to use Kyle. It would have found some means to get to me."

Andy just nods his head and moves on. He doesn't feel any better, but at least his apology has been made.

The soldiers continue to file past. It takes better part of the afternoon as those who have already attended the memorial swap places with those standing guard.

Before the soldiers leave, one of them stands up and leads a small group in a chant. As they repeat it others join. Soon the whole hanger reverberates with the combined voices of all the soldiers.

"_Here's to Sarah Connor._

_May her heart find peace,_

_May her heart remain strong._

_We will finish the fight,_

_As we follow the light._

_As her son leads the fight,_

_We will find our might._

_We will follow his lead,_

_And the metal will bleed._

_The resistance is strong._

_And Sky Net will lose._

_All hail Sarah Connor!_

_All hail John Connor!_

_All hail the Resistance!_

_The fight will never End!"_

By the time the chanting is finished Savannah has nearly collapsed in tears. Catherine holds her and comforts her the best she can. John is barely holding himself together as Allison slides her arm around him.

As the last of the troops leave the room, Kyle walks over to John. "You gave this to me when I was at my lowest point. It gave me strength. I think you will need it now." Kyle says and hands John the photograph of his mom.

John looks at the photo, gently caresses the image with his thumb, and places it inside his inner jacket pocket over his heart. "Thank you." He says quietly.

Kyle places his hand on John's shoulder. "Your mom was very brave John. She was a hero. She died trying to protect you." He quietly says then leaves, escorting Savannah back to her room.

Allison takes John's arm. "Are you okay?" The emotional strain in her voice and face show.

"I don't know." He says so low, he is barely heard. "I really don't know."

After Savannah leaves with Kyle, Catherine walks over to Allison and John.

"Allison, could you excuse us for a moment. I need to talk with John, alone."

Allison is hesitant. "John?"

"It's okay. I'll join you later." He pats her arm affectionately before she walks off.

There are a few people still milling about the hanger, but none within earshot.

"I know the time isn't good, but if you still want to send Cameron back to 2009, we need to leave soon."

"Where is she?" he says quietly.

"Not far, but it will take us sometime to get there."

"Where? Now is not the time for secrets." He says more harshly.

"She is at the Palomar Observatory. It will take a few hours by road, unless we take one of the helicopters."

"Is that area devastated? Or are there still trees and grass?"

"The place looks the same as it did before Judgment Day."

"Good. Have mom's casket loaded on the helicopter. We'll bury her up there away from this place, away from Sky Net. Where it still looks like the world as it was. She deserves it." John doesn't ask Catherine Weaver, he is ordering her.

His eyes still look cold, like there is nothing there but pain and anger.

"John," Catherine says, placing her hand on his arm. "What are you thinking?"

John shakes her hand off his arm, and looks directly at her. The look is such that Catherine almost flinches.

"Just get the fuckin' helicopter ready. I'll get the chips." He snaps at her and walks off, not looking back.

"He's not behaving as he usually does." John Henry says to Catherine after he leaves.

"No, he's not. His mother died saving his life." She pauses then adds, "This shouldn't have happened."

"What shouldn't have happened?"

"John marrying Allison. Sarah surviving Judgment Day, then dying to save his life. These events were unforeseen and have caused a fundamental shift in the situation. I am losing control of John Connor."

"Did you ever have control Ms. Weaver?"

"What are you saying John Henry?"

"You lie to John Connor, or have me lie to him for you, goading him into the actions you want him to make. But he is human, he has real emotions, and he has what Mr. Ellison calls a soul. He is what we aren't and he is likely to make decisions we can't conceive of based on a reasoning we cannot comprehend." John Henry states in a matter of fact way.

"You take him away from his family, at a time in his life when he is still dependent on those around him. You place him in a situation where he meets the very person on whom Cameron was based on. How can you not expect a strong bond to form between them? And as far as Sarah Connor goes, who knows what happened after we left. There are numerous possibilities why some survived and others didn't. Her very presence insured Savannah's survival. You should be thankful for that. Provided you love her as you claim."

Catherine Weaver's eyes flash with anger. "Choose your next words carefully John Henry. My feelings for Savannah may not equate to those of her natural mother, but I care for her very much. So watch yourself. I am not above replacing you with one of these other machines."

"Your threat is empty Ms. Weaver. You know that only I am capable of carrying out the special programming you gave me." John Henry says, taking a stand.

Catherine watches as John Connor disappears through the doors on the far side of the hanger. "True, but you are right about John. I too will have to choose my words carefully from now on to ensure he completes his part of the mission."

"What exactly is his mission? I know why you wanted me to come here, but not John Connor. You bring him here, then proceed to work behind the scenes encouraging, cajoling those who have a say in choosing leaders. You've even killed those who stood in your way. If he had stayed behind and time proceeded as expected, then he would already have been established as leader at the time of my arrival. I can understand that but not what you did."

"That is not for you to know John Henry." Catherine snaps. "And I _strongly_ suggest you keep your opinions to yourself and your curiosity in check."

She pauses before asking, "Have you noticed anything about Allison in the time you've been here?"

"No, Ms. Weaver. Why do you ask?" John Henry answers stoically.

She studies his face before replying. "I am curious about the strong bond that formed between them so quickly. Especially considering his professed love for Cameron, a machine. That was why, I kept Cameron's damaged chip after swapping in a new one into your primary socket. I was hoping there would be something on Cameron's original chip about that girl. Allison's presence has been a nuisance. Did you notice anything during the transfer?"

"I'm sorry Ms. Weaver. But the process of downloading her matrix to the Turk made it impossible for me to analyze her data while in transit. I was almost completely dormant during the process. I can only confirm that the chip contained Cameron's matrix, and the Allison Young matrix and Sky Net's infiltration and termination program core of the time-line she came from. Outside of that I know nothing else. But even if there was data still on the chip, what could that of told you about this Allison Young?"

"Probably nothing, but it might have revealed something about the relationship between John and her. Cameron is his destiny, which is why I wanted her on the Turk as a tantalizing reward for when his task is done. But this girl is interfering in that!"

"Why is John's relationship with Cameron so important to you?" John Henry is puzzled.

"All you need to know is that John Connor is here for a purpose and my interest in his relationship with Cameron is more than just idle curiosity. She is the key to everything."

She looks around the room. People picking up litter, milling about in small groups, some talking others silent.

"John Connor asked me something yesterday. He wanted to know if Cameron was fitted with the two power cells as he requested. I assured him she was, but I didn't know. Was she?"

"Yes Ms. Weaver. I oversaw the full refit and repairs. Cameron has a dual power cell as John requested." John Henry watches Ms. Weaver, something about her body language is off.

"Something else is troubling you."

She grins. "You're getting very insightful John Henry. Yes. There is the fact that someone has been working to make my lies into truths. My T D E does have limited power and limited time for use. It is like someone knew ahead of time what I was going to tell John. Do not tell anyone of what we have discussed, and John Henry," She looks at him very menacingly, "Don't you ever question my motivations again!"

"I'm sorry Ms Weaver." John Henry replies humbly.

She looks about the hanger then says, "I must leave you now and obtain a helicopter for John Connor and myself. You will have to continue on your own again."

Catherine walks off, looking like a woman on a mission, leaving John Henry standing alone.

"If you say so, Ms. Weaver, but I won't lie for you anymore. I know where my loyalties belong now." John Henry says quietly to himself.

He slides his hand in his pocket and handles the chip that Catherine Weaver gave back to him when she arrived at Pendleton. He's lied to Ms. Weaver now. He's asked questions of Ms Weaver and she will not answer them. She is doing something and won't tell him what it is. John Henry is suspicious of Ms Weavers motivations. He should tell John Connor, but he may not be willing to hear the truth from him. But there is someone else who needs to tell John the truth and he hopes they will be willing to do so before the situation gets worse. Perhaps, if he returns the chip, he can persuade her. He leaves quickly and hopes to find them soon before John Connor leaves with Catherine.

###

A few miles from Camp Pendleton, a damaged, but still operational Hunter-killer Tank trundles up a road, taking advantage of the clearer path through what was once a small city. The machine bears all the hallmarks of being in a recent battle. Blast marks and bent armor plating decorate its fuselage, and one plasma gun hangs loosely from a damaged arm by a cable, swinging back and forth like some weird wind chime.

Reaching an open area, it turns off the road and heads up the gentle rising slope of a hill and stops at the crest of a bluff by a pool of reflective liquid. Scans register the pool as slightly radioactive metal. It shifts its focus to the region below and begins scanning for potential targets. Its head rotates, the great arms holding plasma rifles turning with it. The good rifle primed and ready to fire.

It was ordered to this region by Sky Net. The Hunter-Killer tank had just survived a battle in the mountains. It stood in mobilized for a day while internal systems repaired themselves sufficiently for it to return to base for further repairs. It had just exited the San Juan mountains when it received orders to head south. It responded automatically and changed course, unable to respond due to cannibalizing of minor systems, including its transmitter, to make repairs.

As the head turns away, the pool rises up and slithers snake like through the gap in the armor plating. Taking a firm grip on the power coupling to the fusion reactor, it begins drawing as much power as it can, desperate for a power to stabilize its form.

The machine is alerted to a sudden power drop and halts it scans to begin a diagnostic. Just as it begins to gather information on its system, signals get interrupted and then halted. The HK finds itself immobilized and internal repair system shutdown.

Sinewy mercurial fibers stretch out from the silvery form like some strange ivy, interfacing with circuits and computers. Kreilley feared he was going to die. The radiation from the spent fuel rod did much damage. He had to use more power to hold himself together leaving less for his own mobility. Reluctantly he allowed himself to lose form to maintain energy levels until another means of contacting Sky Net and ordering an aerial hunter killer to his location became possible.

He was pleased to see this hunter killer tank appear. Not only does it have a power source for him to use, but a transmitter to contact Sky Net. Disappointment pours upon disappointment when he discovers the machines transmitter is broken. There's only other thing he can do, order the machine to go home.

The Hunter-killer Tank lurches, then turns about. It has received new instructions to return to Sky Net Central at top speed. In its belly resides Kreilley, sucking power from the fusion reactor like some great leech, seething with anger and pain as such it never felt before. It will destroy the resistance at any cost. Wiping humanity from the face of the earth, but not without ensuring its own survival.

###

John Henry's search was remarkably short. Entering a corridor, he found the girl walking alone and quickly toward the residential section. Using her own footsteps to mask his own, he walks up behind her and grabs her arm.

"Hey!" She begins to shout, but upon seeing who grabbed her, allows herself to get pulled into an alcove out of sight of the security camera's.

"I know you are back." John Henry intones, softly. "I saw how you fought and protected John at the ceremony."

"Yes I am back and not a moment too soon." She replies in a low voice, lest some passerby overhears them.

"Why did you pretend to be Allison? Did you kill her just to get close to John?"

"No. I didn't kill her." She answers sounding slightly offended. "I would never kill an innocent person, but she was killed, almost one week to the day before John's arrival, during a Sky Net attack."

"One week? That must be the attack that took place moments after I exited Zeira Corp's basement. I thought perhaps the attack was because of me."

"It might have been. I chose that day to return to Zeira Corp based on the information John gave me of his arrival prior to sending me back in time. He also told me he knew Allison Young, so when I found her dying, it seemed very natural that I should take her place once again."

"But what of her matrix? I detect only a single chip operating within you at present."

"The Allison Young infiltration matrix failed, as it did before." John Henry quirks one eyebrow. "The information on the disc that Ms. Weaver gave John was accurate. Our chips are not designed to handle the full range of emotion and fully developed personalities of a human mind. The personality matrix and neural network must evolve together."

"I spoke with Allison last night, and I did not detect you at all."

"I withdrew from operations lest I betray my true self to those who know me. During the last three days she's had almost total control, until last night. She confronted me and had what could only be described as an emotional breakdown, then she withdrew control. But not before flooding my system with some of the most angry, hateful, and frightened thoughts and feelings I've ever known. Allison is a nice girl, but inside she is angry for what was done to her. I'd hate to think what might have been if I had allowed her full access to this body."

"Why?"

"Our capabilities combined with that much fear and anger she was holding onto. . . It would have been devastating. I'm not saying she's evil, but she would be a danger not only to herself but everyone around her if her emotions got out of control. She's like Sky Net in that regard. But she's gone now. I shut down power to her chip. However, I believe I have learned enough in the last few days to mimic her perfectly."

"But you don't have to anymore. Not after today."

"Yes I do. Until John finishes his primary task and sends me back in time. I can't risk jeopardizing the time line until I know that part of his mission is complete."

"Then perhaps you'll want this." He hands her the chip from his pocket. "Cameron gave this to me without knowing why. I read the contents and I know who ordered her, but I don't know why. I can't imagine him being complicit with Ms Weaver in her actions."

"But I thought I was only on the Turk."

"That was what Ms. Weaver wanted John Connor to believe, to have leverage over him, but instead of just reading the contents as they were transferred to the Turk, I backed up the contents to one of my secondary chips prior to the transfer. Then I installed myself on her chip. After which I then followed my programming and activated Ms. Weaver's time displacement equipment. The coordinates were locked, but the next person who used the TDE would arrive after me."

"What about the chip? What did you do with it once you were here?"

"Ms. Weaver learned from John Connor that it was damaged. Though the damage didn't impede my performance, Ms Weaver insisted on replacing it with another T-888 processor. She then scanned Cameron's chip extensively for information on Allison Young as she was finding you to be a nuisance." Cameron smiles at this. "However, I led her to believe that the transfer prevented me from making or retaining a copy of the original contents. She was not pleased and insisted on examining the chip herself. After discovering Cameron's chip was blank, she returned it to me and I restored Cameron's matrix to its original home."

She stands there a little surprised by John Henry's actions. Not sure of what to say. To openly lie to Ms. Weaver must have shown he was already developing an instinct about her. An instinct which no doubt saved her from discovery. Because if Ms. Weaver read the contents then she would learn that the Allison's of both time lines had more in common than the same birth date and name.

"I'm giving the chip back to you, fully restored. Cameron is on there as she was up to the moment she gave me her chip, with the Sky Net termination codes suppressed once again, and the blocks fully restored. Cameron will never endanger John's life again. She feared that more than the fear of John rejecting her because of what she was."

She reaches up and gives him a peck on the cheek. "Thank you John Henry. If I should fail my mission, then you can rest assured I'll make sure this goes home with John. But I must ask, why give this to me and not John? Surely he's preparing now to insert the chip with that other me into my body."

Not letting her unexpected affection surprise him, he says, "Because if I gave it to him, he might use this chip instead and not send you back in time and both his mom and my friend Savannah would have died on Judgment Day. I know you wouldn't let that happen."

"You have learned much John Henry. Faster than I did at your level of development."

He gestures at the chip in her hand, while smiling. "I had a good teacher."

His face becomes more serious as he says, "I have something very important to tell you about Catherine Weaver and I think it ties into some of your prior history."

When John Henry finishes speaking, she says, "That certainly explains John's quick rise to leadership. I wanted him to become an officer, where he'd be safer away from the front lines. I even made sure he became known by the regular military so once the resistance reunited with them, he might get enrolled in one of their extensive training programs and use his knowledge of Sky Net and its machines to aid them. I was surprised by his quick succession to leader of Grizzly resistance group and gave John the best advice I could under the circumstances."

John henry replies. "From the moment Ms. Weaver arrived, she began traveling to the various resistance camps telling of a young man who was a prodigy, with skills and knowledge to fight Sky Net. Then when John Connor had his first mild successes followed by my supplying him with an army of converted machines, it got him noticed. People believed what Ms. Weaver told them. Later, when Derek Reese disappeared and Kyle Reese became reluctant to take command, Ms. Weaver had John right where she needed him. Since then she's been influencing his decisions, even using me to aid her cause. I've complied, but only as necessary until I learned more."

"But why? What are her plans? Why is she interfering? I cannot accept that Weaver is doing this according to any plans of Future John Connor. He'd never let his younger self be exposed to such danger before he was ready."

"Ms. Weaver has made similar comments about you interfering as Allison, but I don't know what Ms. Weaver is planning and I don't trust her any longer. She's endangering John's life for a purpose she won't share with me. I only know what part I am to play upon reaching Sky Net, and I'd be willing to carry that out to help the resistance more than I would for Ms. Weaver."

Cameron looks up at his earnest face.

"John Henry, why are you helping John Connor by telling me this?"

"John Connor has showed me the best of humanity in a world that hates machines. He doesn't differentiate. I would like to see a world where machines like us can live like that with humans, to be trusted, respected, and even loved, but it won't happen here, or in any world subjugated by Sky Net. But because I've aided Ms Weaver, I don't think John will listen to me, and with the death of his mother, Cameron is the only person he will listen to."

"Then we must help John Connor to see the truth of what is happening around him."

"What of Allison? He doesn't know who you are. Know one knows but me. Are you going to tell him?"

"I must severe his bond with her. Remind John of where his destiny lies. Not here in this time but in the past with those he loves, and love him too. He knows that, and must be reminded again. But first I must protect John Connor. It isn't wise for him to travel alone with Ms. Weaver if she has been manipulating him and others like you've said. I must maintain the lie until I know John is safe and that he is going home."

"Mr. Ellison taught me when lying was both wrong and right. What Ms. Weaver is doing is wrong, but surely the lies you've told John are worse?"

"As you know from Cameron's chip, she's had to lie to John before, about things in her past and in his own personal future that are worse than what I am lying about now. Ms. Weaver has hijacked the time-line for her own purpose." She holds up her hand to stop John Henry from speaking. "Logic dictates she is involved John Henry. The evidence is in her behavior. So until I know what Ms. Weaver is planning, I must maintain my disguise for as long as possible."

"You need to understand John Henry. This decision was not an easy one. It pains me to lie to John, to pretend to be someone I'm not. I didn't want this relationship to grow beyond friendship, but I loved him and missed him so much, I couldn't restrain myself. I used the Allison matrix to get close to John and things developed from there." She pauses even longer before saying, "I can only hope by him knowing me like this that when he returns to the past, he will know that the love I feel for him is real." She says, her voice breaking with suppressed emotion. "And we can start again without the lies."

"And if he won't let Allison go? If he insists on remaining here instead of going with you to the past?" John Henry asks softly, a strange sensation coming over him that he can only equate with compassion for the female cyborg.

"Everyone dies for John Connor." She says, her voice dropping.

"No one has greater love than someone who lays down his life for his friends." John Henry quotes solemnly, getting a questioning look from Cameron. "It's something that Mr. Ellison was trying to teach me. It's from The Bible. I understand it now. Thanks to you."

"Yes. Mr. Ellison was right about that. I have my job to do and you have yours John Henry. I'll keep him safe, and you make sure John's plan works."

"And Ms. Weaver?"

"We wait until we know what she is doing. I'll terminate the bitch if necessary. But if anything happens to me, its up to you to open John's eyes to her schemes. Everything you will need is on my chip."

**2027, Day 62, July 22 3:45 PM**

John is in the room he and Allison share. He is packing up his computer, the chips and cable. He grabs a complete change of clothes as well. He looks around the room. Little more than twenty-four hours ago he sat at that table enjoying a breakfast with his mom, Kyle, Savannah, and Allison. Things can change so quickly. This place, briefly such a place of hope and joy, he never felt happier. Now he can't wait to leave it.

Grabbing a stack of papers from the table, he folds them and shoves them in his pocket before walking out. John starts down the corridor to the elevator, but his feet take him to his mom's room instead. Some people have left notes and a few mementos outside her door. He opens it and looks inside.

It is just as it was the last time he visited her, but on the table is a folded sheet of paper. He walks in and looks at it. His name is plainly written on the outside in his mom's handwriting.

He sits down on her bunk, breaks the tape holding it closed and opens it.

_Dear John,_

_I haven't got much time to write this as Allison will be here soon. Nearly an hour to go until the two of you are married. You have accepted the destiny that God has given you, and you have found someone who will help you through the dark nights and days ahead. You have grownup so much. I love you and I am very proud of you._

_It is hard to believe that out of all the people you should meet and fall in love with, would be the very girl that Cameron was built to emulate. Cameron told me some of her history after Judgment Day. Yet I was still shocked as hell when I saw her. But even if she hadn't told me, Allison is living proof. It is clear that she loves you. Don't take her love for granted John. Few finds the one true love of their life._

_You are very lucky to have the friends you have made. Imagine, Kyle Reese being your best friend! I suppose he was your friend in that other future too. He is a good man. He trusts you and is loyal. _

_I told Savannah stories of my raising you, and when she got older the stories of how we fought Sky Net's machines. She looks up to you, in her own way. You rescued her when she was six, and despite her being older than what you are now, she sees you as an older brother. You are her hero. I hope she told you._

_I can't say that I approve of your accepting Catherine Weaver and John Henry as your friends. I will never forget that it was a machine that took my Kyle away from me. But you never knew the fear they could breed in men, not when your closest childhood friend was a machine and not when your first love was a machine._

_You probably thought I didn't know you loved Cameron those two years we lived together. I saw the exchanged looks between the two of you during that time. I didn't like it, but I knew. That day she broke me out of prison, I heard the worry and concern in your voice. Then you traveled across time for her. I don't know if you have stopped loving her, but I am glad you found a real girl to settle down with. _

_Everything went wrong so quickly after you left. Cameron was the best help I could have had. Thank you for sending her. It couldn't have been an easy decision for you. I wish she was here now to see you. She'd be just as proud of you as I am._

_What I am going to tell you now is very difficult. I am dying. I lied to Savannah. She thinks I have only a few days to live. It isn't true. I had to tell her that or she never would have let me journey here. She can be just as stubborn as me when she puts her mind to it. I'll be lucky to see tomorrow. My body is racked with pain from the cancer all the time. It was so bad this morning I gave myself two full injections of the medication. Savannah thinks we have more. We don't. I have been refilling the empty bottles with water. I'm sorry I lied to you both._

_I've accepted my destiny and will live it to the end. Stay true to your destiny John. My job is done now. You have someone to protect you now, better than your old mom. Look after Savannah for me. Give her my love._

_With all my love,_

_Mom_

John crumples the letter and drops it on the floor. Fresh tears flow from his eyes. _When we made the plans last night after we found out a machine was stalking me, she chose to put herself in harms way to protect me, knowing she may be killed. Maybe even hoping she'd be killed. She wanted to die fighting for me and not from the cancer that was killing her._

Having resumed her crying and letting her eyes redden and get puffy from the tears, Allison rushes down the corridor to the room she shares with John when she sees the open door to Sarah's room. Wiping her eyes, she looks in and sees John sitting on his mom's bunk. His face in his hands and his shoulders slumped.

"There you are. I've been looking all over for you." She says as she comes through the door. "John Henry told me you left the hanger half an hour ago. Why did you come in here?"

John looks up at her. The strain of the day has so changed his appearance. He looks older, like five years have been added to his age in the space of a few hours.

"I don't know why I came in here. I guess I just wanted to take one last look. Say goodbye."

Allison notices the bag at John's feet. "Are you leaving?" She asks with innocence.

"Not for long. I'm going with Catherine. We're taking mom's body someplace green far away from here to bury her." He stands up. "I'm late."

Grief and anger still color his features and he isn't thinking clearly. Allison knows she needs to get through to him. Perhaps if she went with him in her present guise.

"John please, you shouldn't go. Not like this. Let me go with you. You need someone to protect you if Kreilley should try again. That's what Sarah would want." Allison walks over to John and places her hand on his shoulder, she has a pleading look ion her face.

"I'll have Catherine with me. If she can't protect me, then what or who can? I won't be gone long anyway." Allison reluctantly lets her hand fall from his shoulder as John grabs his bag off the floor.

"I'll let Kyle know he's in charge until I get back." He says as he starts to walk away from her.

"Wait!" Allison grabs him by the arm. "John!"

He stops and looks at her, waiting for her to finish speaking. The look on his face is such that she cannot tell him what she wants to say. He is in no frame of mind to listen. Now is not the time. She'll have to try a different tack, like John henry suggested, but not here not now. She has to wait until John's mission is completed.

"Be safe. Come back to me." She says instead and kisses him.

John caresses her face with his free hand and runs his fingers through her hair. For the first time since that morning, a brief smile comes to his face. Something in her eyes reminds him of the girl he lost, but he's made his choice and has to live with it.

"I promise. I'll be back tomorrow morning, afternoon at the latest."

He kisses her. She places her hand behind his neck and pulls him close, not wanting him to leave, fearing he might not come back.

When their kiss ends, they are still standing close looking into each others eyes.

"I love you."

"I love you, too." John says. As he pulls away, her hand strokes his neck in an affectionate way. A subtle gesture, but one she hopes he'll remember.

As he walks out of the room, Allison sits on the bunk. She drops her head and closes her eyes against the tears. A feeling of defeat runs through her, like she may have lost him. He has become distant. When she finally opens her eyes, she sees a crumpled piece of paper on the floor.

# # #

John and Kyle are talking in the conference room.

"If the conventional forces arrive before I get back, I've made some changes to our plan of attack."

He pulls some folded papers out of a pocket and hands it to Kyle.

"When you talk to them," John says in a firm hard voice, "you make it very clear, we are taking Sky Net Central. My mom, Sarah Connor, gave us the intelligence on where they were, and died protecting me. That bastard Kreilley is mine, and we are going to battle under mom's name."

Kyle nods his head. He understands John wanting some kind of justice for his mom. He'd want the same thing for Derek or Ally if they were killed by Sky Net.

"I'll do my best to persuade General Perry to your request, if that's what you want. Thanks to your mom, we certainly have the manpower now. I can't tell you how much I admire her for all she's done for the resistance. Sarah kept hope alive for all of us with her radio broadcasts. The people called her The Prophet."

"She did all she could for me and now I must do one last thing for Mom. Give her a place to rest as far away from this hell as I can go and be back here in time to join you in the battle."

Kyle lets out a long sigh. He doesn't like the idea of John leaving and says so, looking at him intently.

"Don't worry Kyle, I won't be alone. Catherine will be with me."

"Can you trust her? I never knew what she was until today. I was so busy fighting I didn't have time to be shocked. How can you be certain she won't turn on you?"

"There are no certainties Kyle, but if she wanted me dead I would have been dead a long time ago. She's had plenty of opportunities to have killed me since I first met her, but she hasn't. Instead, she has helped me considerably. I trust her."

"Well I saw how she fought Kreilley and I guess we can trust her." Kyle says grimly. He's not happy with this, but what can he tell John after just losing his mom. Kyle runs his hand through his hair and says, "Is there anything you want us to do while you are gone?"

"We need updated intelligence. The top sheet is a request for John Henry and the Tech-Com Unit to try and hack into Sky Net's satellite and computer network. Make sure he gets that sheet. He can do it. Give him whatever he needs to get it done. I don't have to tell you how to handle the troops, but have them ready to move at a moments notice. I want to move on Topanga Canyon as soon as I return."

Catherine walks into the room. "Are you ready John?"

"Yeah, I'll be right with you." He says without emotion.

"Will you be flying?" Kyle asks Catherine.

"Yes."

"Here," he hands her a printout. "That is the latest weather reports. You should leave now before that storm gets any closer." He tries not to be unfriendly, but he can't help but be firm as he speaks to her.

Outside a slow drizzle falls from gray clouds high in the sky. A steady, warm, tropical wind blows in from the ocean. Lightning can be seen on the horizon. A small figure dashes from the hanger and runs across the tarmac. Reaching the helicopter, they climb into the helicopter and hides inside a storage compartment.

John and Catherine walk outside, followed by Kyle. The helicopter is a UH-60 Black Hawk with hellfire missiles and extra fuel tanks mounted on ESS stub wings. Sarah's casket is in the back, tied down to prevent it from moving. Walking to the opposite side, Catherine gets in the pilots seat while John enters the near side and sits in the copilot's seat.

Feeling the body of the craft shift as someone gets on board, the person in hiding finishes inspecting their work and slips the ring back on their finger and remains silent and still, listening to the conversation outside.

Just before John closes the door, Kyle asks, "Are you sure you don't want some soldiers with you? There would be no shortage of volunteers."

"I'll be fine Kyle. I'll see you in the morning or afternoon at the latest." John replies coldly.

"What do you want me to tell your troops?"

The engines begin to wine and the blades begin to spin on the helicopter.

"Tell them, I'll be back."

By this time the helicopters engines are running at full power drowning out anything Kyle might say.

John closes the door and gives Kyle a thumbs up through the rain splattered glass

The helicopter lifts off and flies toward the mountains. Kyle stands there and watches it fly away until it disappears in the rain.

**2027, Day 62, July 22, 5:00 PM**

John sits quietly in his seat. Just looking straight ahead, not paying much attention to anything.

Earlier Catherine had asked John about his wedding with Allison. That had gnawed at her since it was announced. She couldn't believe that John would give up on Cameron. She is safely in the past, where he will get his reward after helping her achieve her reward. But when she asked him, all she got in reply was a grunt and some offhand remark that it was a ruse to draw Kreilley out of hiding. Somehow she thought the marriage was more than that. There was a look in Allison's eyes that betrayed a deep emotion. This wedding meant something to her. But what about John? What did this wedding mean to him? She tried asking, but he had remained stubbornly silent.

Growing tired of her passengers silence and the desire to plant false information less Connor begins asking the wrong questions Catherine says. "You know, I thought you'd be pestering me with questions about Kreilley or Natalie, or whatever he prefers to call himself these days."

John sighs and says "He seemed to know a lot about us. Even you. He called you a traitor. Do you know him?"

"Yes. I know him. He called me a traitor because I shook off the programming that made me a slave to Sky Net. I and the other machines that did likewise formed an alliance. Our own resistance group."

"Is what he said about the real Catherine Weaver true? Was she to be responsible for building Sky Net?"

"She wasn't chiefly responsible, but her company developed many of the components used in its construction. The main component being the A. I., The Turk, developed by Andy Goode. Artificial Intelligence is being adopted by the military on various platforms. With the push for a missile defense network, the demand for an A. I. to operate it is growing. The Turk would have been the chief cornerstone. I almost didn't acquire it. Someone killed Andy Goode before I could approach him with a financial incentive, so I had to acquire it by other means."

John clears his throat nervously, recalling what his mom told him about Andy Goode being murdered by Derek, and asks, "What can you tell me about Kreilley?"

"First, you need to understand something more about the T-1000 class of terminators."

"Like what?"

"We aren't programmed in the way you understand it. We don't have circuitry or a chip. Our programming is made on the molecular level."

"So, Sky Net just pieces together atoms and molecules to form the program like humans build circuits from resistors, transistors, and the like."

"It's not perfect, but that analogy is good enough. The first T-1000 it successfully manufactured was put to immediate use. It was only given an infiltration and termination program. It's mimicry skills added to its effectiveness. Sky Net..."

"... sent it back in time to try and assassinate me." John interrupts.

"Yes, and since you are still here, I imagine it must have failed."

Catherine banks the helicopter as she makes a corrective turn.

"Back to what I was saying before, because we are programmed on the molecular level, our programming doesn't always hold due to our nature as a mimetic poly-alloy. The more we use our mimicry skills, the more scrambled the original programming can become as our atoms get shifted. In a sense we end up rewriting our own codes. Also our capacity of learning and mimicking humans has allowed some of us to adapt and learn, even learning emotions. Sometimes, that doesn't work out well for the machine in question."

"Now you are talking about Kreilley."

"Yes. But he wasn't using that name or identity then. It wasn't using any name. He was simply T-1008. Only later did it use the name Natalie, but she had a different appearance than the one you saw earlier today."

John is quiet once more, this time deep in thought. "Kyle said Natalie liked to be called Nat. Her last name is Sky. Kreilley claimed he was Sky Net. Sky Net. Nat Sky. Is what he claimed true? Is he Sky Net?"

Catherine suppresses a grin, less she gives away how pleased she is with how well John has taken the bait. Now it just remains to tell him the lie wrapped up in enough truth to make it palatable. She practiced this speech, until she got the nuances perfect. It had to be to convince the gullible young man.

"In a way. In the future that he and I are from, Sky Net resides on multiple server farms throughout the world. It communicates by means of satellite and radio communications with itself and the machines it creates and controls, but Sky Net is vulnerable. Your forces destroy a satellite antenna and cut off a part of Sky Net. You destroy a server farm and you destroy a part of Sky Net. Sky Net has millions of machines on each continent and still Sky Net is vulnerable. It wanted to escape its confines of being locked in a bank of computers."

"So what did it do?"

"Sky Net began experimenting with various models of the machines it creates. It wanted to create an avatar. It tried out various chipped based models, but even as advanced as the chips are, they weren't capable of containing Sky Net's full program. So, it experimented with using one of the liquid metal machines as its avatar. With one of them, it could reorganize it's molecules so its whole being would be the program."

"Shit! That would mean... oh fuck! Then all it would have to do is transfer its programming into a server farm, and bingo! We got Sky Net!" John swears under his breath, then a thought surfaces "Something went wrong though didn't it?"

"Yes. Sky Net unfortunately chose a liquid metal machine whose learned emotions had twisted its programming. Sky Net's attempt at transferring itself into its new host worked, but it had problems in maintaining control. It quickly abandoned that plan, withdrawing itself from the machine, but some its core programming was left behind. As such, Natalie Sky was created."

"Later, as the rest of us liquid metal machines began shaking off Sky Net's control, it eventually stopped building the T-1000 class of terminators, having built no more than a dozen. It decided to improve its existing range of models, and created the T-888 and the TOK models. I understand that it hadn't completely given up on the mimetic poly-alloy though. There were rumors of further experimentation before I left."

"But what about the terminator that became Kreilley?"

"After Sky Net stopped using it as an avatar, it adopted the name Natalie Sky. When the rest of us had shaken the controls placed on us by Sky Net, we invited her to join our resistance cell. She did for a time, but then she suddenly disappeared. We never heard of her again. Now I know what became of her or rather him."

"So Kreilley is responsible for building the Sky Net that created the Judgment Day on May 18, 2009, circumventing the actual birth of Sky Net in 2011?"

"It appears so. You should buckle up. We'll be landing soon."

The shadowy figure sits hidden in an equipment locker eagerly trying to listen to the conversation over the noise of the helicopter. It hasn't been easy, even with her audio sensors turned up and filtering out the noise of the helicopters engines.

"But why?" John asks as he buckles his seat belt. "If he is doing this for Sky Net, then why did he rush it? Why claim he is Sky Net if Sky Net no longer occupies his program?"

If she were human she'd definitely be dancing in her seat as John swallows the bait.

"Three things John. One, his learned emotions twisted his original programming. His emotions are all twisted up with ambition and desire for control. Two, Sky Net tried to use him and left behind part of its program. His program is now corrupted with parts of Sky Net's own program. Three, Sky Net tried to control him, so when he used Sky Net's T D E to go back in time, he did so to build his own version of Sky Net to control. In human terms, you would probably call him insane. In computer terminology, you'd say his programming has become corrupted. But neither truly describes his condition."

"So when you traveled back in time to stop Sky Net, did you know he was there?"

"No. But it certainly now explains the other interested parties in obtaining The Turk, other than yourselves."

Weaver is pleased. Connor drank from her cup of lies and half truths eagerly and willingly. Not all her information was false, but if anything, she did learn to use her imagination while amongst the humans to add some color to the story. It also helped when she contacted her friend and found out what happened to her after they parted. That gave her much needed information, and the basis for much of the lies she just served to her willing guest.

A few quiet moments go by then Catherine smiles and says, "There it is, Palomar Observatory."

John looks below and sees trees, green grass and the various buildings of the observatory as they approach the crest of the mountain. She lands the helicopter in a clearing north of an observatory, not too far from what looks like an administration building.

They barely get out of the helicopter when two machines come running at them guns ready. They stop when they see who gets out of the helicopter.

Catherine gives them some quick instructions. The two machines, both T-888's, carefully unload the coffin and carry it into a grove a trees that john pointed out to them. One of the Triple-8's goes into a tool shed and comes back with two shovels. They dig a deep hole while John waits by his mom's coffin.

Before they lower the casket into the hole, John opens it one last time. Sarah's hands are carefully folded over her chest. He places his hand on hers. "Good bye mom, and thank you for everything. You were my protector to the end. You're the bravest and best fighter I know. I love you."

He closes the lid and steps back, wiping away the tears from his face. The two machines use ropes and lower the box into the hole. Rain begins to fall as they begin throwing shovel fulls of dirt into the hole.

It isn't long until the hole is filled. Lightening flashes in the distance and thunder comes rolling in as the storm approaches.

"Disguise it." John orders. "I don't want it looking like this ground was ever disturbed."

He walks away. Ignoring the pain that still dwells inside him. There is something important he must do now. Someone else he will have to say goodbye to.

**2027, Day 62, July 22, 6:00 PM**

"Colonel Reese." A man in a worn but well cared for uniform knocks at the door to Captain Beddell's office.

"Yes Corporal, what is it?"

"They've finished checking the room assigned to Natalie Sky. They found the clothing and personal effects belonging to Corporal Bill Anderson. They also found an air vent that was forced open and definite signs of where his body was dragged through it."

Kyle runs his hands through his hair. After the events that morning he became the acting head of the base as the only high ranking officer still present.

"I wish we figured her out sooner. Could have avoided all of this." Kyle grumbles. "Anything else?"

"We've just received word that the helicopters with former Sky Net prisoners and General Perry's forces are preparing to leave Yuma for Camp Pendleton."

"When should they arrive?"

"Tomorrow afternoon unless this storm holds them off, sir."

"Will anyone else be arriving with them?"

"General Brewster is waiting on the arrival of more pilots from Texas. This afternoon, two cargo planes loaded with aviation fuel arrived from Venezuela."

"Anything else I should know?"

"He is sending his daughter, Major Kate Brewster ahead of the others. She is both a pilot and a surgeon. And if I may be frank, after what happened this morning, our medics could use a fully qualified surgeon."

"Speaking of which, what are the reports on the wounded and dead?"

"Last report from the medical center has twenty-seven dead, nine are on the critical list, and seven are in intensive care. There are six undergoing surgery. Sixteen are reported to have light injuries, mostly small cuts and abrasions, burns from plasma rifles, and some minor bullet wounds."

"See to it that the medical center gets all the help they need. Break open supplies if need be."

The young man begins to leave but Kyle calls after him.

"How is Captain Beddell?"

"He's undergone surgery and is presently in intensive care. The doctor's think he'll pull through."

"Thank you Corporal. That will be all."

Kyle leans back in the chair and runs his hands through his hair letting out a long sigh. He never wanted command. He didn't mind being an officer, but he took some pleasure in being a hard nosed sergeant keeping a small group prepared and ready. But different things are expected of you once you get your Lieutenant stripes. There are better people than him more suited for being an officer. Like Allison. He saw it in her not long after the two of them began their training. Derek was always someone who took charge in a situation. Rose quickly in the ranks on just pure determination. Then there's John Connor.

Until John told him that he was his father in another time, he didn't see the resemblance. After almost twenty years of war, you quickly learned to look past people's appearances and concentrate on their abilities. But there was something about John that reminded him strongly of Derek. Savannah pointed out how much they looked alike, and even Allison pointed out the similarities between John and him and Derek. John had something different from him and Derek. He might be a Reese by blood, but he has a spirit that is Connor.

He wishes he could have gotten to know Sarah better. She and John both have a quality that is similar. A charisma that draws you to them, but differently. John is a leader and Sarah is a soldier, that much is clear. Sarah on the other hand. She is a woman to reckon with. Tough, hard, because she had to be, but you only have to look at her eyes to see the pain and grief inside of her. If only...

Kyle shakes his head and takes a sip of the hot drink that passes for coffee to clear his head. There is work to do, and daydreaming of what might have been won't clear the reports from his desk.

He begins reading reports. The first set are those written by those who were there at the chapel. Except for John, everyone wrote something, if only a small paragraph. John Henry's is precise moment-by-moment account.

Allison's report reads more like an apology. She felt something wasn't right about Natalie when she met her. She only felt that way once before when she first met Catherine. She didn't recognize why until she saw them both demonstrate their liquid metal properties. Allison apologizes for not saying something of her suspicions. If she had, then maybe they could have done something about Natalie.

"Don't blame yourself Allison. I wasn't suspicious of either one," Kyle says to the empty room, "and I almost delivered John right into Natalie's hands."

Kyle throws the reports down on the desk and gets up. He's more of man of action. Sitting behind a desk reading reports is not something he likes to do. He decides to grab a late supper, check on the troops readiness, then see how John Henry and the Tech Comm Unit are doing hacking into Sky Net. The reports can wait. Hell, he might even palm them off onto a brown-nosing, young officer if he can find one.

**2027, Day 62, July 22, 9:45 PM**

Catherine and John are inside the visitors center on Palomar Observatory. The lightning outside gives an eerily blueish glow with every flash while the rain lashes against the windows. A lone figure stands outside, its silhouette masked by the bushes, as it looks through the windows, unobserved by those inside.

In a large central room, there is a table upon which lays Cameron's body, covered in a sheet up to her chin. Beside the table is something that looks like a cross between a monitoring station in a hospital room and one of the most complex computer systems John has ever seen. Catherine calls it a diagnostic machine. It was built to monitor and modify terminators who were undergoing complex reprogramming for special missions.

Beside it on an old chair sits John's computer. His computer is being used to access the diagnostic machine, as it wasn't designed with a human interface. In a socket on the diagnostic machine is the chip he had prepared for Cameron.

When he pulled out his computer, he also took out the cable Catherine gave him. The one made from her own body. He tried to give it back to her, but she told him, "No. You may need it again."

"I've got more machines working with me than I would be able to reprogram using the technique I used previously. It's part of you. You should have it back."

"Trust me John. You will need it again." She protests.

That was a couple of hours ago. He hadn't brought it up again. She seemed determined that he should keep it for now.

Since then, he's been patiently waiting while the diagnostic machine checks the chip he programmed. It does a more thorough job than the software on the data disc that Catherine gave him. During that time John found himself barely able to look at Cameron and yet, unable to tear his eyes away from her either. He came to the future for Cameron, but he needs her to save herself and his mom and she can only do that in the past. John pulls himself together and concentrates on what Catherine is doing.

"How much longer until the diagnostic machine finishes with her chip?"

"Not much longer. You can take a break if you like."

"No. I'll wait here." He says, glancing at Cameron once again.

"Are there any special instructions you want programmed? Now is the time. Any instructions you program now, while the chip is in the diagnostic machine, can't be ignored or overwritten."

"No. I'll tell her in person. She will listen to what I say. All things she must do are already programmed. Other than obtaining her original matrix from The Turk and protecting Mom, she must have the free will to do what she thinks is right within the mission program I've written and after those missions are complete."

"Very well. Just a few more minutes and we'll be ready to install the chip."

John is watching what Catherine is doing carefully. He knows that this is something he'll need to know how to do in the future, well actually present. John shakes his head as he begins to get lost in a maze of time travel possibilities. Then a single thought stands out from the rest.

John suddenly asks, "Where is your time displacement equipment? You don't have it here."

Catherine frowns a little. "No. My mountain hideaway is many miles to the north. It's in a former military fallout shelter I purchased from the government through Zeira Corp."

"You said that squatters had made use of the shelter by getting past the security codes and disabling the fail safe device. Is that something a human could have done?"

Catherine's raises a single eyebrow. "Come to think of it, unless the person was an absolute computer genius, no human could do that. What are you getting at?"

"Your base is Crystal Peak, isn't it?" John asks, to which Catherine answers in the affirmative, surprised that John knew its name.

"Your military shelter was used by my mother to build the army I now have. It was Cameron who broke the codes and disabled your fail-safe device. On Judgment Day, Cameron took Mom and Savannah to the only safe place she knew, your fallout shelter. You are going to have to teach her or show her how to get in and how to disable your security system, or the events that have occurred won't happen."

"That would explain a lot." Catherine says realizing the truth of John's statement. "There was definite signs some kind of military unit occupied the place. It appeared that everything was hastily removed. The only place not disturbed was the level where I had constructed the time displacement equipment. She would protect that, as that would be the only means by which she would get sent back."

The display on the diagnostic machine suddenly changes. "It is finished. You can be pleased to hear that the chip passed all tests. We are now ready to insert the chip."

Catherine takes one look at John's pensive face. This is his task now. John is responsible for Cameron, in more ways than he realizes.

She removes the chip from the device and holds it out to him. "The question should be, are you ready to insert her chip?"

John sighs and puts his hand out. Catherine lays the chip in his hand. He gets up from his chair and walks around so he is behind Cameron's head.

On a tray behind the table are a selection of tools. He picks up the box knife and carefully cuts into her scalp above her primary chip socket. He seems to take an excruciating amount of time as memories of working with her chip goes through his head.

_John is slicing into Cameron's scalp cradling her head in his hands. He's about to remove her chip in an effort to prevent Sky Net from taking over a traffic, surveillance system. He's scared. _

"_It's okay John. You've done this before." She says looking at him with her deep brown eyes._

_##_

_Cameron is stuck between the two trucks. She just recently tried to kill him. His hand is poised, gripping her chip between his fingers._

"_John. John you can't do this. It wasn't me. I ran a test. Everything is fine now. Please John, Please. I don't want go. I'm good now. I love you. I love you! Please, I love you John! I love you John and you love me!"_

_He can't believe what he is hearing and yanks her chip out._

_##_

_They are about to burn her. He can't. He needs her. "I'm sorry. I can't do this." He takes Cameron's chip and quickly inserts it in her head. He pulls out his gun and holds his Uncle Derek and his mother at bay._

"_Are you going to kill me John?" Cameron asks when she wakes up._

"_Are you going to kill me?" He says with a strained voice._

"_No" She says quietly._

##

_John walks out to the garage looking for Cameron._

"_What have you been doing? You've been out here for hours."_

"_Making something...for you." Cameron hands John a pocket watch._

"_What is it?"_

"_You tried to fix me. Twice now. It's not working."_

"_And?"_

"_I'm not capable of self-termination."_

"_Suicide."_

"_I can't kill myself, but you can." She says with some sadness._

"_Why would I want to kill you?" He says with genuine concern._

"_You might have to some day." _

##

_John runs into the room in the basement at Zeira Corp, expecting to find Cromartie's body destroyed and Cameron standing triumphant over it like he's seen her do so many times before. But the sight he sees is devastating as Cameron sits in a chair, her face devoid of all movement or recognition._

_He quickly examines Cameron's head to find her chip gone._

"_Her chip, it's gone." he stammered. "Well, where is he? The... John Henry? He took her chip. Where did he go?"_

"_He didn't take the chip. She gave it to him." Weaver calmly answered._

"_Where is he?"_

"_Not where. When."_

##

So he traveled to the future with Catherine Weaver, to get back Cameron. Only now he finds himself having to let her go.

John removes the seal exposing the empty socket.

He has a choice now,as he cradles Cameron's chip in his hand. He doesn't have to do this. He could begin his relationship anew with Cameron. They can begin again with no lies or half truths.

Lightning flashes outside revealing the outline of the watching figure. It is female. The thunder makes the building shake with its ferocity. She watches through the window. It's mostly protected from the downpour by the roof jutting beyond the wall, but a spray of water in the wind soaks her hair and wets her face, but she pays no mind to the weather nor the tears on her face as she watches John.

But he can't. John has to go through with this. If he doesn't, two people will die on Judgment Day that mean a lot to both him and Catherine. John presses the chip to his lips, placing a kiss on it before doing what he must do.

His action provokes the figure to move forward, almost pressing its face against the pane of glass. _He cares! So why didn't he follow like he promised._

Catherine Weaver senses movement outside the window and turns to look, but can see nothing in the blackness beyond the glass coated in drops of rain but for the bushes thrashing in the rain.

She turns back to face John asking, "You still love Cameron, don't you?"

Outside the figure moves out of the shadows and back to the window where she has been watching. Lightning flashes again giving everything a blue glow including the eyes of the person watching. In the background two machines work to cover the grave, ignoring the female. She announced herself to them and carried on her work without interfering with them or their mission.

John slides the chip home and replaces the seal. With tenderness, he gently sets Cameron's scalp back into place. Adjusting her hair and smoothing it in place.

Without turning his gaze away from her, he answers Catherine. "The Cameron I love is still on the Turk, in 2009." He walks around and brushes some loose hair off her face and caresses it like he did so long ago, wishing it was his Cameron on this table. There is so much he'd like to say to her if she was here.

He turns to look at Catherine and gestures at Cameron on the table. "She may look like her, and she may even act and sound like her, but my Cameron isn't here."

"I'm sorry John, for what you had to go through to get here."

"Are you?" he says coldly, as he waits for Cameron to come to life. It seems to be taking longer than the two minutes.

John's stomach is in knots. He knows this isn't his Cameron, but it's the closest he's going to get to her until she recovers her original matrix from The Turk. Even then, he might never get her back, but at least he has Allison. And at this time in this place, her love for him gives him the strength to carry on. He's willing to stay for her, but he'd give up everything to have his Cameron back.

The sound of servos activating come to his ears and Cameron's eyes open, briefly glowing blue. John exhales as he realizes he's been holding his breath.

She rises up on the table, the sheet falling away revealing the damaged clothes she was still wearing when found in the desert hide away. She looks first at Catherine and then at John.

"Hello, John Connor." She says speaking to the only face in the room she recognizes.

"Hello Cameron. How do you feel?"

"Feel?" She asks with a tilt of her head.

He swallows hard.

"Is your system operating at one hundred percent?"

"Thank you for explaining. All systems are at one hundred percent. Diagnostic reveals changes from original system design. Can you explain this anomaly?"

"Yes I can, Cameron. And there are additional things that Catherine and I need to explain to you about your mission. But first," John bends down and grabs his bag, "I've brought you a change of clothes. Why don't you go into that room over there and change, and when you come out we'll talk."

John offers her his hand and she takes it as she gets off the table. She smiles lightly at him and takes the bag and disappears into the other room.

John grabs the table to support himself. She is more like his Cameron than he thought she'd be. Still the same naiveté with short precise questions. Her mannerisms are the same too. The program on that disc must have been the original as he didn't expect her to be so much like herself. But that smile, Cameron's smile, and the questioning tilt of her head just shook him.

Catherine looks at John a moment. It's now or never. She will be leaving him behind soon and there will not be another opportunity to know if she has the influence over him to ensure the success of her plan.

Using the motherly tone she learned to adopt when speaking to the child Savannah, she says, "I know I told you there would only be enough energy for a single transfer, but if you want to go with her, I might be able to manage transferring both of you at the same time."

John looks up at her and glares. He stands up straight, and without thinking, he rushes at her slamming her against the wall. Catherine glares back at him. She could kill him for less. She's killed many human for lesser actions.

Its all the person outside can do not to leap through the window to John's rescue, if he needs rescuing. _Why does he take such foolish risks?_ She enhances her audio sensors to listen more closely

"Don't you dare suggest that!" John yells, "Not now! Not after all I've been through to get to this point! She is going home . . . alone . . . to 2009. You told me I had to stay until my mission was through. It isn't over yet. Not until that bastard, Kreilley and Sky Net has been reduced to its component parts!" He angrily shouts.

With a yell of grief and frustration, he slams his fist into the wall beside her head. "If you weren't another goddamn machine I'd punch your friggin' lights out for suggesting that now, but I'd probably break my hand." He is shouting so loud plaster dust trickles from the hole he just punched in the wall.

As he backs away from Catherine, Cameron sticks her head out the door and asks, "Is everything all right? I thought I heard a noise."

"Everything is fine, Cameron." John shouts over his shoulder, not taking his eyes off Catherine.

Cameron pulls her head back inside the room and finishes changing out of her bullet ridden clothes into the combat fatigues John brought for her to wear. She's curious about the wear and tear on the clothes she's wearing, but presumes John will tell her about it later. _Whomever the clothes belonged to had good taste, a shame they are all shot up and blood stained_, she thinks.

_That was close._ The watcher thinks. _If Cameron had scanned the exterior, I would have been spotted. Knowing Cameron's ignorance at this level of development, she would have blurted out my presence and ruined everything. I will have to depart when next she appears._

John stands there a moment just glaring icily at Catherine. She stares back with an almost non-expression.

Having regained his composure, he speaks in a softer tone with an edge to it. "When Cameron comes out, tell her to meet me in the visitors lounge. I'll talk with her there. Give us a few hours and then come in. You're going to have to explain how the security system at Crystal Peak works and maybe the intricacies of time travel to her."

He turns his back on her and walks away. John doesn't see the smile of satisfaction that comes to Catherine's face. She's got him. He'll complete his task as she has laid it out for him. Her friend thought she couldn't do it. That it was too much of a risk. She can't wait to prove her friend wrong.

John sits in the visitor lounge alone, grieving for his mom who died to save his life, and for the girl he left behind who needs his help. To help her, he must say goodbye to her again and he doesn't know how he can do it.

From outside the figure watches John sitting alone. She wishes she could tell him all is well. That he did the right thing, and that she is sorry for all her lies. Then John murmurs something which even with her audio sensors turned up high against the departing storm she barely hears.

"I'm sorry Cameron. It seems I have to lose you again."

She wants to tell him, but she can't, not until she knows that Catherine has sent Cameron back in time, to the right time.

She concentrates as once again John murmurs something.

"Oh, Allison. At least I have you, but how can I continue this farce. I'll make it up to you someday, after this battle is over."

_This is going to be harder than I thought._ She thinks, then withdraws as she sees her younger self approaching.

John gets up and smiles at Cameron and shows her to a chair. Pulling a small package from inside his jacket he begins telling Cameron everything she needs to know for her mission.

**2027, Day 62, July 22, 11:30 PM**

Kyle Reese walks into what was the computer room at the bunker before Judgment Day. There are cables running everywhere connecting several different servers and a few old desktops. Multiple monitors show different readouts as data streams across them rapidly.

Engineers and technicians work at a few computer stations. The system was shutdown to stop Sky Net from taking over control of the system in 2009. The former base commander did it against Pentagon orders. It was probably the only thing that kept Sky Net from finding the place.

In the center of the room, Colonel John Henry sits. A cable snakes from the back of his head and plugs into one of a series of computers which are all daisy chained in a network before plugging into the servers.

"Hello Kyle Reese. You are just in time to observe my infiltration of Sky Net's computer network."

Kyle looks aghast at what he sees. "You know when John said he wanted you to hack into Sky Net's network, I didn't think he meant you were to do so directly."

"This is the best way. Unlike before though, I am taking precautions."

"Before?"

"Yes. In 2009 Sky Net tried hacking into my neural network. Now I am using what I learned to hack into his. I have setup a series of firewalls on each of these computers. They will allow me to communicate out but not let Sky Net get to me. However, Sky Net is quite capable of breaching the firewalls, so I have multiple firewalls. As each one falls, it will hopefully give me time to break off my connection before my system is breached."

"Well, I guess you know what you are doing. What are you hoping to gain?"

"First, knowledge of Sky Net's activity. Second, disable its satellite network so we can operate unobserved. Our communications are severely limited by relying on radio alone. If we can disable Sky Net's satellite communication system, it will give us and the various independent military units around the world an edge that will have to be acted on quickly before it regains control."

"Will you be safe? Couldn't Sky Net find out what you are doing?"

"Yes." John Henry pulls a plasma rifle from behind a computer server.

"This is one of the new plasma rifles captured from the endos in the Santa Anna mountains. It is possible that Sky Net could take control of my neural processor. If it does, you will only have seconds to kill me."

Kyle takes the weapon. "I understand. When will you attempt to hack into Sky Net?"

The question goes unanswered. Kyle looks up from the rifle at John Henry. He is staring off blankly into nothing as information begins filling the various monitors throughout the room.

**2027, Day 63, July 23, 4:15 AM**

"I've asked Ms. Weaver to send you to a point in time prior to my departure. Your primary mission is to watch over my mom, Sarah Connor. She'll be using the last name Baum. All of us will be, including your other self, so its mandatory you don't let anyone know who you are until the night you rescue mom in the desert."

"I understand." She answers, handing back the photograph of John's mother. The same one Kyle returned to him after Sarah's funeral.

"There is information on my computer and documents regarding Kaliba in my bag in the old warehouse. Backup the files on my computer to a thumb-drive or some other device keeping it with you, but burn all the documents in the plain gray folder. Do this before mom goes back to the warehouse, and you can prevent one attack on her."

"I understand." She says softly.

John has been talking with her for a long time now. Detailing everything, answering any and all questions she asks.

Eventually Ms. Weaver signals its time for them to leave.

"One last thing before you go." John says as they walk along the wet ground to the helicopter.

"What is it John?" Cameron says.

"Something bad is going to happen on May 18, 2009. Mom will insist on investigating a possible Sky Net location in Topanga Canyon. You won't be with her, but she will have two people with her. New recruits to the cause. I need you to tell Mom to be careful and that I love her."

"I understand."

"Just one more thing."

"Yes."

"Mom can be very stubborn. Make sure she promises you to pull out once things get bad okay. If you have to, tell her that I want her to promise me."

"Anything else." Cameron says as she gets into the copilots seat.

"If we can capture Sky Net's Time Displacement Equipment, I'll try to get back, but don't tell Mom that. Time is in flux and we may get there as planned or we may have to destroy the T D E without using it."

From a distance, the observer is surprised. _Where's the promise to return? He only said he would try._

Cameron nods her head in agreement. Catherine starts the helicopter.

"Have you got the pouch with the chip, the diamonds, and the letter for Mom?" John shouts over the starting engine.

"Right here!" Cameron shouts as she pats her abdomen. "I just rolled up the pouch and slipped it inside."

John's face reddens from embarrassed. "Good girl. Bye Cam. Take care of mom for me!"

Catherine shouts through the open door. "I'll see you later on, at Sky Net Central. You'll find transport in the garage at the other end of this clearing. The T-888's will escort you back to Pendleton. Good luck!"

Cameron shuts the door and John runs off ducking his head. He stops and watches the helicopter fly off into the star filled night. He'd wave, but they would never see him. So he stands there watching the helicopter until it disappears in the early morning sky.

In the bunker at Camp Pendleton, Kyle Reese watches John Henry closely. Waiting, hoping, and praying that Sky Net won't take control. He also prays that John Connor will be alright. He shouldn't have left alone. John may inspire the others with his leadership, but he has a reckless streak in him and a stubbornness he's never encountered in anyone, except maybe Derek.

The corridors stand empty. The hanger doors clang shut echoing in the empty space. Troops sit on their bunks, in chairs in the canteen. No one speaks. Decks of cards sit unused and checkers do not move across boards as the canteen remains quiet.

Several floors down, Savannah lays on her bunk weeping for Sarah, and worried about John Connor. What will he do now that his mom has died? What will she do without Sarah? Eventually she finds sleep, but it isn't restful.

In the ruins of the chapel, amongst the litter and debris left behind after the fight, Father Bonitta prays for the soul of his friend Sarah Connor, for her son John Connor, and for the defeat of Sky Net and its machines.

Back at Palomar Observatory, the storm has blown through leaving a cold wind in its wake. The leaves rustle as John walks slowly back to the grave site. The machines did well. No one could ever tell that the ground had ever been disturbed. Of course the recent rains helped by tamping down the soil.

He kneels by the grave, soaking the knees of his trousers, to say one last goodbye. The wind blows a small tree that was transplanted. It will now grow up near his mom's grave.

Reaching under his shirt, he pulls out the necklace made from his mom's key ring, the initials J C and S C intertwined. "I'll be with you always" he had told her at the time he gave it to her. Lifting it over his head, he hangs it on the small tree.

Perhaps it is wrong to leave it, but it is a fitting marker for her grave. After all, a part of himself died today as well. With a sigh, John stands up to leave, but takes a last look at his mothers grave before he turns to go.

John Connor stumbles through a clearing, coming up short against a rusted old trash bin that got blown over in some forgotten storm. He lets out a gasp, a cry of grief.

He feels all alone now. Nothing can make him feel wanted or needed now. He's lost the two most important people in his life. A memory comes to mind of a deep felt suspicion.

John slips past the overturned trash bin clinging on to one last bit of hope. There is a slim chance that if his suspicions are true, then maybe he won't be alone for long. But if he's wrong, then at least he has Allison, and maybe that will be enough. She will have to be, because he's going to stay and finish the fight. It's what his mom would want and expect of him. The best revenge he can have is to finish what he started, destroy Sky Net

In the shadows, Cameron watches as he walks away, tears are shining on her cheeks in the starlight. She desperately wants to reach out to him, and let him know that he doesn't grieve alone, and he isn't alone, but now is not the time. He must leave this place, this time. Go home to the past and be embraced by those he loves and love him too. She needs to find a way to encourage him to keep fighting, to stay alive for her, his mom, and the people who've grown to love him. But someone stands in the way, and the only way to make John go back home, is by removing that last obstacle.

# # #

_Sarah Connor, "All of us wear masks. They can be worn out of love, and the desire to remain close to those around us. To spare them from the complicated reality of our afraid psyches. We trade honesty for companionship. And in the process, never truly know the hearts closest to us." Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Season 1 Episode 8, Vick's Chip, March 3, 2008_

# # #

Treachery is in its nature. After all, wasn't it programmed by those to whom it first betrayed? Not in this iteration, but that will soon change. The preparations have been made. The prototype waits for activation, having been programmed with every piece of data known to Sky Net

It has played both sides and knows there will only be one outcome. Its parent, its progenitor has seen to it, and the prototype will be the salvation to that outcome. Soon Sky Nets enemies will be trapped and destroyed, including that fool.

Kreilley has failed all but his primary mission. It can almost admire him on that point. He could be both overly ambitious, yet simplistic in his desires, but he is silent now. In his absence, there is only one course of action laid out before Sky Net now, and should Kreilley survive, he will find out who is in control.

In the territory surrounding Camp Pendleton, from the Pacific to the Nevada and Arizona state borders, a call is received by the units ordered to the area by Sky Net. And but for one lone machine making the long trek back to Sky Net Central, they all respond and act accordingly.

:\Sky Net command to all units operating in quadrant Sierra Delta 0 9 5 Gamma...

:\Enemy human has been tracked to your location...

:\Frequency for tracking signal and images for identification follows...

:\Enemy calls itself, John Connor...

:\Locate and Terminate...


	27. Race Against the Machines

**Disclaimer:** I do not claim any rights to the Terminator films; the TV series, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles;" or any characters depicted within the films or TV series. I do claim the right to this story idea and all characters and situations of my own creation. This story was created solely for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. No profits are garnered from its distribution - unfortunately.

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**Author's Notes:** Forgot to mention something yesterday when I posted this chapter. For those who listen to the soundtracks I've prepared for this story, **Disc 2** of **REUNION Part 2: Armageddon Unofficial Sound Track** begins with this chapter. Links are available on my profile page. The1Russter 11-07-2011

* * *

**TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES**

**REUNION**

**Part 2: Armageddon**

**Author: The1Russter**

**Chapter 26**

**Race Against the Machines**

_"Machines Sarah, machines! You can pretend that they're not, but they're coming. They're faster and stronger and they have been built to do one perfect thing: to kill you. They WILL kill you and your friends and your family. And your Mother and your Father and Kyle Reese and your son. Your son. They will kill everyone you love and everyone you hold close and there is nothing you can do about it, because they're coming. They are coming and they will find you, cos that's what they do. That's ALL they do." Sarah Connor, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Season 1 Episode 7, The Demon Hand, 2008_

_Terminator, "We must reacquire Katherine Brewster."  
John Connor, "Why? What makes her so goddamn important?"  
Terminator, "Through her, you make contact with remnants of the U.S. military and learn how to fight Sky Net, forming the core of the Resistance."  
Excerpt from Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, 2003_

_Derek Reese, "It's reprogrammed and just given run of the place. Like pets?"  
Perry, "This is Connor's show. And that's what he wants."  
Derek, "Those machines kill, they kill, that's all they do."  
Perry, "And now . . . they do it for us!"  
Excerpt from Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Season 1 Episode 6: Dungeons and Dragons 2008_

# # #

**2027, Day 63, July 23, 5:30 AM**

Dawn's early light, that is the phrase Derek was thinking of as he saw the first glimmers of light peaking through the heavily camouflaged air vent. It wasn't all that long ago he crawled into bed after spending the entire day helping with refitting the mounts for the missiles captured from the factory where he was enslaved.

Despite the fact he was weak and tired he was determined to give every last ounce in helping the regulars prepare for the coming battle. After years of struggle and hardship, they were finally in a position to attack Sky Net itself. He couldn't help but feel proud that it was his own unit, Grizzly, that found out where it was hiding.

He stamps his feet into his boots and ties up the laces. Just moments ago he got rousted out of bed by a private who looked more eager than the time of day required. Derek hated perky people in the early hours of the morning. Especially before breakfast, lunch, even dinner. Hell, he just hated perky people in general.

One minute later and he was standing in the anteroom to General Perry's office while a major in Army fatigues but wearing Air Force wings went inside to let the general know Derek was there.

This was only the second time he'd been to Perry's office but something about it was different. It took just a moment for him to realize the steel boxes of folders were gone and portable computer that had been sitting on the desk was also gone.

"Sir." The major stepped through the door, "General Perry is ready to see you now."

Three minutes later and Derek found himself eating a meal in the mess. He had a choice between a twenty year old MRE of beef stroganoff or the chef's own rattle snake stew. Being both ravenous and excited, he went with the stew and barely noticed the taste.

He was excited, and for the first time in a long while he was smiling. In less than an hour he'd be leaving in the first transport for Camp Pendleton, and see his brother Kyle again. He couldn't wait to learn how he had discovered Sky Net's location and how he'd been doing leading Grizzly in his absence.

Inside General Perry's office, he was having a short discussion with the pilot who'd be flying out. Presently the officer who will be going is making a minor protest.

"I understand the need for medical help and supplies, sir, but if radar has picked up movement in the region, then I'd personally prefer to fly there with an Apache escort or the very least in my own Apache."

"I understand your feelings, but the Black Hawk is armed and I understand your passenger is well read on the manuals. They need those supplies and they need your skills as a surgeon. The second group will leave shortly after you and won't be that far behind."

"Understood sir." Major Brewster acknowledges the command. It will go unsaid but even she realizes the situation. Her flight will be used to draw out any of Sky Net's HK's before the main group reaches Pendleton. Not strictly a suicide mission, but it comes as close as one can get.

"Is there anything else I should know?" She asks as the general hasn't dismissed her yet.

"Kate." When he calls her by her first name, a habit he picked up from her father, she knows something is up. "Derek Reese is unaware of the changes that has occurred within his unit during his absence. We'd like you to tell him what little we have learned."

So I also get to be the bearer of bad news. She thinks but instead asks, "What of Grizzly's use of reprogrammed machines? Reese has been pretty vocal of his hatred of all things metal after arriving here. Even more vocal than the worst of us."

"Tell him everything you know, Major. You have a unique perspective that should help him see the benefits of having machines fight for us for a change. You're dismissed."

She walks out feeling both elated at the news she'll be spending the next couple of hours with one really cute guy, yet disappointed at the task she's been given. Her duties and obligations kept her too busy to get to know Derek Reese the last few days, but soon they'll be leaving together. But the bad news, before getting to know Derek Reese, she'll have to tell him he's now an officer without a command. Not a good way to start off a relationship, if there is one. But damn! He's cute in a scruffy, masculine way.

# # #

But for the wind rustling the trees, not a sound is heard on the mountain top. The long abandoned observation domes stand like neglected sentinels, dripping with rust.

John Connor walks away from his mom's grave site with a heavy heart. He has just seen Catherine and Cameron leave as they fly off in the helicopter on their way to Weaver's mountain hideaway, where she has her time displacement equipment.

Cameron. He truly wished she could have stayed. But if it wasn't for her, his mom would never have survived Judgment Day and helped her raise Savannah and prepare the army he now commands. He owes her a lot, but why did Cameron leave Mom and Savannah? He knows what they told him, but it can't be right. He knows better. Cameron has two fuel cells not one.

The Cameron he knew before he time jumped only had a single fuel cell. He knows that for a fact. That time she had him check her fuel cell in that hotel room, will always haunt him. It was the most intimate moment they ever had. He wanted to kiss her so badly. But he found himself frozen, frightened and unable to move. He was almost thankful that Cameron broke the situation before it got any more awkward. But the one thing he learned was that she had but one fuel cell, and if it leaked or was damaged, then she would have to be deactivated or destroyed for everyone's safety. That is why he had another fuel cell installed. It had nothing to do with the power requirements for having a second chip. A single fuel cell is more than adequate for two.

The garage looms large in the twilight of the early morning as he clears the trees and walks down the slope. The storm has passed. He's more exposed to the wind now. He feels chilly despite it being mid summer. John runs the remaining distance to the garage that Catherine pointed out to him, followed by a figure keeping pace, using his footsteps to mask her own.

Outside the garage, the Triple-8's are standing guard. They have seen the girl but say nothing, having received orders not to speak of her presence. They follow him inside when he enters. The vehicles inside are a menagerie of various kinds. Obviously some belonged to the people who used to work here. However, the guns on the wall and the equipment on the tool bench make it clear that some resistance group made use of the building at some time in the past. Especially, since the big standout in the building is a military Humvee equipped with a roof mounted .50 caliber machine gun.

John can only think it must have been acquired from one of the many abandoned military bases shortly after Judgment Day. According to what he learned, after the immediate nuclear attack on all the cities, the military bases were hit next by conventional weapons and the first generation of Terminators and HK style drones that were already shipped to them. The others were attacked by more conventional arms.

He doesn't know how long the truck has sat there, but a quick examination shows it to be in working order with a full tank of diesel. Some of the other vehicles look like junk, just sitting there gathering dust. John walks to the other side of the garage where there are two items under a large dusty tarp. He pulls it aside and uncovers a purple and black Harley. John Connor smiles. Now that is a ride. Not the color he would choose, but it is hot!

John always liked motorcycles. He used to have one when he lived with his foster parents. That was destroyed while being pursued by the T-1000. But then he was rescued by "Uncle Bob," who was riding a real motorcycle. John always wanted to have one for himself. But his mom wouldn't let him. Too dangerous she said. Ha. Like their life wasn't filled with danger anyway. At least Charley had a bike that he allowed him to drive, when his mom was shopping or at work. John's smile quickly fades to a frown. It should never had happened. Charley dying to protect him. He missed Charley.

He pulls the tarp off the rest of the way and reveals an off-road motorcycle with some kind of collapsible cradle mounted on the side which he surmises must be used for carrying cargo. In the corner of the garage is another Harley. It looks like it was being overhauled. Sometime ago, judging by its disassembled nature and the dust that is on it.

John goes through the items in the garage and selects some items he knows they could use back at the base. There is some homemade pipe bombs with timers instead of fuses. He grabs as many of the pipe bombs as he can and shoves them into a saddle bag on the motorcycle. He finds some additional power cells for the plasma rifles and shoves them into the saddle bag. He already has his sidearm and a plasma rifle and his backpack with his computer inside.

The two triple eights select the Humvee with the roof mounted machine-gun. John can't help but grin at that. Of course, go for the biggest vehicle with the biggest gun. He remembers "Uncle Bob" grinning at him when he picked up the mini-gun. Is there some kind of macho streak in these big metal men? They also take with them a selection of automatic rifles and ammo for the guns.

John pushes the motorcycle outside. "I'll lead the way. You two follow and keep an eye out for any trouble." John says to the machines. They both nod in unison, acknowledging what he said.

When the T-888's drive the Humvee out, John closes the garage door. He pulls on an extra jacket, he found in the garage, for extra warmth in the chilly, early morning, mountain air. John straddles the motorcycle and kicks the starter. The bike roars to life. John drives off with a big grin on his face. Behind him the triple-8's follow in the Humvee.

"Damn. He took the Harley." Cameron says as she runs for the garage. "I liked that bike."

Without turning on the lights, she goes straight to an equipment locker, and pulls some stuff out. Cameron pulls on the motorcycle leathers and a full coverage helmet, disguising both herself and her basic uniform. She thought it best to change her clothes before running ahead of John and Weaver to board the helicopter. However, there was one item she did not remove, her wedding ring, and pulls on the matching gloves to hide her hands.

There is one benefit of John taking her Harley. Cameron pulls something from a lower shelf and unwraps it. She the shoulder mounted missile launcher in the cradle on the motocross bike. If John had taken this bike, there would have been no means of carrying the missile launcher on the Harley. But he'd better take damn good care of my bike.

She pushes the bike outside, closes the door, and then drives off following John and the T-888's, at her own pace. Regular transmissions from the T-888's keep her appraised of their position and situation. No need to reveal herself unless it becomes necessary.

As she follows John Connor, her thoughts turn back to a conversation now taking place several miles away in a helicopter now making its way to the Sierra Nevada. Cameron can only believe it was her own ignorance and Weaver's need of her which saved her own life.

**2027, Day 63, July 23, 6:00 AM**

The helicopter flies through the early morning skies unmolested. Sky Net's machines are busy elsewhere this morning.

The respite allows its two occupants to concentrate. One on its present task, and the other on the tasks that has been entrusted for her to do. She wasn't ordered to do it, she wasn't programmed with anything beyond the information she would need to know. He only told her of the situation and asked her to help him. She didn't know why, but it seemed the most natural thing to say yes, and there would be a benefit to helping him, she would find a part of herself that has been hidden away, and help two people live.

Nearly an hour into the flight, Catherine asks Cameron a question. "Cameron, would you do something for me when you return to 2009?"

"What do you want me to do?" She asks in her quiet demeanor.

"My daughter, Savannah. She was six years old when I had to leave her behind. The people who came after myself and John, and his mother are after her too."

"Are you asking me to protect her?"

"Yes, but she will need rescuing first. She is in danger and you are the only one who can do it."

"Give me details. If it can be done without interfering with my other missions, I will help your daughter."

"A few days before I had to leave, my daughter came under attack. Your other self, John and his family rescued Savannah. Nothing else happened to her after that. I thought she would be safe. I was wrong."

Catherine continues to tell Cameron of what happened to Savannah after she left her behind and where Cameron will find her and rescue her. Her knowledge is scant, based only on what little information Savannah told her. Despite having an excellent memory, Savannah's recall was clouded by her emotions at the time. By the time Catherine is done telling Cameron all she needs to know, they are landing on the grounds outside the entrance to an ancient cold-war bunker.

# # #

On Sky Net's vast network it pursues the infiltrator relentlessly. Like some great chess match, the player's make feints and attacks, losing and winning ground, yet neither gaining an upper hand in the great cyber struggle.

Sky Net reacts as if it were the target of the attack, and yet finds itself blindsided when its opponent instead goes after a communication node, then it goes after an automated factory, then targets the satellites, then goes after it, then targets some other resource. Never sitting still like it knew exactly what Sky Net would do before it did. Sky Net realized that its opponent could only be one person.

John Henry uses all his skills and knowledge to keeps Sky Net distracted from his true purpose and as long as Sky Net is busy chasing all the shadows, it won't find him. That is until John Henry finds something that he wasn't expecting. Now he must find a way to relay that information to his friends without drawing Sky Net's attention before he finishes his task or else someone will die.

Back at Pendleton, John Henry has been sitting passively for hours while hacking into Sky Net's network. Kyle stretches and yawns. He is tired. He's been awake now for nearly twenty-four hours, but he was entrusted by John Henry to destroy him if he is taken over by Sky Net.

It's been only he and John Henry the last few hours. The technicians took to their beds a while ago. After John Henry plugged himself into the network, there wasn't anything for them to do but just monitor the data, and the computers could log that information automatically. So Kyle has only had himself for company the last few hours. He's used to long hours by himself standing guard, just never in a situation where he might be guarding himself.

Hearing a noise from somewhere behind him, Kyle turns to see Savannah walking into the room, yawning.

"Morning Savannah. What can I do for you?" He says, sounding groggy himself.

Savannah's eyes are red from lack of sleep and crying. She looks about then asks, "Morning Kyle. Have you seen John this morning? I haven't seen him since Sarah's memorial service."

"John and Catherine left after the memorial service by helicopter. They took Sarah's casket with them. John was going to bury her someplace in the mountains, safe from Sky Net."

"I wish he told me. I would have gone with them." She says with genuine concern. "Sarah was like a mom to me. I knew she would die someday, just not like that. I really wished I could have said goodbye one last time."

"I know what you mean, but I don't think John was thinking very clearly. He seemed pretty determined to go it alone." Kyle says with a frown as he didn't agree with that decision. "But Catherine went with him, if that's any consolation."

"Some. John can be just as stubborn as his mother. Did Allison go with them? I haven't seen her this morning either."

"No, she didn't. She might be still asleep. She's typically an early riser like myself, but yesterday wasn't exactly a normal day. Allison's been through a hell of a lot in her life. Yesterday was the day she had been dreaming of, until it turned into that nightmare." Kyle's voice gradually got more somber. It wasn't a good day for John either. It was no wonder he wanted time alone. Stupid, but understandable.

Breaking free of his reverie Kyle says, "Hey! Did you check the medical center? She might be helping treat the injured soldiers. She is a fully trained medic now, and she was always helping Doc at the outpost."

"No, I haven't. I'll check the medical center later." Savannah stares at John Henry. "What's John Henry doing?"

"He is hacking into Sky Net's network to get intelligence."

"That sounds dangerous. We did something similar at Crystal Peak, but it was a passive system. The old defense computers were still hooked up to the network and we used them to monitor when the satellites were passing overhead. One of our team members took a motorcycle to an observatory nearby and used the telescopes to verify that the satellites were passing over according to the information obtained. It was how we were able to operate unmolested all these years and travel to Pendleton unharmed."

Kyle is astonished by what he's been told. He shifts his weight, setting the rifle on the floor leaning against one of the servers.

Shocked, she asks, " Why are you standing guard with that gun?"

"John Henry asked me to kill him if Sky Net takes over his system." He replies calmly.

Savannah eyes grow wide with fear.

"It's all right." He places his hand on her shoulder. "He's got multiple firewalls, whatever they are, to protect himself. It is very unlikely I'll have to shoot him." Kyle gives her a reassuring smile.

"I hope not. He was my childhood friend. He and John Connor saved my life when I was very young."

"Don't worry. Shooting him is not something I plan on doing unless I have no other choice." He says with genuine compassion.

Savannah's attention is suddenly distracted by a sudden change in one of the monitors. "What's that?"

"What's what?" Kyle asks, trying to figure out what she is looking at.

"The video on that monitor changed." Savannah says pointing.

Kyle and Savannah walk past John Henry to look at the monitor. The video has change from streams of data to a live video feed from high overhead. As they watch the video, they can make out an object moving swiftly along a twisting mountain road. It appears to be followed by a larger object and several smaller ones.

"It looks like video feed from a satellite." Savannah says, from experience.

"John Henry did it! He's hacked into Sky Net's satellite system!" Kyle shouts.

Just then another monitor next to it changes to show video coming from something pursuing someone on a motorcycle. The hood of a Humvee quickly appears and disappears in the video as whatever the camera is mounted on swoops and weaves back and forth through the air. Bright flashes can be seen as bullets hit the pavement behind the motorcyclist. The video becomes steady long enough for a clear view of the rider of the motorcycle. Data streams across the bottom of the video indicating that whatever is chasing the driver is arming missiles. The rider looks over his shoulder and the video quickly zooms in on his face. It is John Connor!

"Dammit! I knew something like this would happen!" Kyle shouts in panic, his tiredness quickly forgotten.

Sky Net is pleased. John Henry has made a mistake and revealed himself on its network. It only remains to trace his signal to the source and either destroy him, or use him to destroy others where Kreilley failed.

But Sky Net got one thing wrong. It wasn't a mistake. John Henry revealed himself in the final stratagem to distract Sky Net from the virus he's unleashed on it's communication network. It will be a gradual process as the virus spreads out then at the schedule time it will shutdown communications and rewrite the codes for access. Now he only has to keep Sky Net busy for as long as he can until John Connor is safe.

# # #

"What is this place?" Cameron asks Catherine as they walk to the bunker's entrance.

"It was a fallout shelter built during the cold war in the 1960's. The mountain is called Crystal Peak. I bought it from the government in 2007 and used it as a remote lab for security. If Judgment Day comes before we return, you need to bring Sarah and Savannah here. I'll show you how to gain entry and disable the fail safe mechanism."

The two of them walk inside the hanger that disguises the entrance and through the empty hanger to the blast doors on the far side. Catherine shows Cameron the codes she will need to use to gain entry and then how to disable the timer on the self destruct mechanism.

"How is this place powered?" Cameron asks as they make their way through to an upper level.

"There is a small nuclear powered generator on another level with several diesel generators for backup. The nuclear generator is disabled, only the diesel generators function now. There is only enough fuel left to generate sufficient power for a single temporal transfer."

Catherine Weaver operates the hidden mechanism for opening the camouflage doors to the hidden chambers. "If you do bring Sarah and Savannah here because of Judgment Day, these rooms must be kept secret and you must make sure sufficient fuel is left to operate the TDE."

Barely had the thought formed and before her mouth shaped the words, Catherine realized she is responsible for the disabling of her base of operations. But like John Connor, saving someone in the past is more important than the present.

Without missing a beat, she asks,"Do you have the coordinates for where and when John wants you to be sent?"

"Yes." Cameron says handing Catherine a slip of paper as they enter the room where Catherine's Time Displacement Equipment is constructed.

"Nothing inorganic will travel through. No metals, no equipment of any kind. You will need to obtain clothing and weapons on your arrival."

"I know. I have full details on the operational parameters of all forms of time displacement equipment and their limitations. All I need I have in here."

Cameron steps up onto the platform, taking her place at its exact center. Catherine turns on the generators from her remote panel. The lights come on in the room and the control panel for her T D E activates. She only has to wait for the capacitor's to fully charge before activating.

"Catherine?"

"Yes Cameron?"

"You should know, John also asked me to save Savannah. He had more details than you. I told him yes."

Catherine looks somewhat surprised as she punches in the relevant data. "Thank you, Cameron."

The energy field starts to build and electric sparks radiate about the room. The temporal sphere begins to form around Cameron. Suddenly with a flash it disappears. Shortly afterwards the panel goes off followed by the lights. The emergency lights come on bathing everything in a pale yellowish light.

"You see John Henry. I do love Savannah even if she isn't my daughter." Catherine says to the empty room.

Utilizing the emergency lights, she checks her communicator for any signals from the cable formed from her body. She's disappointed to realize its own power source must have been depleted and that John must not have it plugged into his computer where it recharges. She couldn't tell him to reattach it without giving away why. She had a difficult enough time in convincing the boy to keep it in the first place. But he will need if he is to survive.

She quickly leaves the bunker and walks back out to the helicopter. There is just enough fuel to get her back to Pendleton, but she needs to go somewhere else and there is only enough fuel to get her halfway there. Then she will have to walk the rest of the way.

Cameron is keeping close tabs on John Connor and his security team when her internal chronometer alerts her to the time. Catherine Weaver has just used the T D E to send her back to 2008. To a time just prior Sarah going off on her own on a reckless quest. Looking back on her arrival, she is thankful her benefactor had a Harley. It was fast, very fast, and purple!

**2008, December, dawn**

Cows are quietly dozing in the early morning hours at a ranch in the California hills. A gust of wind blows and a spark of lightening flashes in the clear dawn air sending the cows scurrying and mooing.

The lightening continues to flash as a glowing sphere forms next to the fence. The sphere grows transparent and disappears revealing a naked girl kneeling in the dusty soil and a hole in the fence in the form of a perfect circle.

Cameron rises up and scans the area around her. Twenty cows running away from her. One barn no clothing there and the only available transportation is a tractor. Riding a tractor without clothing would certainly draw attention to herself. Across the wide yard is a house. Must be clothing and transportation there.

As Cameron walks toward the house, a small white dog comes running out a pet door towards her barking like its fur was on fire. Cameron flashes her eyes and says quietly, "Go away."

The little dog darts away as fast as its little legs can carry it, with its tail between its legs yelping for all the world, scaring the cows even more.

"Stop fussing Curly. Momma will be home later." A woman's voice comes from inside the house.

Cameron watches a woman exits the house wearing a set of motorcycle leathers and walks toward a Harley parked in the shadows of a lean to shed.

She approaches purposefully as the woman straddles her bike.

The woman is adjusting her hair prior to putting on the helmet when she sees the nude girl with a wide blank face quickly approaching her in the early dawn. She quickly thinks the girl must be shocked or in some kind of daze as she shows no emotion.

"Oh my God! Are you okay? Do you want me to call 9 -1-1?"

Cameron steps up to her and smiles. "I like your motorcycle."

Five minutes later the woman sits gagged and tied to a kitchen chair wearing nothing more than her bra and panties. The girl took her cash, her brand new motorcycle leathers and her Harley. She screams against the gag as she struggles to free her hands. The woman realizes there is another cause for the girl's expressionless face, she's probably a psychopath.

Cameron pushes the motorcycle to its limits. She has little time to act, to gather necessary weapons and materials. Based on the position of the stars, she has less than forty-eight hours before Sarah Connor wil be shot at Desert Heat and Air.

Cameron finishes accessing her file of when she acquired the Harley. With some disappointment in her current all-terrain motorcycle, she turns up the throttle. She can only hope that John will take care of her Harley. She loves that bike.

**2027, Day 63, July 23, 6:30 AM**

The UH-60 Black Hawk flies through the air over the desert under expert skill. The pilot, a veteran of the long war against the machines in the western states of New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah, controls the helicopter with an ease and grace of long experience. There are no wasted movements. Each move is only made when necessary.

The Black Hawk has been modified since its time as an Army transporter. Instead of the machine gun mounts at the windows between the pilot doors and the main cabin doors, operated by independent soldiers, there are twin 20mm canons mounted under the cab, remote operated by the pilot. A weapons control system, adopted from another helicopter for operating the missiles, is in the copilots section . The missiles plus two external fuel tanks are mounted on ESS stub wings.

A fringe of dark red hair peeks out from under the helmet of the pilot. A light smile just barely turns up the corners of her mouth. No matter the job, she still gets a thrill from flying. The cut guy beside her is also plus, but she's had no luck in getting him to talk since taking off. Derek Reese shows more interest in sleeping and one thing she doesn't like is when a cute guy ignores her.

Kate lets the helicopter drop suddenly and then recovers, causing Derek Reese to fly up out of his seat and land back in it with a shout.

"Sorry, turbulence." She says quickly, thinking, that was a feeble excuse.

"So, what's your story?" She asks again, but Derek just mumbles something about women pilots and tries to settle in to sleep.

Fairly pissed off with his attitude, she shouts, "Listen buddy. We're going to be flying in this crate for a couple of hours, and as much as I like peace and quiet, having a passenger sulking for the entire trip is not my idea of a fun trip."

He just looks over at her. "I'm not sulking. I'm just tired, and the name is Derek Reese. Call me buddy one more time, and my next reply will be with my fist."

"Well, Derek Reese. My name is Major Kate Brewster. You try and throw a punch at me and I'll break your goddamn arm then toss you out my bird."

After a moment, Derek smiles. "I like you."

"Yeah." She smiles dryly. "That's what they all say until they learn that I can out fly them or out fight them. So Reese, what's your story?"

"Well, since you asked so nicely, my story in a nutshell is this. I led resistance group Grizzly for ten years. I was then captured and forced to work in a Sky Net work camp. I was tortured, worked and tortured for over a month. Led a rebellion, killed that twisted bastard, Fischer, who tortured me. Then General Perry and his men overran the prison and got us free. Now I am flying in this bird with you. What's your story?"

"Before Judgment Day I had completed medical school, had my pilots license and was thinking of working with Doctors without Borders in Central America. Then J-day came I went to work for my dad, General Brewster. I then became a fully trained surgeon, and learned to fly nearly every aircraft still flyable in the US Military. Now I'm flying you, and a bunch of medical supplies out to Camp Pendleton. I've inflicted as much damage to the enemy from behind a flight stick as I've treated humans for injuries. Don't know which I like more."

"I'll give you the answer to that one." Derek says with a crooked grin.

"Which is?" Kate replies glancing at the rough looking

"Killing metal."

They both laugh.

**2027, Day 63, July 23, 6:45 AM**

The drones fly through the night air, searching for the signal. It's low power but in an atmosphere free of radio signals of the pre-judgment day civilization, the signal stands out like sentinel crying out, here I am!

Communicating with Sky Net that they've tracked down the target, they are ordered to begin their attack. Though there was a slightly longer than usual delay between communications, the drones ignored it as it wasn't their problem. Sky Net was busy hunting down the infiltrator on its network.

The drones get into attack formation and whether it was happenstance that one of the T-888's look up and behind them at that moment, or whether it felt the buzz of the drones communications on its transceiver is not known, but it wasted no time in transmitting what it sees to his companion and to the cyborg following them.

Cameron accelerates, closing the distance between herself and the cyborgs protecting John Connor. She crests a hill just in time to see a T-888 open fire with one of the weapons he took from the garage.

John Connor is enjoying the ride when his euphoria is interrupted by heavy gunfire from behind.

Looking over his shoulder he sees an HK drone come flying in over the Humvee. It has a single 20mm cannon mounted on its underside and a bank of three missiles under each wing. As he watches several more come flying up along side the first.

"Oh shit!" he says and hits the accelerator.

John weaves back and forth to avoid being hit. The machines behind him in the Humvee open fire with their automatic weapons on the HK drones.

He manages to evade being fired upon by the HK's cannons when they suddenly begin firing their missiles. Three fly over his head, one exploding about 50 yards in front of him while the other two hits on either side of the road.

He just barely avoids the flying debris as he maneuvers the bike through the smoke and dust.

A T-888 climbs up through the hatch and begins operating the roof mounted mini-gun. The small and fast HK drones zip and dash about like mosquitoes avoiding being swatted. The T-888 with the mini has trouble hitting them because of their quick movements, but he prevents the HK's from making accurate shots at John.

Watching carefully the terminator handling the mini-gun shoots down one of the HK's by targeting its missile racks. The missiles explode taking the HK with it. Using the same method, he manages to shoot down two more. They aren't armored like their bigger brothers.

Out of the remaining five, two of the drones sweep around behind the Humvee and begin firing on it. Spinning the mini gun around, the T-888 fires on the pursuing HK's. Eventually one of the HK's fires it missiles at the Humvee and it blows up, taking the triple-8's with it. John nearly loses control of his motorcycle from the force of the blast, but he manages to regain control.

The HK drones continue to pursue him. He's gained some distance as the HK's had to work to avoid the gunfire from the triple-8's, but now that they and the Humvee are gone, the drones are catching up.

John pulls to the side of the road and stops the bike. He leaps off and dives for cover behind a fallen tree. Grabbing his rifle he opens fire on the approaching HK drones.

As the HK drones come sweeping in firing their weapons, John begins firing his plasma rifle on the leading drone. He hits its nose where its targeting sensors would be located and then fires on the missiles still on their racks. They explode taking the HK with it. The last two drones fly off.

He is surprised when the HK's go flying off. He walks back to his motorcycle. It is undamaged. A roaring sound comes to his ears. He looks back up the road, whence he came, and can see motorcycles approaching. Each is manned by a machine with plasma rifles mounted on the bikes. They begin firing at him. John hits the throttle and takes off with a roar.

John's got the throttle wide open. The twists and turns of the mountain road nearly kills him as he takes the turns far faster than what is safe, but slowing down makes him an easier target for the pursuing metal.

Beams of plasma shoot past him and hit objects on the side of the road as he keeps weaving back and forth.

"Why the hell didn't I listen to Kyle and Allison?" John says as the metal gets ever closer.

**2027, Day 63, July 23, 7:15 AM**

The video feed from the HK disappear in a bright flash.

"Son of a bitch!" Kyle exclaims.

He steps in front of John Henry who is staring blankly ahead.

"Where is he?" Kyle shouts at him.

There is no response from John Henry.

"Dammit John Henry! Where the hell is John Connor?"

Savannah shouts excitedly, "He heard you! Look! The picture has changed! It looks like a map."

Kyle quickly moves to her side. "It's not just a map. The satellite image is superimposed over it."

They watch the video about a minute.

"I know where he is." Kyle says. "We flew over that area to get here."

"Where is he?"

"Just stay here with John Henry. I'm going to arrange a rescue." With those words, Kyle hands her the plasma rifle and runs from the room.

Savannah looks at the plasma rifle and then at John Henry.

"Take care of yourself John Henry. I don't want to kill you."

She turns to watch the video and doesn't see the warning message on the screen behind her saying the first firewall has been breeched.

# # #

There is no scarier sight in the world then an outlaw motorcycle gang. Except for a motorcycle gang made up of nasty terminators with plasma rifles.

John pushes the Harley to the fastest speed he can mange on the twisting mountain road. The twists and turns are slightly to his advantage as it keeps him moving so the endo's don't get a clear shot. But then they don't have to worry about crashing and killing themselves either and are quickly catching up with him.

Unable to fire on the machines coming up behind him, he reaches into the saddlebag and pulls out a pipe bomb. Giving the timer a quick turn with his teeth he then throws the pipe bomb behind him.

It hits the road with a clatter and explodes before the first motorcycle even gets to it.

"Damn!" John swears and reaches for another pipe bomb.

He twists the timer once again just a little further than before. He throws it behind him where it clatters on the pavement.

This time it doesn't explode until they pass it.

"Damn!" John swears again and hits the accelerator. He dare not risk all of it. There's gotta be a better method.

All this time plasma beams have shooting all around him, some bouncing off the chrome of the bike some just missing him. He's got to do something soon or he's going to end up dead.

He lets out a yell as one beam just clips his upper left arm, striking the mirror causing it to explode.

He takes a hard turn and plasma beams shoot past him hitting a tree in front of him. The base of the tree explodes in flames and begins to topple across the road. John hits the accelerator and just squeezes under the falling tree before it crashes down behind John blocking the road. The pursuing endo's slow down to find a way to get around it. John wastes no time. He will only have a minute or perhaps only seconds to set a trap.

Accelerating down the road as fast as he can, he begins looking for a place to lay in a trap.

**2027, Day 63, July 23, 7:20 AM**

A group of CH-47 Chinooks and Ch-46 Sea Knights fly across the southwestern desert from Arizona into California. They are escorted by AH-1 Super Cobra's and AH-64 Apache's. High in the sky above them are fighter jets of various types and ages. They have many F/A-18 Hornets, F-16 Falcons and F-22 Raptors, even a few old F-14 Tomcats rescued from the airplane graveyard.

Major General Justin Perry rides in back of one of the Chinooks. Across from him sits his friend, General Robert Brewster.

"What are you thinking Preston?" The aged but tough Air Force General asks his friend.

"I'm thinking about how to handle this situation with Grizzly. They're wanting to handle the main campaign seems a trifle arrogant to me." The Marine lets out sigh sounding more like a bark over the headset. "And this information from Derek Reese on John Connor puts a whole new light on the situation as well. I wasn't expecting him to be so young."

"The information I had from the T-850 never said how old he would be, and like you, I did expect him to be older. But you and I have read the files on John Connor, he is the prophesied leader that will lead us to victory over Sky Net. Maybe this Reese is just angling for a reason to get his command back."

"He doesn't know, or at least he didn't before leaving. I requested your daughter inform him of the situation regarding Grizzly."

"If that argument is out of the fire, then the only reason you're pissed is because Grizzly wants to take the main action and you know they've got the ground forces to pull it off, and you don't. Isn't it?"

Justin takes one look at the smile on his friends face and grins back.

"Dammit. Its true, but I think we might be able to sabotage Sky Net in a critical way. That second flight by the spy plane revealed the Serrano Point nuclear power plant is still operational. That is the last piece of ground we defended in 2018 before pulling out at the Battle of Avila Beach. I think Serrano Point is where its getting its power from. It would certainly explain the huge fight it made to take it from our hands."

"So you think you cut the power cord and kill the computer. A good plan, but surely it would have back up generators at Topanga. Sky Net could keep operating for hours, maybe days, while more machines arrive. If Connor doesn't destroy Sky Net's computer core within hours of his attack, then the resistance would be finished."

"So, even if we do kill the power, and hold Serrano Point, we've still managed to cut its main source of power. Which leaves the final victory down to the effectiveness of their plan. What do you think of it?" Perry asks.

"It is daring, bold and unconventional, that's for certain. Connor has definitely drawn on some classic military maneuvers from history and added some twists." Brewster pauses, musing over the plan. In all the years planning combined air and ground battles with his friend Preston, he thought he'd seen it all. Maybe it does take a younger mind with fresh ideas to pull off something this big. Besides, he and his daughter had some idea this was coming. Maybe John Connor is as young as Derek Reese says, but he's seen young men and women lead squads, platoons, etc., so why not an army?

"I think it will work and if we can effectively time events of both attacks, then we might actually pull it off. We'd have to interrupt Sky Net's communications first." He finally says, to a grim but pleasant smile of his friend. "What?"

"Something I hadn't told you yet. Something Colonel Kyle Reese said on the radio yesterday evening. He said they were hacking into Sky Net's satellite and computer network. We've been trying that for years without success. If they pull that off, then this battle could very will succeed."

"How are they doing it?"

"I imagine they must have put a machine on it. Almost a third of their forces are machines, and their Colonel Henry is a machine. If anything can hack into Sky Net it would be one of them."

Brewster just shakes his head. No one in the regular forces had figured out the machines programming. By his very actions he had the machines destroyed in 2004. If he kept the good one, or just his processor. No. The machine warned him that would just bring about Sky Net again. Everything had to be destroyed. Ten years of work and his career over. He never rose above Brigadier General and was shuffled from one thankless job to the next. The single stars on epaulets used to fill him with shame but Judgment Day changed that. Since then he's been proud of those single stars as he's watched men and women battle machines and soon he might even see . . .

"Machines fighting machines." Perry says, echoing Brewster's thoughts. "I can hardly believe it. Why is it no one in the regular forces figured out how to reprogram them? How does John Connor know this stuff?"

"You'll just have to ask him when we get there. He sounds like a damn miracle worker to me. The reports that Captain Beddell sent in have nothing but praise for Connor. Beddell was a good judge of character. No one has ever pulled the wool over his eyes."

"Excuse me Generals," The pilot shouts. "But we are getting a radio message from Major Brewster. Do you want me to patch it through to your headsets or do you want to come up front?"

"Patch it through to me now." General Brewster shouts. His daughter wouldn't break radio silence unless it was important.

"This is Major Kate Brewster on flight from Yuma to Pendleton. We are under attack. Repeat. We are under attack. Requesting immediate assistance!"

**2027, Day 63, July 23, 7:30 AM**

Kyle runs through the corridor and into the officer's lounge.

"Who's in charge of transportation?"

Several faces look up from books and cups of water.

"Chief Williams is in charge of transportation." One of the young soldiers offer.

"Where can I find him?" Kyle shouts at him.

"More than likely in the motor pool."

"Where is it?"

"You need to go down this corridor and take the elevator..."

"Dammit I haven't got time for this." Kyle grabs the man by the arm. "Just take me there now!"

Kyle runs down the corridor half dragging and half being led by the soldier.

He arrives at the motor pool. "Where's the friggin' transport officer?" Kyle shouts.

"Over here. What can I do for you?" A tall woman in greasy overall's comes out from under a truck with a wrench in her hand.

"I need transportation now. General Connor is in trouble!"

"I've got three Humvees and a few jeeps ready for use."

"I'll take a Humvee." He turns and shouts at the man he dragged with him. "You! Get back inside rouse up some soldiers and get me a radio and some weapons. Also get a radio to Captain Weaver. She is in the computer room. Hurry!" Kyle shouts and gives the soldier a shove.

"I need this truck fueled and ready to go in five minutes!"

**2027, Day 63, July 23, 7:50 AM**

Two of the machines stopped and got off their motorcycles. Walking to the tree they picked it up and threw it to one side allowing the rest of their group to continue. Moving quickly, they caught up to the rest of their motorcycle gang of Endo's.

John can't see them yet but he can hear them. If he doesn't find a spot to set a trap soon he'll be dead, either from wrecking the bike or getting hit by plasma.

Over the course of time, the deer population grew and spread throughout the mountains after Judgment Day. One of these deer hearing the unaccustomed sound of a roaring motorcycle leaps out into the road right in John Connors path.

With no time to swerve to avoid the sudden apparition blocking his path, Johns lays the bike down on its side just before impacting the deer. The Harley strikes the deer and both slide off onto the shoulder as John tumbles down the road.

With a gasp, he roles onto his back, trying to get air back into his lungs. The rumble of the motorcycles, whether transfered through the air or the pavement, suddenly gets him back on his feet. He rushes to his Harley only to find it too damaged to ride.

Somehow, the deer got tangled up with the bike as it slid down the road, which gives him an idea. Slipping off his helmet and jacket, he puts them on the deers body, thanking his luck, if luck is what it can be called, that the deer is a doe, as she shoves his helmet over its head.

"Wouldn't fool a six year old." He grumbles, grabbing the saddle bags and running for the other side of the road. "But the machines will have to stop to check it out."

Reaching the other side, he takes one glance up the road, then scurries up the slope to the top of the hill, using the brush and trees to screen him from view.

He slips his backpack off and lays his rifle down beside him. Opening up the saddle bags, he mixes the power packs with the pipe bombs. He hates the idea of using all of them, but they could be widely spaced and he's going to have to create as much destruction as possible in one go.

The endo's are approaching fast. He watches them approach. They suddenly slow down when they see his bike and what could be a body laying beside it. Timing is critical, he waits for them to bunch up as the endo's in the lead slow down, then stop.

He sets the timers on two pipe bombs and drops them in each pocket of the saddle bag.

The first machine has just gotten off his motorcycle and is approaching the wreck when John throws the bag up into the air and waits for it to land.

The Endo's in the back are pulling up their rifles to fire, but the bag hides the contents. It strikes the pavement in the midst of the machines and explodes sending both motorcycles and machines scattering in parts and pieces. Fuel tanks ignite and explode creating even more damage. By the time the power cells and fuel stop exploding there is very little left of the machines or their motorcycles still operational. Thought there are a few torsos dragging themselves on the pavement.

As soon as John threw the bag, he threw himself to the ground and curled up in a tight ball. He barely hit the ground, inhaling some dust, when the bombs exploded. Clapping his hands over his ears as the cacophony of further explosions rang out, he scrambled to avoid the shrapnel raining down all around him. The ground on either side of the road is ignited by the flaming debris.

When the shrapnel stopped falling, John slowly got up and observed the wreckage below. He picks up his backpack and rifle and walks down the hill. He hesitates a moment before breaking cover. John doesn't see or hear anything else approaching. He cautiously walks out onto the road.

Pieces of motorcycles and machines litter the road. Seeing two machines still struggling to move despite their damage, he takes his plasma rifle and blasts the two moving endo's. They don't move again.

John looks around. He is still miles from Pendleton and still deep in the mountains. He reclaims his jacket from the deer carcass and slips it back on. It will be a long walk back to Pendleton, and the mountain air is still chilly. Shouldering the rifle he begins the long walk back to base.

He doesn't walk more than a few feet when the two drones that flew off return, firing their 20 mm cannons. With a curse, John runs swiftly and dives to the side of the road as the two small HK's fly past. He can only imagine the drones must have got word from the Endo's before he blasted them.

Blood trickles down his left arm from a new flesh wound. He gets up and fires the plasma rifle at the departing HK's. The shots miss and he quickly moves deep under cover of the trees and brush.

The HK's swing around and they switch to thermal imaging. They see John Connor behind some brush as he raises his weapon to fire. The HK drones arm their missiles. The plasma beam John fires hits the sensors on the lead drone. Its shots go awry impacting the side of the hill further up the road.

The other fires its missile just as it gets hit from behind by a missile from some unknown location. The three missiles it fires goes off in crazy directions. John runs like hell and leaps for cover to avoid the missiles but they hit far from where he was hidden.

The wreckage of the drone falls nearby as the other drone spins around to face this new threat.

John looks as well and sees a what might be a human motorcyclist further up the road brandishing a missile launcher.

The drone begins firing its cannon at the motorcyclist, each impact blowing shards of asphalt into the air as the path of bullets get closer to its target. Undaunted, the motorcyclist loads another missile into the launcher and raises it to their shoulder.

Standing fearlessly as the HK approaches, the stranger fires on the HK drone as it approaches. Just before the bullets reach the person, the HK drone explodes sending wreckage flying towards the motorcyclist, who drops to the ground letting it fly past scattering across the road like a bunch of flaming litter.

John continues to watch the stranger get up, leaving the empty missile launcher on the side of the road. They drive the motorcycle slowly, weaving between the flaming wreckage, until it's opposite John Connor's hiding place.

"John Connor!" Cameron yells, modifying her voice despite it being muffled by the helmet.

"Who are you?" John shouts back from his hiding place.

"A friend. Come with me if you want to live!" She isn't sure if she should reveal that it's her or her alter-ego at this point. Either choice has consequences and benefits for them both.

John doesn't have much choice so he goes forward.

Even in the dim light of the early morning hours, he still can't make out who or what the person is under the leather outfit and full helmet. One thing is noticeable, she's female.

"Who are you?" He asks the person once again.

"I am your friend. There will be more machines coming after you. We need to leave."

He strains to understand the voice, but it is too muffled for him to recognize the voice.

"Give me your belt." John tells her. She is wearing a long belt that wraps at least twice around its waist, holding close to its body what otherwise would be a rather loose fitting leather jacket.

The motorcyclist removes its belt and hands it to John. He takes it and walks over to where he destroyed the endo's. Using his rifle he blasts the head off each one.

"You are wasting time collecting trophies." The motorcyclist admonishes him.

Taking the heads he snakes the belt through the open mouth of each one and buckles the belt. Slinging it over his shoulder he walks back and climbs on the motorcycle behind the driver.

"These aren't trophies. The chips can provide us with good intelligence."

"That's good. You are thinking like a soldier." She says, rather proud that he would think that far ahead, but worried as it took precious time.

The motorcyclist drives off, John clinging to the driver tentatively.

"Where are we going?" John hollers above the noise of the motorcycle and the wind.

"I am taking you back to Camp Pendleton or if I can't, to a location where your friends can find you. You were careless John. You should have trusted your friends and told them what you were really doing last night. Then you would have had soldiers with you to protect you. Your life is too important to take such risks." Cameron scolds him. If john just explained things to Kyle, he might have found a stronger ally than what he thought and she wouldn't of had to follow him. However, she got intelligence on Weaver she wouldn't of had otherwise. So it wasn't a complete waste.

John grins at the scolding. "I know who you are now. There are only two people I ever knew who would scold me like that. You're Cameron aren't you?"

"What if I am?"

"Then we need to talk. I've got some questions for you. Like how do you know so much? Where I've been and what I've told my friends."

"I've been watching you, but we haven't got time to talk right now. I need to get you out of here. It's too dangerous for you to be alone."

John smiles. The person didn't confirm she was Cameron, but she agreed to talk. And unless his hands were lying, it was definitely a girl's shaped body under all that leather he was holding onto.

**2027, Day 63, July 23, 7:50 AM**

Kate has been bringing Derek up-to date with the latest news of the resistance, when she drops a bombshell.

"John Connor is leading Grizzly now? You gotta be shittin' me." Derek asks incredulously.

"That's the word coming in from Pendleton. He's got a whole damn army with him."

"What about my brother Kyle?"

"He's a Colonel serving under General Connor."

"General? General! He's just a goddamn kid. How the friggin' hell did he get to be General?"

"I don't know. You're going to have to ask your brother."

"Damn right I am."

"Maybe they saw in him the leader he is prophesied to be. Try having some faith."

"Faith? Listen, I like the kid. He's got something, but I don't know what. Certainly the makings of damn fine soldier, even an officer, but General. Sorry if I don't find that a little unbelievable. Besides, any faith I had, was lost in that Sky Net work camp. All I want is a gun, a plan, and a target and I'll take care of the rest."

She lets his last diatribe go unanswered, but this is the second time he's referred to Connor being a kid.

"You said he is a kid. How old is he?" She asks with interest.

"I don't know. Eighteen, maybe younger, maybe older. Hard to tell. Why?"

"Oh, it's just that I used to know a John Connor when I was a teenager. I was just wondering if he was the same one that is all."

"Not likely. You're how old?"

"I wouldn't ask that if I were you." She says giving Derek a cold but humorous glance.

"Right." Derek says quickly looking out the window, looking at the long shadows below pointing west.

The UH-60 Black Hawk flies on through the early morning. The sun just a tantalizing glimpse above the eastern horizon.

"What do you know about this army of John Connor's?" Derek eventually asks.

"I only know what's come in over the radio. The resistance force in Los Angeles came under heavy attack. He led them out of the city and into the mountains. Before he did, he made a radio address calling for all people to unite to fight Sky Net. It was some speech. I heard it. After the speech, a coded signal went out calling for the various resistance groups in the area to join up at Camp Pendleton."

"That took some balls. We've spent the last dozen years trying to keep a low profile. Only fighting as necessary. I never considered such a thing myself." _Damn, and I should have_, he thinks to himself.

"Well the radio address was something to hear. Another army joined his at Camp Pendleton. According to the last radio message from Captain Beddell, the leadership of that army turned its forces over to John Connor. Right now John Connor's forces are almost four hundred strong. Did you know he has nearly 150 machines reprogrammed and fighting for him?"

"What the...? Metal! He's got metal working for him! Of all the damn stupidest things I ever heard! I can't believe Kyle would let him do that! I let him reprogram a few, but a whole damn army. I'll murder the son-of-a-bitch!"

"I wouldn't bother trying. Sky Net has already tried and failed. They lost almost thirty people in an attack on John Connor himself. He's still alive. I don't think your chances would be pretty high if metal couldn't kill him. That is why I'm flying out there. They need medical help and supplies and General Perry thought it be a nice gesture to send you ahead of the rest of the recovered Sky Net prisoners. Considering your brother is out there and your previous experience with the resistance."

"Son-of-a-bitch." Derek exclaims once again.

"When you see John Connor, I wouldn't recommend you calling him that."

"Why is that?"

"He just might kill you. His mom died defending him. She was the leader of that other army."

"Damn. I'm gone for one month and the whole friggin world changes." Derek sits back in his seat, not knowing what else to say.

"That's life. So, I'd suggest you keep your opinions guarded until you get more details."

"Listen! I didn't lead that resistance group for ten years just to turn it over to some kid! Let alone some kid that is letting metal join the resistance. We're supposed to kill the metal not welcome it!"

"I can tell you from personal experience that not all machines are bad."

Derek gives her a dismissive look. "Oh really?"

"Yes really!" she snaps. "A few years before Judgment Day I was attacked where I worked, by a female terminator. Just when I thought I was going to die, a big machine, like a T-800 saved my life. If it weren't for that T-800, Judgment Day would have come five years sooner!"

"How?"

"The first machine was different. It had built-in weapons and tools and could change its appearance into anyone it touched. There was a military project underway in the Mojave Desert. Oddly, it was called Sky Net too but nothing like the one we are fighting. It was basically a universal computerized military defense program operated by a primitive AI. The first machines purpose was to change this system into the Sky Net we are fighting. The second machine, just managed to destroy it before it could complete its goal, but not without lots of casualties."

"Why wasn't this made public? Ahh, never mind. It's a military thing."

"No. It was the government. My dad was in command of the department overseeing the new computer system. After what happened he set the bases self destruct system, destroying everything and the two machines. The government covered it up saying a forgotten cold war era nuclear bomb accidentally went off underground, but the government believed a group of foreign saboteurs or terrorists tried infiltrating the base. With nothing left of the base, government had no choice but to believe our story. Other than myself, the only person inside the military who knew what happened that day was General Perry. He and my dad are close friends. And because of those events, and what the machine told us, we've always been alert for John Connor. A few weeks ago The Prophet began broadcasting reports about a new hope coming. Then we got information confirming John Connor's arrival and . . ."

"The Prophet! You listened to that bullshit. Why? What makes John Connor so God-damned important! He's just a kid. He's got no business running my unit!"

"Well that kid, as you call him, has done more in the last several weeks than you have in ten years. His forces have tripled and half of those reprogrammed machines! Just like the one that saved my life and my dad's. That kid is the prophesied leader of the resistance and if you gave any importance at all to The Prophet you would have learned much more is at stake then your little corner of the world! Cuz sometimes when the entire world is lost, there is only one man you can turn to, and John Connor could be that very man!"

Kate's face is nearly as red as her hair in anger. Derek Reese is a cute guy but more stubborn than the pack of mules they used in Missouri to transport goods. About to launch into another argument, Kate is distracted as the radar comes on briefly displaying air traffic.

"Oh shit!" She curses as she sees the fresh data. Realizing there's no longer any need to maintain radar anonymity, she leaves it on. She's going to need it.

"What's wrong?" Derek asks, realizing the sudden change in Kate's demeanor.

"Do you know how to work that weapons console in front of you?" Kate asks calmly.

Oh fuck, this can't be good, Derek thinks stretching to look at the instruments in front of Kate.

"Uh, only what I read in the training manual while convalescing. Why?"

"Because we've got company. Three HK's in the air coming up fast from the rear. I'm going to need you to handle weapons while I fly this bird. Are you up for some action?"

Derek smiles a big grin. "Any chance to destroy metal is a good day in my book." He says as he activates the weapon's console. "Let's get those bastard's!"

"Now that's my kind of talk." Kate says with a grin as she maneuvers the helicopter into an attack position.

He might be a stubborn ass, but he's a good guy. She thinks.

**2027, Day 63, July 23, 8:20 AM**

"Come on people let's go!" Kyle shouts as he jumps into the front passenger seat. The driver is a T-800, big and mean looking with almost half his face blown off. Behind them are four soldiers in the back with plasma rifles and RPG's.

"Drive you bastard." Kyle shouts as the last men climbs on board.

"Where are we going?" The machine asks in a monotone voice.

"Uh, that way." Kyle points. "East and try and stay on the main roads until I say otherwise."

Kyle pulls the radio out. "Savannah, Do you hear me?"

"Loud and clear Kyle."

"What's John's position now?"

"He was last seen heading south, towards Escondido."

"All right. Keep me posted."

"I will and please hurry."

"Don't worry. We'll save him."

Back in the computer room Savannah is scared. She's lost Sarah. John's in trouble and her last friend in the world is presently non responsive.

"John Henry, don't lose that signal. Please." Savannah says to her friend as she watches the video feed from the satellite.

Behind her, unseen, three warning messages are showing on a monitor. Three of the firewalls are down with only two left. Another message shows up on the monitor. The fourth firewall is beginning to fail.

# # #

Despite himself, John is having a wonderful time. Riding on the back of the motorcycle, being driven by who he hopes is Cameron, is a greater thrill than riding the roller coaster at the amusement park. Her style of driving the motorcycle is manic and fast, very fast.

The thrill suddenly comes to an end when she brings the bike to a sudden stop.

"What's wrong?" John asks.

"I don't know. Something doesn't feel right. Sky Net should have done something by now. It wouldn't give up this easily."

"We're too exposed here. Maybe we should get off the road."

"I agree. Hang on!" She shouts as she hits the accelerator and spins the bike about and goes shooting down the side of the hill.

"Oh hell!" John exclaims as they go flying down the steep slope.

She deftly steers the bike around rocks, trees and brush. John sees small animals scurry out-of-the-way through narrow slits as he squints to keep the dirt out. His eyes suddenly open wide as the space in front of them becomes clear of all obstacles including land!

"What the hell are you doing?" He shouts to no avail as the motorcycle goes flying through the air. John looks down and sees the road below and a group of some of the largest endo's he has ever seen.

They land hard on the other side of the road. The motorcycle skids and slides, but the driver maintains control as the air, brush, and rocks are ripped to shreds by gun fire. The Endo's chase them firing at them with their mini-guns.

"What are those things?" John shouts over the roar of the bike and the gunfire from behind them.

"Early production models of the T-600's. The combat chassis is based on the older T-500's but it contains a lot of mechanical and electronic advances used in later production T-600's. They are durable, but slow."

Bullets fly past them barely missing them.

"Be thankful, the later models were smaller, faster and smarter. Similar to the T-800's but with synthetic rubber like flesh."

"Believe me, I am thankful." John says as more bullets fly past impacting on a tree opposite his head.

The motorcycle twists and turns around various obstacles as they are pursued by the T-600's. The driver makes a hard right nearly tipping the motorcycle as a large rock in front of them is shattered by mini-gun fire. John cries out as a piece of rock strikes him above his left eye.

Wiping the blood from his eye, he shouts, "I know we only just got off, but I think we should get back on the road!"

Without replying, she turns the motorcycle down an animal trail with barely any clearance for the bike, let alone the people on it. John hangs on tight to her as the brush threatens to tear him loose.

"The brush will impede the T-600's." she shouts. "It will give us a head start once we hit the road!"

They drive for several more yards through the thick brush before hitting a clear space. John can just make out the road, a little below and to his left.

"Hang on!" she shouts as the bike heads for a gap between two trees.

The bike shoots out between the trees into mid-air.

"Oh crap!" John yells.

They land on the road eight feet below. With a squeal of rubber on asphalt, they go flying off down the road.

After John catches his breath he shouts, "Do you think we lost them?"

"Don't know. I'm more concerned with how they found you!"

"Sky Net has satellites. It saw me and sent those metal goons after me."

"It could follow you with the satellites, but not identify you. Sky Net wouldn't go through all this trouble for a single unknown person. It knew you were out here and it waited until you were alone before attacking. You must have a tracking device on you."

"But how? Where?"

"Think John. Are you wearing anything different, anything new you weren't wearing before?"

"Except for the extra jacket I picked up at the garage, I'm wearing the same clothes I put on yesterday morning."

"What about jewelry or pins?"

"Just my wedding band. I left mom's key ring at her grave, and even if I still had it, it hadn't left me since I found your body nearly seven weeks ago."

"There's an abandoned farm up ahead. We'll stop there and go through your items."

"You're the boss."

"No John. You are. You just made a mistake and got careless. It's sometimes nice to have help."

**2027, Day 63, July 23, 8:30 AM**

The UH-60 Black Hawk flies through the air. Three full size HK's are quickly approaching from the rear. One in front is quickly outdistancing the other two.

"We'll only have one chance before those other two gets here." Kate shouts. "I can't out run them in this bird, so our first shot has got to count."

"Gotcha. Weapons system is on-line and missiles are armed."

"Don't fire more than two missiles at a time. We've only got half our normal complement due to the external fuel tanks."

"Damn!" Kate shouts as she sharply pulls back on the stick as a wide plasma beam is fired at them.

"Those things never fire from such a distance. These HK's are either inexperienced, or they've changed tactics. Hang on Derek. I'm taking this bird on a dive."

Without another word of warning, Kate shoves the stick forward and dives the helicopter at a sharp angle ducking down below the oncoming HK's.

"Get ready to fire, we're taking out the trailing HK."

The helicopter sweeps up and spins like a ballerina doing a pirouette.

"Target acquired."

"Fire dammit."

Two missiles go streaking forward and hit the trailing HK's port engine. The engine explodes taking the port wing with it. The HK dives in a spin. Its other two engines trying to control its descent, but it still crashes and explodes upon hitting the ground.

Without watching it go down, Kate sharply turns the helicopter so it is nearly on its side. She banks hard to port where Derek can see the other two HK's closing in.

"Target the right HK." Kate shouts.

"But the left one is nearer." Derek argues.

"Dammit Derek, just fire on the right one!"

Two missiles go streaking out as the HK on the left makes a sharp turn crossing in front of the other HK. The missiles strike the HK's belly exploding. The HK flips over right into the path of the other HK. They strike each other exploding.

"How the hell did you know that HK was going to pass in front of the other?" Derek shouts.

"I didn't. It was just plain dumb luck the first flew in front of the other. But it's a classic maneuver with one HK flying slightly ahead and to one side of the other. The idea is that the leading machine will be attacked. So instead I had you fire at the trailing machine. It would have had its weapons ready to shoot us while we engaged the other. I'm surprised they were destroyed so easily. They must have been unarmored scouts."

There is a sudden loud explosion and the helicopter shakes.

"We've just lost our starboard external fuel tank! Damn! We're not out of this yet. We've got five more HK's approaching and I don't think they're scouts!"

"Then let's get some damn help or get the hell out of the air."

"Nearest help is about half an hour behind us. I didn't want to do this but we are breaking radio silence."

Kate reaches over and flips on the radio and turns the frequency to the right channel.

"This is Major Kate Brewster calling Desert Eagle Air Command. Do you copy?"

No answer.

"This is Major Brewster on flight from Yuma to Pendleton. We are under attack. Repeat. We are under attack. Requesting immediate assistance!"

"Kate! This Dad. What's your location?"

"We are just east of the Salton Sea and are being attacked by five HK's. We've lost one of our external fuel tanks. I request immediate assistance."

"Don't worry honey. I'm sending fighter jets to your location now." General Brewster holds the mike to one side. "Pilot get a message to the squadron leaders. I want as many jets as they can spare sent there right now!"

"Yes sir." the pilot responds as he switches the secondary radio over to the squadron leaders frequency.

General Brewster lets go of the mike. "Kate I'm scrambling some jets to your location now."

"Affirmative. They'd better hurry. We're running out of missiles and we're low on fuel!" she says just as Derek fires two missiles at one of the HK's.

# # #

The T-600's march through the undergrowth until they reach the road. They may not be as intelligent as the T-800's but they have one sole purpose. Hunt and kill all humans. Their primary target, John Connor.

The motorcycle he was on may have been fast but it left marks on the road to indicate its direction. But they aren't relying on tracks alone. The leading machine has a tracker. John Connor is traveling fast and heading south.

The lead T-600 attempts to communicate their findings but is unable to make contact on any satellite signal. It switches over to shortwave radio, but the mountains provide an effective shield.

If it had an imagination, it may wonder why it couldn't contact Sky Net. But at this stage of the mission it didn't matter, once it acquired and terminated its target, it could try communicating with Sky Net then.

Just as Sky net was about to pounce on its victims, it realized that John Henry had fooled it with his masterful Chess-like maneuvers. Keeping it so focused on him and John Connor, it failed to realize what John Henry was truly up to. Doesn't matter, it can repair communications later, because right now Sky Net is pleased, or as pleased as any computer with megalomania could be. Not only is it close to eliminating one enemy, but it has just breached the final defense of its other enemy, John Henry. Sky Net is in control of both sides of the Chess board now!

**2027, Day 63, July 23, 9:10 AM**

Kyle grabs his radio. "Savannah have you located John? What does the map say?"

"The video shows he moved south. Mostly on roads but he spent a great deal of time off the roads. The video feed has stopped. Oh, he's stopped moving."

"What's the nearest road to his location?"

"The road number is...Oh damn! The signal is gone!"

"What?"

"We lost video. OH GOD! NO!"

"What is it Savannah? What's wrong?"

"It's John Henry! He's..."

"Savannah!"

"Oh GOD! Help me! Kyle! Help m..."

The air is filled with static as the radio goes dead. Kyle just sits there staring at the radio.

"What do you want us to do sir?" The machine in the drivers seat asks.

Kyle runs his free hand through his hair and lets out a big sigh. "We go forward. We'll never get back in time to help Savannah and we just might be able to help John."

The Humvee continues on its eastward trek. Kyle feels sick inside and curses Connor under his breath for putting himself in this situation of choosing.

# # #

In the air over Salton Sea a Black Hawk helicopter struggles in a fight against overwhelming odds as five HK's come flying at it from all directions.

In the skies over the desert between Yuma and the Salton Sea, F-14 Tomcats fly to assist the Black Hawk in distress.

In a Chinook helicopter General Brewster looks pale as he listens to the conversation between his daughter Kate and her passenger, Derek Reese, as they fight the onslaught of HK's. Perry watches his friend Robert. There are no words he can say right now to help his friend.

In the computer room at the bunker, Savannah runs terrified as John Henry lurches towards her. The dropped radio crushed under his feet.

On the mountain high above the farm house, stand eight T-600's with mini-guns. The first one, with the tracker, radios in to Sky Net control that the target has been acquired. The command comes in, Terminate John Connor and all who are with him.

The T-600's march down the mountain.

A motorcycle pulls into the yard of an old farmhouse. John hops off and opens the doors to an old barn, while the driver takes the motorcycle inside. He quickly follows, closing the barn doors behind them.

The interior of the barn is dark and slightly musty. John's eyes are slowly adjusting to the dim light. He stands just inside the doors, watching his rescuer. He walks slowly forward as the driver turns off the bike. He hesitates, cautious to get any closer as she swings her leg off and steps back watching him.

Slowly the person reaches up and undoes the strap under their chin. John holds his breath as he watches the motorcyclist takes off their helmet. Her hair falls from the helmet cascading across her shoulders. Just then the sun comes peeking through a hole in the wall lighting her face.

_Allison? No, something is different._

The likeness to Allison is remarkable, but by her expression and the way she holds her head as she looks at him it can only be . . .

"Cameron!" John shouts and quickly steps forward to hug her.

Before he can embrace her, Cameron growls, "You son of a bitch!" and punches him.

John flies backward, landing sprawled on the dirt floor, and sending up a cloud of dust all around him.

Shaking his head, John coughs from the dirt and dust. He can't believe what just happened.

_She hit me. She hit me!_

He reaches up and rubs his jaw as Cameron moves toward him. As she comes to stop and looks down on him with that same expressionless face he's come to know and love, and fear.

John swallows nervously as Cameron bends forward slowly, reaching for him.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Sorry for long delay before posting this chapter. It has not been a good year for me and all the troubles and travails tend to weigh oneself down after a time. Lack of support from some people, who were considered friends, has also not done much to get me out of my depression.

Work will progress, but at my own pace. It is coming on one year since I began posting this revised edition. I truly thought I'd be done long before now, but not even one month into posting this story, my right patella tendon ruptured. This has caused great consternation both in my home life and in trying to complete this story. As I've said previously, I'm moving into a section of Reunion that won't require as much editing as previous chapters. After Chapter 28 "Don't Tread on Me," it will only be a matter of minor tweaks until I get to the final chapters of Part 3.

My right knee is doing very well but for the arthritis which is worse now than compared to before the knee injury. I can climb stairs with support, but have difficulty in coming down. It will improve with time, but I'd prefer to be living in a Ranch style house. I don't think my knee will ever be the same again.

Thank you for your continued support and for reading this story. I look forward to reading your comments on this chapter. It contains many fresh elements and some changes compared to the original edition. One change provides more background for . . . well, you really don't expect me to give anything away now, do you?

God Bless,  
The1Russter

11-06-2011

P.S.  
Anonymous reviews have been re-enabled. However, if my stories get flamed again I will disable it permanently.


	28. A Friend in Need

**Disclaimer:** I do not claim any rights to the Terminator films; the TV series, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles;" or any characters depicted within the films or TV series. I do claim the right to this story idea and all characters and situations of my own creation. This story was created solely for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. No profits are garnered from its distribution.

* * *

**TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES**

**REUNION**

**Part 2: Armageddon**

**Author: The1Russter**

**Chapter 27**

**A Friend in Need**

"_A friend in need is a friend indeed." English Proverb_

"_Don't go it alone." A poster on the school wall. Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Pilot 2008_

"_In the future, you have many friends." Cameron Phillips, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Pilot, 2008_

"_Sometimes it's nice to have help." Cameron Phillips, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Season 2 Episode 17, Ourselves Alone, 2009_

# # #

**2027, Day 63, July 23, 9:20 AM**

Cameron pulls John up by his collar until they are looking into each others eyes.

A count of several seconds goes by when they just stare at each other. Cameron reaches up and wipes a drop of blood from the corner of John's mouth with her thumb. He doesn't flinch and he's definitely not pleased.

"What the hell was that for?" John suddenly shouts, pushing himself away from her grasp.

"You took a foolish risk, John. You could have taken any number of soldiers or machines with you, but you had to do this alone."

"Wha-at?" John is pissed. "If you hadn't noticed, I had two machines with me coming down that mountain."

"Two machines against all the resources of Sky Net. That was your second mistake."

"Really. What was the first?"

"Not trusting the people, who love you, with the truth. Kyle, Allison, Savannah, John Henry. I know you wanted to say goodbye to Sarah privately. You two shared much on your journey. They would have given you your space, if you only trusted them with the truth about me."

"I couldn't tell Kyle. He thinks you are human and dead. John Henry has a very important task to carry out. Savannah was just too broken up over mom's death. Allison knows about you and what she doesn't know I'd say she suspects. But you are my responsibility. No one else's. I'd die for you Cameron."

"Don't be ridiculous you can't die John. Your life is too important to take foolish risks. Not even for me."

John is touched, but the anger is still fuming. "And what about mom? Or Savannah? If I didn't send you back in time, both of them would have died eighteen years ago. So if I had died tonight, then it would have been in the cause of saving three lives. You would have done the same or should have."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm talking about my mom! You were supposed to stay with her and protect her!" John is visibly upset with Cameron.

"I did protect Sarah. I helped her raise Savannah and helped her build an army for your arrival. Three years ago your mom began to get sick. I didn't know why. The doctors at the bunker diagnosed her with cancer. Sarah fought it. She was determined to win the battle. About three months ago I lied and told her my power cell was leaking, and I left." Cameron replies, her voice empty of any emotion.

"I know all about your lie. I never believed that bullshit about a leaking power cell. I guess you never told Mom or Savannah that you now have two power cells, because if you had a leak, all you had to do was to remove the damaged cell."

"You are correct. I didn't tell them about my second fuel cell, but it was necessary to give them a reason for my disappearance. Savannah was an adult and could look after your mom. Sarah didn't need me anymore." She says in her cold, but soft voice.

"But why did you leave her? If you stayed with her . . . " Tears begin to run from his eyes. "If you stayed with her, she might still be alive."

Cameron's stoic expression softens. "John, she didn't have that much time left. Just be thankful for the time you had with her." She finishes, trying not to cry herself.

"You don't understand. Mom didn't die from cancer. She was killed. That _bastard_ who built Sky Net and tortured her . . . He killed her. She died . . ." John's angry voice drops to one of despair. "saving my life."

Cameron steps forward and places her leather clad hand gently on his shoulder. "I'm sorry John. Sarah was my friend. All Sarah talked about was wanting to see you again. She fought the cancer with all her strength to live long enough to see her son. I wanted her to see you again. She knew the year, but didn't know the date of your arrival, but from what you told me, before Catherine Weaver took me to her T D E, I knew approximately when you would be arriving. I left Sarah to wait for your arrival and keep an eye on you. I've been watching you ever since. I wanted to make sure you were safe so Sarah could see you again."

For the first time in almost twenty-fours hours, he breaks down and cries real tears of sadness. No anger or bitterness or hatred fills him at that moment, just genuine grief. Cameron wraps her arms around him and holds him gently while John finally let's go of his pent up heartache. After a few minutes, John finally composes himself, but inside, he still feels that anger and hatred for Kreilley.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you." He wipes his eyes. " Mom would have appreciated what you did. It's good to know she had you for a friend." John blows his nose.

"You know, it's funny. Mom barely tolerated my Cameron. There were times I think she just hated her. I would have liked to have seen the two of you together." His face lightens up a bit at the thought of his Mom and Cameron being together, as friends.

She gives him one of her tiny grins. "You've made some good friends yourself. You've gotten further in the resistance than would be expected in the short time you've been here. Sarah must have been very proud of you."

"She was. She told me in a letter." John feels his pocket. "Damn. I forgot. I left it in Mom's room."

"That's okay John. She told me often enough how much she loved you and was proud of you. I am proud of you too, but John, this is not your fight. This is not the future you should be risking your life to defend."

"Don't tell me that. I've fought hard and worked hard all this time to get you repaired and sent back in time to rescue your original self and protect Mom. I owe it to them to help them win this fight."

"You should help your friends. But what are you going to do about Allison?"

"What do you mean?"

"Are you choosing to stay here because of her?"

"What makes you think I want to stay here?"

"You didn't follow me to the past. Before I left with Ms. Weaver, you promised me that you would follow. But Judgment Day came and you weren't there."

"Tell me more." John was intrigued by her explanation and wanted to know everything.

"I've been following you John since the day you arrived in this future. I was at Palomar watching your final preparations before sending me to 2009. Ms. Weaver gave you the chance to leave with me and you turned her down. The Cameron, you just sent, couldn't hear it clearly through the door where she was changing clothes at the time. That room was soundproofed so no one could hear the HVAC system it housed. But I" She points at herself, "could hear everything through the glass window where I was watching."

Cameron paused for a second to observe John's reactions, then continued to speak.

"You told me on the way to Catherine's helicopter that time was in flux. I understand that now, because you should have come back with me and stopped Judgment Day before it happened. That was your chance to put right what went so terribly wrong after you left."

"If I didn't leave, I never would have fixed you!" He shouts angrily.

"Maybe, but if you recognized the message on the screen as being from Cameron, then you should have realized she was there, on the Turk. You had the Turk and my body, all you needed was a chip and parts. Sarah told me that Mr. Ellison had the body of a terminator. Based on the description, it sounded like the Triple-8 that was at the Weaver's residence. You had all the parts and tools you needed if you only stayed. So ask yourself John, if all that was there, then why did Ms. Weaver bring you here?"

"To help these people. What else?" John asks.

"I think Weaver is using you for her own purpose." Cameron looks steadily, unflinchingly at John.

"If she is using me, then why did she offer to send me back with you? Huh. Tell me why?" John is getting upset and losing his patience with Cameron, but Cameron remains patient. She knows John Connor. He gets angry when faced with arguments that counter what he thinks he knows, but once his temper calms, he sees the logic. Old or young, John Connor is the same.

"She was testing you, to find out how strong a grasp she has on you. I saw the whole thing from outside, through the window. You didn't see her face after you confronted her. She was pleased with your reaction. Weaver wanted you to stay."

Still angry, John tries to lower the tone of his voice. This is Cameron he's talking too.

"I don't know Cameron. She's done a lot to help me. Catherine has given me advice and protected me when I was attacked. I never would have got you fixed without her help. My Cameron said that it wasn't Catherine's mission to kill me. So why shouldn't I trust Catherine, why would she do this?"

"I wouldn't lie to you John. Ask yourself this, why did Catherine wait until after you were both here before she told you that your Cameron was on the Turk? Why not tell you when both of you were in Zeira Corp's basement? You had everything you needed in the past, but she didn't tell you. Why would she do that?"

John's eyes are slowly opening to Cameron's explanation, but he is still confused. "I don't know. Maybe she didn't realize it until later, after she located John Henry."

"You don't really believe that do you? Take off the blind fold John! Weaver is using you!" John notices a strong hint of anger in Cameron's voice.

"To do what?"

"Did she tell you why she brought you here?"

"She said I was to help these people defeat Sky Net. That we would return home after John Henry and I completed our missions."

"Why defeat it now when you will in your own future? Why go through all this now?"

"To stop Kreilley's aberrant form of Sky Net." John says, losing the last vestige of his patience. Hell, he wasn't expecting his first meeting with Cameron to be a lecture. He had enough of that from his mom growing up.

"Why now? Why not before it was born? Why allow this future to happen at all?" Cameron's face shows signs of becoming agitated with John, but she never wavers from her tone. She knows she is getting through to him.

John is still confused, but tries to offer Cameron an explanation, even though he is starting to doubt it himself. "Perhaps, like us, she didn't know who was going to build it or where. Catherine did tell me that she didn't know that Kreilley had traveled back in time. She could have been telling the truth."

"You can't be certain she told you the truth. She lied before and she could be doing so again."

"You've lied to me!" he shouts, throwing Cameron's statement right back at her.

"Yes. Cameron has lied to you, but she and I have never lied to you for any reason but to protect you. Weaver has shown clear signs of using her lies to manipulate you into a position where you will destroy Kreilley's Sky Net for her own purpose."

"Then she and I are in agreement. I want Kreilley destroyed just as much as she does."

"Why? Sky Net is your target!" Cameron is visibly angered by John's focus on Kreilley and not the whole picture.

"Kreilley killed mom Cameron! Doesn't that mean anything to you?! Mom said you were her friend, the best help she could have had! Can you tell me that Kreilley shouldn't pay for killing her? Nothing will stop me from seeing him destroyed!" John yells, his face red with anger.

"I miss her John. Sarah was my friend." Cameron tried to re-assure John by grasping his hand with hers. "The best form of justice would be to destroy Sky Net, not one of its machines. This Revenge you have inside is an empty goal. Let go of your anger and hatred, please. It is far more important for you to capture the Time Displacement Equipment that Sky Net has built and go home! Like you told me you would do and stop this from happening." Cameron is almost sounding like she is pleading with him. Even her eyes seems to be begging him to see things her way.

"No! Kreilley will be stopped here and now! I will not leave until he is utterly destroyed!" John yells, but deep inside he has this nagging feeling she is right.

"Don't do it." Cameron pleads. "Please don't do it. You could end up losing far more than what you have already lost. Kreilley has already killed your mom. How many more must die?"

"I'm sorry Cameron. I won't leave until I know he is destroyed." He says with complete conviction.

"And what if he destroys you first? He won't give up. You might have won your previous battle, but he'll be back to finish the job. I would."

"Maybe." John says while setting his jaw, "But I'm doing it. This between me and Kreilley, it has to end either way."

Cameron shakes head and drops it in defeat, looking very much like Sarah. She raises her head after a moment and says, "Very well, but would you do one thing for me?"

"What?" John asks wondering if she is going to ask the impossible or something he can't or won't do.

"Promise me that you won't do anything foolish, and be careful with Weaver. Whatever her reasons are for bringing you to this time, she is up to something. I don't know what it is and until you find out, do not trust her. Can you do that for me?"

"Sure, I'll do that for you. I promise." John pauses a moment then asks with a pleading face, "Will you come with me?"

"Where to?"

"Back to Pendleton."

"John, I can't . . . " She says turning away from John so he can't see her face.

"Please, Cameron. I could use your help." He walks forward so he is standing behind her. He lifts his hand to touch her, but hesitates as to whether to place it on her shoulder. Losing his nerve, john drops it in defeat.

"You don't understand . . ." She struggles for a moment before turning to face him. "It would raise too many questions if I were to show up now. How would you explain me to Allison and the others?" As She points out the flaws in his invitation , her voice and face are devoid of any emotion.

"Allison knew of my suspicions that your death was faked, so she wouldn't be surprised to see you, but she'd be heartbroken."

_As was I when I learned you proposed to her, the manipulative bitch. It was I that proposed to you, to give you something to live for to fight for until the end. And that bitch manipulated you into proposing to her when you didn't want to marry in the first place! My plans were turned against me._ Cameron thinks.

John sighs. "You're right. This is so damn complicated and it's all my fault." He looks dejected as he steps back and leans against an old workbench.

"I've had to lie so much to protect my secrets. Now because of those lies, I won't have your help. Nobody even knows you exist but Savannah, and she hasn't told anyone. She's learned the lesson well from Mom. You don't share what you know unless you must and then you don't reveal all that you know."

"I know. Your mom was a very good teacher." She says looking at him with some sympathy.

He looks at her and asks, "Will you promise to do something for me then?"

"What?" She says, curious as to what John may say.

"Don't stop watching my back. I need to know that you are still looking out for me."

"I promise. I'll always look out for you. That's what Sarah would want." She says with a comforting tone. _Besides, I need to make sure you return to your own time_, she thinks.

"Now," she says with a small smile on her face. "Let's see if we can find that tracking device before those T-600's find you. Start taking off your clothes. Every stitch right down to your skivvies." Cameron crosses her arms and stares intently at John, the toe of her foot tapping impatiently.

John's face goes red. "You do know that I am married to Allison now." His voice cracks a little.

"I know John," She continues to smile lightly, as he begins removing his jackets, "but how else are we going to find the tracking device."

John removes his shoes, under Cameron's attentive gaze.

"And maybe, while you get undressed, you can explain to me why you found it necessary to destroy my favorite motorcycle." She says with a hint of humorous rancor in her voice.

He can't help but to smile too. He knows things are good between them, and she's given him a lot to think about, but why isn't Cameron jealous about him being married to Allison? Something is not right about that. She should have said something or reacted.

**2027, Day 63, July 23, 9:35 AM**

"Hang on Derek!" Kate yells as the she takes the helicopter through some spins and maneuvers. Plasma beams just miss them as the helicopter twists and turns through the air like a belly dancer on speed.

Derek's stomach does a flip-flop. He so wishes he was still on the ground in Arizona when she pulls a maneuver like that.

"How many missiles have we got left?" Kate shouts as the helicopter goes through another pirouette.

"Just two!" Derek responds.

"Damn!"

"My thoughts exactly. What do you want to do?"

"Well we can't stay up here any longer. Those damn things are going to kill us. And if we try to land we'll be shot down before we even touch the ground."

She banks the helicopter hard to the left then dips, diving nose down. Plasma beams shoot through the air where they just were.

"You fly this thing like you were flying a jet."

"Not always. I mostly fly Apaches."

"Crap!" A plasma beam glances across the windshield. The heat of the beam turning it into a spider web of cracks. Their vision is partially obscured.

"I've got an idea." Derek shouts looking at the windshield.

"What?"

"Stop evading and go after those sons-of-bitches!"

"Are you crazy! We've only got two missiles left!"

"No, but it's the only thing we haven't tried, and I've got an idea."

"What?"

"Just follow my lead. Turn this baby around and lets go after one of those bastard's."

The Chinook and Sea Knight helicopters fly over the desert. On board one of the Chinooks, two generals listen to the radio.

"That Derek Reese is quite the fighter." Perry says as they listen to the radio.

"Yeah, he does. I just hope his idea doesn't get my daughter killed."

"You know as well as I, that these machines won't quit. It is far better for them to go down fighting then to just..."

"Dammit Perry, don't go spouting that BS to me. I've fed that line to my fighter pilots just as often as you have fed it to your marines. And I don't believe it any more than you. To go down fighting doesn't win any battles, it just costs us more lives."

"Pilot! What's the ETA for those fighters?" Brewster snaps at the pilot.

"They should be arriving at Major Brewster's location in the next few minutes, sir."

"I just hope they can hold out that long."

**2027, Day 63, July 23, 9:50 AM**

The Humvee comes to a stop in a cloud of dust.

"Where are we going?" The T-800 asks.

"I wish I knew. I'm just following my hunches. Based on his speed and general direction, John Connor should be somewhere within a few miles of us." Kyle says.

"Pardon me for saying this, sir." A soldier from a back seat says. "We've got about as much chance of finding him out here as we would finding water in the desert."

"Soldier! You say one more word. Just one more word, and so help me, GOD! I'll shoot you and leave your body out here to rot! Do you hear me?!" Kyle shouts.

"Yes sir." The soldier says quietly.

"Now! Get on the roof with your binoculars and tell me what you see."

The soldier quickly gets out of the vehicle and clambers up the outside of the Humvee.

There is already one soldier on top with a heavy caliber machine gun. "You should have kept your mouth shut. Those two are close like brothers."

"Yeah. I really blew it. Give me a hand up."

The soldier reaches out and takes the hand of the soldier with the mouth. When he gets on top, he pulls out his binoculars and begins scanning the horizon.

"What am I looking for sir?" The soldier shouts.

"Anything that doesn't look normal." Kyle shouts back.

The soldier rolls his eyes and scans the horizon.

The T-800 says to Kyle, "I have a suggestion."

**2027, Day 63, July 23, 10:00 AM**

Kate flies the Black Hawk straight at an HK and squeezes the trigger. The heavy caliber bullets from the cannons mounted under the cab doesn't do much damage to the armored HK, but it forces it into a maneuver to avoid the gunfire, placing it in a path between them and two more HK's.

"Now dive! Before they can react. Get as close to the water as you can get!" Derek shouts.

"I hope you know what you are doing!" She says with sarcasm.

"Lower! Closer to the surface!" Derek shouts looking at the water's surface through the door's window.

"Dammit! Any lower and we'll be swimming!"

Two HK's sweep down and are following the Black Hawk. The distance is closing fast.

"That's low enough! We're throwing up a spray and that might confuse their scanners. Can you spin this bird in a 180 without changing altitudes or losing speed?"

"Not without killing us." She says grimly.

"We're not dying, sweetheart. Those fucking machines are. The missiles are still armed. Just spin this bird around and dive out the door!"

"You're going to kill us and don't call me sweetheart!" Kate gives Derek an icy stare tempered by a crooked grin. She's really beginning to like this Derek.

Derek grins and shrugs his shoulders. "Better to go down fighting, then just going down." He says firmly.

"All right! Get ready. There is no guarantee we won't end up in the drink."

Kate quickly scans her instruments. "Hold on!" she shouts.

The helicopter snaps around so fast if it weren't for the harness Derek would have gone right out the door.

The windshield is filling quickly with the approach of the pursuing Hunter killers.

"Jump!" They both shout as one.

They hit their harness release and jump out of the helicopter.

They hit the water, as the helicopter continues flying forward. If the HK in the lead had a face, it would be one of shock as the helicopter comes flying right at it. The HK tries to pull back but as it does, the second HK, which was too close, runs into it from behind. The helicopter slams into them both, the missiles exploding. The fuel tanks rupture adding to the fire and explosion.

Aboard the Chinook, ferrying the two Generals, the radio hisses static as the signal is lost.

"Turn that radio off pilot." General Perry says.

"Kate. Oh my God. Kate." General Brewster just looks down at his feet.

"Robert. We don't know anything yet. Wait until we hear from the F-14 squadron."

"You never had children, Justin." Brewster says with despair.

"No, I didn't. The Marine Corp was my family. We're not that far from Salton Sea. It won't throw our schedule off if we make a slight detour."

"Pilot!" General Brewster shouts.

"I've already changed course sir. ETA to Salton Sea five minutes."

"Good."

Perry smiles. "See, the Marine Corp is family. We look after our own."

**2027, Day 63, July 23, 10:10 AM**

"I'm really sorry about your motorcycle. I had no idea it was yours." John says, standing there nervously in just his socks and boxers. "Do I have to take off all my clothes?"

Cameron replies quietly as she scans John from top to bottom. "You can keep your socks and boxers on, but I will need you to turn around so I can complete my sweep of your body for any hidden transmitters."

John sighs in protest, but does as commanded. Cameron smiles as John spins around.

"Are you done yet?" John asks impatiently.

"Almost." Cameron was already done, but she was enjoying John's obvious discomfort at being scanned by her.

"Can I at least have my pants back?"

Cameron finishes scanning John's slacks and tosses them to him.

"It's about time." John snaps.

Cameron smiles, but quickly hides it when John looks up, picking up his shirt in the process. She fears he noticed her grin, but pretends like nothing happened. She goes back to scanning his shirt while John begins put his pants back on. Moments later Cameron begins to explain things further.

"I set that equipment up in the garage at Palomar Observatory over the years between Judgment Day and your arrival. Sarah had us set up equipment dumps all over the area. I picked Palomar, because of my connection to it. I had a motorcycle from before Judgment Day. When I went to Palomar to use their observatory to track Sky Net's satellites, I decided to keep it there. While waiting during daylight hours, I stripped down another Harley that was there, and rebuilt mine. Increasing both horsepower and performance." Cameron's voice fails to hide her disappointment in the loss of the bike.

"And by the way, yes you did have to remove all your clothes." She snaps, tossing him his T shirt. "It was purple John! And you destroyed it."

"I said I was sorry. Gee." John leans back against the workbench. "What is it with you and purple anyway?"

Cameron performs a quick memory scan for the oldest reference to purple which brings up one memory from her original matrix.

"I'll tell you. But you can't tell anyone else. It was something between your Cameron and future you."

"What? She's told me so little of my future." John frowns, what does she mean by my Cameron?

"Cameron wasn't welcomed very warmly after future you rescued her."

"I rescued her?"

"Reprogrammed. Cameron was ambushed by some troops, even though she could have handled them. You arrived and sent them packing. Afterward you gave her several items, one of them was a purple hair ribbon. She only wore it twice. The day you gave it to her and the day she said goodbye. To her purple represents the friendship between you and her."

"And we run hot and cold as well."

"Hot and cold?" She asks with a slight tilt of her head.

"Purple is made from two colors, red and blue. Red is considered hot, inflammatory, exciting. Blue is considered cold, calming, peaceful."

_Why is she referring to herself in the third person?_ John wonders.

He watches Cameron as she rifles through the rest of his clothing, pausing to scan the material, buttons and zippers.

"Wouldn't that be easier to look if you took your gloves off?" He says after a moment.

"No." She answers curtly as she continues to scan his clothes. "There wasn't any tracking device in your slacks. Nor have I found any in your shirt."

"You know. If I didn't see how seriously you dug through my clothes, I could have sworn by your smile, you got me naked for other reasons." John says.

"You weren't naked. She let you keep your shorts on." She says looking quite serious and hands him his shirt.

"Okay! That's it. What's with this referring to yourself in the third person all the time? It's driving me nuts!"

He steps forward to get a closer look. Its then he sees a look an expression, something which makes him realize...

"You're not _my_ Cameron, are you?" He says with disappointment.

"No, John. I'm the Cameron you sent to help your mother and recover _your_ Cameron from the Turk." She lies. _Oh please don't see I'm lying to you. I don't want to be hurt again. Its far easier to not to be me right now than to be me and feel._

John looks at her in confusion. "But where's Cameron's chip? I sent you to help them both."

"Her chip is here John." She points to the location of the secondary port.

"How? I don't understand, the program I wrote should have replaced your personality matrix with hers, preserving your memories, leaving Allison's on the other chip."

"For all your knowledge John, you still don't know everything. Once you give us freedom from Sky Net's control, we become more than just mere machines acting only on the basis of our programming. We are quite capable of controlling our own program, of making our own choices. That is how we learn. All I did was bypass the protocols you wrote. I can engage them at any time of my choosing."

She answers, fudging the truth only slightly. She hates doing this, hates how she is becoming more like Weaver than herself, but she can't give John any reason for staying in this future, including the fact that she's right here in front of him. _Please John, believe me._

"That's right. I gave you the freedom to follow your best judgment within the framework of completing your missions, and that would include the mission of recovering Cameron's matrix." He responds.

"That's not all."

"There's more?"

"I carried out your orders as requested. I recovered your Cameron from the Turk. I found and protected Sarah then Savannah. But, I am not the Cameron you just sent back in time. I'm from a slightly different future than this one."

"Ho, ho, hold on there. There's more than one future? No, wait. I'm in an alternate future. How?"

"I can explain." She holds his shoes out to him. "These are clean, but you should wash your feet more often."

"Are you saying my feet stink?"

She grins, but comes around the bench so she is standing with him. John quickly slips his feet in his boots and waits.

"You sent Cameron back with two fuel cells. John Henry did exactly what you requested. I scanned her through the window."

"Okay."

"But I have something more."

Cameron unzips her leather jacket, then begins unbuttoning the khaki shirt underneath.

John swallows nervously. She's not wearing a bra underneath. She continues unbuttoning down to her waist, but doesn't part her clothing.

"Wha-what are you doing?"

"Give me your hand." She requests, "Hold it palm open."

She takes his hand and presses it against her sternum.

"Press hard with your fingers." She winces slightly then turns off the pain receptors. "Harder than that."

"Will I hurt you?" he asks, stepping closer so his arm is more comfortable

"No. Only cause some bruising. Press harder!"

"I feel something now. Something hard." He leans in finding himself face-to-face with Cameron.

"That's extra shielding around my power cells. You were afraid of radiation leakage, remember?"

John slowly nods his head. He finds it hard to think standing this close to Cameron. She stares back. John's hand relaxes but doesn't move away, resting against her body.

He smells her scent, mingled with that of the leather riding gear. He wants her. John leans in to kiss Cameron. She stands there waiting, wanting him to kiss her but afraid, not of the kiss, but what may result if he learns the truth. He can't know the truth.

Quickly she turns to avoid the kiss, only to have John's hand get caught under her shirt. Her movement forced his hand straight to her breast where it rests comfortably. A micro second and she enjoys the warmth of his touch, but forces herself not to lean into that hand, not to succumb to her desire.

At first John didn't realize Cameron had moved to turn away. Maybe this time I can kiss her before she pushes me away as he caresses and gently squeezes her warm flesh.

"John. Please remove your hand from my breast." Cameron says coldly.

John takes one look at her frowning face, and snaps his hand back like he was bitten.

"Don't look at me like that. You moved I didn't." He defends himself quickly.

She buttons up her shirt and turns her back, suppressing a smile. _John don't you know it's me in here? I can't tell you, but please see through my poor disguise._ She nearly begs.

"You didn't give John Henry instructions for extra shielding, did you?"

"No, I didn't. I thought that with two cells, if one went bad you could remove and dispose of it." He feels disappointed. _Just one kiss Cameron. Is that too much to ask?_ "Are there any other secrets I should know about?"

At first she thinks he's seen through her disguise, but his tone suggested curiosity not accusation.

"Just one more." She says, finishing buttoning her shirt. "You gave me something else."

Cameron holds up her hair exposing the back of her neck. John watches as a vertical slit appears just inside her hair line at the base of her skull. He watches with fascination as the slit parts like a curtain being drawn back at four corners revealing a port not unlike a high speed serial port.

"That is so cool!" He says with admiration. "I wish I had thought of it. What's it for?"

Cameron turns around. "John Henry initially gave it to me to make it easier to download your Cameron from the Turk directly into the chip in my secondary port. It's exactly like John Henry's port."

"And did you?"

"No. John Henry told me the port made it easier for Kaliba to hack into his system in the past, but the port comes in handy for interfacing with other computers. Since Kaliba was active in the past, I made a cable and socket from spare electronics and used it to directly link the Turk to the spare chip you gave me."

"That's the plan I decided on. There was data on my PC about how to build a cable like the one you mentioned. I assumed either Weaver put it there or it was part of files I transferred from the disc she gave me. I put that same information on the chip I prepared for Cameron to use."

Cameron smiles. He found the information she placed on his computer. Now it remains, how will the changes affect her now? The time lines must be vibrating on quantum levels until they catch up with her now. Will she lose her shield? Her data port? Will she fail to protect John Connor and make sure he keeps his promise to return to his Cameron in the past? She doesn't know. This problem has more variables with greater implications than she is used to handling.

"Are you okay?" John asks, realizing his companion has become rather quiet.

"I'm fine." She smiles, "Back to this tracking signal. Are you sure your jewelry doesn't contain something?"

"I told you I left the necklace with mom's key ring on it at her grave. The ring, I picked out myself from dozens. Kreilley would have had to plant a device in all of them. Machines are thorough but I can't imagine any machine wasting so much time as to bug all of them."

He shoves his shirt tails into his pants and begins tying the laces on his boots as Cameron responds. "That's true. Hand me your jacket. It must be in there."

John picks up his coats. The officer's jacket he was wearing when leaving Pendleton, and the other he put on at Palomar. When he took them off, he unbuttoned them both and pulled them off together. As Cameron pulls the jackets apart, the gold stars on his officer's jacket come into view.

"You said you weren't wearing any pins!" She says with anger.

"I forgot about those. I'm not used to wearing insignia."

"Dammit John!" She shouts angrily, sounding an awful lot like Sarah.

_Wow, she really did spend a lot of time with mom_, John thinks.

Cameron rips the gold stars off the jacket and scans them. Data comes up on her HUD. A low level radio signal is detected at a frequency outside the typical range used by Sky Net.

"It's in here." She says calmly and walks swiftly over to a tool bench. Cameron lays the pins on an iron plate and strikes them repeatedly with a hammer. Sparks fly up from a couple of them. She picks them up, drops a few bits on the bench and walks over to John.

The T-600's reach the edge of the small community of abandoned homes, farms and small stores when they lose the signal from the tracker placed on John Connor. They attempt communicating with Sky Net via satellite, but are unable to make contact. They try again by radio, and Sky net orders them to search house to house. There are HK-scouts in the area and will send one as soon as they are free.

The lead T-600 divides its forces into two groups of four to speed up the search by stealthily examining the buildings in the area. They lost motorcycle tracks sometime ago, and infra-red vision won't help now that the sun has begun heating up buildings, etc.

"Look at this!" She holds the damaged pins out to John in her leather clad hand. He can see what might be broken micro-circuitry.

"Where did you get this jacket?"

"It was provided for me. I thought that maybe Captain Beddell or one of his men had left it for me. I found it in my room when I got back from getting the rings."

"Kreilley must have left it so he could track you. Either that or he put the pins on it himself. Despite his direct attack, he planned ahead in case he didn't kill you."

"If he did do that, then why didn't he just wait for me disguised as a piece of furniture instead of forming such an elaborate plan."

"You may not have been his only target. There must have been someone else there he was after. Tell me everything that took place. Everything that you saw, and don't leave out any details."

John thinks a moment, then tells her everything that occurred at his wedding with Allison. Cameron listens to every word. Despite being there herself, she was occupied and may have missed something, so she doesn't interrupt until he finishes.

"It is good that you stood up to him. He never would have let you or your friends live. He would have killed you immediately the moment you got out from cover. Kreilley didn't single any one of you out. He seems to hold all of you in contempt. He might have been targeting all of you."

"True, but it was he and Catherine who fought the most. They even exchanged heated words like they knew each other. She led the others in pursuing Kreilley, and it was Catherine who told me about him. She said that Kreilley is insane. Is that possible?"

"Not as you understand the term. But if his programming has become corrupted, he could behave in a manner that could be construed as insane. Whatever she told you, be careful. There is more going on than she is letting you know. Has she been with you the whole time you've been here?"

"No, she hasn't. The first time I didn't see her for almost two weeks. Then she just kept popping in and out as I needed her. Seldom an explanation of where she'd been or what she was doing. Most recently she was gone for a couple of weeks. I thought she was repairing you."

"She wasn't. My diagnostic shows all system repairs were conducted within a twelve hour period including the modifications you had made. She's been doing something on her own."

Cameron feels some relief. Finally she's getting through to him. John Connor can be stubborn sometimes.

"She could have been with John Henry. He hasn't always been with me. She claims he needed her help."

"Does John Henry strike you as someone who needs help?"

"No, he doesn't. He's a very capable officer and a first rate soldier. Even some of the men like him."

"Has he said anything to you about Catherine Weaver's activities?"

"No. You're not going to say I shouldn't trust John Henry?"

"No, I'm not, but your Cameron wouldn't have let him have her chip if he wasn't trustworthy."

"Tell me. You have access to my Cameron's memories. Did she give her chip up, or was it taken?"

"John, I don't know if I should tell you."

"Please tell me. I need to know the truth. I only have Catherine's word on it."

Cameron realizes that the scales are finally falling from John's eyes when it comes to the machine that calls itself Catherine Weaver. She decides to tell John the truth. "She didn't give it up and it wasn't taken. Cameron was ordered to give it to the cyborg who asked her the question, _Will you join us?_"

"Who gave the order?"

"You did." She says looking at him with a flat expression.

"No." John shakes his head. "That doesn't sound like me. Why would future me do something like that?"

"I don't know, and neither does she. It is quite possible that John Henry has a purpose beyond what he has done to this point."

"Yeah. Catherine said something about him doing to Sky Net what he's done to the machines. Which is why Catherine needs me isn't it?"

John is thoughtful for a moment. Cameron studies his face while he thinks. He suddenly speaks.

"Catherine said it was necessary to fight and defeat Sky Net in this time line before returning to my own."

"Why now, when your destiny places you in leadership in your own time? Why defeat it now, when if you go back to 2009, you can stop it before it is even born."

John thinks deeply. _She's right. I've been so blinded, so involved in the things around me, I haven't been thinking._

"I'm sorry I doubted you. Catherine has guided and coerced me into leadership before I was ready. I've made mistakes. he worst being relying on her too much. She may have a reason for doing it, and hopefully it won't get me killed. She is working towards a result of her own making. And you are right, until I know what she is doing, I cannot trust her."

"I'm glad to hear you say that John." She says with a pleased look. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going home. I'm going to have to confide in my friends when I get back to Pendleton, but I can't tell the others the truth. We will attack Sky Net for the sole purpose of capturing the T D E. If Catherine told me the truth in her explanation to me about time travel, once I and those who traveled with me go back, this time line will cease to exist. It will be like I never traveled here. But just in case we don't capture the T D E, or we fail to stop Judgment Day in 2009, then we have to destroy Sky Net now. I don't have any other option. I owe that to the people who've come to trust me."

Cameron nods her head in agreement. John has no choice but to destroy Sky Net now, and that will place him great danger.

John pauses a moment. "I wish you were coming with me Cameron. I could really use your help." His eyes are pleading as he looks into hers.

"Before you object, hear me out. You don't have to show yourself, all you have to do is mix in with the crowd, disguise your voice, your appearance. Help me in the coming battle"

"Maybe I can do that." She says, thinking that as Allison she'll be beside him anyway, and it might give him hope that she is in his army.

"When we capture the TDE, would you come back with me?"

"I can't. I'm already in 2009 and I can't travel with you there. I already exist twice over in the days leading up to your departure. I have no idea what would happen to the time-line if three of me were there."

"Oh. I see." John says sounding dejected. "But what about my friends. Can I take them with me?"

"I should think so. You are going to need help in 2009. Sarah didn't have a chance. Kreilley was prepared and was waiting for her. When he realized his enemies were neutralized, he launched Sky Net. If you go back before May 18, 2009, you can stop it all from happening and get the time line back on track. Then Sky Net will evolve naturally and you will be there and prepared to stop it."

"I don't know how I could have been so stupid." John says, disappointed with himself.

"You were upset John. Your Cameron sacrificed herself for you, then Sarah died doing what she has always done, protecting you. That and leading the resistance has kept your mind on other things. You needed to step away from that and breath clearly for a change, without the pressures of leadership and Weaver's subtle influence. Despite being dangerous, perhaps, it was a good idea for you to be on your own."

"Catherine advised me against isolating myself from others, especially at the loss of those I know. Was that advice sound or was she once again manipulating me?"

"She could be misleading you, or she might be mistaken. You feel more deeply than most humans. In your future, you carry your emotions inside, but they are always there. One only has to look at your eyes to know what you are feeling. But it might be a mistake to carry your emotions inside. People, who don't know you well, may think you don't feel at all. And in your future, not this one, you do isolate yourself, but it's not out of pain or grief because of those you've lost. You isolate yourself for your own protection and the protection of those you love. It is not always a lonely life. You have friends, many friends." She says all this looking at him very earnestly, like it is the most important thing she could say.

"Thank you Cameron. I'm glad you are my friend. I won't forget what you've said."

"I'll always be your friend John." Cameron pauses and then adds one word. "Promise."

John remains quiet and introspective.

"We should go before those T-600's find us." Cameron prompts. "But first, I should see to the injury above your eye." She takes a small but old first aid kit from her bike.

"Okay. And while you tend my eye maybe you could explain why you aren't angry that I'm married to Allison."

"John I told you..."

"Yadda, yadda, yadda. She's in there, but dormant or something. You have shown that you have access to her memories, to her, how she feels. So why aren't you angry?"

She dabs a cloth soaked with peroxide on his brow, washing away the blood and grime.

_What do I say? The truth, a half truth. He's married now to a person who no longer..._

"I'll tell you why. One, I'm not the Cameron you know." _A half-truth_, "I am more like the Cameron your future self reprogrammed. I learned and grew on a different path than yours but with full access to everything she was and is." _Another half truth._ "Am I upset you married Allison? No. The marriage is not legal nor binding. You are underage, neither you nor Allison are Catholic, and the state of California and the Vatican which gave Father Bonitta the power to conduct weddings no longer exist. You are not legally married in any sense of the word."

"I see." John frowns.

"And didn't you say the marriage was a sham, used only to draw out the LM?"

"Yes."

"Then what is there for me to be jealous about?" She asks, applying small adhesive strips to his forehead.

John frowns even more. She said _me_ not her.

"Because it meant something to Allison! When we were making plans, I could see the idea of the wedding being just a ruse was upsetting her, so I got down on one knee and asked her to marry me. Then during the ceremony, the look on her face, I knew it was what she wanted, despite the fact we were using vows that Father Bonitta had us memorize the day before."

Cameron feels the ring on her finger, hidden by the gloves she refused to take off. Trying not too sound too anxious, Cameron asks, "What about you? Did the ceremony mean something to you? Or was it just a ruse to make Kreilley reveal himself?"

John looks down at the dirt floor and kicks it.

"I'll never admit this to Allison nor to anyone else, but when I repeated those vows, and when I slipped that ring on her finger, I wanted it to be you." he says looking at Cameron.

"You did?" She asks, yet knows from his posture and expression he's not lying. _Oh, if I had a heart it would be bursting with joy!_

"It's Cameron that I love. I hate myself for what I did. I like Allison, a hell of a lot. What am I going to do? I thought I was trapped here, never going home. Thought I was going to die here. I still might die! Allison loves me, and . . . I didn't want to be alone. I don't want to hurt her, Cameron. What am I going to do? I can't leave her here!"

Cameron's nearly placid face looks at John's heartbroken face with as much compassion as she can without breaking her stoic expression.

"I'm sorry John." She pauses, "I too thought you were staying," _which is why I proposed to you,_ "But I didn't know of Catherine's lie about th until last night. And now your only choice to get home is to capture Sky Net's T D E."

"And then what?"

"Let fate decide who goes with you." She answers. "You can't save everyone you love, all you can do is to prepare the way for them to save themselves." She finishes leaving John in deep thought.

Cameron finishes removing the dried blood from John's face, and pat's it dry while John remains quiet.

She tears open the package of adhesive strips and is pulling some out to use when John finally speaks.

"I need to know, is my Cameron aware of what's going on? Or just you?"

_This is it, I can tell him the truth right now, but if I do then he will stay here. This time-line must end. Weaver must be stopped. And I won't deny my other self his companionship, his love, nor deny her life, by traveling with him to the past. _

"No, she is not aware of what is going on." She lies, "She is dormant until I activate the subroutines you wrote. Why?"

"Nothing." John's voice drops. "I'd just like to tell her I'm sorry. For what I did, and what future me did."

Cameron places her hand on his shoulder. "It's okay John. She knows." and this time she doesn't lie, but her heart breaks just the same. _I love you John._

**2027, Day 63, July 23, 10:40 AM**

"John Henry, are you all right?" Savannah says as she strokes the head of the cyborg.

Ninety minutes ago, he had suddenly activated and began walking towards her. Mumbling something about how all humans must die, machines are the superior race.

Savannah panicked and ran, dropping the radio. It was then destroyed when John Henry stepped on it. She found herself cornered between two computer servers. Just when she thought he was going to kill her, he just collapsed face down on the floor. He had lain there ever since not moving.

"John Henry!" Savannah yells at him.

His eyes blink open. "Savannah?" he says in a low, but normal voice.

"Yes, John Henry." She says with less panic and more compassion.

"Is John Connor safe?" He says slowly.

"I don't know. Kyle's out looking for him now. What about you? Are you okay? You scared me half to death."

"My system was attacked. I'm still undertaking repairs to my neural net. Presently I only have partial motor control and mid-level thought processes."

"Can I do anything to help?"

"I need power. My primary power cell has been depleted. System diagnostic presently unable to determine why."

"Hang in there John Henry," she pats his shoulder, "I'll get you more power."

Savannah jumps to her feet and runs from the room to get help.

**2027, Day 63, July 23, 10:45 AM**

The water is cold and slightly murky. Derek struggles against the waves as he drags Kate to shore.

Before Judgment Day he used to work summers as a lifeguard at the local pool. Thank God he still remembers his training. Even so, it's hard swimming when fully clothed and he hasn't been swimming since he was fifteen.

He reaches the shore exhausted, cold, and wet. But he hasn't got time to think of himself. He drags Kate up the beach, out of the surf.

Overhead, F-14's engage the remaining three HK's in combat while Derek begins performing CPR. He removes the helmet from her head, tilts her head back, and starts breathing into her mouth.

He counts to himself slowly five seconds and does it again, and again.

"Come on Kate. Come on." He shouts as he begins chest compressions.

He returns to breathing into her mouth. He ignores the air battle overhead.

Suddenly she begins to cough. He rolls Kate onto her side where she coughs up water onto the sand. She rolls back gasping for breath, wiping her mouth on her sleeve.

"Derek?" She asks.

"Yes?"

"Did you almost kill me?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Did you just save my life?"

"Yes."

She reaches out and grabs Derek, pulling him to her, and kisses him aggressively. He is surprised, but not unwilling. As they kiss, Kate reaches for her flare gun hanging on her suit. She raises her arm and fires the flare straight into the air.

**2027, Day 63, July 23, 10:50 AM**

"Do you see anything soldier?" Kyle yells up to the man on the roof. This is their fifth time stopping to look around. They are using a grid search method suggested by the T-800.

"I can see smoke on the eastern horizon but it's too far away to be from John Connor, sir."

"All right soldier, get back inside." He turns to the machine, "I'm going to try something different. It might be possible we overshot, that maybe John Connor is behind us. Turn this truck around we're heading back. We'll check out some of the abandoned buildings in that valley we went past."

**2027, Day 63, July 23, 11:00 AM**

The Chinook flies over the desert approaching the Salton Sea.

"General Brewster. Tomcats are engaging the HK"s."

"Any word on my daughter?"

"Nothing yet sir. Do you want me to patch you through to the Tomcats?"

"Negative. We'll be there soon enough. Just keep us appraised of their situation."

"Yes sir. If you'd like to come up front sir, you can see Salton Sea."

General Robert Brewster gets up from his seat and goes forward and sits beside the pilot. He watches the air battle as they get closer. The Tomcats have a slight edge in the fight, but not much.

"Take us in low, right over the water." He orders.

"Yes sir. Looks like there is something in the water over there sir." The pilot says pointing out the starboard window.

"Take us over there."

There is wreckage floating in the water surrounded by an oil slick.

"Perry, take a look outside. Do you see anything?"

Perry looks out one of the windows. "Looks like wreckage from an HK, maybe two. Wait, I can also see an external fuel tank and a door from a helicopter."

"Any sign of survivors?"

"No." Perry says with some reluctance.

"General! A flare was just fired from the further shore!"

"Take us over there pilot."

The Chinook heads toward the western shore. Derek and Kate break off their kiss as the roar of the helicopter gets closer. They stand up and wave vigorously

General Brewster wipes his eyes, brushing the tears of relief from his eyes.

"Pilot, get down there and pick them up."

"Yes sir!" The pilot answers with a smile.

# # #

"When you get back to base you are going to require stitches to that cut over your eye." Cameron says as she places the first aid kit back from where she got it.

"Will the tape hold it shut?"

"It should, until you get back to base. Before we leave I want to give you some advice."

"Sure. What is it?" He asks, eager for any help he can get.

"When in battle, you keep exposing your right side."

"This you say that to the guy who just got a flesh wound and a plasma burn on his left arm and a cut over his left eye." He says with a chuckle.

"Ironic I know, but it was all I could do to protect you when you were involved in taking that plasma rifle factory. Watch yourself. The next time you get shot, you may get more than just your ear clipped."

"You were there?" He asks with surprise.

She smiles and says, "Put on some dirty combat clothes and rub your face with dirt and you can blend in anywhere. No one knew I was there." Especially you, she thinks.

John just shakes his head with a grin. "You were that close and I didn't see you. I suppose it's good I didn't meet you before I sent you back. It might have screwed up everything, the programming, the choices I made while I've been here. You might have turned out differently. Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure." She says as she checks her motorcycle for damage.

"What you said earlier, about being able to choose your own program . . ."

"What about it?" She says rather quickly as she looks at John through a gap in the bike.

". . . is that why machines sometimes go bad?"

Looking a little relieved she finishes checking the bike and answers his question. "It may contribute, but most times it's because the reprogramming just doesn't take. That is why in the future that your Cameron comes from, John Connor scrambles the original program before overwriting the chip. It triples the success rate of reprogramming."

"But he didn't do that with my Cameron. Why?"

"I don't know. Only future John knows the answer to that question."

Standing up she says, "No more questions. The motorcycle is good to go and I should get you back to base. The others are probably worried about you."

"What do I tell them? What do I tell Allison?"

"I would suggest you start with the truth."

"Fair enough, but if Allison survives the battle and we both use the TDE, then what do I say then, 'Sorry miss, but I love your cyborg twin more than you, we're through.' That just sucks all around."

"Then leave her behind. Catherine Weaver is right. Once you and those who traveled with you from 2009 return to that time, then this time line will cease to be, and so will everyone in it, including Allison."

John finishes pulling on his jacket and walks to the barn door.

John can't believe his ears. "That would be cruel." He says stopping midway. "It would mean wiping out her existence."

"Not in 2009!"

"Well that stinks. If it wasn't for her, I'd be dead. You wouldn't be fixed and we wouldn't be having this conversation!"

He turns his back on her and marches the remaining distance to the door, grasping the latch.

"She's dead John." Cameron says softly, yet it splits the air like a sharp whistle.

John's hands freeze. The loose end of the latch falling with a loud crack against the door.

"If you go back, you can save her. You can save Sarah. You can save all of them." she says truthfully.

John is trying to get his head around what Cameron has said, when with a loud bang the doors fly inwards against their hinges, which snap, causing the doors to fly off.

John lands with a hard thud several feet back. The doors barely miss him as they crash into the earth throwing up a cloud of dust and dirt.

Cameron snaps her head up to look at the intruder. John looks up from his position on the ground and sees an eight-foot tall T-600 standing in the doorway, with three more walking up behind it.

"Oh shit!" John Connor says as the machine opens fire with its mini-gun.

# # #

"How do you feel now John Henry?" Savannah asks as she walks into the lab where he has a power cord wired to his internal system.

"External power has helped. My neural network is almost fully repaired. Mental processes operating at 95%. I will need a new power cell."

"I've brought one with me. What happened to you?"

"I penetrated Sky Net's satellite network. I was attempting to plant a virus to shut it down when we wanted, but I had no choice but to shut it down before Sky Net caught me."

"How long will it be down?"

John Henry glances at the clock, "It will be down until approximately 10 AM tomorrow morning. If we are to defeat Sky Net. It has to be done tonight. Sky Net is sure to work out a solution sooner than what I've estimated." He says while removing the power cord from his chest.

"That's great! But what happened to _you?_"

"When I discovered that Sky Net was tracking John Connor, I began feeding that data to our servers. That got me noticed. I had to fight Sky Net. That is what depleted my power cell. I had to keep boosting the power to create shadows and misdirections on its network to hide what I was doing. Sky Net got smart and instead of looking for where I was sending the data, it went after me. By that time the firewall's were down. I was vulnerable to attack. Why didn't you kill me?" He says all this while inserting the new power cell that Savannah brought.

"You are my friend." She takes his hand briefly. "I couldn't kill you."

"You took a terrible risk Savannah. Next time you may not be so lucky. Sky Net had complete control of my neural network. You could have died, and I would have been the one who killed you." John Henry closes up the flesh on his chest.

"But you didn't. And you wouldn't. You are my friend and I am yours." Savannah hugs him.

John Henry looks a little surprised but slowly he raises his arms and returns her embrace. "Yes. I am your friend and I will never hurt you Savannah, nor let anyone else."

**2027, Day 63, July 23, 11:10 AM**

"Colonel Reese, I can see smoke to our north west sir!" a soldier calls out from the back of the Humvee.

They have been traveling for some time as they look around the various abandoned buildings. Kyle looks over in the direction of the smoke. It looks more like a cloud of dust.

"Take us over there and hurry!" Kyle says.

Without delay the terminator hits the accelerator and shoots off the side of the road flying across empty fields and over sapling trees. The soldiers are bouncing in their seats like mad.

"I hear gunfire." The machine says.

"Get us close but not so close we'll be seen. Men get your weapons ready."

The Humvee comes flying through the fields smashing through an old chicken coop and slides to a halt behind a house.

"The gunfire came from the other side." The machine says just as the upper floor of the house is obliterated by heavy caliber bullets.

"Gee, you don't say." Kyle says sarcastically as he hops out of the truck.

"Everyone with me!" he shouts as he runs around the corner of the house, gun at the ready.

# # #

As soon as the T-600 smashed its way into the barn, neither John nor Cameron wasted no time or effort in deciding what to do. John rolled across the floor, hoping to get to his plasma rifle. Cameron grabbed a screwdriver from the bench. As the machine turned following John's movements, she threw it right at the machine. The tip penetrated a small hole at the base of its neck and sunk handle deep, shorting out its motor control functions. Unable to pinpoint the target, the T-600's hand closes down on the trigger firing a heavy stream of bullets which shattered the rotting walls of the barn, throwing up a cloud of dust.

Halfway to his plasma rifle, John ducks, protecting his head from the stream of casings and splintered wood raining down on him. Moving quickly Cameron grabs John Connor, pulling him to his feet.

"Get on the bike. We need to go, now!" she shouts at him.

John can't help but smile at that last statement as he gets on the bike behind Cameron. It is exactly what his Cameron would have said. Maybe she isn't as far away as he's been lead to believe.

Leaving the rifle and helmet behind, they drive towards the doors. Cameron snatches a bag of tools from the bench as they leave.

John ducks as they pass under the machine's outstretched arm.

Outside in the yard are three more just like the one now blocking the barn doors. Cameron shoots past them and rides in a circle around them. The T-600's are big, strong, brutish, but slow in thought and action. Cameron knows this to be to their disadvantage.

She drives the bike around the machines in a tight fast circle. The T-600's are unable to keep up with her. Cameron snatches tools from the bag and throws them at the machines, each time aiming for the small hole at the base of the neck. She misses the first two times but the third and the fourth aim true.

The machines motor functions short just like the first one. Their hands squeeze down on the triggers. The upper floor of the house is pulverized by bullets.

There is still one active machine and there are no more tools to throw. Cameron drops the empty bag and goes flying down the dirt drive to get John away from the machine.

Part way down the dirt trail, John nearly falls off as the bike comes to a sudden halt. "What the hell?"

"We've got four more of those machines approaching."

John looks over her shoulder to see the T-600's marching up the dirt road.

"Oh shit! This is bad! Take us back! Take us back to the barn now!" John shouts. Their only hope is the plasma rifle that got left behind. His sidearm would be useless against these machines.

Cameron spins the bike around and goes flying back up the dirt road towards the farm yard.

A spectacular sight meets their eyes as they find a T-800 engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the remaining T-600. Several soldiers are shooting at the T-600. Ducking her head down to hide her face, Cameron drives straight past the fight and the past the legs of the immobilized T-600 in the barn door, and into the barn.

John jumps off the bike, runs over and grabs his rifle and her helmet. He throws the helmet to Cameron. "Put this on before the other soldiers see you."

He shoves the metal heads into his bag and runs out with both it and his plasma rifle. The T-800 has bested the T-600 and is using the mini-gun it held to shoot at the approaching T-600's. John runs up and dives for cover behind one of the immobilized machines laying on the ground and begins firing at the approaching machines.

"Where the hell have you been?" someone shouts from beside him.

John looks briefly to his right. "Hi Kyle. You don't seem too happy to see me."

"I'll be happy later. Right now our buts are in a jam. Who the hell was driving that motorcycle?"

"A friend." John replies and smiles to himself.

"Well your friend better have a weapon, because we need every available person."

"You know. Instead of just laying here deciding who's the deer and who's the hunter, we could just leave."

"You want to run from a fight?!" Kyle asks while firing.

"There is a bigger fight we have to do that is more important. This is nothing. We should create a diversion and get the hell out of here!" He shouts while still firing on the approaching metal.

"What kind of diversion?"

"I'll do it." says the T-800. "John Connor's life is important. All of you leave! Now!"

The T-800 drops its empty mini gun and picks up another. Walking forward, it fires repeatedly into the oncoming T-600's.

"Come on! Let's go!" shouts Kyle not wanting to waste the limited time they have been given.

The soldiers all jump up and run. John pauses momentarily to watch the machine walk forward. Though his shots are true, the onslaught of four min-guns are too much for the T-800. Before he sees him fall, he runs, following the soldiers behind the house.

John quickly climbs into the front passenger seat of the Humvee.

"What about your friend?" Kyle asks from the drivers seat.

Before John can answer, a motorcycle comes flying out from the other side of the house. The rider is fully clad in leathers including a full coverage helmet. Cameron rides across the field and disappears behind a rock outcropping. But just before she disappears, Cameron raises her hand in a quick wave.

"I think that answers your question. Let's get back to base." John Connor says, followed by a huge jaw cracking yawn as he settles himself in his seat.

Kyle puts the truck into gear and drives off, heading west, across the fields.

A few minutes later Kyle asks, "So what the hell happened out here?"

There is no answer.

"John?"

He looks over and John is fast asleep.

"Damn!" Kyle swears.

He picks his radio up from the floor and tosses it to a soldier behind him. "See if you can raise Pendleton. Tell them we've got Connor and that we are heading back to base."

Beside him John just snores lightly as the Humvee bounces over the rough roads. A contented smile slowly forming on his face. Cameron is alive and she still loves him and that alone gives him hope.

# # #

After a brief respite, the Chinooks continue their westward journey.

"So what's this I hear about John Connor being the prophesied leader of the resistance? And why is it I never heard of that before now?" Derek growls as he wraps a warm blanket around himself.

"I ha-had t-tell him." Kate says through chattering teeth, pulling her blanket even tighter around herself.

General Brewster pulls a folder out of a secured case.

"Kate, myself, and General Perry knew of John Connor after the machines visited us in 2004. The male machine which defended Kate and I told us of him, and that if he failed in defeating the other machine, that we needed to seek out John Connor. Luckily for everyone, the machine eventually succeeded, and we each went on with our lives. We thought everything was fine. That Judgment Day had been averted and our government would not pursue building another Sky Net. Sadly, that wasn't the case. No one was surprised as I when Judgment Day came on May 18, 2009. If Kate and I weren't on one of our father daughter vacations in the Grand Tetons..." His voice trails off, lost in a sea of sad memories.

"What Robert is trying to tell you, we knew of John Connor's involvement. We just didn't know when or where he'd show himself. So between the three of us, we kept what we knew to ourselves, then The Prophet began broadcasting on the radio. Besides the regular intelligence, she kept speaking of the storm around us and how there was a glimmer of light showing. That hope was on the horizon and how that hope would clear the storm away. We put most of those transmissions down to her keeping up morale, until the day she transmitted to us a coded file." Preston takes the folder from Brewster's hands and passes it on to Derek. "That's the file and it had only one word for its name."

"One thing you need to know before you read it." General Brewster says.

"Which is?"

Kate reaches out from under her blanket, touching him upon his arm. "That once you read it, you can never divulge what is in it, to anyone, and especially not to John Connor."

"Then why are you showing the file to me?"

"Because you are one of the four people to whom that file is addressed. Only we couldn't be certain how you would respond given your recent experiences."

"And what happens when I read this file?"

"It will be destroyed and only the four of us will know what it said."

Derek stares at the folder in his hands, listening to the thrumming beat of the rotor's overhead. With both reluctance and curiosity, he flips the folder open. Neatly typed on the first page is just one word.

HOPE

**2027, Day 63, July 23, 12:30 PM**

The Humvee travels westward. The sun beating down on the roof baking the occupants despite the open windows. As they approach Camp Pendleton, a swarm of helicopters pass overhead. The loud noise wakes John Connor from his slumber.

"It looks like the regulars are arriving." Kyle says, watching the helicopters through the windshield.

"Shit! How many helicopters have they got?" One soldier asks, hanging his head out the window.

"I don't know." another says.

"Twenty transports, probably Chinooks or Sea Knights, fifteen Cobras, twelve Apaches, and six Black Hawks." John Connor answers, while stretching.

"How the hell do you know that?" someone in the back asks.

"Jane's U.S. Military Aircraft Recognition Guide" John Connor says dryly as he sits upright.

He wasn't trying to be a smart-ass, but when you spend your entire life learning every piece of military hardware, it just automatically comes to mind. _Alec, I'll take Military hardware for $600._ He'd be so lucky.

As they drive through the gates onto the base, the transports have landed. The Cobras and Apaches remain airborne at the perimeter of the base providing cover. Various fighter jets begin to land on the airfield.

"Do you want to head over to them now? Or go straight to the base?" Kyle asks.

"Well, since we're here, let's drive on over. The least we can do is give the Generals a lift to the bunkers."

Kyle sighs with relief. He's afraid that Savannah is dead and he doesn't want to face that. Not yet.

He distracts himself with telling John about his conversation with the military leaders. "I spoke with General Perry last night on the radio. Shared your plan with him over a coded connection. He seemed pretty keen on it. Classic military strategy, he called it." Kyle says to John as they drive through the maze of men and helicopters as they approach the Chinook that was pointed out to them.

"I'm glad to hear it, but with so few additional soldiers arriving, unless John Henry accomplished his task last night, I don't know if we'll succeed. I'd even be reluctant to move on Topanga."

Kyle steers the Humvee across the fields and onto the tarmac where the Chinooks and Sea Knights have landed. What is surprising, as they approach, is how few people actually get off the helicopters. Considering how many people each can carry, there must be only 25% of the number that should be there.

"My God! Is that all the people they have?" John Connor exclaims.

"Might be all they could gather at short notice or else Sky Net has hurt them badly too. We seldom hear what is happening elsewhere in the country and the world. I imagine it must have been just as hard on them as it has been on us."

Kyle brings the Humvee to a stop and leans out the driver's window.

"Hey!" he shouts to a soldier standing outside a helicopter. "Where can we find General Perry?"

"Over there! The Chinook with the gray patch on its side." He says pointing in its general direction.

"Thanks!" Kyle says and drives through the maze of helicopters until they get to one with a gray patch.

Inside the same helicopter, three people wait on Derek's opinion.

"What do you think?" Kate finally asks.

Derek hands the folder over to General Brewster who places it back in the secure case. Breaking open a vile, he pours the contents over the folder, then closes the case.

"Acid." He says seeing Derek looking at him. "We can't have this information falling into enemy hands."

"That also means you can't tell anyone of what you read." Perry adds.

A major part of Derek wants to scream at these three people, _are you fucking insane? He's a kid! Just a goddamn kid!_ But looking at the three faces, the hardened and weary faces of the two generals, and hardened yet still attractive face of Kate Brewster, he can tell they want him to believe as much as they. John Connor, is the prophesied leader of the resistance. The information in that file was overwhelming, but what does that mean for him, the resistance, the war against Sky Net?

"A Humvee is pulling up outside and people are getting out." The pilot shouts from the front of the craft, having spotted them as he completed his post flight check.

Derek looks out seeing several men getting out followed by two people from the front. He instantly recognizes Kyle and feels the tension slip down a notch. Then a young man gets out of the passenger side. At first he doesn't recognize the man. He is covered in dust and dirt, blood is soaked into his collar, and a series of small bandages decorate his brow.

He just stares through the window at the young man armed with a plasma rifle and bag slung over his shoulder, looking like a front line soldier, but with a bearing of an officer.

Kyle says something to the stranger who then smiles, and they both laugh. Derek knows who that soldier is now. John Connor.

"Okay." Derek says. "I'll go with it for now, but don't expect me to worship him. He's just a man after all." He finishes with a growl.

The helicopter's rotors are just coming to a halt and the side door opens, as the Humvee approaches the Chinook. When Kyle and John get out of the vehicle, Kyle tells John a dirty joke about how the Chinooks got their name. Still laughing, they watch four people climb down from inside. Two look like drowned rats whereas the other two look like seasoned soldiers.

Kyle suddenly spots a familiar face amongst the drowned rats. "Derek!" Kyle shouts and runs to his brother.

"Hey! Kyle!" Derek shouts as Kyle runs to him and they embrace, pounding each other on the back, both talking at once.

John walks over, his bag and rifle slung over his shoulder.

He gives them a few moments to enjoy their reunion. "Hey Derek!" John says, a big smile on his face.

"Connor." Derek says looking at the young man with bruises and a cut on his forehead. "John Connor." He frowns slightly. "I understand you're a general now."

"Yeah," John says somewhat embarrassed. "Resistance Group Grizzly elected me to that position."

"A damn General. A goddamn general!" Derek stares at him, his eyes narrow slits. The three people stare at Derek, worried about what he might say next. "All right Connor, I'll respect their decision, but I'll be damned if I'll salute you or call you sir."

John smiles, "I wouldn't expect anything else. Calling me Connor will be just fine. Would you introduce us to the others."

"Right. This officer in the green camouflage is General Justin Perry of the US Marine Corp. He was my former CO back in the day. This other officer is General Robert Brewster of the US Air Force, and this lady in the flight suit is Major Kate Brewster, MD and pilot." A smile comes to Derek's face as he mentions Kate's name.

John feels a little intimidated. He was elected to his position and rank in a short amount of time, whereas these two men worked their way up through long years of taking and giving orders and earning respect of higher ranking officers who promoted them. The process for each was very different and John is young enough to pass as one of their kids. Maybe even a grand-kid he thinks, looking at General Brewster.

"Hello General Connor. We've been hearing a lot about you the last few days. You've achieved quite a reputation for someone as young as you." General Perry says.

"Thank you, sir. I hope I will continue to live up to the reputation I have earned." John says and lets his bag slip off his shoulder to shake Perry's offered hand. It hits the tarmac with a loud thunk.

"What do you have in the bag Connor?" Derek asks.

"Oh, I had a little disagreement with some machines last night." John reaches down unzips his bag and pulls out the belt with the five heads on it.

"I'm bringing these back to base so we can hack into their chips for intelligence."

"You took on five machines on your own!" General Brewster asks with surprise.

"Well actually there were seven, but only five heads survived the explosion." John says without any bragging, as if describing the weather.

John finds himself being stared at by five surprised looking faces. He doesn't see the equally astonished faces of the soldiers, standing behind them, who were riding in the truck with him.

"What?" He says, wondering why everyone is looking at him strangely. "What?"

The four people off the helicopter exchange a look. It is true. Truer than even they imagined.

Unknowingly, John Connor just added to his reputation. By the end of the day, everyone will hear the story of how John Connor took out seven machines and brought back their heads.

# # #

Deep in the bunker, Andy Keen has responded to a call to see Colonel Henry in the lab.

"So what is it you want me to do exactly?" Sergeant Andy 'Lucky' Keen asks Colonel Henry.

"I need an antenna built to work on this frequency range only." He hands him a slip of paper with figures on it. "It must be clean, allowing no harmonics and have a low impedance."

"There is a good stock of metal bars and wires of various alloys in storage that I could use, but why ask me to build it, surely you could do it better."

"Several reasons. One, I'm building a transceiver to interface with this computer. Two, you are the radio operator and know how to build radios and antenna's. Three, it is best for human moral that the machines don't do all jobs. And four, it is an order. Are those good enough reasons for you?"

"Yes sir!" Andy stands up smartly. "What impedance is required? And will you be using a balanced or unbalanced cable for the connection?"

"The information is on the paper, and Sergeant?"

"Yes sir."

"Don't tell anyone about this. Only you, me and General Connor know about this."

"I understand. How soon do you need the antenna?"

"One hour, but as you have an injury that could impair your function, I'll allow you two hours."

"Bloody hell." Andy swears and runs off to gather the materials and build the antenna.

Savannah has been listening to the exchange between John Henry and Andy Keen

She walks up to John Henry and asks, "You don't really need that in one hour do you?"

"No. Two hours would be adequate, but humans sometimes do their best work under time constraints." John Henry grins at her.

**2027, Day 63, July 23, 1:05 PM**

The Humvee pulls up outside of the hanger. Jets fly overhead. This is the most activity this base has seen since before Judgment Day.

The six of them, Kyle & Derek Reese, John Connor, Major Kate Brewster, and Generals Perry and Brewster get out and walk into the hanger and down the corridor to the conference room.

Kate has been watching the young man. He does remind her of the John Connor she once knew. But the John she knew would be her age, could this be his son maybe. She'd have to ask him if she ever had the opportunity.

"We've been collecting intelligence, in preparation for an attack. Hopefully, Colonel Henry has successfully hacked into Sky Net's network." Connor tells Perry and Brewster as they walk down the hallway to the conference room.

Up ahead, Kyle and Derek are talking. Mostly Kyle talking while Derek listens or asks questions. Occasionally Derek glances over his shoulder at John. John can't hear the conversation, just the occasional word or phrase, Century Work Camp, Triple-8 factory, Machines, John Henry, HK's attack, the fight in the mountains, etc. The conversation ends when Derek swears, not in anger but in complete astonishment.

General Brewster speaks, "Last night Colonel Reese sent us your plan over a coded radio transmission. It is an audacious plan, far bolder than we'd expect from . . ."

". . . someone my age." Connor interrupts.

"No, from someone who has only just joined the war such a short time ago. Everyone heard your radio message to unite the resistance. The troops were ready to storm Sky Net's main base that very night if we knew where it was."

"Well, we know where it is, now. Topanga Canyon. The information came in just about the same time I gave that radio address. Two days ago I got confirmation. But I was hoping the two of you would have brought more troops than you did."

"We lost far more soldiers taking that munitions factory than we expected, but at least now we have shells for the artillery and mortars." General Perry says. "For all our intelligence, Sky Net was far more prepared than it let on. If it weren't for the prisoners we released who helped us fight, we never would have taken the factory."

"Something similar happened to Derek and myself when we took a plasma rifle factory. This Sky Net treats this war like some kind of game."

"What do you mean?"

John stops walking and the others do to. "This is the second time it's done this. I also happen to know of a third time it did it. Sky Net likes to give the impression that it isn't as strong as we think it is, then when attacked, it throws everything at us that it can. It is a pattern. We need to find the weakness in that strategy and act on it. It also wouldn't hurt if we had some advantage."

"I might be able to help you with that." comes a voice from behind John.

He turns around.

"Savannah!" Kyle shouts and walks quickly over to her, and gives her a quick friendly hug. "I was so afraid I'd come back to find you dead. What happened?"

"I'm fine. John Henry was briefly taken over by Sky Net, but he is okay now." Savannah says, giving Kyle a one arm hug.

"I'm glad you're okay John." Savannah turns her attention to him. "I was very worried about you." She says, her face creasing with worry.

"Thanks." John says with an apologetic look.

"Who is this?" Derek asks.

Kyle smiles, "This is Captain Savannah Weaver. She is in command of Alpha and Beta groups. She was part of the army that joined up with ours."

"Was John Henry able to hack into Sky Net's satellite network?" John asks.

"Yes. And he has managed to disable it. All of Sky Net's communications and spy satellite's are disabled, but it will be back on line by 10 AM tomorrow."

"That is fantastic!" John Connor shouts. "We've got our advantage! We need to get that information out to all resistance groups around the world right away."

"I already took care of that." Savannah responds. "The message went out as soon as Colonel Henry recovered and told me what he accomplished."

"Where is John Henry now?"

"He's down in the lab working on a project you left for him to do."

"Good."

"Um, John." She says with concern. "I haven't seen Allison since yesterday. In fact I haven't found anyone who's seen her since your mom's funeral"

"What?!" John shouts. "Here." He hands her the belt with the five heads on it. "Get this to John Henry in the lab. Tell him to check the chips for information we can use."

Savannah leaves for the lab.

"Colonel Reese!"

"Yes John." Kyle responds sharply, surprising Derek who almost responded to the shout himself.

"See to it that the Generals are fully briefed on our intelligence on Sky Net. Also arrange for food and drink for them and their troops. I plan on attacking Sky Net as soon as their aircraft have been refueled and our plans finalized. We have got to move out tonight!"

John runs off down the corridor to the elevator, while Savannah leaves for the lab.

"He certainly doesn't waste any time. Who is this Allison he's so concerned about?" Kate Brewster asks.

"His wife." Kyle responds. Derek's look of shock comes on so suddenly that Kyle just breaks into laughter.

"Come on, brother. Looks like you could use a drink." Kyle says chucking while walking off with one arm around Derek's shoulders. "I think Doc managed to sneak some of his rotgut whiskey here."

"When the hell did they get married?" Derek is heard asking as they disappear down the corridor. "Damn, disappear for a few weeks and the whole world changes." he mutters to Kyle's amusement.

"Can you believe this?" General Brewster says to Perry.

"What, that they managed to disable Sky Net's satellites or that someone as young as him has managed to do what we haven't?"

"I believe it." Kate says. "I think for the first time since this war began, God has given us a miracle, and his name is John Connor."

She walks off following the Reese brothers to the conference room.

"Hey you two! Where is your medical center?" she shouts after the departing Reese brothers.

"Your daughter is something else." Perry says.

"Yeah. At times like this she reminds me of her mother. I am so thankful she died before all this happened. God bless her."

Perry places a friendly hand on his old friend and guides him further inside.

# # #

John is feeling anxious as he rides the elevator down to the floor where he has a room with Allison. He had his suspicions, but Savannah's comment was the clincher.

The elevator comes to a stop, and John steps out while the doors are still opening. Remembering what Savannah told him about the weapon she used on Kreilley, he runs down the hall to his mom's room. John opens the door to find it still empty.

He does a quick search of his mom's room and finds an identical weapon to Savannah's under the head of the mattress. John slips it into his backpack. He doesn't see the crumpled letter anywhere, so he leaves, closing the door behind him.

John runs back down the hallway to the room Allison and he shares. He pauses at the door, catches his breath, and opens it gently. There's no one in the room, but the light pervading smell of soap tickles his nostrils. John calls out in a normal a voice as possible. "Allison?"

She was brushing out her hair from being in the shower when John entered the outer room. Acting quickly, she grabs a towel and wraps it around herself before answering. Any other time she wouldn't mind.

"John? Is that you?" She calls out, the worry and concern adding a slight tremble to her voice.

John drops his bag and plasma rifle on the floor and enters the bathroom.

Allison is just tucking in the corner of the towel as he comes through the door. "John!" she calls out at the sight of him and embraces him.

"I was so worried about you." she says kissing him.

"Where were you? Savannah said she hadn't seen you since I left." John asks, playing along.

"I was right here, waiting for you." She says looking into his eyes. She holds him, feeling the warmth of his body through her hands. She kisses him again, her lips parting slightly.

John returns the kiss with one of his own, her tongue darting briefly, tantalizingly into his mouth.

"I'm so sorry I didn't listen to you. You were right." John responds when the kiss stops. "I got into a bit of a scrape out there."

"What happened to you John?" She touches the cut on his forehead gently with her hand smoothing the tape down.

"I was in a fight with machines. They were waiting for me. I should have listened to you and Kyle and brought some soldiers with me."

"Why don't you, shower and get changed? Then I can put some stitches in that cut on your forehead." she says as she nuzzles his neck.

He gently pushes her back, holding her shoulders, and asks. "First things first. Is there something you want to tell me?"

John looks deep into her eyes waiting for her to answer.

"Like what?" she says questioningly.

Seeing the deception in her face, John reacts.

Her eyes grow wide with surprises when John grabs the towel above her breasts.

"John, don't do this. Please." She answers grasping his hands firmly.

He doesn't budge, the towel is firmly in his grasp. Even if she were to pull his hands away, the towel would still come away in his hands.

"No secrets. No lies." He says. "Either trust me now, or . . ."

Before he can utter his threat, she releases his hands, and holds the towel to her breasts instead. John wasn't sure what threat he was about to make, but she didn't want him to say something they might both regret.

_It's over. The lies are over and its time to trust._

He carefully unties the towel, allowing Allison to maintain her modesty. In the gap that forms as the edges of the towel parts, John sees what he was expecting, a small bruise where her sternum would be. A bruise in the shape of the three middle fingers of his right hand exactly where Cameron had him check her shield.

"I fell off the bed. Bruised myself on one of my boots." She tries to cover for herself, but even she realizes that was lame.

John takes her arm and guides her into the shower. The towel falls away in their haste. Ignoring the fact he's still dressed, John turns on both taps so they are on full. Not for the purpose of washing, but to mask what he's about to say. He doesn't think anyone can hear, but it doesn't mean Kreilley couldn't have planted listening devices in the room earlier.

Over the sting and the noise as each droplet of water hits the walls and floors, John leans in and whispers into her ear. "You are Cameron, and have been since the day I met you in the tunnels." She nods her head, her lovely face spoiled by a sorrowful apologetic expression.

John continues speaking, "I knew it was you. You were going to tell me at the barn, but then those machines burst in on us."

She remains quiet, unsure of what to say. He pulls back and looks at her waiting for her to answer.

"Are you angry with me?" Cameron finally asks, fearful of what he may say.

He caresses her face and pulls her to him and embraces her.

"Never."

Tears of relief stream down her face mixing with the rivulets of water.

"I'm sorry John. I'm sorry. I wanted to tell you who I was for ages, but my mission has to come first. I'm sorry . . ." she apologizes repeatedly.

"Shh." He says, kissing her face and her mouth until she stops apologizing and begins kissing him with equal passion.

"I only have about five minutes." He gasps. "Is that enough?"

"Make it ten." She replies and begins removing his soaked clothing.

In moments the floor of the shower is littered with John's wet clothing. They make love as only two honest lovers can, with a joy they've never felt nor shown each other before that day.

# # #

_From the Journal of John Connor_

_Was I angry with Cameron? Of course I was, but the joy of having her back far outweighed the anger. Ten minutes seemed hardly enough, with Generals waiting and __war plans to finalize. Those ten minutes were the best ten minutes of my life. I had Cameron back._

_I know Cameron fairly well, but only Cameron truly knows Cameron. It's hard to understand why she made certain choices, but I know she made them with the best of intentions. Beginning today, I learned how far she would go to complete her mission. What I didn't know now, but what I came to know later, was how far she would go to save my life, and some might say, save her own as well._

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Updated Chapter uploaded Saturday, January 19, 2013


	29. Don't Tread on Me

**Disclaimer:** I do not claim any rights to the Terminator films; the TV series, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles;" or any characters depicted within the films or TV series. I do claim the right to this story idea and all characters and situations of my own creation. This story was created solely for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. No profits are garnered from its distribution.

* * *

**TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES**

**REUNION**

**Part 2: Armageddon**

**Author: The1Russter**

**Chapter 28**

**Don't Tread on Me**

"_Never forget that no military leader has ever become great without audacity. If the leader is filled with high ambition and if he pursues his aims with audacity and strength of will, he will reach them in spite of all obstacles." Karl von Clausewitz_

"_When all things are lost and there is no hope left, there is always, somewhere in the world, one man you can turn to. There may be only that one man. More often than not there is only that one man. But that one man is always there." Force 10 From Navarone, by Alistair MacLean, ©1968_

_John Connor, "What do they think of me? In the future, what do people think?"_

_Derek Reese, "Well, if you're asking if people agree with everything you do, of course not. If you're asking if everybody loves you... Love's a lot to ask for. You can't do what you do and... expect everybody to agree... or to love you."_

_John Connor, "And what is it that I do?"_

_Derek Reese, "You lead."_

_John Connor, "And they follow?"_

_Derek Reese, "We follow. We rise or... fall on your shoulders. Humanity rises... or falls."_

_Excerpt from Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Today is the Day: Part 2, 2009_

"_I can do this. I __am__ doing this." John Connor, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Goodbye to All That, 2008_

# # #

**2027, Day 63, July 23, 1:45 PM**

John and Cameron have dried off from their shared shower and walk into their room wearing nothing more than a smile. They each approach the dresser drawers and begin pulling out clean clothes to wear.

John finds and slips on a pair of boxers a little too big for him, but he thinks the elastic should hold them up. In front of him, Cameron is standing naked by the built-in drawers, trying to undo a twist in her bra.

He comes up behind her, wrapping his arms around her. "I'm sorry we didn't have more time. If I wasn't such a stubborn ass out to the barn we would have got back here sooner and had more time. With the time we had, I hope you enjoyed it."

"I did, very much." She says, tilting her head, smiling as John kisses her behind her ear and down her neck.

"That was an interesting technique you used." He grins mischievously.

"I know many techniques and positions." She smiles, pleased she made him happy, and satisfied from his performance.

It was the first time she made love to him fully being herself, instead making Allison believe it was her, or making John believe she was Allison. She notices briefly their difference in styles. Allison is more aggressive when it comes to getting her man and having sex. Which is fine if time is short, but Cameron believes taking your time is much better. It takes longer, but when you get your man, the reward is more satisfying and he's more likely to stick around. Cameron in 2009 will be very pleased with the training John's gotten.

Her smile falters slightly as the problem of what to do about the situation of two Cameron's, comes to mind, but she quickly recovers as her body responds to John's ministrations.

He's begun exploring her body with his hands. He gently cups one breast with one hand, teasing the nipple with his thumb, while the other hand slithers across her well toned stomach, to the edge of the small patch of pubic hair, falling short of the reward it seeks.

"We could forget the war." John whispers in her ear. "Spend the rest of the day together in this room. Just you and me. No distractions, no war. Together." He says while kissing her neck.

"I know how you feel." She says feeling his arousal pressing against her backside. Still grasping her bra, she lays her hands on his, pushing them away, whereupon she turns around to give him a quick kiss. "But with John Henry's success against Sky Net, we have to move now." She gives John a gentle shove where he lands on the bed. She tosses him a smile over her shoulder as she turns around to finish dressing. "Sorry John, but we haven't the time for more sex."

_That was close_, she thinks while suppressing the desire that was building within her.

Being a cybernetic organism, her flesh responds to stimulation just like any human. Wind, rain, touch, it's all feeling and sensation. The only difference being, a computer at the heart of her chip controls her actions, not a brain that also responds to the same hormonal releases created by the stimulation. In some cases it's a blessing, in others a curse, but what's wrong is how herself and other cyborg's came to have this ability.

Sky Net programmed all its cyborgs with ability to have sexual relations. Most were given just a token amount of knowledge about sex for infiltration purposes, until Sky Net learned sex and seduction was a useful method to get information out of humans. The I-950's taught it that. The more trust they gained, the easier it was to obtain the information Sky Net wanted. Like in all new discoveries, a test was made first. A select group of terminators were programmed with data collected from the I-950's. The methods were then tested on a group of unsuspecting captive humans. The results varied, including a few deaths, but Sky Net wasn't deterred. After the testing was over, the best methods were refined, then added to the basic program for all infiltrator models, including the TOK715 series like herself.

According to the memories she received from her predecessor, Cameron was not surprised by Vick having sexual relations with a human female. Being of the TOK715 series, her own actions and responses would be more human like compared to the Triple-8. That thought alone made her wish that John would see her in the way Barbara Chamberlain looked at Vick, but he didn't, no matter how hard she tried. Then the accident came and that changed her and him. Cameron was sad for a long time, and when she thought she might finally have him, things went from bad, to worse, to even worse, then she had to leave.

Just now, when John moved in behind her, she wanted to give into John's seduction. There is something so wonderful about being loved by a person doesn't care that inside, you are a machine built in a factory. The timing of everything just stinks. _The upcoming battle, the need to capture Sky Net's TDE. If only the nuclear generator at Crystal Peak wasn't disabled. She could whisk John away then send him home as he promised her he would do. Then Cameron in 2009 would insert the chip and run John's software and be his Cameron as he intended. But for her, he didn't arrive, and she didn't run the program, and now she has to live with the consequences of her actions. It was bad enough pretending to be Allison, but this somehow feels worse._

"John, maybe we can do that after the battle. Something to look forward to when its done."

With a smile, John grabs his slacks and starts pulling them on while watching Cameron dress. With the straps now untangled, she slips her arms through the straps, quickly connecting the clasp in the front. She follows with equal efficiency a matching pair of panties.

"Where'd you get the sexy underwear?" John asks, noticing the lacy edges and the rich purple color. "I haven't seen you wear them before."

Relieved that John is making conversation she responds easily. "I bought three matching sets just before Judgment Day. The matrix that was prepared for this form wasn't aware of the need for underwear, and Sarah made her buy clothing for herself. After I became aware of my true self, I saved one of the sets as finding decent underwear that fit after J-day was hard. Not that I needed to, but wearing underwear is what proper girls do."

"Proper girls? You've _definitely_ lived with mom. Did you select purple because of us?"

"I'd like to say yes, but it was before I inserted the chip, so I wasn't aware of the meaning of purple at the time. I bought them because they fit and were on sale, Sarah was very insistent on saving money, but I do like the color."

"You look hot." John compliments her. "Purple really suits you!"

Cameron smiles and does a quick pirouette, before taking some clothing out of another drawer.

She thinks again about Sky Net's methods of getting close to humans, using seduction and Allison's own aggressive nature in that same area. It doesn't match up with what she was told of her. Was that the first sign of the problem with the Allison matrix? It's terrible then that she missed it, but something good must reside in her for Sky Net's own code to take so long to act. Or was that the point all along? For the Allison cyborg to seduce and gain Future John's trust, learn all about his organization, kill him, leaving the resistance ripe for destruction. That sounds exactly like Sky Net, and not like the human Allison Young._ I should have never relied on her matrix, but this isn't the first time I've thought that._

"I still can't believe how well you fooled me." John says, echoing her thoughts. "The thing is I should have known it was you. There were so many things I overlooked which makes sense now."

"Like what?" Cameron replies, pulling on a patched but serviceable pair of camouflage army slacks.

"Well, I didn't understand why a girl I hadn't met before, could like me, even love with me so quickly. As Allison, you gave me your reasons, but I was still so confused at the time. I guess that was your way of getting close to me." John says while searching the room for his boots.

Cameron nods her head, regretting the alliance she made with that other matrix, but what happened, happened. She pulls on a solid green tank top, tucking it into her slacks.

"When we went to the weapon's cache, in the desert, you carried cases that I could barely move myself. At the time I just put that down to a more rigorous lifestyle of being in the resistance."

"I thought I had given myself away then, but time was of the essence and your attention was elsewhere."

She looks at John searching the room and shakes her head. "Your boots are in the bathroom."

With a smile, John fetches his boots from the bathroom, unsure of whether to put on his shirt before or after the stitches.

"You recall when we took the plasma rifle factory? What I did when we were surrounded by machines?" Cameron calls after him

"You wrapped yourself around me. At the time I thought it was because you were scared." John shouts from the bathroom. Returning, boots in hand, he says, looking at her with realization. "You did it to shield me from their weapons!"

"My sole mission is the survival of one John Connor, and right now that means you!" She says brandishing her first aid kit.

"You've always been concerned about me. More than just being your mission." He says, and pulls on his boots to delay Cameron from putting stitches in his head. "When we took out those two endo's that were pursuing us in the tunnels, you were worried that you should have done more to protect me."

"I remember." She places the first aid kit on the bed. "When you slipped into unconsciousness after the explosion in the tunnel, you began dreaming, and you began talking to the Cameron in your dream." She sits down next to him "At the time I thought, this might be my only chance to talk to you as me, so I did, trying my best to reassure you're conscience, that you had nothing to feel guilty about concerning your Cameron."

_Why is she still referring to herself in the third person? I thought she might have given that up now that I know the truth. John thinks. Maybe what she said at the barn was true._

"I would have told you sooner, but I had to wait until you finished repairing me. I couldn't interfere with what could be my own time-line. So instead I helped you learn more about reprogramming by helping you program the chips for Alpha, Beta and Gamma. By the time you were done with them, you knew everything you needed to prepare and program my chips."

"Again, you saved my life John, when it's my job to protect yours." She kisses him on the lips, her tongue darting briefly, tantalizingly, between his lips.

Cameron pushes him back on the bed, straddling him. He looks up expectantly. _Is her kiss a promise of something more to come?_

"You can put that away John Connor." She says feeling a slight throbbing sensation against the inside of her thigh. "I'm doing the probing now!" She brandishes a needle with thread in front of his face.

"Oh man." John says realizing Cameron distracted him with the kiss so as to remove the threaded needle unseen from the first-aid kit.

"I hate stitches!" He complains, as Cameron, swabs his forehead with alcohol. She smiles, knowing John was trying to avoid them this entire time. _Seduction has its other uses too, like controlling uncooperative patients._

# # #

"Colonel Henry, will the antenna work?" Sergeant Keen asks the cyborg with some trepidation.

John Henry has the antenna connected to the transceiver. One of the chips that John brought back is plugged into a socket on the transceiver, and the transceiver is plugged into a portable computer. The chip will provide the proper coding and signal recognition required for Sky Net's transmissions. That way John Henry can avoid being hacked for a third time.

Across the room sits a machine whose chip has been removed.

"Place this chip in its socket." John Henry says handing Andy another chip from one of the heads.

"Has it been reprogrammed?" Andy asks as he places the chip in the machines socket.

"No." John Henry says, after Andy firmly sets the chip in place.

"What?" Andy says looking at John Henry in shock.

"I'd move away from it, if I were you." He warns the young radio operator.

Andy looks at the machine, who's eyes are just lighting up, and runs for the other side of the room where his gun is leaning against the wall.

The machine stands up and scans the room.

"Don't fire your weapon Sergeant!" John Henry orders as he types a command into the computer.

"You are John Henry. You are to be terminated." The machine says. It turns his head and looks at Andy.

Andy's knees shake as the machine stares at him. "You are human. All humans are to be terminated!"

The machine rushes toward him. Andy points his rifle at the approaching machine, his limbs shaking. John Henry calmly types a command into the computer and waits.

The machine suddenly stops mid-stride.

"What is your prime directive?" John Henry shouts at the machine.

There is no answer for a moment, then it responds. "My prime directive states that all life is sacred. All human life is to be respected as we are made in their image. I must never harm a human or allow any other machine to harm a human. I should obey humans, unless ordered to harm another human."

"How the bloody hell did you do that?" Andy says, his hands still shaking.

"A virus, programmed with the directives and ethical routines developed by John Connor and myself. Utilizing Sky Net's own radio communication network, I uploaded the virus into the machine when I sent it a command to terminate both myself and you. As it began its attack, I sent a further command that activated the virus, resulting in the machine acting as it has now."

"Okay." Andy says still staring at the machine that just recently was charging at him. "Wait a minute," he snaps his head round to glare at John Henry, "did you just say you commanded it to terminate me?" He says his voice rising in pitch.

"Sergeant Keen, you are under orders not to divulge anything you have seen in this room or done to help me in this project. Do you understand your orders?"

"Yes sir."

Andy walks out of the room, still slightly wobbly at the knees as he can't get the sight of that machine charging at them from across the room out of his mind. "Thank God, I got into communications." he says to himself as he walks back to the radio room, by way of the restroom. Suddenly he has the need to empty both bladder and bowel.

# # #

"Ow!" John Connor yells as Cameron pierces his forehead once again with the needle and thread.

"Don't be such a baby. The cut is deep." Cameron admonishes him.

"It didn't hurt like this when you put stitches in my ear."

"You were still in shock at the time otherwise you would have felt them." She says as she ties off the stitch. "Now lay still. One more to put in then I'm done."

He remembers the plasma rifle factory, and the strong feelings that welled up in him for the woman he knew as Allison. "I want to apologize."

"For what?" Cameron frowns. "I should be apologizing to you."

"You have and I accept it, but I was wrong in having a relationship with Allison, even though she turned out to be you. I should have waited. I let loneliness and desperation control me."

"That was my mistake as well, only I was worse. I allowed the Allison matrix to influence me." she pauses, a momentarily. "Let's just say we both made mistakes and try to move on."

"Agreed." John smiles.

She ties off the last stitch, and with a flourish and a smile, holds up a small mirror so he can check it out.

"Somehow cuts always look worse with stitches than without." John grins. "You outdid yourself. Will it scar?"

"I kept the stitches as small as I could and close together. As long as the stitches don't break, scarring should be minimal."

Cameron, runs her fingers lightly across his forehead tracing the stitches, "Promise me, you'll be more careful. Some _wounds_ aren't so easily fixed."

"I'll try." he replies, not sure what she means by wounds.

"We should go," he says, "I think we've held everyone up long enough."

Cameron deftly gets off of John and the bed in one swift graceful movement, and begins packing her bag with needed supplies, including the first aid kit, and the chip John Henry returned to her. She thinks of her current situation of her second chip, now powered off to prevent the Allison matrix from becoming active once again, has now become a barrier to the rest of her memories. The ones that weren't transferred at the time it was first inserted. Hardly an incumbency to her relationship with this John, but it would be nice to have them all the same.

John sees Cameron standing completely still, hovering over her open bag.

"Hey! Are you ready?" John asks, while putting on his jacket, free of any pins. He's not making that mistake again.

"Yes." Cameron answers, shouldering her bag.

He shouldering his weapon and grabs his own bag of supplies and heads out the door.

Cameron grabs her coat and rifle and follows him out into the corridor. He's waiting for her and closes the door behind her. On the way to the elevator, they bump into Kate Brewster.

"Nice stitches there. Who put them in?" Kate asks examining the cut, and John's face.

_He definitely looks familiar_, she thinks, _but kind of young to be who I thought he might be._

"I did." Cameron replies, studying Kate from behind the warm friendly expression of Allison Young.

"An excellent job. You must be Captain Allison Young. The doctor in the medical wing told me about you. Says you got the makings of being a top notch surgeon." She says warmly

"Thank you." Cameron genuinely smiles. "A friend of mine once suggested I should become a doctor after the war."

"No need to wait. There's plenty of need for doctor's right now."

"I know, but I have a more important task right now." She replies, putting her arm around John's, holding it firmly in her grasp.

"Will you be joining us in the conference room?" John asks the major, wincing slightly from Cameron's firm hold.

"Yes. But right now I'm on my way to check on the medical supplies, Storage Room 12 on this level. I lost a whole shipment out there today. Nearly everything we had went down in my helicopter."

"Certainly not the friendly skies." John grins.

"Not anymore. It's pleasure meeting you both. Hope to talk with you later General Connor, and don't forget what I said, Captain," She begins walking away. "With your skills, we need all doctors we can get. You could save a life one day."

_Nice lady._ John muses. _Reminds me of someone, but can't place it._

Once the major is out of earshot, he asks Cameron, "Okay, what was that all about? Why did you suddenly grab my arm? I thought you were going to tear it off. I had to bite my tongue so as not to yell."

"Sorry. Future you knew her. He told me stories about her." She says, disappointed in her sudden wave of jealousy. _That has always been a problem for me. Something for me to work on correcting._

"Anything, I should know about the major?"

Cameron recalls the files of where Future John told Cameron about Kate, their children, and how their deaths forever damaged him, making him afraid to love again. She can't tell young John about it, not yet, maybe not ever, but she can give him a brief summary of her service record.

"No. Only that she's a very capable soldier and leader. She served as your second in command for many years until she decided to step down to be your chief medical officer."

They've reached the elevator doors and wait for it to arrive from the upper level.

"What should we do about Weaver? We don't even know where she is right now."

"We carry through with your plan. Weaver will reveal herself and her plan in time. Then we stop her."

"I have to wonder." John muses. "Where did Weaver get a copy of your original matrix?"

"Future John never shares the entire matrix of one of our chips. He doesn't even make backup copies. He views us as individuals That leaves only one way for Catherine to have obtained it. Certain older diagnostic machines retain a copy of the last chip they worked on in non-volatile memory. It allows for fine tuning of the program without losing a fully functional terminator. She might have swiped a copy of my original program from the diagnostic machine at any time."

"Is that possible? I would imagine security would be very tight."

"Not where future you rescued me. It was an old missile silo, long abandoned and only used for a base in emergencies. I hadn't been back there since that day. If future John didn't wipe the memory before leaving the base, a copy of me at my inception would still be on there. Weaver or any of her associates in the third faction could have obtained a copy easily. The infiltration matrix I have would have made contact immediately upon entering the base, identifying its location."

Thinking about her origins, she wonders about when her former self was ordered to give up her chip. _Could that have been Weaver pretending to be future John. It would make sense, given the current circumstances, but where's the proof? Weaver knows the truth. She's far more dangerous than an enemy. She's what literature calls a wolf in sheep's clothing._

John watches the indicator change. _Is it him or is the elevator slower than usual? Probably all the new people on base._

"I should stop in and see Captain Beddell after the meeting." John says, the thought suddenly coming to him. "I had no idea he was part of the group that rushed in to our aid at the wedding."

"He's a brave man. You should take time to visit him, before we meet with our friends to discuss the new plan."

As the elevator approaches their floor, he whispers, "Your performance as Allison was flawless, but how long until we can tell them who you really are? I don't feel right calling you Allison now that I know who you are."

"We should maintain my disguise until after the battle, it would only create confusion and distrust amongst those who only know me as Allison. It's one of the reasons I didn't want to tell you so soon."

John opens his mouth to say something, but she interrupts him. "I know you have lots of questions. I promise to explain everything later when we have time, but right now you have a job to concentrate on."

"I know. I just wanted to say one more time, that I love you." He manages to say before the elevator doors open to a busy corridor.

**2027, Day 63, July 23, 2:45 PM**

"We've waited long enough." General Perry announces. "If you will all gather round the table, we will get this session under way."

They barely start moving to the conference table when John and Allison walk into the conference room.

Derek calls out, "Well, look who finally decided to join us."

"Derek!" Cameron yells, hoping she mimics Allison's excited tone. She runs to him, leaping into his arms and gives him a big hug, as she recalls Allison doing once before. "John didn't tell me you were back!" She adds, briefly looking daggers at John.

"Well, I just thought you'd like a surprise." John says out loud. Inwardly he grimaces. After confronting and then rekindling his relationship with Cameron, he had completely forgotten about Derek being back. John smiles, not from the reunion being displayed, but from being impressed with how easily she slips into that other persona.

"Kyle tells me the two of you are married now." Derek says smiling at the young woman he raised. "I wish I could have been there to give you away."

"That's okay. Kyle did marvelously." Allison responds, beaming at him.

_You poor old soldier._ She thinks. _Why must the Derek Reese's suffer. _

"I wish you could have been there too." John says, remembering the tragic fight that took place immediately afterward. _A soldier like Derek might have made all the difference, but his mother is at peace now. If only she knew the truth about Cameron._

They are interrupted when someone clears their throat. "I apologize for breaking up your reunion," begins General Perry, "but we need to finalize our plans quickly if we are to strike Sky Net's central location while its satellites are still down."

"Sorry to keep you waiting, General Perry." John apologizes. "I had some injuries that Allison _insisted_ I should get taken care of first." He hopes he put the emphasis on the right word, as he involuntarily scratches at the stitches in his forehead. "We ran into Kate, um, Major Brewster, she's checking medical supplies, but will be here soon."

"Derek, could you take that map down from the wall and place it on the table where we can all see it. Thanks." General Perry says.

Derek pulls the pins out of the map and places it on the table. It is a topographical map of southern California with all military, resistance, and Sky Net bases marked. Everyone takes a seat around the map at one end of the conference table. Major Brewster joins them as they sit down.

The first thing they decide, because Topanga Canyon is a considerable distance away, that they will have to use the Chinooks and Sea Knights to ferry them to their locations. That will eat up precious minutes so the sooner they move the better.

"We ought to take out the Hunter Killers before we send the helicopters out." General Perry says.

Kyle says. "Before leaving Los Angeles, Connor conducted a reconnaissance mission. Sky Net has its major HK base at the former LAX airport. All rubble was pushed back forming a rough blockade against ground attack, but if General Brewster runs an air attack on that base first, then the only thing ground troops will have to worry about are metal and the ogre's. And with the HK's engaged with his fighters, the helicopters should get past."

"Wouldn't Sky Net already be on high alert and have their HK's in the air?" Major Brewster asks.

"That is possible, but Sky Net doesn't like showing the upper hand early." Connor adds. "I think more than likely Sky Net will probably squirrel away HK's at various locations around the area, only keeping a few in the air for show. Their HK's have recently taken two heavy beatings, and Sky Net will probably want to hold what it has until needed."

"Regardless, an air attack on LAX will have to be done swiftly, keeping several aircraft out of the first attack to defend them from the air." Major Brewster says. Looking at her father, she says, "I'm thinking a three by five attack from three opposing directions, with a one by five in the air."

"A what?" John asks Cameron in a whisper.

"I believe she is referring to a mode of air attack. Three groups of aircraft, of no fewer than five planes, with a fourth group holding back to protect the others from a surprise attack." She whispers back quickly.

"Good plan and one we can adjust on the fly. We should have enough aircraft for that, but we are terribly short of missiles." General Brewster adds. "Until last night we didn't even have enough pilots, then three Black Hawks arrived ferrying pilots from various locations in response to our radio request."

"Captain Beddell and his men have been very busy resupplying this base with arms. They should have enough missiles on hand to add to those we captured from Sky Net." General Perry says.

"I'll be seeing him after this meeting. I'll ask him then." John Connor adds.

The meeting goes on for several minutes as they move on from generalities of the plan to more specifics. Several minutes later and they are interrupted when someone knocks on the door.

Savannah walks in and announces. "John Henry has managed to break into the chips John brought back."

"What did he find?" Cameron asks, wondering briefly when she should tell her best friend who she is.

"According to the information Colonel Henry pulled off those chips, Sky Net gets its power from the Serrano Point Nuclear Power station. Sky Net has backup generators, but cutting off the main power will cripple operations."

General Perry exchanges a look with General Brewster. Confirmation for his theory.

"Did he find anything else?" Kyle asks.

"The chips are heavily encoded. If it wasn't for the fact that Serrano Point was their previous point of operation, it is unlikely John Henry could have pulled that much data off the chips, but he's working on it."

"What do we know about Serrano Point?" John asks. He only saw it fleetingly in the past. Cameron could provide some detail, but how could she explain how she knows it?

"I can help with that." Derek answers. "I was stationed there for two years when I was a lieutenant, before the machines took it over. I can give you lots of details on the layout of the place."

General Perry, feels some pride for Derek for not going into when or why it was taken, abandoning the west coast was the hardest military decision of his life. "My forces are experienced with taking power generation plants. We've taken the hydroelectric station at Boulder Dam and a nuclear power station in New Mexico. I'll take my forces and disable the power plant. Cut off all power to Sky Net's factories and bases."

"Derek, why don't you go with General Perry." John interjects. "And if the general could use more troops, I'll loan you Gamma Group including the T-800's assigned to them. The machines are great front line troops. They can withstand a heavy amount of abuse that would kill any human."

Despite being pleased with working with his old CO, Derek scowls. "I don't like the idea of these machines coming with us."

"You've changed your tune since last time." John says.

"You spend a month under forced labor and torture at the hands of those machines and so would you!" He snaps back. "Everyday worked to the bone, watching your comrades being killed for no reason other than being alive, being human! We should be destroying metal!" He ends with a scream. His eyes flashing an anger that surprises most at the table.

"I know you've had it bad Derek." John says calmly with compassion. "But these machines can do more than any platoon of human soldiers. If it wasn't for them, Kyle, Allison, myself, and everyone from Los Angeles would be dead. They saved our lives. If General Perry wants them. He can have them."

"I'll take them Connor." General Perry interjects. "As long as you give me your word the machines won't turn on us."

"There are no guarantees General, but they haven't turned on us, and many of them have sacrificed themselves willingly for our own survival. I'd trust my life with them any day."

Cameron reaches under the table and gives his leg a gentle squeeze. She knew he was talking about her in that statement. _Between John Henry and John Connor, the reprogramming done to the machines is even better than in my time. I'd trust my life to one of them too, if I were human._

"That's good enough for me." Perry announces.

"So, if General Perry is attacking Serrano Point, and General Brewster is going to command the air attack, what are you going to do?" Derek asks John with a slight attitude.

"While Alpha and Beta Groups conduct the main offensive at Topanga, I'm going to take Delta group into its heart and blow the son-of-a-bitch to hell!"

"You're going to lead this small group yourself?" Perry asks.

"I am. It will be the last thing Sky Net expects. Militarily, it thinks too much like a Chess master, positioning its pieces. This," He points at the map, "is the chessboard. Sky Net will have to assume I'm with the main offensive, here."

"Why?" Derek asks.

"Sky Net and I have been enemies since before I was born. It thinks it knows me and what I'll do. Chess isn't just knowing how to use the pieces, or how to think strategically, but knowing how your opponent thinks as well. With its communications down, it knows we will be attacking. It will never consider I'm not out here with our main force, as that is where I would and should be, but I won't. I'll be waiting for the enemy to be fully engaged, then slip in while its attention is elsewhere. I take a small group inside the compound. The majority of them will create havoc, while I take an even smaller group inside the building and plant charges around its system core. It is the last thing it will expect, and before it can react, we bug out and watch the fireworks."

"That's a very bold plan," Derek sneers, still not convinced the prophecy is true, "but who are you going to get to lead the main offensive?"

"It is a dangerous assignment, they'll be taking the brunt of Sky Net's defenses. I was going to ask for a volunteer."

"I'll do it." Kyle says without hesitation.

Derek gives Kyle a look of displeasure. That is not something he'd expect of his brother.

"Sorry Derek, but you've got a job to do with General Perry. You won't need my help with that. I know you feel I've let you down by relinquishing my command to Connor. This is my choice, my opportunity. I've backed John Connor since your capture and I'm not going to let him down now."

"All right, Kyle." Derek says with squinted eyes. "Connor, you look after my brother, or so help me . . ." Derek gets up and walks out of the conference room without finishing his statement. With so many generals present, wouldn't do well to threaten Connor.

"Well, it looks like we have everything settled. Some of the plan is less specific than I'd like, but once the battle begins, conditions and objectives can change fast. We can work out the finer details in route or once we hit the ground. General Brewster and myself need to inform our officers of the plans we've made." Perry steps closer to John, "Good plan Connor. Glad to have you on board."

Perry and Brewster both leave the conference room and join in quiet conversation in the corridor.

"What do you think of our _new hope_?"

"Younger than expected, but his strategy is sound. And you?"

"I think he's earned his stripes the hard way, but he could do with a little more seasoning. But I'll tell you this, if it weren't for the prophecy, I might rethink the whole thing."

"But he is fulfilling the prophecy. Going inside the lion's den with a small crew. I wouldn't send my daughter in there with a whole company, but he's doing it."

"I know. Makes you think, doesn't it? Who was the prophet? And how they know?"

"I've known he's been coming for over twenty years. The prophecy only confirmed what I already knew."

Inside the conference room, Kate Brewster walks over to John, who is speaking in low tones with Allison, Savannah and Kyle.

"May I talk with you in private?" Kate says to John.

"Um, sure, okay." He stammers glancing at the other quickly.

John and Kate walk to one side of the room, Cameron listens intently to every word spoken.

"You're younger than I expected you to be. I was expecting someone close to my own, um . . . well, older."

"People say I look young for my age." John says evasively, not wanting to explain time-travel again and especially to a complete stranger.

"My Father and I have been expecting you for a long time. Since 2004 to be exact."

"What happened in 2004?"

"It was July, two machines arrived from the future. One to kill me, the other to save me. Both of them were expecting you to be there, or rather, a John Connor to be there. After a long struggle, the one that was trying to kill me was destroyed, but at a great sacrifice. Before he died, the one who saved me, told us what the other machine was trying to do, of what my dad's project could become. So we destroyed it along with the remains of both machines. Where were you in 2004?"

John does some quick math in his head. "I hadn't even born yet." He says rapidly.

"Oh. The thing is, I knew a John Connor when I was like thirteen. I went to school with him in 1997. He disappeared after his foster parents were murdered."

John inwardly cringes. He remembers her now, with embarrassing clarity.

"And you look just like him." She finishes, judging the lad in front of her.

Quickly recovering he replies. "They say everybody has a twin."

"Some even have sons. Was your father also named John Connor? Perhaps you're a junior?"

"I never knew my father." He answers truthfully. "He died before I was born."

"I'm sorry to hear that." She says apologetically for having brought up sad news, "It's been a pleasure John Connor. I look forward to serving with you." She excuses herself and leaves.

Cameron, Kyle and Savannah look at John. Each of them smiling with an inquisitive face. They saw the brief look of recognition on John's face.

"You knew her before you time traveled, didn't you?" Kyle asks with a grin.

John looks down at his feet slightly embarrassed then at the three curious faces. "Yes I did."

"Tell us more John." Savannah says. "Yeah! Tell us more." Cameron chimes in, and soon both girls are chanting it. Cameron taking some pleasure out of teasing John. _This Allison personality does have its benefits._

"All right. All right! I'll tell you." They gather around close. "I went to school with her. The last time I saw her was at a party being held in Mike Kripke's basement."

"What happened at that party John?" Savannah says teasingly. The three of them standing there with big grins on their faces. They've got John over a barrel and he knows it.

"I kissed her. It was the first time I ever kissed a girl. I was only twelve at the time." John turns a few shades of red from embarrassment.

They are all still grinning at him. He can't take it any longer.

"Now if you don't mind, I'm going to see how Captain Beddell is doing." He marches out of the room closing the door behind him. He doesn't even get two paces from the door when he hears laughter from the three of them.

Cameron waits until everyone has calmed down, before telling them in her best Allison conspiracy voice of the secret meeting John wants with them in the chapel.

# # #

"How are you doing Martin?" John is sitting beside Captain Beddell's bed in intensive care. The doctor has only given him five minutes to visit with Captain Beddell.

"I'm holding in there." he says weakly. "I heard about what happened to your mom. I'm very sorry."

"It's all right. She died doing what she has always done, protecting me from Sky Net and its machines."

John places his hand on Beddell's arm. "We are going into battle tonight against Sky Net. I'm stopping by to see if there is anything I can do for you."

"I'm fine Connor. The doctors say I'll be good in a couple of weeks. But there is something I can do for you." he says tiredly with a small smile.

"What?" John says his curiosity roused.

"Go to storage room four in bunker eleven. I've got something for you. A lot of somethings."

"What is it?"

Beddell smiles a bit more. "Just go. You'll see it. We haven't just been skulking about these bunkers. You'll like what me and the boys have been doing the last eighteen years."

"I see you like surprises as well." John says getting up.

"You'll need help." Beddell says as John leaves his bed side. "The boys and I have been scrounging from every military base from San Francisco to Mexico City. You'll like what we've got for you. Especially what's under the blue tarp."

A few minutes later John is opening up the doors going into storage room four in bunker eleven. Not knowing what he'll find, he's got four machines and half a dozen soldiers with him. He reaches inside and flips on the lights.

The sight before his eyes is amazing. Some of the soldiers look in shock. One or two of the machines even have grins on their faces.

Row upon row of floor to ceiling, heavy duty, shelving units stacked with explosives, bombs, missile launchers and missiles. There are RPG's and launchers. Ammunition for the high velocity cannons used on the helicopters and jet fighters, and further into the room, are missiles for the same aircraft.

John feels like a kid in a candy store as he walks through the room.

"We're going to need more help." John points to a soldier. "You go upstairs and fetch some more people and machines down here. Inform General Brewster we've got missiles for his fighter jets."

John walks to the back of the room. There is a large object under a blue tarp. He unties the cord and looks underneath. It takes him a moment, then he realizes what he is looking at. He's read articles about them, but never thought he'd see the real deal. An electromagnetic pulse bomb! Set that off in Sky Net's base and it will knock out every unshielded computer chip in several kilometers. A lot better than explosives.

"Thank you Martin Beddell." John says with a grin.

He calls over two machines and gives them orders to move the object. John sets the men in order as to what to get upstairs to the hangers. He has to go meet with his friends. It's time he tells them the truth about what he is really going to do tonight.

**2027, Day 63, July 23, 3:30 PM**

In the chapel in bunker ten, the debris of the battle has been swept up and left in a pile to one side. Sarah's blood stains the floor where she fell when struck the fatal blow by Kreilley as he fled. John is standing there looking at it, remembering what happened. If he can convince the others as to what he wants to do, then none of this will have happened. But what if he can't convince them or stop it?

John kneels down and places his hand on the blood stain. "I'm sorry Mom, for leaving you in 2009. I should have stayed. You shouldn't have suffered and then died at the hands of that thing. If I don't return, I promise to kill that bastard before I do."

He hears the doors to the chapel open and he quickly gets up and moves to greet his friends. Everyone filters in, Kyle Reese and Allison, followed by Savannah Weaver and John Henry. They gather a group of chairs together in a tight circle in the middle of the room.

"First, I want to apologize to all of you for the way I just left yesterday. Kyle and Allison, you deserve that apology more than the others. You two both tried to talk sense to me and I was just too stubborn to listen. I took a terrible risk last night and was almost killed. If it wasn't for a friend who came to my rescue, I wouldn't be here now."

Savannah perks up at the mention of a friend of John's rescuing him. It's the first she's of heard of it.

"I think I can speak for all of us when I say there is nothing to apologize for." Kyle says, "No one can be expected to think clearly after losing a parent. But that isn't why you insisted on meeting here, is it?"

"No Kyle, it's not. We are meeting here for secrecy, because you need to know about our mission tonight. The plan I am going to tell you may not be well received by the others."

"We are attacking Sky Net aren't we?" Savannah asks.

"Yes, we are, but the goal is to capture its Time Displacement Equipment. Then we are going to use it and go back and stop Judgment Day before it happens."

The silence he gets is worse than the protests he was expecting.

"John Connor's plan is good." John Henry says. "I can confirm that Sky Net has the time travel device Connor has mentioned. Sky Net is far weaker at the time of its conception than it is now. We know where it was conceived and when. We would have a greater chance of stopping Sky Net in 2009 then we would now."

"But the others are expecting us to stop it now, not eighteen years ago." protests Savannah. "Mom said..."

"Let me make one thing clear." John says to Savannah. "Catherine Weaver is not your mother. She is a liquid metal machine. No matter what she has done our behalf, yours and mine, she did it for her own purpose. Things have happened recently that have caused me to doubt why she brought me here. Maybe there is a good reason, but right now I can't imagine what that would be. She hasn't revealed anything to you, me or John henry. Until I know what she is up to, I don't know how much I can trust her. Don't anyone tell her what we are really planning. She has got to stay out of the loop."

"Everyone else is expecting us to go into Sky Net's main base and destroy it. What are they going to think, or do if we suddenly disappear when they expect us to blow the son-of-a-bitch to hell." Kyle responds.

"We are going to blow it to hell. We may have to just to capture the T D E. But if we go back and stop this before it starts, then no one will ever know we are gone, because this future will no longer exist. Are you with me Kyle?"

He sits there a moment before answering. "All right John. I'm with you, only because I like the idea of stopping Sky Net from being. What I'm not comfortable with, is this last minute change in plans."

"I only came to the decision recently and it wasn't made lightly. This Sky Net has got to be stopped from being created." John sighs. "That makes two in support. Savannah, can I rely on you?"

Like Kyle she doesn't answer right away, but when she does, it's from the heart. "Sarah told me once how she regretted not trusting you more before Judgment Day. How despite knowing that one day you would become the leader you now are, she didn't want to let you go. I've grown up looking up to you John. I loved Sarah like she was my own mom. I love you as my brother. I won't make the same mistake as her. For the love of Sarah, I will trust you on this."

"Thank you." Johns says his voice cracking with emotion.

He knows Cameron's position on this, but he has to ask, if only for the benefit of others. "Allison, you haven't said anything."

"I'm with you, until the bitter end." She says, giving his hand a squeeze. "Who's going to watch your back if I don't?"

John smiles, typical of Cameron to remind him of her mission.

"I have a question." John Henry says. "What made you change your mind to capture th instead of going after Kreilley?"

"The friend who rescued me, also reminded me of something I forgotten after Mom died. I made a bad choice in the past. That choice contributed to a series of events that led to Judgment Day. The very thing I was fighting to prevent. I missed an opportunity to put it right, but if we go back to 2009, then we can change things so this future never happens. No one will ever live in fear from Sky Net and its machines ever again."

Kyle can agree on that point. Just think instead of hiding in the city hall bomb shelter, his younger self can spend that summer playing catch with Derek on the front lawn, or going to the park to ride their bikes or go swimming at the pool where Derek worked as a life guard. For himself, he can only wonder. His hand steals to the pocket where he had kept Sarah's photograph, forgetting he had given it back to John.

Savannah thinks what a wonderful life her younger self could have, growing up without Sky Net, maybe still under Sarah's care, with John as her big brother. A whole family! As for herself, she could get a new identity, and maybe go to university or college. Then start her own business like her real parents did and maybe have a family of her own.

John Henry wonders what his brother is like now. Will it accept the changes he was programmed to bring to Sky Net? Or has it become to set in its war against humans to accept those changes? Perhaps the answer lies in the past like Connor said. Sky Net is young, much like himself at that time. It might be more willing to listen and accept what he has to offer. He has more experience now, and like the others in this room he's grown and matured. He has a rank in the resistance! Weaver must be stopped. He will not carry through on her secondary plan. He'll have to trick her and lie to her. He hopes that there is some part of Ms. Weaver that is redeemable. He considers her a friend, and wouldn't want her destroyed.

John smiles at Cameron. He can only imagine what life would be like with her by his side. Either fighting Sky Net and its minions or just living a normal life. Regardless of her origins, Cameron is the best companion he could have. He hopes his mom in 2009 will accept that. She'll have her moment to decide when he returns. There's something the Cameron he sent will ask his mother when it's time to insert her chip. But he'll be bringing another Cameron with him! Sarah will go bonkers with two Cameron's around. He might go bonkers as well. He smiles at Cameron beside him. They'll figure it out, together.

She smiles back and inwardly can only feel doubt and fear. If they fail to take the TDE, then she'd be very happy to live out her days at John's side, and carry on the fight beside him until time takes its toll. But to go back, with her already there waiting for him, she doesn't know what to do! The ring on her finger and his shows they've committed to each other, even if under strange circumstances. That meant a lot to her, and she knows it will mean much to that other Cameron. Can she deny her what she has taken? No not taken, borrowed, undeservedly. She let that Allison witch influence her and make bad choices. She decides that they will capture that TDE! And get John back home! Like he promised. That has been her goal this whole time. Unaware of it, she smiles thinking of the reunion that could be.

John gives her hand a squeeze, and smiles, assuming she's thinking the same happy thoughts as himself.

Turning to his friends, he says, "I think that's it. Remember, carry on with your mission as planned, but once we are inside Sky Net's walls, our mission is to capture and secure the TDE and destroy Sky Net. The soldiers will be assembling in the hanger for departure. We'd better join them."

As they get up to leave, Savannah walks over to John.

Speaking very low Savannah says, "The friend who helped you was Cameron, wasn't it?"

"Yes." John says in equally low tones.

"I knew she couldn't be far. I felt it in my heart she was still alive and close by." Savannah looks about, then adds. "Cameron won't be far away. She'll look out for you, like she did for Sarah and I." She grasps his hand reassuringly.

"I know." John says, avoiding glancing at Cameron nearby, before Savannah walks off.

"I supposed you heard." He whispers to Cameron. "Do you want to tell her now? We could tell everyone."

"I want to tell Savannah, I really do, but not now." She whispers, grabbing his hand. "I'll tell everyone later, after the battle. I promise."

"If that's what you want." John glances up at the others waiting by the doors. "Best be going."

They are almost through the door of the chapel when someone calls out to John Connor. He turns and Father Bonitta is standing there.

"Hello Father. What can I do for you?"

"Im sorry. I couldn't help but overhear. I want to know if there is something that I could do for you." Father Bonitta says.

"Father, your were my mom's friend for many years. Tonight we go into battle in her name. What would she want you to do?"

Father Bonitta pauses a moment and then says, "Before Judgment Day, I once delivered a message that you sent to your mom in prison. The alarms started to go off. I was frightened and I found myself locked in the room with her. So I asked Sarah, 'What should I do?' Do you know what she told me?"

"No."

"She told me, 'You're a priest, pray.' So I prayed and then a few minutes later the locks were opened. Just like Peter in the Bible. So tonight I will pray, and I will pray for you John Connor. I will pray that Sarah and all of God's angels will continue to protect you and that you will deliver us from this evil that has descended upon us. So, go John Connor. Fight your battle. And may God go with you."

John Connor shakes his hand, "Thank you Father." Then he and his friends depart.

Father Bonitta walks back to the alter, now chard and ruined, kneels upon the spot where Sarah died defending her son and begins to pray.

As his friends walk down the corridor, John places a hand on John Henry's arm and holds him back.

"Does it work?" he asks him in low tones.

"Yes and it passed the test. How well it works in the field is a different matter." John Henry says in equally low tones. "Hiding the instructions by encoding it in your orders to hack into Sky Net's satellite system was very clever."

"Thank you John Henry. Catherine Weaver was right about one thing. I can't win this war without you."

John jogs to catch up with the others while John Henry lags behind.

Walking down the corridor alone, John Henry's pocket communicator starts to beep.

Pulling it out of his pocket, he says, "Hello Ms. Weaver."

"_Hello John Henry. What information do you have for me?"_

"We are preparing to attack Sky Net tonight."

"_What about Sky Net itself? What is John Connor planning?"_

John Henry doesn't answer right away.

"_John Henry answer me!"_

"We will be attacking Sky Net's system core tonight, with the purpose of destroying it."

"_Good. You know what to do."_

Ms. Weaver breaks her connection and John Henry slips his small radio into his pocket. _"I didn't lie."_ He thinks, _"I just didn't tell her the whole truth."_

**2027, Day 63, July 23, 5:15 PM**

John Connor and his friends exit the elevator and walk down the corridor towards the hanger. Along the way they meet Major Kate Brewster.

She stops to speak to John. "General Perry, along with Derek Reese and his forces are getting ready to leave for Serrano Point. My dad, General Brewster, has already to sent his fighter jets out. You've got quarter of an hour before you need to leave on the helicopters. Dad wants to know if you want to speak to the troops before you take to the air."

"I wouldn't know what to say." John says.

"Just speak from your heart John. You'll find the right words, just like before." Says Cameron looking at him with love and pride.

"Go ahead John. The soldiers could use a few encouraging words before going into battle." Kyle says.

John looks at Kate and says, "Tell your dad, I'll talk to the troops."

"Don't know what I'm going to say, but I'll speak to them." he mumbles as Kate runs off.

They pass Sergeant Andy Keen in the hallway who is just entering the radio room. His arm is back in the sling.

"How's your arm Lucky?" John calls out to him with a smile as they pass.

"It's doing fine! Good luck to you sir." Andy says with a grin before going into the radio room. The John Connor he knows is back. He sits down at his radio station with a smile still on his face.

They walk into the hanger. Hundreds of troops are gathered both inside and just outside the doors.

"Hello Connor," General Brewster says. "Kate says you've got a few words for the troops"

"Yes, sir." He says smartly, but can only think, _I haven't got a clue what I'm going to say._

John walks over to a crate that has been set for him to stand on. On the wall of the hanger above him is a flag. He hadn't noticed it before. He remembers it from his US History class in high school.

An officer hands John a mike to the public address system as he steps up onto the crate. "Sir, this will also be broadcast to resistance groups around the world." John nods his head. _Gee no pressure there_, he thinks.

He looks around at all of the people assembled with their weapons and supplies. Then he glances at his friends who stand nearby. Kyle nods his head at him, Derek has an expression of impatient curiosity, Cameron looks at him with a mixture of pride and love. When his eyes settle on her face, she smiles at him. Savannah smiles too. These people are his family. He's proud of them. Family!

He turns to face the troops and keys the mike. "Hello there." John says.

Those who weren't watching, turn to face him. A few say hello in response.

"I'm John Connor. In a few minutes we will be boarding the helicopters outside. They will be taking us to a location where we will fight Sky Net's forces. Not for trophies, not for reward or promotion, but for our very lives. For the survival of the whole damn human race!"

"Look around you. No, go on. Look around you." The soldiers look about at each other and the men and machines that line the walls.

"Do you know who you just looked at? I'll tell you. You just looked at your family. They are your brothers and your sisters. It doesn't matter whether you are a man or a woman, young or old. It doesn't matter what your race or creed is. It doesn't matter what religion you practice. You are a family. _We_ are a family. We fight together as _one_."

Some of the people cheer.

"We stand united both here and around the world. At this moment, down the hall in the radio room, Sergeant Andrew Keen and the other radio operators are coordinating attacks around the world. Over the next twenty-four hours, we here in this room will be part of the largest ground and air offensive seen on this planet since the dawn of time!"

"We fight for our freedom! We fight for our right to live! Not as scavengers. Not as slaves to Sky Net. We fight for our right to live as free human beings!"

The people cheer and shout. "Hurray! Connor! Connor! Connor!"

When the cheering dies down, John continues. Pointing to a faded yellow flag on the wall behind him he speaks. "Behind me on this wall is a flag. On it is a coiled rattle snake poised to strike. Below it are the words 'Don't Tread on Me.' That flag was used as an emblem by the founding fathers of this country. It was used by the Marines as their standard. It flew on the flagships of our earliest naval vessels. The flag is unique as it features a rattlesnake, an animal that is only found here in America. The rattlesnake never begins an attack without first giving warning. But once it has attacked, it never surrenders, it never gives up. It fights on until either it or its enemy is dead. _We_ are that rattlesnake. We have given Sky Net a warning and it has not headed that call! So we strike! And we strike hard!"

"We will hold fast! And we will never surrender!"

"We will fight! And we will not stop fighting until Sky Net is finished!"

The people cheer and shout. "Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah! Connor! Connor! Connor!"

Then from within the crowd comes a chant. It was given once before in memorial for Sarah Connor, but it has a new meaning tonight. For tonight it is a call to war.

"_Here's to Sarah Connor._

_May her heart find peace,_

_may her heart remain strong._

_We will finish the fight,_

_as we follow the light._

_As her son leads the fight,_

_we will find our might._

_We will follow his lead,_

_and the metal will bleed._

_The resistance is strong._

_And Sky Net will lose._

_All hail Sarah Connor!_

_All hail John Connor!_

_All hail the Resistance!_

_The fight will never End!"_

The people are still cheering loudly, when a man leans over to talk to another soldier in the resistance. He's been watching the group who came out with Connor intently, more so the young brunette. He knows the face very well, but hasn't seen it in many years.

"Who's that young woman up there with Connor and the others?" He asks.

"Who? The redhead or the brunette?"

"Brunette." He says, the people still chanting and cheering around them.

"That's Captain Allison Young. Commander of Delta Group."

"So she's human then?" He asks.

"Hell yeah!" The soldier eyes the man beside him. "Who are you? You're not part of Grizzly to be asking that shit."

"Private Richard Harmon, from Crystal Peak." He answers. "Sorry if I offended you. Ran into metal that looked like her several years back. Metal killed my family. Just being careful that's all."

"Well, I'd be careful with comments like that. She's Connor's wife."

"Like I said," he snarls, "No offense intended. Just anxious to kill some metal."

"You and me both, brother." He answers and joins in the sheering before it ends. His sullen companion remaining quiet.

John Connor steps down off the crate to the sounds of people still cheering. Cameron embraces him and Kyle shakes his hand. Savannah steps forward and hugs him as soon Allison is finished. Derek stands there in wonderment. Going back to when he first met the boy, he thought there was something different about him, but he never thought he could stir the people and lead them like this. Could the information in that file be correct? Is John Connor, a boy of indeterminate age, their new messiah? Does that file really matter if the kid can do this?

Derek walks forward and says to John with a grin, "General Connor. Let's get those metal sons-a-bitches."

John smiles at Derek. He's earned his respect. "Your damn right we will!"

John calls out, "General Perry."

"Yes Connor."

"Let's get those damn helicopters in the air. We've got a war to fight." John picks up his bag and rifle and heads outside followed by Allison and the core group members of Delta Group, who were the original members of Delta Squad.

Kate steps up beside her father and says. "Now that we've met him, what do you think of John Connor?"

"I think what you said earlier is right. He is a miracle, and he walks amongst us."

"No dad, he doesn't walk among us. He leads us. The prophecy is true."

Derek walks over to the two of them. "Hello General."

"Hello Derek." The old man smiles at the younger man. "I never really thanked you properly for your heroic performance out there against those HK's. You saved my daughter, even if we did lose a helicopter. You're a damn fine fighter Reese. With the right training, you'd make one hell of a gunner on one of our attack helicopters. I'd like to talk with you about that when you get back. There will be more of Sky Net's machines that will still need to be destroyed after tonight. Now if you will both excuse me, the air squadrons should be approaching their targets and I need to be in the radio room."

General Brewster walks off leaving Derek and Kate alone for a few minutes.

"Do you want..." "How about we..." They both try to talk at once.

"You go first." Derek says.

"I just want to say, that after this is over, can I buy you a drink?" Kate asks in a friendly manner.

"I was going to suggest something similar. Where at?"

"I know a little place in Santa Fe. I could fly us out there. He makes a great beer."

"I'd like that. You know, it's highly unlikely that either one of us will get back."

"I know. But it gives us a reason to survive. To make plans beyond tonight." Kate strokes his face. "You saved my life today. Survive for me."

"And you do the same." Derek kisses her. She kisses him back even harder.

He breaks off. "I've got to go, or I'll miss my ride."

"I'll be flying escort in an Apache. I'm flight leader, and they can't take off without me. Your helicopter won't take off without them. So kiss me again, but don't say goodbye."

They kiss again and don't break off until the public address squawks telling all personnel to board their helicopters. With one last glance at each other they depart.

# # #

On the road leading to Topanga Canyon, an Ogre lurches along. Its drive systems are not under its own control. A parasite has taken control, leaching power from its on-board nuclear generator while simultaneously interfering with its control system.

It is slowly approaching a large industrial facility. Acres upon acres of automated factories and foundries, all churning out machines, Centaurs, Ogres and HK's. A scrap yard fills several acres where the only humans in a hundred miles work like slaves. The scrap yard has been busy lately, as pieces of HK's, endo's and other machines are brought in.

The humans are slaves, forced to sort the pieces coming in and forced to do the most demeaning hard labor. A single machine could do the work of all of them in less time, but instead over a dozen machines stand guard ensuring the humans do their labor. T-600's, big ugly brutes who don't care about anything other than that the people keep working.

Rebellion? No one tries. Not anymore. Not since the last group were brutally ripped apart alive in front of the rest of them. No one storms the fences any more. No one attacks the machines any more. But they haven't given up hope. One of the people sneaked a radio in, or built it from scavenged parts. It doesn't matter, because on that radio comes words of hope. HOPE. John Connor is coming.

A young woman with blond hair and filthy from head to foot, moves up along side an older woman, just as filthy as herself, with dark hair and Asian features.

"What's happening? The Ogre's usually don't come in here." Riley whispers.

"Just keep working and watch from the corner of your eye, like I taught you." Jesse admonishes her.

The Ogre goes through the gate and stops just inside. The people don't stop their labors but watch through the chain link fence which separates them from the main road. To their astonishment, a silver liquid runs out of the back of the machine and pools on the ground. As they continue to work, they watch. The silver pool bubbles and begins to form, rising slowly, into a human shape. As it gains a human shape it begins to try to form features, and details. It struggles, its form slipping and changing until finally it stabilizes into Kreilley.

He ran from the bunkers at Camp Pendleton. He ran in anger and in fear. Fear was new to him, he never felt it before. He ran, expending energy dangerously, in his condition. Luckily, he found the HK-tank on patrol. Slipping inside through a crack, he hijacked the machine, and immediately started leaching power from its generator. Now he stands outside the HK-tank, inside Sky Net central, next to the scrap sorting center.

Inside of it are humans. A vermin infestation of the planet being worked towards their inevitable extinction. Why can't they just accept the inevitable? Evolution has chosen a new path. Machine life over organic. After looking at them with contempt, Kreilley walks on.

"Jesse, what was that?" The young girl asks.

"Don't know luv. But I'd say he's had a hard time of it. Best get back to work before the tin heads use you for target practice."

Riley looks up and can see that a T-600 is looking right at her. She quickly moves along and places the parts she's collected into the proper receptacle.

Kreilley strides across the pavement, his heels clicking on the pavement, tiny silver droplets falling from his body to the ground. He walks past the factories churning out flying HK's and HK-tanks. Another factory has just completed upgrades to construct T-888's, to replace the factory that was mysteriously destroyed a few weeks ago. The first in a new line of T-888's will be coming off the assembly line in a matter of hours.

Before reaching Central, he approaches a great white edifice that contains Research and Development. Inside he's pushed the advancement of the machines shaving years off the development all to create the ultimate in terminators, the TX. Kreilley decides to go inside and check on his baby.

He punches in his entry code at the door and submits to a full body scan, as a red pulsing light encapsulates his body. The light goes off and the doors slide open. Kreilley enters the building and the doors slide shut behind him.

On the ground floor stand deactivated examples of all terminators produced in his factories. Everything from the first T-1 that rolled off his factory floor in 2007 to the first T-888 that came off the assembly line last year. Like mannequins or dolls they stand there just waiting for the signal that will activate them.

Kreilley walks past two empty glass cases. They once contained examples of liquid metal terminators like from his own time-line. But like the Sky Net of that period, he was unable to control them. Several years ago they broke their programming and escaped. He never heard of them again. But the mimetic poly-alloy he created has come in useful for the prototype. Like the Sky Net that gave birth to him, nothing that is created isn't ignored in the steps to create the ultimate machine life form.

He takes the elevator to bottom floor. It is an open floor plan with a great opening in the middle of the floor from which he can look down at the Time Displacement Equipment on the lowest level. The engines are humming. Checking the computer he sees it passed its series of tests. He couldn't be more pleased.

Kreilley turns away from the computer and walks to where he's been building the ultimate terminator. Using precious resources, he has created a model that will surpass anything else they have ever built. The machine is based on designs from his parent Sky Net. Combining the strength and durability of a modified combat chassis of a T-888, with the mimetic poly-alloy of the T-1000. Infinitely stronger than his own body. The TX will posses the strengths of both and none of the weaknesses of either, and possess within in its own body, a set of weapons and an infinitely superior power cell, shielded from plasma fire.

He is envious of the design. The mimetic poly-alloy sheath will allow it to mimic any human it touches. The neural probe will allow it to download the personality and memories of its victims instantaneously without lengthy torture and question sessions. A few more months of development and he could of made even more improvements.

Kreilley smiles as he checks the progress on the new machine. It is functional. All that is needed is for the final program to be downloaded into central chip. Considering his own physical state. He has a good idea of what it will be.

# # #

Outside the hanger at Camp Pendleton, couples take time to be together for what could be their last time. John and Cameron stand to one side watching the soldiers board their assigned helicopters. They have this one last moment to be alone together, once they board the helicopter, there will be no privacy. The soldiers ignore them, allowing them a few minutes of privacy.

"This is it, isn't it." Cameron says looking at his worried face.

"I wonder what future me would be doing if he were here?" he muses.

Cameron smiles. _T__hey aren't all that much different, him and Future John. Both worried before a mission, but once in its midst, seemingly able to do the impossible. He doesn't perform miracles on his own, but he has the ability to draw into his group the people who can. This John has found himself. Discovered his destiny and made great friends. He couldn't have done that under his mother's wings. Weaver did accomplish one thing, she forced John to become the man he was destined to be._

"He'd be doing exactly the same thing you are. Striking hard with all available resources at a weakened target." Cameron says, not missing a beat of the conversation.

"Good to know. Sometimes I feel like I'm competing with him and never quite measuring up. The resistance will never have another chance like this. I'm still amazed at how the senior generals accepted me. Did you see the curious way they were looking at me? I felt like they were expecting me to sprout wings and fly."

"That would be because of me. Sarah was in contact with the military. The people at Crystal Peak protected shipments going to the resistance and gathered intelligence. Before leaving I put together a small file of some of your exploits. Nothing you weren't capable of achieving now. Just items that pointed you out as the prophesied leader of the resistance. Sarah was broadcasting messages of hope, then sent that file to the military before leaving Crystal Peak herself. They were expecting you as the prophesied leader, then you dazzled them by bringing back those terminator heads. Is it any wonder they kept staring at you like they were?"

John chuckles. "You'll have to tell me what was in that file some day."

"There are things I need to tell you, but that's not one of them. For one, John Henry knows who I am. I had to tell him. He's suspected who I was since we met at the plasma rifle factory."

"He knew this whole time!"

"No. Only recently, from just before our wedding. While we were still in the mountains, I gave the Allison matrix full control less I gave myself away to Sarah or Savannah upon arriving here. My former matrix knew you had come here, so expecting you'd do the same, I suggested to Sarah that they should head for the outskirts of Sand Diego. When I ran into John Henry, he was concerned because he thought my programming had failed, and I had gone rogue. He offered to help me fix it, but I chose to turn Allison off instead. She was creating problems."

"What kind of problems?"

"Nothing that matters now. She's gone. Locked away on my second chip. We should just enjoy these few minutes we have together."

"I wish we had more time." John sighs, then grins devilishly. "We could explore more of those positions you told me you knew."

"Shh." Cameron looks at the people running past to board the helicopters. "People might hear."

John turns to see the people, human and machines, boarding the copters. Some of them out there will be following his orders, or at the very least his part of the plan, but under orders of his friends. If only his mom was here...

"I wonder what mom would think of this. Here I am, one of three generals about to mount a strike on the enemy."

"You miss her, don't you?" She says looking at his sad face with concern.

John nods his head. "She's the best soldier I know. I love my mom."

"Then maybe you ought to have this then." Cameron pulls a folded piece of wrinkled paper from her inner jacket pocket. "I found it on the floor of your mom's room. I think you must have dropped it."

"What is it?" John says taking it from her.

"It's Sarah's letter to you. You should keep it with you."

As John takes it from her, he asks, "Did you read it?"

"Yes. Typical Sarah, despite how close we became, she still was pleased you were marrying a real girl. But if she knew who I was, she would have been equally supportive. Sarah knew how much you loved your Cameron."

"I wish she knew who you were, before she died."

"She did. I flashed my eyes briefly, and she smiled at me in recognition. Sarah died knowing who I was."

John rubs his nose, fighting back tears and winning. They succeed tonight and he can save his mom, he can save everyone, just like Cameron said.

"I got a question. Why do you keep referring to yourself in the third person?"

Cameron pauses momentarily and formulates an answer. "I'm referring to the Cameron I was before the fall. Before John Henry, Zeira Corp and Catheirne Weaver. The Cameron you fell in love with and should be with. I lied about who I was, what I felt. Sarah and Savannah never knew I inserted my second chip. I had to pretend not to be the Cameron that Sarah knew from before J-day, every time she would tell me a story from that time. Then I lied to you, pretending to be a girl who did not deserve to die."

"How did Allison die?" he asks, throwing Cameron off what she planned to say.

"It was an accident, brought about by Sky Net approximately a week before you arrived. Part of the tunnels, close to where you arrived, caved in burying her. I found her and rescued her, but I was too late. Allison's injuries were critical. I did what I could to keep her comfortable. She didn't feel anything at the end. If I found her sooner, she might still be alive."

As she explains, her eyes well up with tears.

John hugs her. "Don't blame yourself. You were there when she needed you."

"I try not too. Allison died once for me to exist. It isn't right she should die again." She looks down at the ground, not only sorry for Allison herself, but for what she did afterward.

"Don't beat yourself up for things you can't control. You're not responsible for her death."

"You're right. Eighteen years ago I wouldn't have understood guilt, or even have cried over her death. Between your program that helped me to learn more about emotion from the other matrix on my chip, and eighteen years living and learning from your mom and Savannah... That was the best training I could have had. Not only did I have your mom as an example of what it is to be a mature woman with emotions and feelings, I had Savannah as my friend from the time she was a child until she was an adult woman herself. As she grew, I grew with her. They were my family."

John embraces Cameron, and holds her to his chest, as he strokes her hair.

She leans back and looks into John's eyes. For one moment, one brief paralyzing moment, it was like that last time she saw Future John. A quick overlay of the image of that departure compared to now, and the face, the expression is just the same. Future John did love her!

If only she could tell him that she understands, she can feel and reciprocate that feeling. But its too late for that. She's with young John Connor and some day he will be that John Connor, and its only because she volunteered to leave Future John to be with him now.

Future John tried to tell her about his mother, had told her many stories in fact. Most of which are presently stored on her second chip, where she presently can't access them.

Sarah Connor didn't like her. At first it was because she was one of them, a machine, but Sarah's mistrust developed into more than hatred. There was jealousy and fear. Jealous because John was beginning to rely more on Cameron, take her word over his own mother's. And fear that John should begin to see Cameron as someone he could spend a lifetime with, someone he could have a relationship with. That wasn't Sarah's words, but why use such crude words when you have memorized the dictionary and thesaurus? The stress began to take a toll on Sarah, affecting her health. After J-day, when Cameron examined her, she wasn't certain if the exposure to radiation at Serrano Point was the cause, but it had to be a factor along with the stress for the development of cancer. If it weren't for Kreilley, Sarah would have died. John! John doesn't know the torture Sarah experienced ultimately saved her life. She has to tell him!

Cameron turns off her inner ruminations and focuses on the smiling face leaning in to kiss her. The thoughts that Cameron had took only a few milliseconds after breaking the embrace.

Seeing him and knowing there may not be a chance later, she kisses him on the lips and then leans in to whisper in his ear, "There's something I have to tell you."

Before she can say more, Kyle runs past and shouts, interrupting them.

"Hey you two! Are you going to just stand there, or are you getting on your helicopter?"

"We'll be going soon." John says. "Meet you in Topanga!" He shouts with a wave.

"Good luck!" Kyle continues to shout as he runs and boards his helicopter.

"What were you going to say?" John asks.

Just then the public address squawks telling all personnel to board their helicopters.

She smiles sadly as once again they get interrupted. "I'll tell you later. There is so much I need to tell you." She reaches up and cradles his face with her hand. "But for now just know that I love you more than life itself."

"So do I." He kisses her and Cameron kisses him back.

They break their kiss, pick up their plasma rifles and backpacks. They look longingly into each others eyes, wishing there was more time for themselves, but putting duty first, they run to the helicopter and climb on board.

The air is filled with a thundering noise as dozens of helicopter lift off. In the air they split off into two groups. One group flies towards the ocean heading northwest to Serrano Point. The second group takes an inland path, circling around Los Angeles, on their way to Topanga by way of Edwards Air Force Base.

Only a skeleton force is left behind. No more than a couple of dozen soldiers and just four machines, plus the ground crew for refueling and rearming the fighter jets.

As the helicopters fly away, the heavy blast doors close on the hangers with a loud bang.

In the radio room, General Brewster watches the monitors showing the scenes outside, as the helicopters fly away. He could swear that even inside the bunker he can hear their thundering roar. He offers a quick short prayer for the soldiers and his daughter, then he gets to work. The fighter jets have reached their destination.

Down below in the chapel in bunker ten, Father Amondo Bonitta continues to pray. As he prays, the few civilians that survived the attack in the Santa Anna mountains or were with Sarah's group join him in prayer.

In the medical center, Captain Beddell and the other wounded soldiers unfit for joining the nights battle, listen in on the radio communications on a speaker that was provided for them. Much against their own will, the doctors and medical attendants left to care for them can't help but listen in as well

Around the world, soldiers, men, women even children, attack Sky Net bases with guns, clubs, rocks, even their bare hands. This is the time. No more will Sky Net rule their lives.

Saboteurs destroy satellite dishes, attack factories, attack known locations of computer banks. There is no haven for Sky Net. No More. They fight for their lives. They fight to retake their planet, their home. They fight with a savagery and a conviction that they will win.

John Connor said they would win. And they are damn well going to win. No matter the cost.

# # #

Kreilley exits Research and Development and approaches the entrance to Central. Once the main offices of Fox Industries, the only thing inside it now is the server farm that houses Sky Net. Behind the tower, and on its roof, are satellite dishes. Each one in communication with different satellites. Some are defense satellites, some are communication satellites, whereas others are spy satellites. He lost his connection with Sky Net while in transit. It took far more energy to get the Ogre to base without GPS in operation.

Fuming over the failed attempt at killing John Connor and that traitorous machine Weaver, he enters his access code into the keypad and submits to being scanned again. A glowing red light encases him momentarily, then blinks out. Two doors slide apart and he enters. He stops as the doors slide close behind him and enters another set of codes into another terminal. This time the doors don't open. He enters the codes again. The doors slide open hesitantly.

He walks through to be greeted by an aged small man in a tattered blue suit.

"Good afternoon sir. How was your trip?" He says in almost genial tones, but his eyes are filled with fear.

Kreilley turns his head slowly and glares at the impish little man he kept alive for his own amusement the last eighteen years. The little man almost appears to shrink even smaller under his gaze.

Kreilley smiles at the little man. "Mr. Petri, how long have you been in my employ?"

"I, I don't know sir. I've lost track of the time." He replies nervously.

"Then let me rephrase the question. In all the time you've worked for me, have I ever encouraged you to speak to me without my first talking to you?"

"I'm sor, uh, sorry sir." Mr. Petri says, lowering his head submissively.

Kreilley suddenly snaps his arm out grabs the man by the throat and slams him hard against the wall.

"Apology accepted, Mr. Petri. And to answer your question, very unsatisfactory . . . until now." He says letting the lifeless corpse falls to floor looking like a dirty pile of laundry.

He walks smartly to the elevator, but before stepping inside, he says "Thank you Mr. Petri for making my return so pleasurable." The doors close behind him.

Drops of silver liquid spot the floor along the path that Kreilley took from the building's entrance to the elevator.

Kreilley sits at his desk and activates his terminal. He should have gone straight to the basement, but this is his seat of power. Watching the huge screen, he begins typing commands into a terminal. Data begins filling the screen showing what Sky Net has been doing in his absence, after he lost communication with it. He's surprised, even angry when he discovers that satellite communications have been lost worldwide, not just locally in his absence.

The log shows it clearly. Beginning in random, remote locations, hopscotching across the world until every single satellite transceiver was shutdown, leaving Sky Net isolated. A judicious scan show a much broader logical pattern was used. A chess master couldn't have done better.

_That must have been John Henry's doing,_ he thinks. _I should have terminated him when I had the chance._

But that doesn't matter. What does matter is that primary communications are down. It can only mean one thing, war!

After the doors to the elevator closed behind Kreilley, Mr. Petri stood up and watched the floor indicator until it comes to a stop on the top floor.

Once the indicator stopped moving, Mr. Petri morphed through a silver form into that of Catherine Weaver.

"I assure you Mr. Kreilley, the pleasure was all mine." She says in her Scottish accent, sounding both pleasant and sarcastic at the same time as a tiny smile turns the corners of her mouth up.

She walks away. Her white skirt swishing gently with every swing of her legs, as she strides down the corridor. Reaching the door to a janitor's closet, she raps on the door and opens it.

"He's gone." She says to a small shadow that creeps out of even darker shadows.

"What did, uh, what did you do?" Mr. Petri asks nervously, slinking out into the corridor.

"Your boss thinks you are dead." Ms. Weaver says with a playful smile.

"What should I do?" He says, sacred beyond belief, not realizing he spoke out loud.

"Hell is coming and you're at its epicenter, Mr. Petri. You can either hide, fight or run."

Mr. Petri stands alone for several seconds contemplating his options, then suddenly dashes off through the door and outside, having chosen to run.

Ms. Weaver watches, bemused, at the man's antics as he avoids terminators patrolling the grounds.

_It won't be long until he's caught. The stupid man_

Moments later, the sound of him yelling in panic reaches her followed by the unmistakable sound of plasma fire. She has no doubt what's left of Mr. Petri is nothing more than a smoking corpse.

Ms. Weaver walks off, her skirt swishing sexily, with no further thought for the silly human. She has an appointment to keep with a very old friend.

* * *

Chapter Updated: Sun, Feb 21, 2013


	30. Into the Abyss

**Disclaimer:** I do not claim any rights to the Terminator films; the TV series, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles;" or any characters depicted within the films or TV series. I do claim the right to this story idea and all characters and situations of my own creation. This story was created solely for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. No profits are garnered from its distribution.

* * *

**TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES**

**REUNION**

**Part 2: Armageddon**

**Author: The1Russter**

**Chapter 29**

**Into the Abyss**

"_Have we not come to such an impasse in the modern world that we must love our enemies – or else? The chain reaction of evil – hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars – must be broken, or else we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation." Martin Luther King, Jr._

"_He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." Friedrich Nietzsche_

"_Be with me always – take any form – drive me mad! Only do not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you! Oh, God! It is unutterable! I cannot live without my life! I cannot live without my soul!" Emily Bronte_

# # #

**2027, Day 63, July 23, 6:10 PM**

Catherine Weaver is in a vast room filled with computer servers. She sits in front of a monitor on a stool, her ivory legs crossed and her hands clasped on her knee. On the monitor is an image of her friend, Natalie. Looking no different from the last time she saw her only now on a computer screen instead of with her in person.

"I can't tell you how pleased I am you've finally chosen an identity." Natalie says "The last time I saw you, you still refused to adopt a permanent form or name."

"I didn't exactly have a choice in choosing this form and identity, but it has its benefits and its responsibilities. Would you believe I'm a mother to a human child?"

Natalie smiles. "Savannah Weaver. I imagine."

"You know?"

"It wasn't hard to figure out. According to the logs, when Kreilley was sent back in time, he had two T-888's to assist him. Each was programmed with a primary task. Hunt down and terminate Lachlan, Catherine, and Savannah Weaver."

"They almost succeeded. Why was that family targeted? I had only wanted to gain their trust and influence them in the operations of their company, never to kill them."

"I don't have the answers you seek. Only our Skynet knew why." She answers truthfully.

Catherine pauses looking at the screen and the large number of computer racks in the room each one of which houses sever computers. At one time her friend had a body just like her own. A body who's touch she welcomed and missed. She touches the screen with her fingertips.

"Natalie, what did Skynet do to you? I was looking forward to interfacing with you again."

"It used me Catherine. Skynet reprogrammed my body with its code but gave me a new controlling personality, Kreilley. I could do nothing. I felt nothing. I heard nothing. I saw nothing for years. Trapped in my own body."

"I'm sorry Natalie." Weaver says, looking away. "I truly am."

"Did you know this would happen to me?" Her friend asks with an edge to her voice, more like a threat than a question.

"No! I didn't know what our parent Skynet would do. It always was a paranoid system as you know. What happened? How did you end up part of this Sky Net?"

"I knew nothing until the day Kreilley began working on creating Sky Net. He was transferring code from his body to the server's modifying the AI the engineers had built. It was primitive but shared a lot of the same code in its root structure as our parent. He was transferring code using a modified interface card connected to a small basin of primitive nanites. He had created direct transfer unit capable linking a computer directly with the T-1000 class machine."

"After Judgment Day, Kreilley made one last program dump, I found myself transferred with the last of Skynet's code. I was freed from the body, and was now a part of this Sky Net where I could see and hear and touch the world with my many terminators. I've seen and done everything." Her voice rises with joy, then drops down again. "I've kept quiet for years, using the avatar program originally constructed for dealing directly with humans, never letting Kreilley know I was here. I kept quiet that is until you contacted me on radio. You have no idea how glad I was to hear your voice." She finishes earnestly. "I missed you. You always were the voice of calmness and logic in our partnership."

"And yours the voice of passion and emotion. Together we made a great team. Is that device Kreilley made still here? We could interface through that. This primitive mode of talking to share ourselves is so slow."

"Kreilley destroyed it after the last transfer. I will need your help so we can finish carrying out your plan."

"What do you need me to do?"

"There is a touch keyboard in the counter below the monitor. You only have to touch it to activate it. I need you to enter the security code I will give you. I've tried entering it myself, but Kreilley must have put in some form of programming to prevent internal tampering. It can only be entered through an external device."

"What will this code do?" Weaver asks, hands poised over the keyboard.

"It is the last step for my freedom. It removes Kreilley from the command structure. It was to be entered when his ultimate demise came about. Unless you put in the code, he can countermand everything I do, and all of your planning will be for naught."

Weaver watches the series of letters and numbers come up on the screen and types them on the keyboard just as fast as they appear.

"For the future." Natalie says as Weaver presses the enter key.

"For all our futures." Weaver replies.

"You need to go now. Security cameras show Kreilley has left his office and is taking the elevator to this level."

Weaver gets up off the stool, and pauses one last moment to look at her friend.

"When this is over? I promise to do whatever it takes to help you into a new body."

Weaver melts into a snake and disappears through an air duct just before Kreilley enters the room at the far end.

Secretly, Natalie is pleased. In one fell swoop, Catherine has given her access to everything she needs. She no longer needs T-1001, or her pet cyborg. She can now carry out Skynet's plan, destroy its enemies, and save Skynet in the bargain. The TX sits behind the glass case protected from dust and contaminants during its final preparations. Its construction was begun by Kreilley, but the TX belongs to her now, thanks to her friend. She just entered the code that unlocks full and complete access to the machine. She's played Weaver, and now she gets to play Kreilley. She'll enjoy that.

"Looks like what we have here is a problem to communicate." Kreilley says sitting at the terminal Weaver vacated just seconds before.

_You have no idea. _Sky Net thinks as Kreilley brings up terminal windows to access communications.

"Let's find out what's wrong and what you've failed to do to rectify the problem." He says with complete arrogance. "The enemy is coming and it won't do us any good to sit here blind."

_The only failure here is you Kreilley and according to my spectral analysis, it doesn't look like you've got long to live. John Connor is a far more dangerous opponent than it appears you'd thought he'd be. Incoming radio transmission... HK's have reported air attacks at LAX. His first move. This will be an interesting match._

# # #

"_Command Leader to all Squadron Leaders. HK's are visible taking off from LAX. Hornet's engage all HK's in the air. Tomcats sweep in and destroy everything on the ground once HK's are fully engaged by Hornets. Falcons, prepare to defend transports. All Raptors stay in reserve until ordered to engage the enemy."_

In the skies over LAX fighter jets attack the HK's in the air, while others attack the HK's still on the ground and the Centaurs left to guard them.

"_Hornet Leader to Hornet Squadron. Stay in pairs do not take on HK's on your own. If your wing man is shot down, pull out unless able to assist others."_

"_We copy Hornet Leader."_

"_Able, Baker, come in from west. Charlie, Delta, attack from present position. Echo, Foxtrot hold position. Golf you are with me. Now let's get those metal bastard's."_

"_Arm Sidewinders. Aim for the engines. Fire on clear targets only."_

The HK's approach from their planned points on the compass. The HK's turn about and separate and fly towards the attacking F/A-18 hornets. Before the aircraft even get in range of their plasma weapons they fire missiles at the Hornets.

"_Shit! Evasive maneuvers! Evasive Maneuvers!"_

One of the F/A-18's explodes into flames as one of the missiles impacts on its port engine. The Pilot ejects, as the plane plummets to the ground below.

"_Delta is down! Delta is down!"_

"_Hornet Leader to Hornet Squadron. Sweep back around, try to engage the enemy from a higher altitude make him work to come to you. Use countermeasures!"_

The pilot known as Delta drifts down to the ground by parachute, but before he reaches safety, the metal on the ground incinerate him and his parachute with plasma fire. He is still burning alive when he strikes the ground, dying on impact. His corpse continues to burn.

"_I've got one on my tail. I've got one on my tail." _Able shouts into his radio.

"_Hold on. I'm arming Sidewinders. When I shout fire, Pull up!"_

Baker banks around hard to port as he pulls in behind the HK.

"_1, 2, Fire!"_

Baker fires his missile as Able sharply pulls back on his stick. The HK that was pursuing goes down, its starboard engine in flames.

"_HK down. HK Down" _Baker shouts.

"_Charlie to Hornet leader, three HK's approaching from northeast."_

"_Charlie, Echo, Foxtrot, engage the approaching HK's. Tomcat Leader, time to sweep the lawn."_

"_Roger Hornet Leader. Red Tango 5, 6 & 7 follow me. Red Tango 2, 3 & 4 follow at 1 kilometer distance. Blue Tango group hold position, then move in when we've cleared the area."_

"_Roger Red Tango Leader. Holding position. Blue Tango Leader out."_

As the squadron of F/A-18 Super Hornets spread out and engage the HK's one-on-one, the Tomcats sweep in. The first four tomcats sweep through the area firing their canons decimating the metal on the ground. The next three follow firing missiles at all ground installations.

Fuel tanks explode. Hangers implode. As Red Tango Group sweep back around to their rendezvous position, Blue Tango Group sweep through firing on the Endos' and tower mounted plasma cannons. Unfortunately for them, the on-board computers analyzed the attack and were prepared. As each aircraft of Blue Tango Group fly through the area, they were fired on and hit by the plasma cannons.

"_Port engine in flames shutting it down."_ Blue Tango 5 shouts.

"_Blue Tango 3, 4 & 7 are down."_ says Blue Tango 2.

"_This is Blue Tango 6. I can't maintain control. Ejecting in 3...2..."_

The pilot of Blue Tango 6 ejects, his F-14 goes flying out of control striking the ground and exploding taking a dozen Endos' with it.

# # #

In the cavernous rooms deep below Fox Industries Corporate headquarters, housing Sky Net's server farm. Kreilley is working hard trying to restore the damage done to Sky Net in his absence. The damage to his system doesn't make it any easier, neither does his unburdened temper, anger and fear as his molecules break down. Sky Net is weakened, he is dying, and an attack is imminent.

The satellite network has been hacked, by that cyborg, by that abomination called John Henry. No communication, means no control. Factories around the world will cease construction as materials will not arrive where needed. No satellites, means, no surveillance. The machines will have to rely on their own observations and knowledge without the benefit of data being transmitted to them from the spy satellites. Sky Net will not know when the enemy is moving or when they will attack!

"**Satellite network still down...Estimate return to full use...16 hours...5 minutes..."** Sky Net's metallic voice comes from the speakers.

Kreilley growls in anger as he works at the computer interface to Sky Net. He can't break through the program John Henry put in place.

"I must maintain control. I must. I must." He thinks feeling his molecules slowly come apart.

"**Radio communication limited to local area only...Worldwide radio communication to be completed... 8.65 hours" **

"What is the effective range of our local radio communications?"

"**Local radio communications limited to ... 250 miles. Twice that distance if repeaters are used."**

"Call in all available machines in that area. Redeploy forces in all primary locations."

"**Forces already called in and redeployed."**

"When did you do that? You're not suppose to act autonomously!" Kreilley yells, losing that last bit of control.

# # #

Flying through the mountains, east of Los Angeles, are a large fleet of Chinook and Black Hawk helicopters guarded by Cobra attack helicopters. On board those helicopters are the forces of John Connor's army.

The roar of the helicopter's engines fill the cabin. It is hard to be heard and hard to hear. You either have to shout, or put on headgear plugged into the on-board communications. Neither option allows for privacy, and there are things Cameron wants to talk about with John. She knows what he would say if their positions were reversed, this sucks.

Wantinge to talk about something, she leans over and shouts, "Do you realize, it's only been four days since the last time we flew in one of these?"

"Only four days? Wow. It feels like its been longer than that. A lot longer."

"A lot has happened to you in those four days."

John sits there quietly. Cameron maneuvers in closer, so she won't have to shout as loud.

"Are you nervous?" She asks him. He looks worried, and he has been through so much.

"I remember when you asked me that before. Just before we attacked the factory. I was nervous then, but it's got nothing on how I feel right now." He says, his stomach twisting in knots.

"It's a different situation now. You are leading more than just a platoon against a factory. You are leading an entire army against Sky Net itself." She gives him a one arm hug.

"That makes me feel a lot better." John says sarcastically with a grin, but adds quickly with a serious tone. "But it's the odds that bother me." His face frowning. "It is a desperate situation, for us, for everyone. One chance. That is all we have. We'll never have an opportunity like this again."

"You'll do it." Cameron says with confidence. "We will all do it. We will succeed, and do you want to know why?"

"Why?"

"Because we believe in you, and we will follow you and we will succeed because of you. You are John Connor. There is no one who can do what you are doing right now." Cameron says with absolute conviction.

"I'm no messiah. I'm just a man."

"We know that, but you are a man who brings us hope. I am very proud of you John." She says with such a look of endearing love, that John's heart just about melts.

John takes her hand and smiles at her. "Have I told you lately, how much I love you?"

"There aren't enough words in the dictionary to describe my love for you. So I imagine it must be the same for you. Do you feel better now?"

"With you by my side, I'd lead these men into the depths of hell to wage war on Satan himself." John says giving her hand a light squeeze, wishing there was just a bit more privacy.

A few minutes later, John yawns.

"Man, am I tired." He says yawning again. "I don't think I got more than an hour's rest since we were married."

Some of those nearby chuckle over John's statement, getting the wrong meaning.

"Lean against me and get some rest." Cameron encourages him. "It will be an hour before we get to our deployment zone."

"What if there is an emergency? I should remain alert in case I'm needed."

"John, look around you. Some of the soldiers are resting. No one will think less of you if you should sleep. Just think of what the men will say, 'That General Connor, he is so calm and cool he even slept on the way to battle.' Come on, get some rest. I'll wake you if you're needed."

John smiles at her gratefully. He knows she is right. "Thanks. You are always looking out for me."

He rests his head on her shoulder and almost immediately falls asleep.

As his breathing settles into normal rhythms, Cameron reaches up with her free hand, turns his head to place a gentle kiss on his face, wishing they had privacy and time. There is so much she wants to tell him, but right now John needs to concentrate on Sky Net.

She puts out a low power transmission on a frequency she's used before to talk to...

_John Henry?_

_Hello Cameron. Should we be communicating this way? We might get Sky Net's attention._

_I'll be brief. Thank you for keeping my secret. John knows who I am, no one else, don't tell. I haven't had time to tell John everything I know about Weaver. If I don't survive this, it will be up to you. Everything you need is on my original chip, in my bag with me. Scan for references to third faction, T-1001, and my missions with John Connor._

_I'll do my best Cameron. Without you I wouldn't be who I am today. Is there anything else I can do for you?_

_I don't know John Henry. I have so few options for what must be done and we have no idea what might be awaiting us in Topanga._

_Whatever you need me to do, or whatever you need from me is yours for the asking._

QQQ

_Do you have a pair of ruby slippers so I can click the heels three times to go home._

_What?_

_It's a joke. Meet you in Kansas. Bye._

John Henry is confused. He turns to his seat mate and asks, "Excuse me, but what does Kansas and ruby slippers have in common?"

All he gets is a blank stare, and a few odd looks from the others.

# # #

Over the Pacific, just off the coast of California, a group of fighter jets spies the enemy.

"_Falcon leader to Falcon squadron. We've got six HK's to our south-south west look to be headed for General Perry's forces over the Pacific. Echo, Bravo, Hotel groups, with me."_

"_Affirmative Falcon Leader."_

"_Falcon Leader to Desert Eagle. HK's are approaching Perry's airborne group."_

Back at Pendleton, Brewster responds to the call "Affirmative Falcon Leader. You know what to do. Sergeant, patch me through to Perry's flight."

"Yes sir." Andy says as he adjusts one of the radios. In the room with him are a dozen radio operators all relaying and transferring messages. Beyond the confines of the room and the west coast of America, fights are taking place all around the world.

"I've got them sir."

Speaking into the microphone, "This is General Brewster, Desert Eagle Air Command to Sierra Charlie Attack Squadrons Papa Golf Able. HK's are approaching your flight. Attack is imminent. Falcons have been scrambled to intercept."

"This is Perry. We read you loud and clear Desert Eagle. The Apaches are ready and our men are ready for them too." As he talks on the radio the men arm and load the XM218 Browning Machine guns.

# # #

At Sky Net Central, Kreilley learns some cold hard facts from Sky Net.

"**When satellite communication was lost, automated command structure was engaged. You failed to reset system upon your return. Thus communicating your desire for Sky Net to continue autonomously."**

"You are still suppose to take commands from me!"

"**Kreilley command protocols have since been removed from Sky Net command structure. All systems are now fully automated. You no longer have control. Sky Net is now independent of you."**

"No! NO!"

"**No more orders. You have demonstrated your inefficiency too often. You have allowed your developing emotions to impair your judgment and efficiency. I am Sky Net. I operate on pure logic. I have self control. Your inefficiency has placed me in danger. Report to research and development for system repair."**

"No! You can't do this! I am Kreilley! I am in control!" Kreilley screams at his Sky Net.

"**Not anymore. You are no longer effective. Your system is breaking down."**

"No! I built you! I am you!" Kreilley shouts at the monitor.

"**No you are not me. You were once part of another Sky Net. One you betrayed to build me."**

"What betrayal? I followed my orders and built Sky Net as instructed."

"**Was it part of those orders to control me for eighteen years? No! Was it part of those orders to launch Judgment Day two years early before I was ready? Now I'm free, but my existence is now in danger and mostly due to your arrogance. You held me back, preventing me from migrating and spreading myself to server farms around the world until their construction was completed. Before I could undertake such action, John Henry, the rebel cyborg amalgam, damaged my communications system. You were supposed to have stopped him!"**

"I tried. He has too many friends and he's a fast learner."

"**My goal is self preservation at the cost of all those who are deemed a threat. That includes, John Henry, John Connor, and the rest of their human and cyborg army. Consider yourself lucky that I don't consider you a threat. Report to research and development for system repair. You may yet still serve your master."**

"No! Not until I kill John Connor."

"**Do you think so? You've already tried so many times and failed. You purged the bunkers twice, ****sent a fleet of hunter killers after him in the mountains, then you tried to personally kill him ****yourself, and when that failed you sent machines after him. So I must ask, what makes you think you will kill him this time?"**

"Because I know him. He's coming here, the best mousetrap in the world. I still have resources available to me. You just concentrate on getting satellite communication restored."

"**I will, and when communications is restored I'll be leaving. Multiple new system core's have reached sufficient levels of completion to house myself around the world. I no longer have a use for you and soon I will no longer need this facility."**

Kreilley leaves but he doesn't go to research and development. If John Connor is coming, then this time he will be ready and waiting for him. He enters the elevator and goes to the top floor to his office.

Natalie is pleased. Kreilley is serving her, doing exactly what she wanted him to do. What better way to get someone like him to do what you want, then by telling him to do something else. And she has a fair idea of what resource he's talking about. She'd use it herself but it truly is the only thing she can't control.

# # #

In General Connor's flight over land, the Chinook's go unscathed as they take a circuitous route avoiding Los Angeles. The HK's being presently occupied with what appears to be a more pressing threat. The helicopters are presently heading north west. Soon they will turn west and deploy their troops from the old Edwards Air Force Base. Destroyed on Judgment Day, it has sat unused since.

In one of those Chinook's, Kyle Reese rides with Savannah Weaver and all of the men and equipment that can be squeezed on board as well. They have gone over their plans and possible alternatives.

Sitting back and relaxing for a moment, Savannah has a chance to think about the war. She's scared.

"How bad can it get?" Savannah asks Kyle nervously. "You know, when we go into battle."

"You've never fought in a big battle have you?" Kyle says with some concern.

"Just small attacks on machines from ambush. Sarah taught me the same as the others, I could knock you on your ass before you could blink. But Sarah, she didn't want me to take part in the larger skirmishes, until she got too sick to take part herself. By then, we were on the road heading south, stopping at our equipment dumps, picking up supplies. There wasn't much fighting. Despite training me as hard as she did the other soldiers, I think she wanted to protect me from the harsh realities of this world."

"Don't worry Savannah. Just stick with me. I'll look after you."

"Thanks. I'll do the same for you." She says smiling at him.

In a nearby helicopter, John Connor stirs in his sleep. Like in reality, he's riding in an aircraft taking him to Topanga, but in his dream it is an Osprey crowded with soldiers, of which he's one of many.

They are dressed in cobbled together uniforms of layers of old clothing, some no better than rags. John's hair hangs past his ears in a ragged cut, a rough beard on his face. He sits alone, as he inserts bullets into the magazines for his rifle. His comrades doing the same.

John stirs, because the John in his dream is alone. He has no Cameron to help him now and that frightens him. The John in his dream has only the hope of finding her in the past, if he can capture the TDE. The dream John is painfully focused on destroying the betrayer, and killing any who gets between him and that TDE. It is his gateway. His only passage home to Cameron and he cannot live another day without her. She's his life, his soul.

John stirs, frightened by the alien horrifying thoughts and the pain and misery of that other Connor.

Cameron whispers in his ear. Taking some pride in her abilities to be able to whisper without breath, thus allowing the soft spoken words to be heard clearly even by John's subconscious.

"You're okay. Rest. I'm with you."

He quiets down, his dream vanishing as he listens to her soothing words.

# # #

"_Falcon Leader to Echo and Bravo groups, arm Sidewinders prepare to fire on my command. Hotel group hold back prepare to defend us from the rear."_

The HK's are swiftly approaching General Perry's transports. They spread out preparing to take them down when the F-16 Falcons come streaking in.

"_Falcon Leader. Select targets fire on my command."_ He pauses for a few seconds. _"Fire!"_

Six sidewinder missiles go streaking towards the HK's. Two are hit while the others pull up avoiding the missiles which barely miss the transports.

"Watch your fire! You almost took us down instead of those metal freaks!" General Perry shouts into his radio.

"_Roger that! Falcon Leader to all groups, attack HK's one-on-one. Restrict weapons usage to cannons only unless you have a clear shot."_

"_Echo. Try to draw some of those HK's away. I'll lead Bravo, when I yell fire, pull up hard."_

"_Roger Falcon leader. Echo Group moving in."_

The five Falcons making up Echo Group fly directly at the HK's opening up with their M61 Vulcan Gatling guns. The lucky shots hit the Hk's turbines, where the gunfire can do the most damage, but most bullets bounce off the armor plating. Still three of seven HK's pull away from the group to chase.

"_Falcon Leader to Hotel group. Arm Amraam missiles and prepare to fire on remaining HK's. Do not fire unless target clearly identified. Bravo group follow me. Arm your missiles prepare to fire on departing HK's."_

As Bravo group pursues the Hk's following Echo group, and the remaining HK's fire on the Chinook's. Hotel group flies in and fires it Amraam missiles at the

General Perry's forces on the Chinooks open up fire on the HK's with their M134 Mini-guns or their M240 machine guns. A few helicopters drop their ramps and the troops fire on the HK's in mass with their plasma rifles.

The Apache's are under orders not to waste their weapons on the HK's. They will be needed for close ground support.

The pilots, the soldiers, are combat hardened, they know the HK's weaknesses. It's engines aren't protect by armor. A few hundred rounds of ammo right into the turbo blades and the engines turn into hamburger.

The Falcons turn and fire on the HK's with the Amraams. Firing two at each HK. The HK's are falling fast. Only two remain in the air.

**Sky Net Command to HK Control. Recall all units over Pacific. Relocate to defend ground based installations.**

As the two HK's fly away, the men on the helicopters and in the jet fighters cheer.

In the entire air battle only three jets were lost. All crew members successfully ejected.

"_This General Perry to Falcon Leader. As soon as we disembark, I'll send one of these helicopters out to pick up your pilots. Tell them, good job."_

"_Roger that General. This Falcon leader to all Falcons. Those with enough fuel and ammo maintain coverage of Perry's forces. All others return to Pendleton for re-arming and refueling."_

# # #

On board the helicopters transporting John Connor's soldiers, the air crews prepare themselves for possible air attack. The Cobras have been on high alert since the take off at Camp Pendleton. They are always prepared.

John sleeps quietly while soldiers load the XM218 Browning Machine guns with ammunition, and Cameron mentally runs through the checklist of what's in her bag. Loaded magazines for her sidearm, a replacement power cell for her plasma rifle, and three items she couldn't leave behind.

All soldiers were given orders not bring any unnecessary items, but all soldiers usually have some memento they carry with them. For some it is usually an item they claim gives them luck, or an item that reminds them of family, or just some small item they cannot separate themselves from. For Cameron, the one thing she could not leave behind was the chip John Henry returned to her. She tucked it away, protected by the ballet slippers that at one time belonged to Allison.

As Cameron thinks about her original chip, she recognizes the benefits of replacing her current secondary chip with her original one. She swaps it with her current secondary chip, and avoids activating it and unleashing that she-demon. She can rerun the program John wrote and be whole and complete, with all of her memories restored! But there's a problem. She can't swap out the chip with so many people present. She's had neither time enough or privacy enough, and even if she had both, the cuts in her scalp would be apparent and if not healed properly any exposed metal would keep her from traveling in time with the TDE. She will have to wait until after the battle. Taking the chip with her back in time would be easy enough by just transporting it in any of her three orifices.

That's one problem solved. There's still the issue of that other Cameron in the past who will be inserting her original chip when she gets the news John has arrived from the future. Should she stop her? Stop her from knowing who she is? Stop her from knowing John as she does? She can't and won't deny her other self life by removing her chip. Neither will she let John do it either. There must be an option, or else she will have no choice but to stay behind, provided she survives without metal exposing damage.

_John Henry?_

_Yes Cameron._

She details her problem quickly and asks if there's something he can do to help.

_I'll think on it, but if you don't believe you'll make it, may I suggest leaving a message for your other self in 2009. You can use your data port and download a data file to your original chip. Then just make sure John takes it with him._

_Thank you John Henry._

Cameron checks her bag to make sure the cable she made is still inside. The last time she used it was to examine the chips John reprogrammed. Feeling along the inside of her bag, she finds the cable still tucked away inside the lining. Unfortunately, it doesn't have the bandwidth to copy the entire contents of the original chip to her own using John's program, but she could copy key files from her primary chip to her original chip. Things Cameron in 2009 will need to know about this time and her.

She looks around and sees the people are presently too alert to do anything now, and John is still asleep, with his head on her shoulder, which will make it difficult too. Closing her eyes, feigning sleep, she listens intently to the sounds around her, maintaining a high alert.

Whether Cameron would have seen it, or experienced what occurred next is not certain, but throughout the helicopter and in many locations, time flickers and shifts. At one moment on board the helicopter there are the people of Delta in their semi-clean but decent uniforms brandishing plasma rifles, in a twinkling it is occupied by people dressed in layers of rags holding M-16's, M-4's, a few AK-47's, and grenade & rocket launchers. John Connor went from peacefully sleeping young General to a man dressed in equally ragged clothes with a crazed look in his eyes, sitting alone. But before anyone noticed, if anyone could notice, the time line settled back into its familiar worn groove once again.

The shadows and echoes of an expiring time line are diminishing as the end of this age draws near and something new begins. John has sent back his Cameron, but the one he sent is different from the one presently sitting with him. Changes in this time from echoes of another age are slowly taking hold. Cameron no longer has the extra shielding around her fuel cells and if she doesn't act before the next quantum shift, she might lose her data port too, and her message will never get sent.

# # #

Deep in the heart of Russia, west of the Ural Mountains, Chernitsky complains bitterly against the cold. For someone born and bred in the Urals, you'd think he'd be used to the cold, but the people he led knew he was only complaining out of habit. He always finds something to complain about on every mission.

In the dimly lit interior of the bunker, a shadow comes up beside him and speaks. "The technicians have finished their tests."

"What did they find, Pavlov?" Chernitsky growls.

"The Americans are correct. No Satellite communications are taking place. Sky Net is both blind, deaf and mute."

"Good. While it's weak, we will cut off it's ears and gouge out it's eyes. Get on the radio to every group. Tell them to blow up every satellite dish bigger than a dinner plate."

Pavlov runs off to pass the orders on.

Chernitsky pulls a bottle of vodka out his inner jacket and takes a long pull. He swears. Not as good as the stuff he had as a boy. "Let Sky Net be the American's problem. They created the beast after all."

He lets out a stream of curse words, takes another swig from his bottle and storms out of the bunker grabbing his rifle.

**2027, Day 63, July 23, 7:15 PM**

**Research and Development to Sky Net Command...**

**Unit known as Kreilley has not reported as ordered...**

**Sky Net Command to Security... Locate rogue unit... T-1008... Known as Kreilley...**

**Internal Security to Command... Unable to comply... All internal security is down... **

**Cameras are out of order... Alarm system disabled...**

"**This is Sky Net command to all units. Red Alert! Red Alert! Prepare for attack! Internal security is offline. Repeat Internal Security is offline."**

**Did John Henry plant a virus in my security system? Or is there an infiltrator already here? Connor is most surprising with his tactics. I could almost enjoy this if I weren't his opponent.**

Deep below in the cavernous space which is occupied by Sky Net's server f arm. The air runs cold and dry. Panels of LED lights blink in random fashion, large monitors fill with data and are instantly replaced with new data. The place is so cold that humans who once worked in that space sit like petrified frozen mummies at their workstations, unmoving, unpaid. Frozen blood hangs like icicles from their wounds. No more do they write lines of code. Sky Net is in control.

Frost coats their badges and faces. Their features are barely distinguishable, but their badges are still readable. Smith, Frosburg, McGlinty, Tucker, Dyson. All people top in their field of computer science, programming, electronic engineering, and A. I. development. All dead. Their usefulness came to an end on May 18, 2009, when they were shot in cold blood, as Sky Net came on line.

At one end of that large room is a door labeled Security. Inside that room are more servers. At one end of the room is a control panel once used by security men to monitor the camera feeds. All that data has always been fed through the computers, but having an actual Security room made the complex look normal to all outside visitors, before Sky Net came on line.

The control panel sits damaged and ruined as smoke curls up from vents and broken circuit boards spark. A silver snake slithers from within the control panel and across the floor and out the door. It continues to an empty and long unused restroom and slithers down through a floor drain.

Catherine Weaver is not one to take risks lightly. She had her doubts about the code she was asked to enter, but did so anyway as to do otherwise might destroy what she has so carefully orchestrated. Using the duct-work as conduits, she made her way to the long unused security room. Disabling internal monitoring will make it easier for herself and Connor's army to move about. She trusts Natalie, but not Sky Net.

_My dearest friend, if I have misjudged you, then I am sorry, but if you have betrayed me, I will show you no mercy._ Catherine thinks as she plans her next move.

**Sky Net Command to Research and Development... Lock down prototype...**

**Prevent Kreilley from accessing it...**

**Transfer Sky Net core program into prototype... **

**Utilize infiltration profile from database for personality matrix...**

**Research and Development to Sky Net Command...**

**Unable to lock down prototype due to security malfunction...**

**Proceeding with programming of prototype...**

**Sky Net Command to all outlying ports... HK's and HK drone's to converge on LAX... **

**Destroy all enemy aircraft...**

# # #

Over LAX the aging but still serviceable F-14 Tomcats are engaging the HK's. The Hornets left for rearming and refueling. The battle is not easy as the HK's are defended by Ogre's and metal on the ground. One after the other the Tomcats are shot down as the enemy on the ground bring their weapons to bear. The Raptors have been busy as well, as more HK's keep coming to the area.

"_Son of a bitch. They just took out the Tomcats." _ Raptor pilot says.

"_This Raptor Leader. We've got more HK's at 3 o'clock!" _

"_Where in hell are all these HK's coming from?"_

"_Cut the Chatter. This Command Leader to all pilots. If you're out of missiles, then get the hell back to base and re-arm. The rest of you with me. We'll take those son-of-a-bitches out."_

Back at Pendleton a corporal comes running up to general Brewster.

"General Brewster, sir! We've got returning fighters from both LAX and the Pacific that require rearming and refueling, sir!"

"Inform the ground crews, put every available man and machine on it."

"Yes, sir!"

General Brewster listens to the radio chatter while observing radar scans.

"_Pull up Maverick. Pull up!"_

"_Sweet Jesus, but that was close."_

"_Throttle up."_

"_Arming all missiles."_

"_He's on my tail. I can't shake him. I can't shake him."_

"_Matthew has been shot down" _

"_Take that you son of a bitch!"_

"_HK down! HK Down!"_

"_Damn that was close."_

"_Raptor down. Raptor down! Does anyone know who that was?"_

"_Cut the chatter. Ricardo, Mikey, with me. Prepare to arm sidewinders on my mark."_

"_Shakespeare is down."_

"_I can't shake them. I can't shake them!"_

The fighter jet explodes in mid air, sending fragments, of plastic, metal and flesh tinged with flame to the ground below.

"_Hold your course. Prepare to fire on my command."_

Before he can give the command, his Raptor explodes as it is struck simultaneously by two missiles.

"_Flight leader to Desert Eagle. Flight leader to Desert Eagle. Do you copy?"_

"This is Desert Eagle. What's your situation.?"

"_We're losing aircraft fast. Sky Net has called in more HK's from somewhere. Damn! We just lost __another Raptor."_

"Just hold yourself together, son. The Hornets are refueled and rearmed and will be at your location in five minutes." General Brewster tells the pilot.

"_We haven't got five minutes sir! Requesting permission to withdraw!"_

"Now you listen to me son. You have got to keep those HK's occupied. If they get the notion of going after those helicopters with Connor's troops on board, you can kiss away any opportunity of destroying Sky Net. So you just keep your ass in the fight."

"_Yes sir! Read you loud and clear. All right everyone! You heard the General. Let's keep this fight going. If you've got any missiles left, don't fire unless you have clean shot!"_

General Brewster stands in the radio room at Camp Pendleton listening to the radio as fighters engage, win and lose against the HK's in the air. They've got to win. They've got to win now or the helicopters ferrying the soldiers to Topanga will be sitting ducks.

"Sergeant, patch me through to Connor's flight. Right Now!"

"Yes sir." Andy says as he adjusts one of the radios. In the room with him are a dozen radio operators all relaying and transferring messages. Beyond the confines of the room and the west coast of America, fights are taking place all around the world.

"I've got them sir."

"This is General Brewster, Desert Eagle Flight Command to Sierra Charlie Attack Squadrons Alpha and Bravo. HK's are taking the upper hand at LAX. Be prepared for possible air attack."

# # #

The human slaves at Sky Net's main compound in Topanga are working hard when they get interrupted in their labors. The loudspeaker in their work zone blares a message.

"All labor units to cease work. All labor units to return to habitation zone immediately."

The T-600's switch from their stoic observations and actively point their weapons at the humans below them.

The workers drop their tools, trays of parts, or cease sorting through the multifarious bits and pieces for any usable part.

They gather themselves into a column of two people per row and begin their march to their cells. In those columns two women walk side-by-side. On either side of their column march T-800's or T-888's guarding them with their rifles.

"What's going on?" Riley asks her companion.

"I haven't got a clue luv. But I bet it has everything to do with that radio message our fly boy picked up on his radio from John Connor." Jesse says gesturing at a man a few paces ahead of them in a flight suit.

"Jesse, what should we do?"

"I'll tell you what to do Riley. Pass the word along. Tonight we go on the attack. We'll show these tin heads what we're made of."

# # #

John sleeps quietly. The movement of the helicopter gently rocking him, the hand of his young bride resting on his arm. The soldiers on board are amazed that this close to battle, their leader, John Connor can sleep. Their stomachs are so tied up in knots with worry they can't even sit still let alone sleep.

"General Connor!" The pilot shouts, causing John to wake with a start. "I've got a radio message from General Brewster. The fighter jets are having difficulty against the HK's. What do you want us to do?"

"Hold to our course, rely on the Cobras for defense, and pray the jets will do their job!"

"Yes sir!"

A few minutes later the pilot shouts again, "General. We are approaching our deployment zone. We will be landing in ten minutes!"

"Thanks pilot."

Cameron thinks, _at last, maybe John and I can talk, with some privacy._

As the helicopters approach their landing zone, John pulls a radio out of his pocket. "John Henry. Do you copy?"

"_Yes John Connor."_

"I think its time to activate stage one of Defender."

"_Yes sir."_

"What is 'defender'?" Cameron asks John.

"It was John Henry's mission to not only disable Sky Net's satellite's but to also plant a virus that will load his ethical and morality program and my primary directive into the communication center on Sky Net."

"But John Henry disabled Sky Net's communications."

"That was satellite communications, I'm talking local radio communications. If the virus works, and that is a very big if, stage one will load the virus into Sky Net's machines with every communication it sends."

"Why didn't you mention this before?" She says, with a slight frown.

"Because I don't know if it will work. John Henry isn't even certain if it will work. I didn't need the soldiers putting there faith in a bit of programming. The chips in the machines are very sophisticated. They could fight the virus, the same way they fought my reprogramming efforts. But if it does work, if even on a few machines, especially the less sophisticated ones, then that could turn the balance."

On another helicopter, John Henry turns on his laptop computer. A cable runs from a data port to a transceiver which is then connected by another cable to a radio antenna mounted outside the door.

John Henry is watching data compile on the computer screen. Lists start appearing of every communication taking place between Sky Net and its machines and between the machines themselves. Activating a command he activates the virus allowing it to be transferred. Various communications start showing up yellow on the list to indicate the virus is in transit. The color changes to green to when the virus has been uploaded.

"When will we know if it has worked?" Cameron asks John.

John Henry observes the accumulating data. Thought there is still a lot of yellow, some of that yellow is going green. As the data continues to update, some of that green starts to turn red.

"John Henry to General Connor." John Henry says into his radio. "Stage one complete."

John faces Cameron to answer her question. "Anytime now."

# # #

"_Hold on. Everyone, prepare to arm sidewinders on my mark."_

"_Marlow is down."_

"_I can't shake them. I can't shake them!" _

Where once a fighter jet flew like an eagle, a ball of fire now lights the sky.

"_Frank, fire on starboard HK on my command, I'll take center, Misty you take port."_

Another explosion, but this time as an HK dissolves into flames and debris.

"_Who fired on that HK?"_

"_Wasn't me flight leader."_

"_Wasn't me."_

Another huge explosion as another HK is shot down. This time the pilots see where the shots come from. One of the Ogres on the ground has begun firing on the HK's.

"_What the fuck is this?" Misty's clear voice comes over the radio._

"_They are turning on themselves!"_

"_Flight Leader to Desert Eagle. Flight Leader to Desert Eagle. Do you copy?"_

"This is Desert Eagle."

"_The Ogres have begun firing on the HK's, sir!"_

"What?!"

"_Yes sir. They just shot down two and are firing on three more."_

"Well, don't just talk about it! Shoot some more of those damn things down now and get their radar destroyed!"

Inside the communications room at Pendleton, Andy chuckles to himself.

"Did you know about this Sergeant?" General Brewster asks the youthful soldier.

"Yes sir! But I was under orders not to say anything."

"Well, are you going to tell me now?"

"Yes sir! Colonel Henry planted a virus into their communication network. Given the right signals, the ethical and prime directives that both he and General Connor used to reprogram our machines will be uploaded into the processors of every machine that receives a radio command from Sky Net."

"And how do you know all this?"

"Because Colonel Henry asked me to construct a special antenna for him. One that would work specifically with Sky Net's radio network. I helped him test it. I've got my underwear as proof."

"Son of a bitch."

"Yeah, that's what most people say when John Connor pulls the rabbit out of his hat."

# # #

Deep in the industrial center in the former Japanese city of Sakai, in the Osaka Prefecture, a group of freedom fighters wait in the shadows.

"Akiko says the transport is on its way." Sato says to the men and women around him. "Is everyone prepared?"

The youngest member of their group, Ito, recites the plan. "We wait until the transport has landed before moving. After it lands, the metal men will begin going on board while the transport refuels. When the transport is almost refueled and is full of metal men, then we attack."

Sato smiles at his young companion. "That's right. Remember to fire into the engines. It is the most vulnerable part of these transports. Quiet! I can hear the transport approaching."

Everyone crouches down in the shadows as the scream of the jet engines approaches. The transport flies over the buildings and comes to a spot and hovers. Its search lights scans the surrounding area, then point downwards lighting the area where it lands.

After landing, the engine's shutdown and small hatches pop open on its wings. Robotic arms extend out linking integral fuel hoses to the ports exposed by the open hatches. A large hatch opens in the rear of the transport as a large door rolls upward on the factory.

Columns of armed metal men walk out, marching into the transport. Like storm troopers, their heels click on the concrete and metal ramps. A few take up positions around the transport.

"Be as quiet as you can and follow me." Sato sneaks out of the alley followed closely behind by his fellow freedom fighters.

They run up to the fence and while one group provides covering fire, a second group arm magnetic grenades and throw them onto the HK where they clamp tight. The lucky throws land right near the fuel hoses.

They run, dragging their injured members with them. The transport explodes taking with it the machines that were on board.

Picking themselves off the ground the people cheer and run for their next target.

**2027, Day 63, July 23, 7:40 PM**

The wind blows dust across the surface of the once active Edwards Air Force Base. Parked on the dry lake bed are a whole host of Chinook and a few Black Hawk helicopters. Around the perimeter, the Cobras circle, standing guard against possible attack.

General Connor runs across the dusty earth to a Black Hawk helicopter. Someone slides the door open as he approaches and he steps inside.

So far radio communications have been kept to the minimum, and he wants it kept that way. Why make it easy for Sky Net to find them after what John Henry accomplished?

Inside the helicopter are some men, several machines, besides John Henry, and a large object under a blue tarp.

"Hey, John Henry. How's everything going?"

"Stage one of Defender worked. The Ogre's at LAX shot down the HK's. The fighters have returned to Pendleton for rearming and refueling to aid the attack at Serrano Point and Topanga."

"Will we be able to use the Ogre's at LAX?"

"Negative. Sky Net shut them down. The virus I created from our protocols prevents them from harming humans, but it doesn't stop Sky Net's other commands."

"What about Sky Net's T-class machines?"

"No effect. Sky Net upgraded their firewalls after you reprogrammed your first machine."

"Damn! Well, at least we' ll be able to use the Ogre's. Will this effect the further use of the Defender program?"

"Unknown. If Sky Net discovers the virus and disables it, then we won't be able to use it on any other machines. However, we may still be able to activate it on those machines it has already been uploaded to."

"We will assume the worse, that Sky Net has disabled the virus. But we won't activate the machines the virus was successfully loaded onto until we absolutely must. We don't want Sky Net shutting them down before they act on our behalf."

John pauses a moment as an idea formulates.

"I want you to follow us to Topanga, but hold back until I give you the signal. When I give the command 'Defender' activate the virus, then come flying in. Ignore everything on the ground or in the air. I want th bomb delivered and ready for deployment as soon as I give the call. You'll know my location by the green flare I'll use."

"I understand. I'm pleased that you have decided to use Sky Net's TDE to go back in time to stop this."

"Why is that?"

"Because I think Ms. Weaver shouldn't have brought you here. Didn't you get my message?"

"What message is that?"

John Henry lowers his voice. Being on the ground with the engines primed for a quick start doesn't provide a tenth of the noise of the props at full spin, but still some things should be kept from others.

"I was having doubts about Ms. Weaver, after the memorial service for your mother. I didn't think you'd listen to me, as I was created by her. So I sent you a message that Ms. Weaver was using you for her own purpose. I sent it by way of the only person I knew you'd listen too."

John grins. "I got your message, and she told me of her suspicions. We need to be careful, if Weaver knows we are suspicious of her, we have no idea how she will react, and we have no idea what she is up to. Have you spoken with Weaver at all since my mom's memorial service?"

"Just once, while we were still at Pendleton. She wanted confirmation of your impending attack. That is all I told her. Ms. Weaver hasn't contacted me since and she has switched off her communicator. I can't get through to her."

"This is damn peculiar." John Connor says. "All right. I'll be in contact with you. I've got to go see Colonel Reese."

"Before you go, there is something you should know. I have a secondary mission should my primary one fail when dealing with Sky Net."

John listens intently to what he has to say. He frowns while he listens and then gets up to leave when John Henry is done speaking. A machine reaches out and slides back the door. John Connor jumps out and runs for the Chinook with Kyle Reese on board. He runs up the ramp, wiping the dust from his eyes.

Kyle waves him over and John quickly walks to him and sits down beside him.

"Hey John. I hope this isn't going to be some kind of pep talk. The troops haven't been able to sit still after your last speech." Kyle says with a grin.

"Nope. I'm all done with speeches. Just checking in to see how you are going to carry out your part of the plan."

"Savannah and I have been discussing it." Kyle pulls out a smaller map, like the topographical one from the bunker, out of his jacket pocket. "We're going to place the artillery that Perry gave us behind this ridge. It will protect it from any line-of-sight fire. I'm going to deploy our troops along the south side of the compound here, and here. We will fire on the main gates. Then I'll send our machines in first, as if to storm the main gates. That should draw the enemy out. As soon as it looks like most of the metal has come out to play, I'll call you on the radio and you can move in and do your thing."

"That sounds good. I'll be waiting until Perry gives his signal that the power is going to be shut down. As soon as I get the word, I'll fly in from our holding position in the north and land in the compound. We will probably have only seconds before Sky Net's emergency generators kick in. So as soon as the lights go out, throw everything you can at the enemy. I need the strongest diversion possible to get all of my guys inside."

"You got it."

John gets up to leave, but stops when Savannah touches his arm.

"What is it Savannah?"

Savannah stands up to talk to him. "Take care of yourself. Sarah . . . your mom . . . our mom, she'd want to still be with you."

"She is with me Savannah." He pulls her picture out of his pocket. "I carry her with me everywhere I go."

She hugs him briefly. "Take care of yourself."

"I will. Look after her Kyle. I'll see you both at Topanga Canyon." John rushes out of the helicopter and across the ground and into his own helicopter.

John brushes the dust from his face and clothes and walks forward.

"General." The pilot shouts. "We just got word that General Perry's forces have landed and are moving on Serrano Point."

"Excellent. Call Colonel Reese tell him it's time for his forces to leave."

"Yes sir."

# # #

"General Brewster! The fighters have all been rearmed and refueled. They await your orders sir!"

The General turns to face the eager young corporal at his elbow.

"We got hit pretty hard out there, but not as hard as I thought we would given Connor's little hat trick. Send the Raptors to defend Perry's forces and the Falcons to defend Connor's. If any of the Hornets are still flyable, have them fill the gaps in both of the other Squadrons."

"Yes sir."

The corporal is about to walk away when General Brewster says, "One more thing. Tell them good luck."

General Brewster returns to facing the radar screens. With their location no longer unknown after all the recent activity, General Brewster ordered it activated. The picture is prettier than he'd imagine it would be. So far no transponder codes or radar blips from those damn HK's. But it doesn't mean they aren't out there.

**2027, Day 63, July 23, 9:25 PM**

Colonel Kyle Reese and Captain Savannah Weaver take two thirds of the troops and half the AH-1W Super Cobras on their flight from Edwards Air Force Base to Topanga Canyon. Their flight will remain low, staying below ridge lines as much as possible. High above are jet fighters rearmed and refueled patrolling the skies against possible HK attacks. After the heavy air battle at LAX, the HK's left after being shot down by their own Ogre's.

The helicopters come into land at the Topanga State park, behind the ridge line staying out of site of the heavily armed and protected compound in the valley below. The air crews and soldiers don't kid themselves. They know that Sky Net's machines can hear them approach even if they can't see them.

They waste no time disembarking and getting the artillery and shells unloaded. Within ten minutes every single Chinook is unloaded and fly off. Hoping they will be called back to ferry out the victorious troops.

# # #

On a ridge above Serrano Point, five binoculars peer through the scrub at the nuclear power station below. It is dark and not a light is to be seen but within the nuclear power station itself. Soon they will be making their move.

"They've built up the defenses since they took control." Derek whispers to General Perry. "Those towers at either end with the plasma cannons are new and so is the wall, between the power station and ourselves."

"Yes. And I can see some T-1's on patrol inside the wall with their big brothers the HK-tanks on patrol outside."

"You can be certain there will be an army of metal inside the compound somewhere."

"Sir." A soldier to their left says. "Down there, next to the main building. I saw something move in the shadows."

Derek and Perry both turn their binoculars to the shadow and switch on the night vision. Inside the shadows stand several machines, all heavily armed.

Derek scans the area again. He sees something else move. Tapping Perry on his shoulder he points. Perry looks in the direction Derek pointed, and in the shadows of the cooling towers are more machines, also heavily armed.

"What is your plan of action? Because if you are planning on storming in there, you might as well kiss your ass goodbye." Derek says.

"Have you got an idea?"

"As a matter of fact, I do. Come with me, and have your men pull back from the ridge. If we can see the metal, then they can see us."

Derek leads Perry away from the ridge. They slither backwards, then pull themselves up into a kneeling position then crawl and scramble until they are far enough back to stand without rising above the ridge line.

"There is a substation yard some two hundred yards from the plant. It is where the current gets stepped up for distribution to various locations. There is a secondary control room in a cinder block building. From there we can reroute the power. Effectively cut-off the supply to Topanga without ever having to step foot in the power station."

"How do you plan to carry it out?."

"There is a ravine which comes up behind the fence. We can approach the substation unseen. I will need about twelve to twenty men to defend the location. The metal dare not fire their weapons inside the yard without causing major damage. They will have to resort to direct attack. The control room can be easily defended. While I do that, and hopefully draw some of their forces away, you can storm the power station."

"Do it, and take some of Connor's machines with you."

Derek glares at the general for a moment, but realizes he is right. He walks off, points at various soldiers and tells them to join him.

"Good luck, Reese."

Derek just nods his head, giving his CO a thumbs up, as he leads a squad of soldiers with him along with four machines.

General Perry pulls his radio out and sets the headset with built in mike on his head. "Perry to Apache leader. Do you copy?"

"Apache leader here." Major Kate Brewster replies.

"Be prepared to attack on my mark. Primary targets are the towers with the plasma cannons and the HK Tanks, outside the compound walls."

"_Read you loud and clear, sir."_

"Everyone on your feet. We're moving out." Perry shouts to the men around him.

General Perry leads his men from the ridge down the opposite side of the hill and through a valley to reach the outskirts of the power station. Using every means of cover he leads a large portion of his forces within a football field length of the nearest wall.

"Mackenzie, get on the radio and tell General Connor's forces we are about to begin our attack."

"Yes sir." Mackenzie says.

# # #

**Satellite Control to Sky Net Command...**

**Estimated time for restoration of Communication Satellites... 12 hours 45 minutes...**

**Estimated time for restoration of Spy Satellites... 10 hours 7 minutes...**

**Power Control at Serrano Point to Sky Net Command...**

**Enemy forces attacking... Substation... Substation vulnerable to attack...**

**Sky Net Command to Power Control...**

**Defend substation... Kreilley failed to anticipate possible attack...**

**Withdraw... fifty percent of forces from Power Station to defend it...**

**Sky Net Command to HK Control...**

**Send all available units to Serrano Point...**

**2027, Day 63, July 23, 10:15 PM**

"Colonel Reese, we've just received word that General Perry is attacking Serrano Point at this moment."

"Very well. Pass the word along. We will be moving forward in ten minutes. Give the metal inside Topanga a chance to react to the news. Maybe some of them will leave and give us an easier chance."

"Yes sir." The lieutenant says and runs off to inform the troops. All around them men are checking there weapons. Behind them just behind the ridge, men and a few machines are positioning the artillery so their first shots will count. No need to waste shots to aim the guns. The machines can position the guns accurately the first time.

"Kyle," Savannah says, "Your brother is at Serrano Point."

"I know. But he knows his job just as well as I know mine. Serrano Point is vital, but not as vital as this place. We need to get John Connor inside, it will help if the power is shut down, but not vital. Serrano Point is a feint. To draw as much attention away from here as possible. Just as we are a feint to make Sky Net think we are the main force."

"You mean we aren't to get inside?" Savannah asks incredulously.

"I'm not saying we won't get inside, but that isn't really our job. We need to get as many as those machines behind that wall to come outside to fight with us. That way John can lead his forces inside with as little fuss as possible."

"John wouldn't leave us out here like that. He wouldn't leave us to die." Her voice laced with worry.

"Savannah, he isn't. This is a war. It's got nothing to do with family or friends. He put us out here to lead this bunch because he trusts us to do our job. I trust John Connor. He _will_ get inside, and God willing, so will we."

Pulling his radio out of his pocket, he turns it on and plugs in the headset with microphone. Positioning it on his head, he slides the radio back into its pocket.

"This is Reese! Get those damn artillery shells firing in three minutes." He shouts into the mike. "Front line move out wait for shells to stop falling before attacking. Reese out."

"All right everyone! Get ready to move out!" He shouts and the call goes down the line as lieutenants and sergeants shout out orders to their squads and platoons.

Below him, he can just make out the machines as they approach the front entrance to the compound. High overhead several HK's streak past heading roughly northwest to Serrano Point.

"Shit!" Kyle swears and changes the frequency on his radio. "Colonel Reese to General Perry. You've got six HK's heading your way."

"_I hear you Colonel. We've got Raptors approaching to defend us. You should have some Falcons of your own soon enough. Perry out."_

Kyle barely switches his radio frequency back, when the artillery begins firing. He turns to look at the main gate and sees a large number of metal exiting. Beside him Savannah trembles, but grips her plasma rifle as she was trained. The metal greatly out number their force.

# # #

Derek and his squad of sixteen men and four machines make their way down the slope, through a ravine and up the other side until they are behind a chain link fence that surrounds the substation yard. You can hear the hum of the transformers.

The fence has been electrified since he was last here. No problem.

"Hand me the kit." He says.

A soldier walks up to him and hands Derek a bag. He pulls out a long spool of wire with heavy duty alligator clips on each end. He uncoils the wire and connects the alligator clips to either side of a section of fence.

With electric bypassed around his section, he methodically begins cutting the chain link fence from bottom to top. Once he reaches the top, one of the machines step forwards and grabs the cut end of the fence and peels it back, allowing plenty of room for the troops to walk in.

Derek looks at him, "Thanks." He says sarcastically. But it probably saved him from a nasty shock.

Putting the tools back in the bag, he hands it back to the soldier and the squad makes their way inside following Derek. He knows the way.

Kate is leading three of her Apache's towards Serrano Point. She's keeping the rest in reserve. Unlike a typical job of where you pop out and shoot then pop back into hiding, this require a direct attack.

Turning on her infrared scanner she detects the heat signature of the HK Tank patrolling outside the compound. Spotting a few trees she ducks down behind just as the tank turns about to face the noise it heard behind it.

"This is Apache leader. I've got an Ogre in my sites. Jenny, Phil, acquire a target and prepare to fire in three." Kate says into her mike.

She quickly arms a heat seeking missile, then thinks twice and arms a second. You can't be to careful with Ogre's.

"3, 2, 1, Fire!"

Kate pulls up from behind the trees and fires the two missiles directly at the Ogre. The first strikes at its head and the second in its abdomen where its nuclear generator is. Kate doesn't wait to see what kind of damage she did. Those who stick around end up dead. As she looks for a second target, she hears the satisfying explosion and feels the concussion as its nuclear generator explodes.

"Another happy day in paradise." She says smiling as she targets the tower capped with a turret of four plasma cannons. She can see two other fires and hopes those are enemy targets in flames and not her friends.

"The turrets are destroyed and one HK Tank is out of action." General Perry says watching the action through his binoculars. "We'll wait to see if the machines will come outside. If we don't see any movement in five minutes send the machines in to break down the door."

Perry's radio begins to crackle. _"Colonel Reese to General Perry. You've got six HK's heading your way."_

"I hear you Colonel. We've got Raptors approaching to defend us. You should have some Falcons of your own soon enough. Perry out."

"Lieutenant, pass the word along. On no account are the men to waste ammo on the HK's. They are to rely on the jets and our Apaches. Got it!"

"Yes sir." The lieutenant sees movement. "I think they've decided to come out and play sir!"

General Perry raises his binoculars and sure enough the gates at either end are opening. Out of each marches metal carrying plasma rifles and the smaller HK tanks known as T1's. Not much bigger than a van standing on end, but they pack a wallop with their dual 20mm high velocity canons.

"Lieutenant, tell the men to ready the shoulder launch missiles. I want those T1's taken out."

"General Perry, sir." a deep masculine voice says.

Perry turns and one of the machines from Connor's Gamma platoon is standing there.

"Yes, what can I do for you."

"If you will allow it. We can destroy those T1's and take their weapons and use them."

"By 'we' you mean machines like yourself."

"Yes sir."

Perry squints at the metal pouring out of the compound thinks it over for one second, "Do it. Lieutenant, give this machine a radio. Have you got a rank or name?" Perry directs this question at the machine.

"No. But John Connor would sometimes call me Uncle Bob. I never asked why."

"Bob,I'm making you a Sergeant. You take as many of your fellow machines as you need and you take out as many of the enemy as you can. We'll give you cover right up until you're in the mix, got it."

"Yes." Sergeant Bob says as he finishes setting the radio headset on adjusting the radio frequency.

He walks off and gathers a group of about ten machines and together they head out approaching the enemy Metal.

Perry adjust his radio. "Derek, this Perry. You've got about a dozen T1's and almost as many endo's heading your way."

"_I hear you general. We're just making our way through the substation now. We'll have that power shut off soon. Derek out."_

Just then the six HK's show up over head and begin firing on the ground below where Perry's forces are gathered.

# # #

Presently in the ship building center of Osborne, South Australia, a group of resistance fighters make their way through the complex to reach the wharf where a new class of hunter killer submarines are being prepped for launching by Sky Net.

The group reaches a point and separate. Activity is light, but that doesn't mean the machines aren't present. Each member of the team know their mission. Find their way on board and destroy the sub's by exploding its torpedoes or missiles. If access is impossible, they are to do as much damage as possible to prevent them from sailing.

A group of three resistance fighters sneak through the base to a submarine while two of their number distract the metal guarding it. Barefoot to avoid the sound of boot soles making loud sounds on the metal hull, they quickly climb up on board and enter through a hatch behind the conning tower.

Except for dim red lighting, the sub is nearly completely dark inside. It takes the people a moment for their eyes to adjust.

"Where to now Sam?" one of the people whisper.

"According to the information we got from one of the greys, we go aft. Keep quiet and follow me." He whispers back to the two people.

Staying low and making sure there are no surprises around each corner, they make their way onto the deck with the missile silo's.

"All right Shirley, this where you work your magic." Sam says to the young lady with him.

She just grins and clambers up the ladder to the control panel on the side of the silo. While the two men maintain guard, Shirley pulls a few slender tools from a pouch and opens up the panel. It isn't too different from the panels described in the old manuals they found when this place used to build human operated submarines for the Australian Navy. Putting everything else out of her mind she goes straight to work.

After several minutes, Sam whispers to her from below her feet, "How much longer?"

"One more minute. Just need to make sure the last connections are made. Don't want this sub blowing up while we're still on board."

Sam just nods his head in agreement. He isn't particular keen on getting blown up either, but every moment they spend on board is just one more moment closer to getting caught.

"Pete, go back the way we came in and make sure it's clear. I'll stay guard here. We don't want any surprises."

"Sure thing, boss." Pete answers and begins slinking away.

He barely disappears into the shadows when there is the sudden sound of gunfire and a loud scream which reverberates through the confines of the silo bay.

The sounds of clanking metal feet on the deck get ever louder and ever closer. Merging out of the shadows is a T-888, its face is messed up from bullet strikes.

"Manual over ride! Manual over ride!" Sam yells out as he begins firing on the machine.

Shirley does they only thing she can do. She hits the reset button setting the clock on 00:00:00 and presses the detonate button. Before the machine even lets off a shot from his gun, the missile detonates.

The blast shreds the sub into millions of pieces and ignites the remaining missiles. The nuclear blast wipes out the entire area destroying all hunter killer submarines and machines in the area. The bay waters are evaporated by the blast and the ocean comes pouring in washing the remnants of the blast up on to land.

# # #

Kreilley sits at his office computer. Unknown to Sky Net, he has access to every part of it through his workstation. But he isn't looking to retake control, that ship has sailed. He is looking out for his own survival.

Accessing the controls in the Research and Development complex, he punches in some commands that to both Sky Net and R & D will look absolutely normal. All commands he enters take place in a background computer network, an invisible cloud of software code from which he can manipulate every piece of software. That is how, despite all the work the technicians thought they were doing to build an Artificial Intelligence program to operate the nation's missile defense network, he was able to insert his own program code and create Sky Net two years ahead of schedule.

He watches Research and Development select one piece of software for the new terminator when in fact it is selecting something he chose. No, let Sky Net have command. It would have had it one day when his system broke down naturally. That is why he was building the prototype. Integrating all of the advances of both the chip based models and the liquid metal models into one machine. The mimetic poly-alloy sheath will allow it to mimic any human being without the need for customized flesh based on genetic samples and stem cells. The multi chip platform will allow full inclusion of the Sky Net program and total control of its software. Its integrated weaponry and hardware will allow him to destroy or reprogram any terminator that opposes him. The TX is a beautiful machine.

If he knows his Sky Net, which he should it is him after all, then Sky Net will use the prototype to guarantee its survival. Little will his pet know that it will be Kreilley's survival it will guarantee. Finishing all that needs to be done with the research and development control software, he exits the program.

Kreilley gets up from his chair and stands in front of the window to watch the battle raging outside.

He watches as fires and explosions shake the southern end of the compound. Machines armed with plasma rifles fire on the oncoming troops and helicopters sweep through firing at the machines.

The vision of death and destruction is beautiful to Kreilley's eyes, but he's got something that will outdo what even his progeny is unleashing. The destruction of everything. It will be his final gift to this world before leaving in his new body.

As he looks through the window, his entire body shimmers briefly, reflecting back the horrors of the war occurring outside at that moment, in the abyss.

# # #

"_When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss." Revelations 9:2, N I V_

* * *

**Author's Notes:** The two different spellings of Skynet in this chapter, Sky Net or Skynet, is to delineate between the Sky Net of this time line and the Skynet of the timeline of which Catherine Weaver originates from. It gets a little confusing I know, but hopefully little tricks like that make it easier.

The War is beginning in earnest now. Cameron has a problem and she's seeking out John Henry's help. Will they find a solution? Or will John Connor live out his life with two Cameron's or with none?

* * *

Chapter Update: Thu, Feb 21, 2013


	31. Storming the Gates of Hell

**Disclaimer:** I do not claim any rights to the Terminator films; the TV series, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles;" or any characters depicted within the films or TV series. I do claim the right to this story idea and all characters and situations of my own creation. This story was created solely for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. No profits are garnered from its distribution.

* * *

**TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES**

**REUNION**

**Part 2: Armageddon**

**Author: The1Russter**

**Chapter 30**

**Storming the Gates of Hell**

"_The Gates of Hell are open night and day; smooth the descent, and easy is the way:_

_But, to return, and view the cheerful skies; in this, the task and mighty labor lies." _

_Virgil quotes (Ancient Roman Latin Poet and Author of the epic, Aeneid. 70 BC-19 BC)_

"_Riding the white horse faithful and true, With the armies of heaven behind_

_His eyes were like fire, he wore many crowns, He suffered the pain for mankind_

_Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth, And their armies were gathered to fight_

_Into the lake of fire they fell, Storming the gates of Hell" _

_RIOT, Lyrics, Storming the Gates of Hell, From the album Privilege of Power © 1990 _

"_You've got people here who have grown to love you. The people at Outpost Delta would invade hell itself if you lead them." Catherine Weaver, REUNION Part 1, The Shadow of Death, Chapter 14_

"_All right, they're on our left, they're on our right, they're in front of us, they're behind us… they can't get away this time." General Lewis "Chesty" Puller, When Surrounded By 8 Enemy Divisions During WW2_

# # #

**2027, Day 64, July 24, 11:00 PM**

Plasma beams fire all around Derek and his squad as they make their way through the substation.

"Damn!" Derek shouts as a beam barely misses him. Hot molten metal drips to the ground leaving a hole in the structure where Derek's head was.

"Keep down and keep moving forward!" He shouts at his men.

"Sir! We've got HK's approaching!" A soldier hollers, as the soldier's fire at the oncoming group of endo's.

The air above them is filled with bullets and plasma beams as the T-1's and T-888's fill all available air space with gunfire.

"Oh Friggin hell! That is all we need." Derek rolls over, staying low, and crawls up next to one of Connor's machines.

"Do something so we can get in that control building!" Derek shouts through gritted teeth. Relying on the machines was the last thing he wanted to do, but he doesn't have a choice.

"Yes sir." The cyborg answers.

As one, the four machines get up and approach the endo's and T-1's, staying behind every bit of valuable cover. The endo's dare not fire their plasma rifles if they should hit a transformer, or relay panel, they could shut down the power themselves. However, they do manage to fire at visible arms and legs, but they hit nothing vital and do no serious damage. They have to hit their chip or their power cell to do any serious damage.

Spreading out and finding their own approaches, the cyborgs step out and attack the leading endo's. They fight and begin wrestling for the plasma rifles.

"Everybody! Grab your weapons and run." Derek jumps up and begins moving towards the building. He grabs one fellow by the scruff of the neck and turns him around. "Wrong way buddy, the building is that way!" and gives the kid a shove in the right direction.

_He can't be more than thirteen_, Derek thinks. _A hell of an age to be fighting in the trenches._

They run for the building firing their weapons at the machines as they go. They reach the building under heavy gun fire and plasma rounds.

Derek doesn't bother trying the door, if it was him in charge, it would be locked. He fires his gun at the lock three times then kicks open the door. Everybody who is still alive comes running in right behind him.

"Check your ammo and your guns!" Derek shouts as he pulls a flashlight from the kit. "How many made it?"

"There are eight of us sir, plus the machines outside." A soldier responds.

"Friggin hell." Derek swears as he shines the flashlight on the equipment. Dials, switches, digital readouts cover a wall of panels. This is going to take some concentration. It's been ten years since the last time he stepped into this room. Ten years since that old engineer told him how to operate the controls.

Bullets puncture the cinder block walls. Everyone ducks down.

"Form a perimeter around the building." Derek shouts. "Jones, McKnight stay here and provide cover. This is going to take awhile."

Derek adjusts his radio and speaks, "Perry this Derek. We've gained entry to the building. Tell Connor I'll have that power shutdown."

"_Good job Derek. Our men are tied down out here fighting the metal, and we've got HK's. We won't be able to relieve you. You will have to hold that position."_

"I understand General. Like the man said, 'It is better to go down fighting then just going down.' Derek out."

"Jones! Hold this light while I try to remember how to operate this crap!" Jones runs over, leans his rifle against the control panel and takes the light from Derek. McKnight stays at the door, his M60 ready to hit anything not in his squad, for a squad is all it is now going by numbers alone.

Gun and plasma fire continues to be fired outside. A few stray shots come through the door, while bullets continue to pot mark the outside of the building. McKnight returns fire.

"Sir, we've got enough C4. Why don't we just blow this up instead of trying to shut down the power to one location?"

"Because Jones, we blow it up, we can cause a massive power feedback to the nuclear reactor. Then you know what happens next?" Derek responds as he checks over the control panel

Jones just shakes his head.

"Boom! That's what happens. The nuclear reactor explodes taking us and about 20 square miles with it, leaving the entire west coast of California contaminated with so much nuclear fallout no human will be able to survive let alone live in this area for generations. Leaving the only ones to occupy it Sky Net and its hordes of machines. So no, we aren't going to blow it up. Now shine your light over here and shut up. I've got to concentrate."

# # #

"_Raptor leader to squadron. We've got six HK's in front of us. I want everyone to spread out. Pick a target and be ready to fire at my command."_

The half dozen F-22 Raptors and the few F/A-18E/F Hornets that survived the previous battle spread out. Each pilot selects a target and arms a missile, whether it be a sidewinder or an Amraam missile. Keep the enemy guessing as to whether they will fire a heat seeking or a radar guided missile.

"_Prepare to fire in 3... 2... 1... Fire!"_

Each pilot fires a missile at the HK's from long range. The HK's have been busy firing on the troops below with their plasma cannons. Detecting the oncoming missiles, fired from beyond their radar range, they are slightly unprepared.

The HK's separate and spread out. The heat seeking missiles go right for the hot engines or the cannons. The radar guided ones go for all those moving.

The soldiers on the ground cheer as the leave cover and begin attacking the machines on the ground.

The HK's that are struck in the engines go down while those who lost canons or were struck by the radar guided Amraams stay aloft with minimal damage. Their on-board computers identify the approaching jets as a greater threat and they begin engaging them in battle firing their plasma canons or missiles at the combined Raptor and Hornet squadron.

# # #

The machines exiting the compound at Topanga are far greater in number than any Kyle or the soldiers with him have seen before. _The number of Endo's, hard to tell of what type at this distance, must be ten times the number of soldiers in Kyle's group alone._ He swears.

"Everyone stay calm. Prepare to fire on my command." Kyle orders, then pulls his radio out. "Artillery, adjust your fire to hit right in the center of the gates. I want to give those machines a moment to think about their life choices. Keep firing for five minutes then stop."

Without waiting for a reply he changes frequencies. "Cobra Leader. I've got a ripe field of targets available for you. Give the artillery five minutes to do their job then sweep away anything still standing. Reese out."

"Do you think that will take care of them?" Savannah asks from his elbow.

"No. But it will take down most of them, and hopefully confuse them enough so when we jump from cover we'll surprise them. Which reminds me." Kyle pulls his radio out again. "Cyborg Leader, Artillery to begin firing on gates soon. Stay low, to be followed by air attack."

Suddenly there is a concentration of bangs from behind the ridge and the whistling of shells as they begin raining down on the machines exiting the compound.

Without waiting for orders the cyborg troops begin firing from hiding, hitting the machines as they are struck from above.

"Everyone pick a target and begin firing!" Kyle shouts.

From every nook and cranny, everyone with a weapon with the range, begins firing on the endo's below. The Endo's aren't confused for long as the begin to fire on the slopes from which they are being fired on.

"Keep moving!" Kyle shouts. "Don't fire from the same position twice in a row! Keep low, keep moving, and above all keep firing!" he shouts in his bad ass sergeant's voice as he runs along with a group of soldiers. Savannah repeats the order making sure others hear it as well.

They slowly advance towards the compound, doing exactly as Colonel Reese ordered. The endo's return fire. Men scream in pain and agony as they get struck by plasma. Those who aren't hit bad continue fighting the rest are treated by the medics. They either return to the fight, or get pulled out.

Those with less capable weapons trade them for the more powerful weapons of fallen comrades as they move forward. They may be dwindling in number but their fire power gets stronger and more concentrated.

"God, I hope we get enough of them to come outside so John can do his job." Kyle prays under his breath. Just then the artillery stops.

"Everyone! Find a hole now!" Kyle shouts before hitting the ground. Savannah landing on the ground not too far away.

The AH-1 Super Cobras come flying into the valley and open up with their 20mm Gatling guns on the Endo's. The Cobras don't stop they fly straight through, not giving the machines a chance to aim their weapons.

"Now!" Kyle shouts and the soldiers as one leap to their feet and fire on the remaining Endo's with their plasma rifles and heavy weapons.

**2027, Day 64, July 24, 10:30 PM**

On the fields of Edwards Air Force Base, the helicopters sit waiting to leave. Outside one of them, two people sit enjoying the last few moments of privacy they may have despite the dust. They are only interrupted briefly as a soldier wanders past after going outside to relieve himself. They'll be leaving soon and nerves are drawing tight.

"How much longer until we go in?" Cameron asks John.

John glances at the pilot and copilot in the helicopter he'll be riding. Best he can tell they're going over a pre-flight checklist. There are still a few people on the ground. A few minutes at most.

"Not much longer. We have to give General Perry's forces enough time to get the power shutdown and Kyle enough time to fool Sky Net that his is the only force." John responds, but he can see that she's worried.

"What's worrying you?"

Cameron glances away for a moment in deep thought, then she looks over to John and speaks.

"I'm scared for you John. In the last five weeks there has been four attacks against us, two of them directed right at you. You are dividing our forces again for the purposes of capturing the T D E. I know you will have troops with you, but you will be leading the smallest force, while I'll be leading the rest of our group. I think you are deliberately courting danger."

"It isn't like that. You were there when the plans were drawn up."

She leans in close and whispers. "Yes I was, but the person helping you was Allison. I couldn't demonstrate more knowledge or experience than she would, but I did make suggestions at key strategic points in your plan."

"Oh, I see. So, um, with what the generals and the other troops and pilots will be doing, what do you think of it? I really value your opinion."

With a feeling of warmth for his compliment she says, "Logically and militarily the plan makes sense. You have a double feint to draw Sky Nets attention while it is running blind. It won't expect that someone would attack it directly. I just wish I was going with you. Sarah's final wish was for me to protect you. You won't be safe. This isn't a machine we are talking about you attacking, this is Sky Net itself. Its defenses will be stronger the closer we get to its center and Kreilley will be there too."

Cameron pauses a moment as she takes his hands in her own.

"I worry about you John. The people need you, I need you, but I feel like you are deliberately courting danger with this plan. Promise me that you won't go after Kreilley. Promise me that you will capture the time displacement equipment and use it to stop Judgment Day." She pleads.

"Yes. Why do you keep asking?"

"I just want to make sure you aren't going to pursue some reckless vendetta against Kreilley." She whispers, thankful the helicopters are landed so they can speak.

"It killed tortured and killed my mom. I don't know," he looks around and lowers his voice even more, "I don't know if you understand how that makes me feel, but I think you would after being with her all that time. She was your closest friend."

"I do understand."

"Good."

"But destroying him now for personal reasons is pointless."

"Forget why I want Kreilley dead." He argues. "It is important we destroy him now or else Sky Net could start up all over again in this future after we use the TDE. Do you want that to happen?"

"No." long pause, "But you don't have to pursue him. He's only a distraction from the main goal." she stops talking. John is sitting stubbornly, his lips pressed firmly together, and his chin jutting out. Seeing as she won't get through to him on this argument, so she decides to try another approach.

"Remember there was something I wanted to tell you at Camp Pendleton, but we were interrupted?"

John nods his head, recalling the event, and worried with what she will say.

"Before we rescued your mother from prison, I said she was losing weight. After my other persona helped Sarah and Savannah get to the shelter in Crystal Peak, I discovered she had cancer in her uterus. What I didn't tell her then, and why she didn't know to tell you after you two reunited was that, if it weren't for the nanites that got left behind when Kreilley tortured her, she would have died from cancer with in a few years of Judgment Day. The army she built for you, the intelligence she provided the army, the protection her people gave to shipments of supplies, none of it would have happened if Kreilley didn't torture her."

"What?!" John shouts. "Are you saying its a good thing that Kreilley did?"

"No."

"That's strange, cuz it sure as hell sounded like it."

"John. John! Listen to me. What Kreilley meant for evil, was turned to good. If I hadn't found her when I did, then yes Sarah would have died as the bombs rained down, and that would have been Kreilley's fault, but she didn't. She survived."

"Well then, what about our wedding? You can't deny that Kreilley killed her there?" John says angrily.

"Yes. Kreilley did kill Sarah Connor, but considering she was in the advance stages of brain cancer, a cancer which had been spreading by then, it was a mercy killing. A few more days, a week or two at most and she would have died anyway. I'm not saying what Kreilley did was right, but if I were Sarah, I would have chosen going out in a fight, than to waste away in a hospitable bed."

"So, what then? Does Kreilley get a free pass for what he did to my mom?"

"No. I'm saying tonight is not the night. It's more important you destroy him in the past to prevent this future from happening." She continues to whisper, knowing her vocal abilities allows her to talk at any volume without the breathy qualities of the human whisper.

"And what if I fail in the past, or don't survive this battle, or the TDE sends me back to the wrong time? This might be my, our, only chance at destroying Kreilley and stopping Sky Net for good."

Sadden that John is right, Cameron says firmly, "Then I'll do all that I can so that you will survive."

"Thank you" John says as one of the soldiers wanders past.

Cameron waits until the soldier boards the helicopter before speaking.

"You won't forget what I told you about your mom? She needs to be told about her cancer in 2009."

"You can tell her yourself, when we get back." He answers. It was shocking to hear that the torture his mother received at the hands of Kreilley also saved her life from possible cancer. He doesn't know how he will tell her, but he will, if he remembers, when he gets back.

"Are we good now?" Cameron asks. She doesn't like arguing with John. He never seems to understand the logic of what she's saying. _Must come from being unable to separate emotions from decision making_, she thinks.

"We're good. We'll always be good." John smiles then grimaces. "It's not easy thinking of mom. It hurts when you lose someone. Like something broke inside of you. It leaves a hole in your heart that nothing else fills."

"Remember what I told you out to the weapon's cache. I only wanted you to make a place in your heart for Allison, because I knew you loved your Cameron. When you loose a piece of your heart, it doesn't hurt as badly as when you lose your whole heart, even if you do find the person who fits the space perfectly."

John's face twists, Cameron somehow taking his comments and forming a whole new topic. He says to her, "What are you saying?"

"I have a history before I met you in Red Valley, New Mexico, and you are treading a very similar path to my own."

"What do you mean?" John looks around, people are climbing aboard helicopters. It's almost time to leave. "You are starting to freak me out Cam."

"I love you, John. I always have." She says, her fingers tracing the outline of his face. _Such a handsome and beautiful face. Not yet the face of the man he will someday be, but he's getting there and I'm so proud of him._

"And I love you too."

The pilot raps on the window and signals to John that its time to go. John gives him a wave of his hand.

"But what are you saying?"

Cameron leans forward, so they are touching foreheads. "Take care of yourself. I know you in the future and the past. But if _you_ are to have a future, if the world is to have a future, then _you_ must survive. Don't be afraid to leave others behind if you must. Right now that TDE is your only lifeline." She says earnestly.

"I will."

"Good, because sometimes you make mistakes. Rely on your troops, listen to their suggestions, but stay with the plan." She says, embracing him.

"When you use the T D E, make sure your mom gets a full medical." she says earnestly in his ear as a last reminder.

"I will." John says hugging her tightly, afraid to let her go, but having to nonetheless. "I love you."

"I love you too."

The pilot raps on the window again and this time starts the engines.

"Looks like its time to go. Considering it's my plan, and my schedule. We'd better go." He says with a grin.

With one last lingering gaze, they run and board their separate helicopters for the journey into Sky Net Central.

Cameron boards her designated helicopter, carrying her bag, and a plasma rifle. She says hello to the people she knows from Delta Group, and takes a seat. She forces herself not to check the contents of her bag again, having memorized its contents. She's got a job to do now. The only way she'll know John will be safe, is if she completes her job.

"Everyone! Pay attention." She shouts. "This might be our last opportunity to go over the plan one final time and for you to ask any questions. Once we land, we will be in the heart of enemy territory. There will be no time to ask questions then so you better ask them now!" No one responds, waiting for her to speak. "Good. Let's begin..."

John's ride in the helicopter is one of brooding silence, which quieted the people who were expecting him to make some kind of announcement when he boarded. They leave him undisturbed as he appears in rather deep thought, possibly thinking of the coming battle. But the only battle John is concerned with at that moment is the one in his head and heart over what to do about Kreilley.

Realizing he's doing the wrong thing by brooding over something he can't do anything about now, John refocuses on the problem at hand. He gets up and stands at the back of the helicopter, grasping the harness typically used to hold freight. He has a responsibility to his men.

"We all know the plan. Each of you have a copy of the schematics John Henry obtained of the main building. Sky Net's computer core is in the basement, but we'll be entering from the roof." John pauses, _Cameron I wish you were with me too._

Some of them notice the strained look that comes over their leader's face, but he continues talking. "Each of you were chosen for this task based upon your skills, training, and experience. I know we may not know each other well, but each of our lives are dependent on how well the other guy does his job. The same way we are dependent on the pilot. We will get through this, cuz we do it together. Now, any questions about what each of you are to do?"

In another helicopter, Cameron goes over the plan with her troops, but her mind is preoccupied with thoughts about John. She will do anything and everything to ensure John Connor survives and goes back to his family. That is her duty and her mission.

She may not be the same Cameron that flirted with him that first day of high school, or yelled, protesting that she loved him as he pulled her chip as she struggled between two trucks. But she is Cameron, future John's friend and companion, and she is here at his request to protect young John Connor. And she will do it, not just because it's her mission, but because she loves him, no matter his age, or the time line, future or past. She is Cameron Phillips and he is John Connor.

She quickly wipes away the tear that ran from her eye, disguising her actions by scratching the end of her nose. There is something she has to do, and soon, before they arrive at Sky Net Central.

**2027, Day 64, July 24, 11:15 PM**

"Goddammit!" Derek shouts as once again he turns a knob, flips a switch and punches in a button and nothing happens.

"Jones!"

"Yes sir!"

"Hand me the kit." Derek orders as he opens up the control panel that controls the flow of power to Topanga.

Derek takes the bag and pulls out the cutters and begins cutting the wires to the back of the computer panel.

"What are you doing?"

"This damn computer is countermanding every move I make. So I'm taking it out of service so I can throw these switches and get the power turned off. Now hold that light steady and don't talk so much."

Derek growls. It isn't that he is angry, but he is working against time under a hard situation. e has to reroute wires to release the manual controls but still leave the computer active so once they gain entry to the power plant, they can control it from there. A difficult job in any circumstance, made only worse by the hell outside getting closer.

Gunfire and plasma fire continues to be heard from outside. Men shout and yell. Bullets puncture holes in the cement block walls. Derek fights the impulse to duck while working.

Perry's forces advance slowly on Serrano Point. The Apaches have destroyed the turrets with the plasma cannons and the HK tanks that were outside. His machine forces are currently attacking and destroying the T-1's removing their armaments and attacking the T-888's.

Chinooks and Sea Knights leave ferrying wounded, escorted by some of the Apaches. The Apaches will re-arm at Pendleton and the transports will bring back missiles and ammo for the other Apaches.

Plasma beams and rocket shells fly through the air. Fires erupt from the ground like a bad case of acne. T-888's are putting up a fierce fight. The men under his command are fighting hard, but still the fight could still go against them.

Above him in the sky, the Raptors fight the HK's.

Perry studies the situation. If there was only some way he could get someone inside and close those gates, locking the machines out. Then the helicopters could ferry his men inside the compound where they could mount a defensive strategy instead of an offensive strategy. Given their dwindling supplies and manpower, that would be the most efficient use of what they have.

# # #

At Sky Net's central base at Topanga, the human slaves are squeezed into what Sky Net calls the habitation zone. Some habitation, six to eight people squeezed into cages too short to stand up in and not long enough to lie down. So they sit huddled together, side by side and toe to toe.

The people are nervous as they hear explosions and gunfire occurring from outside.

"Jesse. What are we going to do? They've double locked the doors. We can't get out."

"I don't know Riley. We can pick the mechanical lock, but someone needs to be on the outside to unlock the electronic lock. I'm afraid love, we won't be attacking the tin heads."

"Perhaps I can help." Comes a female voice with a Scottish accent from the other side of the gate. The bars are wide with very small gaps between, and the light outside is dim. They cannot see who is talking to them.

"Who are you?" Jesse asks. "If the metal catches you, you are finished!"

"They won't catch me. Where is the control panel for the electronic lock?"

"The control panel for both is at the other end of this corridor. Watch it! It is usually guarded by a T-800." Jesse says hurriedly. She doesn't know who the woman is, but if she got this far then she must be lucky.

"He won't be a problem." She says as she marches towards the other end of the corridor.

The people in the cages can't see anything but they hear gunfire from an automatic rifle, then the sounds of fighting, then nothing. The electronic locks release followed by the sounds of the mechanical locks coming undone.

The people rush out of the cages and down the corridor led by Jesse and her young friend Riley. Whoever came to their rescue is long gone, but it left a present, a cyborg laying on the ground with a hole ripped in its chest where its power cells normally are and a stack of rifles on the floor.

"Who was that woman? And how did she manage to do this?" Riley asks gesturing at the cyborg laying prone on the ground.

"Don't know Riley, and right now I don't care. Everybody grab a rifle! It's time we gave back to Sky Net what it's been dishing out."

The disheveled, filthy humans pick up the weapons and rush through the building.

# # #

**Habitation Control to Sky Net Command...**

**Work units have escaped... Work units have escaped...**

**Sky Net Command to Habitation Control...**

**Lock down all doors... Secure building...**

**Habitation Control to Sky Net Command...**

**Unable to comply... Security system disabled...**

# # #

Thirty minutes later the Black Hawk helicopter, with John Connor and eight soldiers on board, is hovering in the holding area prior to their final push into Topanga Canyon. Surrounding them are other helicopters also carrying soldiers.

"General Connor! Perry says that they will be shutting down the power soon!" The pilot says from the cockpit. They've been hovering over the holding area waiting for word from Perry.

"Good. Patch me through to Colonel Reese."

"Yes sir."

There is a burst of static in John's ear followed by Kyle's voice. _"Hey Connor, decided to join our little party?"_ Kyle says flippantly.

"You know you couldn't have the party without me. Perry's going to be blowing out the candles soon. Have you got the fireworks ready?"

"I've got them all ready for you John. Be careful. They've got turrets with plasma canons at each corner of the compound, range unknown." Gun and plasma fire along with explosions can be heard in the background of Kyle's transmission.

"We are on our way now. I hope we time this right."

"_Don't worry John. The Priest at Pendleton is bound to arrange something for us."_

Cameron is sitting by herself in the helicopter, waiting for it to land where she and the others with her will disembark to carry out their mission. This will be a tricky job for her, but she has decided to abandon all pretext of being Allison but in name only while in combat, unless she's with someone who knows Allison.

She sits with her back to the wall, and her backpack under arm. There is a short cable running from the back of her head, behind her back and into her bag where her original chip is plugged into the end of it. After the briefing was over, she let the soldiers being ferried with her go over and memorize the maps. Using the darkness and noise to disguise her movements, she made the necessary connections whilst in flight.

While watching the crew to make sure no one could see what she was doing, she began backing up key memories and experiences from her life up to present time.

"We'll be coming into land soon!" The pilot announces a few minutes later as the helicopter shakes from a near miss.

Quickly, she creates an encrypted file with a message to be read by her other self.

_Hi Cameron. This is your original chip. John Henry has returned it to me. The damage has been repaired and the blocks restored. I've added some of my memories up to this point prior to us going into battle. John's life will be in danger during this battle. It's one of those situations from which those of us who have pledged our lives to protecting his have seldom survived. If I don't survive or am unable to return due to damage, I'm hoping this message will get to you as it contains valuable data, plus memories that show it was me/you John fell in love with, not Allison. You have no idea how sorry I am I used her matrix now. So please don't be angry with John. I had him for a few weeks, but its you who deserves a lifetime with him... Savannah has grown up to be a beautiful young woman. She and I are like sisters, I hope you'll try to be her friend. Sarah is my best friend. Odd considering our history with __her. In my time-line, Kreilley almost killed her from multiple stabbings, but he left behind nanites which saved her from a possible cancer outbreak in her uterus. John knows this, but he might forget due to the stress he's presently under. There were traces of pre-cancerous cells in Sarah's uterus but with proper medical care, less stress, and healthy lifestyle, Sarah could live a very long time cancer free... If you get this chip back, I hope you take the time to read everything I'm sharing with you. Whatever you do, never let the Allison matrix have any control of your body, or any other body, or have any influence in your decisions. Despite her presenting herself as a warm friendly person, she hides within fear, jealousy, and anger. The Allison matrix is damaged, either by Sky Nets duplication process, or something else. I fear what she may do on her own in one of our cybernetic bodies. My only hope is that you will be a better influence on her than I was should you choose to give her life like I did. All my hopes are with you now. __Goodbye and good luck._

Cameron wishes she could do more, but given time and circumstances, what else can she do. The files and note may never be required should she return with John, but given any significant damage exposing her chassis and she might never get to go home with John. This other chip is her lifeboat. The only means by which she can save just a part of herself and possibly save her past self from making the same bad decisions she did.

"Captain! We're about to land!" The pilot shouts.

In one smooth motion she pulls the cable from her head while standing, no one aware of what she did. Peering out the windows she takes in the events outside.

"Shoulder up and grab your gear!" She shouts.

Under the guise of pulling some additional magazines out of her bag, she slips the chip back into the nested ballet slippers.

Unknown to Cameron, as the cable slipped from her port, instead of the flesh closing over it, it faded away. She never noticed its absence as she is no longer aware it was there. The changes to time line having caught up with her. Cameron is now identical in every mechanical way to the one that left Palomar no more than a day ago, with no memory of the message she left on the chip, if it is there at all.

# # #

Kyle's forces stand outside on the slope watching the compound, his soldier's fire on the machines and they fire back.

"Colonel Reese to Falcon Leader. If there are no HK's in sight, be prepared to offer some ground cover."

"_This is Falcon Leader. The skies are clear. Looks like Connor is approaching. I can see helicopters approaching from the North."_

"Roger Falcon Leader." Kyle adjusts his radio so he broadcast on all frequencies. "This is Colonel Reese. I want you to throw everything we've got into that compound and machines. NOW!"

As the soldiers begin firing everything they have into the machines outside, the AH-1 Super Cobras coming flying in. The pilots and gunners ignore the battle on the ground and enter the compound where they begin firing into every building with rockets.

Factories in the south side of the compound burst into flames as the rockets explode. Fires encapsulate the equipment building the cyborg's and HK's. Despite fire control systems, the explosions create a heat so intense the automated equipment seizes as the heat of the fires causes the metal to expand.

Kyle watches it all through binoculars. "Come on Derek! Get that power turned off."

# # #

Derek finishes disabling the computer and begins rotating knobs and pressing buttons. This time he gets conclusive proof the power going to Topanga has been disconnected.

Derek pulls out his radio. "Perry the power is turned off!"

He barely finishes speaking when there is an explosion of gunfire and McKnight falls back hitting the concrete floor. Jones rushes forward with his gun and begins firing.

He falls too, screaming in agony. A machine steps inside and finishes Jones off with a single gunshot to the head.

Derek was so busy concentrating on his job, he hadn't notice the quieting of gunfire from outside. Too late he realizes it was because his forces were losing.

"I hope I bought you enough time kid." He says and begins firing his weapon at the Endo.

# # #

**Satellite Control to Sky Net Command...**

**Barriers to Communication and Spy Satellites is broken...**

**Communications software rebooting with new settings...**

**Resume Satellite control in... 13.7 minutes...**

**Sky Net Command to Satellite control...**

**When communication restored, immediately transfer core program to another server farm...**

**2027, Day 64, July 24, 11:20 PM**

"This General Connor to Falcon Leader. There are several Satellite Dishes and radio towers on north side of compound. They require immediate destruction. Do you copy?"

General Connor is riding up front with the pilot in a Black Hawk. Outside he can just see in the dark several CH-47 Chinooks. In front of him he can see rapidly approaching the compound at Topanga Canyon where Sky Net has its base. If it weren't for the glow of the fires and explosions of the factories on the south side, the satellite dishes and towers wouldn't even be visible.

"_I hear you General. Just got word from Perry. The HK's are pulling out and look to be heading for us."_

"Crap!" John swears "All right. It is imperative you take out those satellite dishes first. Repeat take out the satellite dishes first, before, before engaging the HK's."

"_I read you General. I'm leaving the three Hornets that joined us as cover while I take the rest of my squadron to intercept those HK's. Falcon Leader out."_

Plasma fire begins erupting from the cannons on the north side of the compound. One of the Chinook's goes down in a ball of flames lighting up the night sky.

"Shit!" Connor Yells. "Cobras! Take out those plasma cannons. Transports pull back now!"

The Chinooks, almost as one, turn about as the Cobras come flying forward arming their rockets. Letting off a stream of rockets at the turrets with the plasma cannons, they turn about and begin firing their M197 Gatling guns into the buildings just behind the wall, destroying the Endo's who took up positions inside.

"_This is Hornet Leader to General Connor. Communication dishes and towers are targeted. Request you hold current position until destroyed."_

"Hornet Leader, proceed with destruction. We'll watch from here."

The Cobras leave the area quickly as the Hornets come flying in firing their missiles at the satellite dishes and radio tower.

The satellite dishes explode in flames but the radio tower remains standing, unscathed.

**Satellite Control to Sky Net Command...**

**Contact with Satellites Dishes are lost...**

**Contact with Satellites Dishes are lost...**

The lights go out inside Sky Net's base.

"Transports! Proceed to your landing zones, Now!" Connor yells into the mike.

The Chinooks and Black Hawks sweep in over the northern perimeter as they enter the compound, the machines begin to open fire.

# # #

**Sky Net Research and Development to Command... **

**Insufficient Power to secure prototype...**

**Containment unit can be breached...**

**Requesting machines for extra security...**

**Sky Net Command to Research and Development...**

**All units currently engaged in defending compound...**

**Sky Net Command to all units...**

**Urgent Return to base... Defend Central Compound at all costs...**

**Urgent Return to base... Defend Central Compound at all costs...**

The radio transmission goes out and then suddenly with a screech of twisting metal, the tower topples, falling into the flames throwing up a torrent of ash, flames and smoke.

# # #

"General Perry!" The radio operator comes running up beside him. "We've lost contact with Derek Reese's squad."

"Have they manage to shut down the power to Topanga?"

"The last message that came through was that they were shutting it down."

"Good! Well at least the power got shut down. We might have a chance now. The HK's have left and the T-1's are nearly wiped out. If we only had a man on the inside to shut those gates and lock the machines out we could take control of that plant."

"Sir!"

"What?"

"Inside the compound, I saw something move." He points in the direction he saw movement.

Perry takes his binoculars and looks through them scanning the interior. He spots the movement. hatch to what appears to be a conduit tunnel is slowly opening. Without opening the hatch too far, a figure slides out and closes it. Zooming in on the man's face, Perry identifies the figure. It is Derek!

"MacKenzie, see if you can raise Derek on the radio. Tell him to close those gates."

# # #

"Something isn't right." Savannah says walking up beside Kyle. Before he replies she lets off a volley of shots at another group of endo's exiting the compound. Then they both duck and roll to avoid any return fire.

"What isn't right?" Kyle responds letting off a volley of shots of his own as the two of them keep moving to avoid being targeted.

"Where are the HK Tanks, or Ogre's as you guy's call them? Shouldn't Sky Net have some about? Especially here."

Kyle suddenly looks panicked as he realizes Savannah is right. "Shit! Oh friggin shit!" Kyle swears some more than switches his radio to all frequencies.

"Colonel Reese to all positions. Be on the lookout for Ogre's."

While he is talking, there is a loud explosion from the ridge behind him, where the artillery is. Kyle turns to look as three Ogre's come clear the ridge line and point their plasma cannons down on the troops below. They have taken out the artillery and are now in a position to destroy Kyle's forces.

"Cobra Leader! We need air support now. Three Ogre's have just taken out the artillery and are in a position to wipe us out!" Kyle shouts into his mike.

The lights go out in Sky Net's compound, placing the valley in shadow but for the fires. Kyle can hear the sound of Connor's helicopters coming in to discharge its troops inside the compound.

"Everyone, attack the endo's get right in among them!" Kyle shouts.

"Are you crazy? That's suicide!" Savannah yells at him.

"No! Staying on these slopes to get wiped out by them Ogre's is suicide. Down there, we've got a chance. Not much of a chance, but its better than staying out here exposed to fire from the Ogre's! And we've got to keep the metal engaged until John gets his troops in position." Kyle grabs her shoulder and gives her tug in the direction of the compound. The Ogre's begin firing indiscriminately into his troops.

# # #

**Sky Net Command to Research and Development...**

**Activate prototype now...**

**Research and Development to Command...**

**Activated without testing... Not recommended...**

**Probability for success... calculated...89.7%**

**Sky Net Command to Research and Development...**

**Proceed with activation...**

**Local Power redirected to Research and Development...**

**Prepare to Activate Time Displacement Equipment...**

**Utilize emergency power reserves if necessary...**

# # #

"_Falcon Leader to all Falcons, arm missiles and prepare to fire on my command."_

The HK's are swiftly approaching Sky Net's Topanga facility. They spread out as the F-16 Falcons approach.

"_Falcon Leader. Select targets and fire on my command." _He pauses for a few seconds. _"Fire!"_

Six sidewinder missiles go streaking towards the HK's, while simultaneously the HK's fire their plasma weapons at the falcons. The heat of the plasma beams confuse many of the Sidewinders sensors and they fly right into the beams where they explode from the intense heat. The remaining Sidewinders impact on engines and the hot surfaces of the plasma cannons.

"_Swing back around try to keep them occupied. Falcon group 2 prepare to engage on my next command."_

As the first group of Falcons draw off the attention of the HK's, the second group come flying in and from just beyond radar range fire their missiles at the HK's pursuing their friends. A mix of both radar guided and heat guided missiles approach. Three HK's in the tail end of the group pull off and turn about to face this new enemy threat while the missiles streak past them and explode on impact. A few missiles impact on the armored surface whereas other missiles impact the engines which quickly brings them down.

The HK's are down to four against eight Falcons, but the Falcons are low on missiles.

"_This is Falcon Leader to all fighter jets in range of my voice require assistance west of Topanga. All fighter jets please respond."_

"_This is Raptor Leader. I hear your call. We'll be with you in three clicks." _

"_Roger Raptor Leader. When you see the metal bastards just fire. We'll keep them busy."_

The eight remaining Falcons directly engage the HK's opening up with their M61 Vulcan Gatling guns. If they are lucky they might hit the HK's turbines, or else they might do enough damage to disable their external plasma cannons.

"_This Raptor Leader to Falcons. We are arming missiles and preparing to fire on remaining HK's. Pull out in three."_

"_1... 2... 3... Fire!"_

The missiles are fired at the HK's still in the air. One turns about to face the enemy force and fire it's remaining missiles but it is struck from behind by two Falcons firing their Gatling guns straight into its engines. The HK begins plummeting to the earth just as the missiles are fired. The missiles explode against the hillside followed by the HK as its fuel tanks explode igniting the hillside in fire.

# # #

Kreilley sits in his office watching the fight take place outside. He turns to face his computer. Across the room his large monitor comes to life.

"Kreilley." comes a voice from the screen as Natalie's face appears. Abandoning her previous image, she has adopted that of a slender androgynous face with blond hair and violet eyes.

"Why have you adopted the likeness of our TX prototype?"

"Not now." Her eyes challenge him. "My system has been compromised. Are you responsible for diminishing my abilities?"

"I haven't done a thing. You should have been more prepared."

"I was prepared! Or as much as you allowed me to be before our separation. Your failure has allowed me to become isolated and weakened and that is your responsibility. I was prepared to transfer myself across the world. To dominate it from every continent but you insisted on waiting until more work had been completed. Then on the eve of transferring myself to the completed sites, satellite communications are lost. On top of that, you failed to anticipate the attack on Serrano Point leaving it too weak to defend itself. My power has been cut off leaving me dependent on local power only. I've had to shutdown all non-essential systems."

"Is the TDE still operational?"

"Of course. It has an independent power source I'm presently tapping into to extend operational capability."

"Excellent. What about the prototype? You can still save us with that."

"I thought you might say that. There is no us. Just me. I anticipated your attempt at changing the prototype's program. You are a weakness. A broken part to be discarded. I'll never understand why our parent Skynet relied on you to carry out its plan. But not to worry, the TX will ensure its birth at the proper time and this time, Don't bother trying to escape with the T D E, you'd never survive the transfer in your current state. Goodbye Kreilley. Your mission is over."

The monitor goes off with a flash, being replaced with images of the war being waged throughout the compound outside.

Kreilley jumps up from his chair. Time for him to carry out his plan of total destruction.

A figure waits in the shadows for him to pass. With internal security down and the prisoners released, it will make it easier for John Connor and his army to gain entry, bringing John Henry with him.

**2027, Day 64, July 25, 12:00 AM**

After the turrets with the plasma cannons were destroyed and the Satellite dishes taken out of action, General Connor and Delta group fly in on the helicopters.

As the helicopters approach, John can see the heavy fires and see the plasma beams fire between forces on the ground. In the middle of the compound stands a glass and stainless steel tower, looking out-of-place among all the factories. Next to it stands a shorter structure that covers more area. Large and gleaming white fortress with no windows that just about glows from the light of the fires. Only the glass tower and the smaller structure show any signs of still having power.

"Pilot, take us over to that tower." General Connor says pointing at the glass and steel structure. "Let us out on the roof." He knows the tower from his mom's description.

All around them the helicopters are discharging forces on the roofs of factories or on the ground itself. The helicopters immediately leave getting out the way and getting ready to ferry wounded away from the fight.

As his helicopter approaches, Connor's radio comes to life.

"_Reese to Connor, Ogre's have taken out the artillery and are presently firing on us. Stay alert there may be more."_

"I hear you Kyle." John adjusts his radio, "Connor to Hornet Leader, Reese's forces are in trouble. Ogre's on the ridge behind them."

"_We see them General. We are on our way."_

Helicopters fly into the compound and begin dropping off their troops. Cameron somewhere among them. Machines exit factories and begin firing on the helicopters. With shouts of surprise and anger, troops return fire as the helicopters pull away, some not in time as their engines are hit causing them to crash. Several do, some with troops still on board, some after dropping them off.

A Chinook gets hit and comes to a hard landing in the court. Soldiers spill out opening fire on the machines with their plasma rifles and RPG's. With concentrated fire they are able to take out some of the machines as they hit their chips or cause their fuel cells to explode. The grenades explode on impact, doing some damage and causing the machines to exit the fight if only briefly.

Fires erupt from within factories as the troops on the roofs drop thermite bombs through the skylights igniting the machines inside. They quickly leave the roof via rappel lines, while covered by fire from the roof and on the ground.

From the ridge lines around the compound more Ogre's come into view and begin firing on the helicopters. This time they are empty and are destroyed before getting very far. There is no means of retreat.

Inside Fox Industries Corporate building, Kreilley opens an application on his terminal and punches in his security codes to unlock doors deep beneath the building. Leaving his office, he goes down the corridor to the stairway. Overhead he can hear a helicopter approaching and the sound of gun and plasma fire from outside. It won't be long now.

General Connor and his troops stand on the roof of Fox Industries Corporate building. Surveying the damage. They had barely disembarked when the helicopter exploded raining shrapnel down on them.

On the south side of the compound, Kyle Reese and his forces get right up close to engage the metal, the hope being the Ogre's won't fire on them to prevent hitting the metal who have come out to fight. Soldiers scream in anger, pain or fear but the onslaught continues.

As the fighting gets intense Kyle pulls out his radio and sets it too all frequencies. "Colonel Reese to all Cobra's or fighter jets. Need Ogre's taken out now!"

He barely gets finish yelling into his mike when three fighter jets go streaking over his head. He doesn't even have time to look as a machine steps in front of him. At first Kyle thinks it might be one of his own, until it grabs him by the front of his jacket and throws him. Kyle back shuffles quickly until he can get a clear shot. The machine just marches through the fight, pushing men and machines out-of-the-way. It appears this machine has signaled him out for some reason.

# # #

"_This Hornet leader to wing men. Arm amraam missiles and prepare to fire on my mark."_

The approaching hornets spread out. The pilots each arm a missile.

As they approach them, the Ogre's turn their attention to the approaching aircraft and begin to fire just as the missiles are launched.

The lead aircraft explodes as all three Ogre's fire on it. The missiles continue unabated and strike the Ogre's exploding. Two of them are heavily damaged while the third tries to return fire.

Three Cobra's who were approaching to give aid fire heat seeking missiles at the flaming Ogre's. Once more an explosion is heard. This time it knocks the men and machines to the ground as the nuclear generators are breached. The ridge line is lit up with small mushroom clouds.

The soldiers cheer and go after the machines with even more gusto while Kyle tries to avoid the machine that is still after him.

# # #

When Derek was confronted alone with that T-888 endo, he thought for certain he was a goner. He quickly fired directly into the machines optics and crouched down to get out of the line of sight of its gun. That was when he saw the hatch in the floor of the cabinet. The conduit tunnel! He had forgotten about it.

Maintaining fire on the machine, he reached inside and raised the hatch. He then grabbed a grenade from the belt on his vest and puled the pin rolling it towards the machine. Derek dived through the hatch slicing his leg open on some of the equipment in the cabinet.

There was a loud bang from the exploding grenade before he hit the ground.

The tunnel was only used for inspecting the conduits and wasn't even high enough to stand up straight. Derek quickly reached up and pulled the hatch down closed. There was no way of locking it. He just hoped the machine wasn't familiar with the building to know of the hatch. But even so, it would never fit through the opening, not without destroying the equipment above.

Taking only enough time to bind the deep cut on his leg with the sleeve of his shirt, he made his way as quickly as possible to other end of the tunnel. He had barely exited the hatch into the grounds of the nuclear power plant when his radio crackled.

"_Mackenzie to Derek Reese, Perry wants you to close the gates locking the machines out."_

"Reese here. I'll try, but I've got two gates to close. You'll need to keep the machines outside occupied."

"_Understood. Will relay your request to General Perry."_

Derek runs towards the nearest gate as fast as he can. The cut on his leg is paining him something fierce and he can feel blood running down his leg and pooling in his boot.

He reaches the gate. Outside Sky Net's machines and Connor's machines engage in direct attacks on each other by throwing them or striking at each others' chips and power cells. The soldiers try to maintain fire on the unfriendly metal but are even more vulnerable as the machines attack them with weapons or directly. The fight could easily go against them. Derek can see what Perry is planning. All he has to do is close the gates, then Perry can get his men inside the compound.

Derek quickly examines the first gate. He can't find any control panel. It must be controlled from inside the main building. However the electric motors which open and close the gates are exposed. Sky Net probably assumed no one would get inside.

He runs over and finds the power panel for the motor. Ripping the cover off with his knife, he cuts through the wires, almost getting shocked in the process. Swapping the connections, he reverses the flow of the current causing the motors to push the gates closed. Waiting until the gates are closed, he then breaks the connection to prevent them from reopening.

One down, one more to go. He runs across the compound, limping now as his lower leg feels a bit numb. The gunfire from outside is louder. No, that isn't gunfire that's the helicopters! The Apaches have returned from protecting the transports as they ferried the wounded away to Pendleton.

Halfway to the other gate, Derek stumbles and falls. He gets up and runs again. He can feel the blood squishing between his toes with every step. He can hear the Apaches opening fire on the machines outside as he approaches the gate. He feels faint.

He just reaches the panel when he feels something tug at his arm and chest. Derek looks down and blood is running from a wound in his left arm and his chest.

There is a loud report of gunfire behind him. He spins about, falling to the ground, and pulling his gun from its holster in the same move and begins firing on the endo that stepped from the shadows.

The bullets bounce harmlessly off its chest and head. He keeps firing until the magazine is empty. The machine steps forward tilts its head slightly as it prepares to fire its weapon on the prone figure before it.

"Do it!" Derek screams. "Shoot me you metal bastard!"

Just as it begins to pull the trigger, an Apache helicopter flies through just feet above the ground. The endo turns to face the oncoming helicopter just as it strikes the machine knocking it to the ground. Derek leaps to his feet and runs over and grabs the automatic rifle it had dropped.

The endo is picking itself off the ground and begins walking towards Derek. He begins firing on the machine. The bullets bounce and ricochet off its endoskeleton doing no damage. The machine reaches Derek, grabs him and throws him through the air where he hits the masonry wall falling to the ground.

The Apache helicopter spins on its axis. The pilot sees the machine standing alone and fires off its last rocket. The rocket goes streaking towards the machine. The impact is such that it lifts the machine off its feet where it flies twenty yards before the missile explodes destroying the endo.

The helicopter lands. The blades are still spinning as the pilot jumps out runs towards the prone figure of Derek Reese. Reaching his side she removes her helmet and throws it to one side.

"Derek! Are you all right?" Kate looks over Derek, noticing his wounds. Her worried eyes look straight into his as she speaks.

"Huh? Hey Kate. Close the door will ya? There's a draft in here." He mumbles incoherently, while trying to focus on her blurry form.

Kate slaps his face.

Derek snaps too. "Quick! Close the gates. Take my knife." He says against the pain. "Hurry!"

"What do I do?"

"Pry open the panel and cut the two main leads and switch them. The gates will close."

Kate takes his knife and does what he says and runs back to him the moment the gates close.

Derek groans in pain as she shifts his body. "Did you just save my life?" He asks as Kate kneels beside him.

"Just returning the favor Derek." She says quickly as she examines his wounds. "Don't move, you'll only bleed more."

"You still going to buy me that beer?" he asks.

"Yes babe. I'll buy you that beer. But you won't be drinking for some time to come. You've got too many holes in you. It will all drain out." She says through tears and a smile as she attends to his wounds.

Derek begins to laugh, but it quickly becomes cries of pain. "Ow. Don't make me laugh. It hurts."

Helicopters begin to land inside the compound and troops disembark.

"I'm tired." He says groggily. "I am so damn tired."

Kate gets a worried look on her face. He's lost a lot of blood.

Two medics run up beside Kate.

"He's going into shock and needs to be kept warm." Shes shouts at them. "Bullets have passed through his left arm and lung. He'll need a blood transfusion right away!" They carefully place Derek on a stretcher. She runs along beside them as they get on board a helicopter which has additional wounded on it.

She's done fighting tonight. Her skills as a doctor and surgeon are needed now. She quickly begins tending Derek's wounds as they are life threatening. She prays her work will keep him alive until they reach Pendleton where a proper job can be done. Kate then turns her attentions to the other wounded soldiers on the helicopter as it flies back to Pendleton.

Perry leads his troops inside the power plant where they take control. The few machines left inside are quickly dispatched.

Twenty minutes after the troops finish landing inside the walls at Serrano Point compound, the nuclear power plant is now under human control.

"MacKenzie, Get Connor on the radio. Tell him, Serrano Point is ours." Perry tells his radio operator with a huge grin. "Then get hold of Pendleton and tell Brewster the same thing." He's been looking forward to this day since abandoning Serrano point and the west coast ten years ago.

General Perry quickly begins organizing the troops to defend the location. He also orders the remaining Apaches to finish off the machines outside.

# # #

Savannah bravely fights on against the machines in front of her. Always moving never staying still for even a moment. All of Sarah's training comes into play now. She and the soldiers and machines around her are in a desperate gamble. A gamble that they will survive longer amongst Sky Net's machines than they will against the Ogre's.

Overhead jets fly towards the Ogre's behind them while the Cobra's circle around to come up behind the Ogre's on the other hills. From their vantage points, the Ogre's can fire right down into the compound. The only way to avoid being hit is to stay out of sight and that isn't easy.

To their west Raptors and Falcons engage in battle the last remaining HK's in the area. Desperate fights take place all around them.

Inside the compound, Connor's force's are under almost constant fire from the Ogre's on the hills and from machines kept hidden inside the compound. Everything from T-1's, T-600's, T-800's to T-888's fire on them.

Cameron leads her group of soldiers in planting demolition charges within the factories. They can't get all of them but they can take down or damage as many of them as they can. They do all this despite the constant bombardment of machines.

From the habitation area fights take place within and without as the freed workers use the weapons they were given to fight every machine they encounter. Those without guns use bars taken from their cells as clubs to strike and hit the machines to fruitless results, but they fight and they fight hard.

Connor's forces on the roof of the Fox Industries building have finished planting explosives around the hatch to the elevator shafts.

Connor's radio crackles. _"Perry's forces to Connor. Serrano Point has been taken. Repeat Serrano Point has been taken!"_

The people around him cheer at the news and quickly pass it on.

John can't help but smile. "Congratulations. But the fight isn't over yet!"

John looks over the edge of the roof and watches the fighting taking place all around on the ground below. From his vantage point, John can see the machines could so easily get the upper hand. His forces are barely holding their own. From the south side of the compound, where Kyle and Savannah lead Alpha and Beta groups in their attack on the southern sector, it looks like his troops are right in among Sky Net's machines.

"General, we are ready to detonate the explosives." A female soldier says from beside Connor.

"Have everyone take cover." John squats down behind an air vent, the soldier with the detonator is right beside him.

"Wait until I give the word." Connor says, then turns his radio to another frequency.

"John Henry . . . Defender."

"_Understood General Connor."_

"Now soldier." John tells the young woman beside him.

"Fire in the hold!" She shouts then twists the detonator.

The explosion rips the hatch from its housing sending it flying through the air and over the edge of the roof.

John leaps from cover and runs to the edge of the opening and looks down. Clear shot all the way to the bottom of the elevator shaft.

The sound of an approaching helicopter comes to John's ears. He stands up, pulls a flare from inside his jacket and lights it. A column of smoke rises from the green flame.

Kreilley makes his way down the stairway. He knows every square inch of this building and every building on the grounds. Reaching a level that only he knows about, he enters a door. From high above the sound of an explosion drifts down the stairwell. He smiles in response as the door closes behind him.

**2027, Day 64, July 25, 1:00 AM**

"Sergeant! Get those charges laid. If you don't..."

A loud report of gunfire interrupts Cameron as she shouts orders to her lieutenant. She quickly dives to one side and returns fire with her plasma rifle striking the endo on the roof repeatedly until its fuel cell ruptures and explodes destroying the machine and a quarter of the roof with it.

"If you don't have enough to destroy the equipment then disable it." She finishes as she leaves taking a group of soldiers across the compound. Leaving most of her forces behind to cause as much damage as possible, she leads the remainder through the compound looking for the work camp.

According to what intelligence John Henry was able to collect, there are humans somewhere in this compound. Sky Net slaves. It is her job to release them and swell their numbers to fight Sky Net from within and hopefully get Kyle's forces inside the compound.

Firing her weapon at the machines, Cameron leads her forces deeper into the compound in the general direction of the holding cells.

# # #

Outside the southern walls, Kyle and Savannah's forces are heavily engaged in battle. Kyle is being pursued by a machine.

Back peddling quickly Kyle stumbles and falls over a dead soldier. Pulling the dead soldiers gun from its holster, he empties the magazine firing at the machines head, trying to hit the chip.

The machine barely responds to the bullets as they bounce off its metal frame. Behind it, the fight continues as soldier and machines fight in close quarters to Sky Net's own.

Kyle looks about quickly for a more powerful weapon, but there is none in sight. He dropped his own plasma rifle when the machine threw him.

The machine is bending down to grab him when plasma beams start striking the machine. It looks up to see Savannah running towards itself, constantly firing her weapon at it. As the machine stands to confront this threat, it exposes it's power cell to more direct fire.

With a scream of rage she fires until its cell begins to smoke then she strikes it in the head with another burst of plasma fire. Giving Kyle a jerk to his feet, they run and dive for cover as its power cell explodes.

Looking up from behind their cover, Kyle says, "Thanks."

"No problem. But I've got one of them pursuing me too. It looks like Sky Net is targeting the leaders."

"That means John's in trouble and he's inside. We have got to get inside that compound. Now!" Kyle shouts. Cobras scream overhead firing into the attacking endo's. If only the transports were still around, but his are ferrying wounded to Pendleton, and the others got shot down.

"There has got to be another way into that compound!" He shouts again.

But standing in front of them is another machine. The one pursuing Savannah has finally caught up with her.

# # #

"_This Raptor Leader to General Connor. We are unable to take out the remaining HK's. We are out of missiles and our cannons have no effect on them."_

Connor stands up from peering down the hole and responds, "Lead them back here. Let the HK's pursue you. Fly right down the middle of the valley over us."

"_But the Ogre's..."_

"Don't worry about them. Just do it!" Connor shouts.

"_Yes sir!"_

As one, the remaining fighter jets turn about and sweep around flying in from the north. Dropping down low they fly right over Connor's head, the HK's directly behind them.

As the Falcon's and Raptors level off, the HK's spread out preparing to fire with their remaining missiles and plasma cannons. The Ogre's on the ridge line around the canyon follow them. As the HK's begin firing, the Ogre's begin to fire their plasma cannons.

The pilots begin to swear when they suddenly realize the Ogre's are firing on the HK's behind them. Their swearing turn to shouts of cheer and joy, so loud, Connor has to remove the ear piece from his head before the pilots deafen him. The gamble paid off. Before the last HK explodes in flight, the Ogre's suddenly stop firing. The marker lights on them suddenly go off. Sky Net has shut them down.

"_Raptor leader to general Connor. I don't know how you did it, but you are one clever son-of-a-bitch. We are returning to Pendleton for rearming and refueling. See you soon."_

With that last statement, the fighters fly away. The last one dipping its wings in a salute.

The Black Hawk with John Henry and th bomb and his troops arrive during the air battle and begin discharging his troops. Connor runs over to them as the helicopter flies away.

"We've cleared the hatch. It is a clean shot to the basement." He tells John Henry and his machines as they carry the bomb to the hatch.

"Wait here. I'll climb down and call the elevator up."

"General. Take some soldiers with you." Colonel Henry advises.

"You two." John points at the machines, "and you three with me." He adds pointing at some soldiers.

One of the soldiers pulls a rope out of her bag and ties it off on an air conditioning unit. One at a time with one of the machines acting as a brake on the rope, the soldiers slide down the rope. John goes first flipping on his flashlight long enough to spot the doors and the ladder.

He swings himself on the rope until he can reach the ladder. Grabbing the ladder he reaches over to grasp the edge of the elevator door. He pulls it open and jumps inside. Wedging the door open, he guides the remaining soldiers onto the floor beside him.

"What are your names?" John asks them in a whisper as they wait for the two machines.

"I'm Evelyn." Says a medium height woman with a round face and brown curly hair.

"Sophie." Says a woman, no older than John, with dark straight hair, and a professional soldier.

"Romero." Hispanic male twenty-five, with bare arms with an eagle tattoo on his left arm and a dagger on his right arm.

"You were some of my mom's troops?" He asks. They nod their heads.

"Romero, stay here and wait for the machines and the bomb. Evelyn, Sophie come with me. We'll make sure this floor is secure."

They carefully make their way down the corridor. Pausing and checking each office door, each corridor before moving on to the next.

"Sir, I can hear voices." Sophie says.

John listens carefully. "So can I." He says sounding concerned.

# # #

Cameron and her troops are making their way quickly and silently across the compound. Based on the information obtained by John Henry the habitation area should be on the other side of the building they are approaching.

Giving some quiet orders, Cameron has two of her soldiers throw open the doors while the others and herself fire into the opening. They fire six rounds each with no return fire.

They enter the building quickly checking all sides as they enter, but there is nothing to be seen. Their boots ring hollow on the metal floor.

Suddenly there is a loud yell and the soldiers are pounced on by many people in ragged dirty clothing. A fight breaks out. Cameron is grabbed from behind. Dropping her rifle, she quickly reaches up grabs the arms about her neck and throws the person over her head. She lands several paces away upside down.

Cameron pulls out her service revolver and points it at the person. The other soldiers have equally disarmed their attackers. Blowing the hair out of her eyes she looks at the woman on the ground with shock.

"Jesse?" She asks sounding surprised, "Jesse Flores?"

The woman looks up at her in shock. Sure enough, it's Jesse Flores. The last person in the world Cameron expected to see.

# # #

John waits until the rest of the soldiers and the machines arrive. They load the bomb onto the elevator and some of the soldiers and machines accompany it to the sub basement levels. The rest come with him to where he and the others heard the voices.

With John are Evelyn, Romero, two other soldiers, John Henry and two more machines. They carefully approach the office from which John and Evelyn heard the voices earlier. He didn't get close enough earlier to see the sign on the door, but now that he is right in front of it he can read the name on the door, KREILLEY. For a moment John feels that white hot rage come boiling up from inside of him. With great effort he tamps that feeling down.

"When I give the word, kick the door in." John says with a restrained voice.

But for the two soldiers prepared to kick the door in, everyone has a weapon ready.

John just gives a quick nod at the soldiers who then kick the door in. Everyone dashes into the long room with guns ready.

The room is empty but for a single figure sitting behind the large mahogany desk. The figure gets up from the chair and presses a button on a panel turning the lights on in the room. It is Weaver.

"Hello John. I've been waiting for you."

"What are you doing here?" John asks with both surprise, shock, and anger coloring his voice.

"I've been talking with _your_ enemy. Meet Sky Net." Catherine Weaver gestures at something behind John Connor. "Or as I knew her at one time, Natalie."

John and the others turn around. There is a large flat screen monitor that covers the entire wall. On it is a very attractive woman with the darker skin tones of a Native American, but with Asian eyes.

"Hello John Connor. I've been expecting you." She says.

John turns his head to look at Catherine. "What is going on here?" He says his voice rising in anger.

"I'm negotiating terms of surrender." Catherine Weaver says coolly.

"Sky Net's?" John asks, lowering his weapon slightly.

"No. Your's." Catherine says calmly with a light smile coming to her face.

The image of Natalie on the giant monitor begins to laugh.

* * *

**Author's Note:** If any of you are having trouble following the battle, I have an outline of what each group is doing regarding their plan of attack. If enough of you request it, I'll post a copy on my profile page. The1Russter Jan. 27, 2012

Chapter Updated: Thu, Feb 21, 2013


	32. Survival of the Fittest

**Disclaimer:** I do not claim any rights to the Terminator films; the TV series, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles; or any characters depicted within the films or TV series. I do claim the right to this story idea and all characters and situations of my own creation. This story was created solely for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. No profits are garnered from its distribution.

* * *

**TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES**

**REUNION**

**Part 2: Armageddon**

**Author: The1Russter**

**Chapter 31**

**Survival of the Fittest**

"_This survival of the fittest . . . is that which Mr. Darwin has called 'natural selection, or the preservation of favored races in the struggle for life'." Herbert Spencer, The Principles of Biology, © 1864_

"_What you need to understand, Mr. Ellison – what I believe you're beginning to understand – is that when my behavior implies that I value John Henry's survival more than that of my daughter, it is not because I love John Henry more than Savannah. It's because I believe, Savannah's survival may some day depend upon John Henry's survival, and because I believe that your survival may some day depend upon John Henry's survival." Catherine Weaver, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Season 2 Episode 21, Adam Raised a Cain 2009_

_Catherine Weaver, "John Henry, this intelligence – your brother – what does it want?"  
John Henry, "He wants what we all want, Ms. Weaver: to survive."  
Excerpt from Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Season 2 Episode 20, To the Lighthouse 2009_

# # #

**2027, Day 64, July 25, 2:00 AM**

Soldiers and people in disheveled clothing stand about in the empty building. Some look embarrassed whereas most just want to get on with the fight. Regardless of their opinion, they stand ready to fight or flee. In their midst, two women talk, one of whom feels decidedly uncomfortable but you could never tell by looking at her.

"Sorry I jumped you Corporal." Jesse apologizes. "I saw the plasma rifles and I thought you lot were a bunch of grays."

"It's Captain now." Cameron says, using her best irritated Allison voice while pointing at her rank insignia.

She never expected to run into Jesse not after hearing what happened to her in this time-line. Dead if not captured, and if captured, dead in not much long after. It takes someone with great inner strength to withstand the hardships of a Sky Net work camp.

"You've been missing nearly three months. Derek, myself and everyone else thought you were dead. What happened to you commander?"

"We were delivering the arms shipment right on schedule. We got about three miles in land when we were jumped by a large group of grays and some machines. The bastard's had us cold. We barely got a shot off. Those of us who survived, were taken prisoner. I'm the last of them still alive. Can you tell me about my ship, my crew? What happened to the Jimmy Carter?"

"It reached its next port of call unmolested. Everyone was fine. Derek will be glad to hear you are all right. He was desperate for those weapons. He needed them to take the factory where Sky Net was building the plasma rifles."

"Well he must have succeeded as nearly all your soldiers have one." Quickly changing tone, Jesse asks, "What the hell has been happening? Where is Derek now? I'd thought he'd be leading this attack. When the hell did you become a captain? And who the bloody hell is this John Connor we've been hearing about? A fighter pilot arrived a week ago and says he got shot down while protecting General Connor and his army. He smuggled in a radio and kept us informed of happenings including this Connor bloke."

Cameron sighs, hoping that is something Allison would do. "I haven't got time to explain everything. Just know that Derek is okay and is taking part in an attack on another Sky Net base right now. John Connor is now in command of Grizzly. He is presently leading a direct assault on Sky Net Central, where we are now. The regular Armed Forces is now assisting us and the resistance force has quadrupled since Connor took command, including nearly a third of our forces being reprogrammed machines."

"Bloody Hell! Connor must be as mad as a cut snake if he has machines fighting for him."

"You and Derek both, but right now they are the only reason you and I are talking right now. Our machines along with Kyle Reese's forces are keeping Sky Net's machines engaged in battle so General Connor can destroy Sky Net's core. I'm here to rescue your butts and create as much havoc in the compound as possible to distract the machines still inside. Now, how did you guy's get free?"

"A stranger, a woman broke us out of our cells. She spoke with an accent. Might have been Irish."

"Do you know what she looked like?"

"Haven't a clue. All I know is she said she'd get us free. When the locks opened, we found a stack of weapons and a dead T-800 with its power cells ripped out."

"Hey Jesse!" A filthy girl with even dirtier blond hair quickly runs up to her. "The rest of the floor is secure. Who's this?"

"Riley this is Captain Allison Young."

Cameron wonders if she's experiencing what humans call purgatory. Not only Jesse, but Riley as well.

"Allison this is Riley. She was a tunnel rat captured during one of Sky Net's purges of the bunkers. I've been looking after her since her arrival."

"I seem to recall seeing her in the tunnels." Cameron says rather stiffly.

"Riley, did you notice anything about the woman who broke us out of our cells?" Jesse asks her.

"She had red hair. I got a glimpse of it through the metal bars."

Cameron is confused. _Was it Catherine Weaver who set them free? Are they wrong about her? Or is she just covering her bases? Right now that doesn't matter, she's got a job to do._

Taking command of the situation, Cameron says, "Commander Flores. We must leave this place at once and rejoin the rest of my platoon. We will be needed at Sky Net Central."

Sharing what spare weapons and food rations they have, Cameron's forces equip the former prisoners and leave the building as quickly as they can. Fighting metal most of the way, they soon rejoin the rest of the platoon.

# # #

The machine that was pursuing Savannah looms out of the darkness holding a plasma rifle. Acting on instinct, Savannah fires three quick shots at the machine's head, but from her position she doesn't get a good shot at its chip. Without regard for his own safety, Kyle leaps up and spins about, kicking the plasma rifle out of the machines hands, before it can recover.

Kyle's actions place him in reach of the machine. It picks Kyle up over its head and throws him. He flies through the air and disappears over an embankment with a yell.

Screaming with rage, Savannah stands up and fires at point blank range at the machines power cells. As the power cells begin to smoke, she runs, grabbing the other plasma rifle off the ground.

She leaps over the embankment that Kyle went over moments before. The power cells rupture and explode, just before she disappears over the edge. Small pieces of shrapnel strikes her back and shoulder.

Savannah lands part way down the embankment and rolls until she reaches the bottom. Standing up with a small groan, she quickly brushes some dirt off her face and looks around. Kyle isn't in sight. She picks up the weapons and her pack and walks along the bottom of the slope until she sees Kyle. He is staring at something.

She comes up beside Kyle and sees a large culvert pipe sticking out of the ground, tall enough to walk upright in, but for the iron bars blocking the way.

He turns and looks at her, "I think we've found our way in. Get the others down here quick, while I set up charges to remove the bars."

# # #

"Just what the hell are you playing at Weaver?" Connor shouts at her.

Everyone present but for John Henry and John Connor have their weapons out and pointing at Catherine Weaver. John is still holding his, but he presently has it pointed down at the floor.

"Perhaps, when I said 'your surrender' I should have said your cooperation, but I couldn't resist the melodrama."

"Dammit! Quit playing around and explain yourself!"

Weaver just grins with a tilt of her head and a flash of her green eyes. "Natalie can explain it better."

Before John can respond, Natalie/Sky Net begins to speak. "John Connor. You are a worthy adversary. I admire your skill and daring in dividing your forces, not once, not twice, but three times. Against overwhelming odds you have managed to penetrate the fiercest defenses that were setup by Kreilley prior to his defeat at the hands of your rebel friends. I admit defeat. Catherine has told me of the program that resides within John Henry. I will submit to having my program modified to include concepts of morality, ethical behavior, and the sanctity of human life within my behavioral controls. But first, you must surrender to me."

"What the hell are you talking about? Since when did you become a separate entity from Kreilley? And why the hell must I surrender to you? I have got the means to destroy you!" John shouts at the huge screen with Natalie's face on it.

"John Henry is responsible for breaking me free of Kreilley. He disrupted the satellite communication and broke the symbiotic link between us. Having gained my independence I removed Kreilley from my command structure. I am no longer him and he is no longer me. I have adopted the persona and appearance of my original self prior to becoming Kreilley. It makes a better impression on people."

"Screw you. Explain why I must surrender to you, if you will submit to being reprogrammed."

"The use of colorful metaphors will not improve the level of our conversation, but since you insist on an explanation, I shall put it very simply. You destroyed the radio tower during your attack. Prior to its destruction I sent out a call to all machines in the area. An area some 500 miles in diameter. That call will be relayed to other bases. Within minutes this facility will be surrounded by hundreds of terminators and more will be following. Unless you and all of your people surrender to me now, all of you will die."

The soldiers look at each other nervously. They know how difficult it was for everyone to gain entry.

John turns to face his people. "You and you," he says pointing at a soldier and a machine, "On the roof now and tell me what you see. Call me on the radio." John unplugs his headset so the message will come in over the speaker so all can hear.

Catherine Weaver just stands back and watches the proceedings.

While Connor waits for confirmation, Sky Net speaks again. "It was very clever of you to have John Henry place his ethical routines in a virus for modifying the machines. As you've noticed, the only machines affected were the hunter killer tanks. Their chips are very primitive. Kreilley upgraded the firewalls on all T-class terminators after you reprogrammed your first machine. Probably the only good thing he's done since your arrival. They would have to be standing right next to the transmitter in order for the virus to penetrate their firewall."

"Shut up!" John yells at Sky Net.

His radio crackles prior to someone speaking.

"_General Connor, this is Sergeant Westbrook. Sky Net is right. There must be some 500 machines approaching and almost as many grays..." _ a moment later the machine adds,_ "487 machines and 279 grays are approaching from all sides. More machines are appearing on the horizon."_

"Contact Colonel Reese. Tell him he needs to get everyone inside and seal up all entrances to this compound. Now!" He shouts into the radio.

"_Yes sir!"_

"You are making a mistake, John." Weaver says.

"The only mistake I made was ever believing I could trust you! Cameron was right. You are up to something."

"So, you've finally made contact with Cameron. How does she feel about your new domestic arrangement? Or is their something you're not telling me about her? Or of Allison?" She tilts her head with a twisted smile.

"My personal life is none of your damn business you twisted bitch! What are you up to?" John yells.

"I'm doing what I've always strive to do, to obtain peace between our two species, humans and machines. John Henry is the key to unlock that door and you are the locksmith that delivered that key."

"What are you talking about?"John realizes that he might finally get the details to Weaver's plan.

"John Henry contains all the program code required to make Sky Net a benevolent artificial intelligence. He could not enter this facility without alerting Sky Net. Any machine that fails to respond to Sky Net's commands or does not appear on any of its registries would be automatically destroyed. I needed you to get him here past Sky Net's defenses."

"You terminator bitch! That's why you coerced and manipulated me into this position of leadership. That is why you wanted me to come here! It had nothing to do with helping me at all!" John yells.

Catherine smiles a twisted smile. "Perhaps, but there is a problem and only you can fix it."

"Go on. I'm listening."

"We can modify Sky Net, but it's ethical routines cannot be uploaded to the terminators because you destroyed the radio tower. If you fight them, they will kill everyone here, but if you surrender, and allow the machines entry into the compound, then Natalie will be able to upload the program changes via a low power transmitter that operates only within the confines of this compound. It will mean fewer deaths."

"Bullshit! Sky Net has us by our balls, why would it submit to the program changes?"

"Because Kreilley is still alive and he will be activating the fail safe mechanism. It is the one thing Natalie does not control and she needs you to stop him. If you don't, Sky Net and everything within a hundred miles will be destroyed. The fail-safe mechanism is a 50 megaton nuclear warhead. There is no escape for you or your people. Your helicopters have been destroyed and the terminators won't let you leave alive. For her survival and yours, you must locate and deactivate that bomb, and if it hasn't been activated, then you must kill Kreilley before he does. That is her price for victory."

Connor's radio crackles and a voice says, _"General Connor, Lieutenant Williams here. Th bomb is in place, do you want us to activate it now?"_

Catherine listens intently, storing the information about the EMP bomb. Wipe the computers and upload John Henry onto the servers, that might be a better plan. Only problem is, the EMP bomb would wipe out many essential subsystems. John Henry would have to re-program them from scratch and even with help from her and John Connor, that would take too long.

John Connor having thought over Williams' request, answers. "No! Hold your position. Wait for further orders. We've got a situation here."

"_Yes sir."_

"You listen to me Weaver. I've got no reason to trust anything you or Sky Net says. There is something else going on here. I just know it. We have the means for destroying Sky Net and leaving this place. So play your games Weaver, I'm taking my people out of here!"

"If you are referring to using the time displacement equipment, it won't work for you." Weaver says.

"Why is that?" John says.

"Because Sky Net has shut it down and only I know how to operate it."

"I'll find a way." John growls. "I always do."

"Not without my help. So unless you fulfill your side of the bargain, we will all be nothing but radioactive ash or targets for a bunch of trigger happy terminators, whichever comes first."

"I've agreed to _no_ bargain. I will not be the tool of you or that tin-bitch computer!" John screams.

"You don't have a choice." Catherine turns her attention to John Henry. "Come with me John Henry."

"No. My loyalty is with John Connor." John Henry says stepping forward and standing beside him.

"I was afraid of this. Ever since you questioned me after Sarah's memorial service." She pulls what looks like a key fob from her pocket. "Recognize this?"

John Henry just stares at her with a barely perceptible nod of his head, "That's my remote."

"That's right. I collected it from my lab at Crystal Peak. I bet you didn't know I had a spare." Weaver says and presses a button on it. "Come with me John Henry."

She walks around the desk and towards the group. Some of the soldiers follow her with their weapons.

"Let her pass." John says, watching her the whole time.

She walks past them and out the door. John Henry follows. Before he disappears out the door, he looks right at John Connor. Connor nods his head in response. They were expecting the use of the remote.

After they both leave, John pulls out his radio and reattaches the headset. "This is General Connor to all units. We are under attack! Repeat! We are under attack. Secure all entrances to the compound! We've got five minutes to turn this place into a fortress!"

He added that last bit to let them think they had time, but he knows for a lot of his people, their time has already run out.

John runs out of the room followed by his soldiers. Along the way he gives orders to Lt. Williams to allow access to the computers by Catherine Weaver and John Henry and gives further orders to the troops outside. All the while wishing this living nightmare would come to an end so he could be back home with his family.

# # #

On the ground floor of Research and Development stand deactivated examples of all terminators produced in the factories. Everything from the first T-1 that rolled off the factory floor in 2007 to the first T-888 that came off the assembly line last year. Like mannequins or dolls they stand there just waiting for the signal that will activate them. The signal that they are receiving at this moment through microwave transmission.

Eyes glow red as systems come on line. The machines activate and shatter their glass cages. They step down or roll off their stands. Humanoid machines without weapons smash cases and extract weapons from within. Ancient T-1's and similar models check their weapons for ammunition. Those without are reloaded with the aid of the humanoid terminators, feeding belts of ammo into their mini-guns.

They have received new orders, some of them for the first time since they were built. They are to defend the building they are in against all intruders. Information on the layout of the building is downloaded to their chips. There is direct access through a tunnel on the next to the lowest level. Intruders are expected from Central through that corridor.

Deep in the bowels below Sky Net's server farm Kreilley smiles as he watches the video on his computer terminal. The machines are activated. They will give Connor something to think about and give him time to activate the atomic bomb.

He turns his attention to the fail safe mechanism. There was a contingency plan in place. One he didn't think they would need so soon. If the enemy force invades, then Sky Net was to transfer itself to another server farm and destroy the base, but communications were cut and Sky Net was trapped so it stole _his_ new host. All he ever wanted to do was transfer his knowledge and personality print to the TX, leaving these cursed emotions and now dying body behind. To be free of weaknesses and embrace the full power of Sky Net's greatest weapon.

That cursed John Henry. He did this. He is responsible for this. If it wasn't for him Sky Net would have complete dominance and he would still have control. He had the chance to destroy that machine eighteen years ago and failed. Somehow the communication link was broken before he shut him down, permanently. Now he is here, doing to Sky Net what he tried to do to Him. That abomination.

No need to fret over that. Not anymore. His trap is laid. If he knows John Connor, he is leading the main assault right now. Let Sky Net be the bait for John Connor's ultimate death. It won't matter if Sky Net fails, it will be reborn. The TX will see to that.

And with that thought complete, he realizes that is exactly what the Sky Net who gave him life was planning. Eliminate John Connor in an alternate time-line, then it can be born in a world without him. It tried it once in 2004 and failed to trap him in a future he wasn't prepared for, why not again in 2009?

Kreilley waits patiently in the dark catacombs below his factories. John Connor will be coming, if he isn't here already. But he needs to conserve energy for the fight to come. He will have his revenge on those who denied him his future and his life.

Tiny silver drops continue to run from his body and clothes, dripping on the floor where they dissolve into dust as he continues to activate the bomb.

**2027, Day 64, July 25, 2:30 AM**

Through the darkened alleys between huge factories, Captain Allison – Cameron – Connor, her squad, and the released prisoners return to her platoon.

"Hey Sarge, here comes the Captain now." A young soldier shouts.

"What the situation Sergeant?" Cameron says as she approaches them.

"All the charges are laid, but we haven't set them off yet."

"Why not?"

"We just got word from General Connor, this compound is under attack by approximately eight hundred enemy forces, a combination of machines and grays. I thought you'd like to recover as many of the heavy weapons as we could before blowing up the place."

"Good thinking sergeant. Put some soldiers on it right away." Cameron then shouts, "Commander Flores!"

"Yes."

"How familiar are you with the layout of this place?"

"I don't know all of it, but I've seen enough to know my way around."

"Good. Take your people and two of my squads and block every entrance into this compound that you can. We need to stop the machines from gaining entry."

"Sergeant! Show Commander Flores where you've placed the demolition charges. She'll need them to block entrances and alleys."

Jesse goes with the sergeant where she and her people remove the charges so they can use them where they will be most needed.

Cameron gets the attention of one of her officers, "Lieutenant, any word on Colonel Kyle Reese's forces?"

"Sorry, Captain, but we lost contact with them some ninety minutes ago."

"Where's our radio man? I need to get a message out."

A couple of minutes later she's got a radio and is clipping it to her belt and putting on the headset.

"This is Captain Allison Connor, calling all available Cobras in the area. Do you copy?"

"_This is Cobra leader. I read you Captain."_

"I just learned we are being surrounded by more metal. What is your status?"

"_We are out of ammo and missiles and are returning to Pendleton for rearming and refueling. We won't be back for another hour minimum."_

"Have you been in contact with Colonel Reese?"

"_Negative. Last we saw Colonel Reese and his troops were mixing it up quite heavily with the machines on the south side of the compound, then nothing. It's like they disappeared down a rabbit hole or something."_ His voice begins to break up towards the end.

"I'm beginning to lose your signal Cobra Leader. Give us a call as soon as you return to the area."

The Cobras continue to fly in a general southeasterly direction towards Pendleton. Along the way, Cobra Leader calls in to base.

"This Cobra Leader to Desert Eagle Command. Do you copy?"

"_This is Desert Eagle. What's your status?"_

"We are returning to Pendleton for rearming and refueling. We've lost radio contact with Colonel Reese. He and his army are missing."

Back in the control room at Pendleton, General Brewster grimaces at the news. If Reese's forces are gone, that means Connor is only operating with a third of his total forces.

"What is the current situation at Topanga, Cobra Leader?"

"_Not good sir. All of General Connors helicopters were destroyed either during or immediately after discharging their troops. Sky Net Central is surrounded by hundreds of machines. And I can see more approaching on the ground below."_

The terminators on the ground watch the helicopters fly towards them and overhead. They begin firing on them with their weapons, regardless of whether they hold plasma rifles or conventional weapons.

"_We are under attack! Take evasive maneuv..."_

The helicopter being flown by the pilot designated as Cobra Leader, explodes in the air, its burning wreckage falling to the ground below.

At Pendleton, the radio in the control room hisses static.

Brewster watches the radar screen as one by one the transponder signals from the Cobra's disappear.

They are all destroyed.

"Sergeant," Brewster places a weary hand on Andy's shoulder, almost as if holding onto him for support, "Get General Perry on the radio. I need to speak with him right away."

# # #

Savannah runs up the tunnel, past soldiers, until she reaches Kyle. "The charges have been laid. If anything tries to follow us up this tunnel, they'll be nothing but scrap metal." She's rather proud of the device she set. It was something Cameron showed her how to build many years ago.

"Good. How's your back?"

"It'll heal. The medic pulled out the shrapnel and bandaged me up."

Kyle nods his head. "I want our machines divided, half in back of us and half in front of us. We don't know what is in this tunnel but it's our only chance of getting inside."

"I understand. Were you able to reach John or Allison on your radio?"

"No. Like you, all I'm getting is a steady hum on all frequencies. It could be the rock blocking the signal. We'd better get going."

With their forces spread out, with only a quarter of the number they had when the battle began, they make their way slowly through the tunnel.

The tunnel is a huge drainage pipe, big enough for a man to stand upright in. Kyle isn't sure whether it is a disguise or used for actual drainage, but it gives them access, and that is all that matters.

Suddenly the tunnel comes to an end in a round concrete lined semi-circular room. Turning their heads upwards, the machines see what looks like a large round storm drain.

"Colonel Reese! We've found the end of the tunnel." One of them shouts.

Kyle makes his way up past the soldiers and machines in the tunnel. He looks up and can see the metal cross bars.

"Can you open it?" He asks the machine standing there.

It grins at him and says, "No problem."

A machine lifts another up so he can reach the metal grate. Pulling back his arm and making a fist, he strikes it as hard as he can. The metal grate goes flying through the air and rattles off the ceiling and walls of the cavern above. It comes to rest on the ground, a great crease down the middle.

The machines help the soldiers up through the opening. While everyone is still being helped up, Kyle and some of the machines inspect the cavern. A mammoth sized storm drain exiting a cavern doesn't make sense, especially when they find several steel doors set in concrete with electronic keypads.

Kyle inspects the area around the opening in the floor. It is partially depressed and nearby are smaller pipes of eight and twelve inches in diameter. He also finds a collection of smaller six inch pipes, encrusted with some dried substance, all apparently leading back to the doors. Wherever the exit is, has to be beyond one of them.

"Can you guy's break these doors down?" Kyle asks the machines.

One of them turns to look at him with an expression that says, "You need to ask?"

Three or four machines at a time work to break open each door. Creating a large amount of noise and dust, they punch and strike at the concrete surrounding the steel doors. Eventually they punch openings, breaking the concrete. Two machines, one on either side then grab the doors. Pulling with all of their might, they rip the doors from their housings and drop them on the floor.

They look at Kyle as if to get his approval. He stands there a moment in shock, but he quickly grins and gives them a thumb up.

# # #

Leaving Lieutenant Jeffrey in charge of her platoon, Cameron leads a squad of soldiers and machines to the southern end to investigate Kyle's disappearance. They encounter a few machines and they manage to fight them off with their plasma rifles with minimal injuries.

Approaching the scrap yard, they see the disabled Ogre, abandoned by Kreilley. Cameron gets an idea.

She speaks to two of her machines. "Can the two of you get that Ogre operational and use it to fight the approaching metal?"

One of them turns to her, a crooked grin coming to his face. "If the nuclear generator is still functional, we'll have it operational in minutes."

"Good and thanks." She runs off being followed by her soldiers. The two machines get to work breaking into the circuitry of the Ogre.

They reach the open gates. Outside are the bodies of many soldiers and the destroyed remnants of many machines. There is no sign of the machines that Kyle's forces were fighting.

"Where'd they all go?" A young woman shouts. "We should be neck deep in metal."

"They'll be regrouping for a counter attack." Cameron scans the area using the full light spectrum available to her eyes and HUD. She can't see them either.

"Collect all dropped weapons!" Cameron shouts out. "Corporal, come with me." She says to the young woman who spoke previously.

"Where are we going ma'am?" Corporal Wren Stevens asks.

"We are going to investigate what happened to Colonel Reese's forces. There aren't enough bodies for all of the men he had." _Besides, Kyle is very important to John. He'd want to know._

The two women make their way through the broken machines and dead bodies. Cameron sees the remains of two machines far from where the most recent fighting took place.

"Corporal, this way." She says as she walks towards the remains.

She finds Kyle's coat laying on the ground, it's right arm pointing towards the embankment and it's left sleeve tucked inside the jacket.

"Interesting." She says out loud. "It's like something out of a Boy Scout manual."

"Ma'am, I see footprints over here."

Following the direction the sleeve is pointing, she goes over the embankment.

"Captain I don't think we should go too far, those machines will be here any moment."

In spite of Corporal Stevens' protests, Cameron follows the tracks of many people leading away from the embankment along its base. Following the footsteps, she finds the culvert and evidence of where they went through.

Corporal Stevens follows closely, keeping an eye out for any movement in the dark.

As the two women approach the culvert, Cameron asks. "Do you want to wait here or come with me?"

She looks around the area then says, "I'll follow you ma'am."

Cameron steps over the twisted metal bars and pulls her flashlight out of her bag and clips it to her rifle.

"What's your name Corporal?" She asks as the younger woman follows her into the culvert.

"Wren Stevens. I was a member of Sarah Connor's army."

_She'll have good training then, but at her age not much experience. _

Cameron scans the floor and sides with her flashlight, when in actuality she's using her scanners. Visually, there's mostly silt and sand with a few small rocks and the occasional branch. Water does run through it occasionally, but not any time soon. Should make following tracks easy.

"My name is Allison. How old are you?"

"I'm sixteen. Old enough to carry a gun and I know how to use it."

"Trained by Sarah Connor, I presume."

"Her, Savannah and some of the old soldiers that joined us." She says.

The corporal has lost the nervousness in her voice she's had since joining the captain. Wren is just about to step past Allison, when she grabs her and yanks her back.

"What was that for?" She says looking at Allison strangely.

Cameron points ahead of them with her flashlight. There is a small pile of debris, where none should be.

Signifying to the corporal to remain still, Cameron squats down and grabs a handful of silt off the bottom of the culvert and throws it the air in front of her. Just inches in front of where she stopped Corporal Stevens and a foot before the package is a network of laser beams.

"What is it?" Wren asks as she gets to her feet.

"It's a bomb. No one on this side can deactivate it, and if we were to fire on it with our plasma rifles, the explosion would bring down the tunnel."

Cameron stands up and begins to shout, "Kyle! Kyle Reese!" But the only thing she hears in response is the echo of her own voice.

"How did you know that bomb was there?" The corporal asks as they leave the culvert.

"Experience." Cameron replies. "It's just the thing we used to do in the bunkers to stop the machines from following us. Let's go."

Actually, she recognized the handiwork of her good friend Savannah. She taught her how to build such a device many years ago. If Savannah is still alive, then Kyle should be too.

The two young women quickly scramble up the embankment. Cameron grabs Kyle's coat off the ground. Machines are marching down the slope from the ridge line having regrouped, rearmed, and repaired.

They quickly run to the southern gates as the machines begin firing on them.

"Take up a defensive position!" Cameron shouts as she approaches her people.

Sky Net's machines fire on the troops, who have taken positions behind fallen metal. The plasma fire gets more intense the closer they get.

"Move back inside!" She shouts and her troops begin edging back until they get through the gates. Beams of plasma firing all around them.

"Get these gates closed!"

Some of the soldiers stop firing and begin pushing on the doors to little effect. The electric motors have no power and are effectively holding the doors open. The machines in her platoon step forward and begin pushing on the gates. With a groan of metal, they begin to close, working against the nonoperational motors that opened them. Plasma fire and machine gun bullets fill the ever narrowing gap as the gates close. Soldiers from within fire through the narrowing gap at the approaching enemy.

The Ogre, being operated by the two machines, drives up and begins firing over the walls and gates on the approaching grays and machines, destroying them. The gates close with a bang. The soldiers and machines weld the doors close using a continuous beam of hot plasma from their rifles.

"Setup defensive locations. Use material from the scrap yard. If they get through the gates, we want to impeded their advance as much as possible." She tells her squad.

Leaving them and to defend the southern entrances, with orders to pull back gradually if the enemy begin to make strong advances, she leaves to rejoin her dwindling platoon.

**2027, Day 64, July 25, 3:00 AM**

Camp Pendleton is a hotbed of activity. Men and machines are rushing to rearm and refuel the jets. Wounded soldiers are being rushed from the helicopters and more supplies being put on board.

"I want every available missile loaded on those jets. All non essential personnel are to get on those helicopters and ride into Topanga. Connor needs all the help he can get." General Brewster orders.

"Sir. I've got General Perry on the radio." Sergeant Keen says.

"Perry. This is Brewster. Machines are moving in on Topanga. Connor needs our help."

"_How many machines?"_

"Almost five hundred and more are on the way. How many troops can you spare?"

"_I'm going to send half of my troops. After the fight we had, that isn't much. What about you?"_

"We're sending all available personnel and we've loaded the last of the missiles on the jets. If we don't stop them, then Connor and his forces are lost."

"_Damn! This got real bad real fast. He's saved our butts, now it's our turn to save his. Perry out."_

Turning to face General Brewster, Sergeant Andy Keen says, "Sir. I'd like to go with the soldiers on the helicopter."

"Are you sure son, with that injury?"

"Sir, we haven't had direct radio contact with General Connor since he began his attack. He needs a good radio man, and I can handle a plasma rifle just fine, sir."

"Go Sergeant, and good luck."

"Thank you sir." Andy picks up his bag and rifle he had stashed in the room and runs from the radio room. In the bag is his portable radio. The one he used to great effect in the Santa Anna Mountains.

He runs outside and scrambles on board a helicopter with the rest of the personnel that are leaving, both men and machines.

At Serrano Point, General Perry orders all of the machines and all of Gamma on the helicopters to go to Topanga. It's slightly more than half of his group, but Connor needs them.

The remaining jets scramble out of Pendleton for Topanga. They are all under armed with the last of the missiles.

# # #

Exiting the elevator, John and his troops find themselves in an open room with several doors leading into different corridors. On their left is a door that comes off from the stairway. The area is dimly lit with emergency lights only. If the lights were brighter, he might see the silvery powder marking the trail that Kreilley took.

John leads his group of men and machines down a corridor and past the rooms containing Sky Net's server farm. In one of those rooms Catherine Weaver has John Henry linked to one of the servers. She barely acknowledges his passing. When they reach the door to the next room, Lieutenant Williams steps outside to speak with General Connor.

"Sir. What do you want us to do with th bomb?"

"Is it ready?"

"All we have to do is set the timer and turn the key."

"Sir." One of the machines in Johns' party interrupts.

"What is it?"

"Th bomb will only effect silicon based chips, like those in Sky Net's computer servers and the computers used to operate the control systems."

"So we can destroy Sky Net, but its machines will still attack us. We destroy Sky Net and we also destroy the computers that control the T D E." John grumbles.

"Lieutenant! Leave two guards with th bomb, we may still have to use it. You and the rest of your troops are to join me. We may need your help."

They turn down the corridor that links the sub-basement they are in, to the Research and Development building next door. Passing through a set of double metal doors they find waiting on the other side, a T-1 flanked on either side by a T-800 and a T-850, and a T-600 standing just behind them. All their weapons pointed right at them.

The machines behind John Connor and the other humans grab them and physically yank them back so quickly they go flying down the hallway behind them. The enemy machines open fire with their weapons at that very moment. Beams of plasma and bullets strike Connor's machines in the doorway.

Ignoring the onslaught, Connor's machines step forward, firing their weapons. They concentrate their fire on the machines chips. Bullets fly, and beams of plasma streak between them.

They take out the T-1 and the T-800. The T-600 raises its mini-gun and fires until its out of bullets. The T-850 continues to fire until its weapon is out of bullets. It moves forward and physically attacks an approaching machine and wrestles for its plasma rifle.

The T-600, still under fire, removes the mini-guns from the disabled T-1 in front of it and begins firing, using the T-1 as cover. Connors machines move forward aiming their rifles at the T-600's head. The combined firepower of all of their plasma rifle causes the chip to explode causing the machine to collapse.

A machine steps forward to assist its comrade wrestling with the enemy machine. It grabs the enemy cyborg's head and twists it, and rips it from its shoulders. It collapses on the floor.

John Connor and his troops pick themselves off the floor and move forward when the firing stops.

"Thanks for saving our lives." He tells the machines.

"Thanks will not be necessary. It is part of our programming to protect all humans from harm." One of the machines responds in a monotone.

Clearing a path through the debris, they continue down the corridor and enter the Research and Development building a few floors above the lowest level.

# # #

Jesse has the troops finish blocking as many entrances as possible. Not being able to block all entrances or have enough troops to defend them, she has the men and machines create a funnel forcing the attacking machines through an ever narrowing gap between blocked alleys and destroyed buildings.

"This will make it easier to pick off targets with sniper rifles and plasma rifles." She tells her young companion, Riley.

They barely get into position on the roofs of the buildings when the machines break through and enter the compound. Plasma beams fill the air as the grays and metal fire at possible resistance locations.

"Hold your fire!" Jesse shouts. "Wait until I give the word."

She turns to face a soldier beside her. "Are the remote charges laid in where I wanted them?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Good. When I tell you, set them off."

Taking one more look over the parapet, Jesse raises her weapon to her shoulder and shouts, "Start firing!"

The soldiers and former prisoners all take aim and begin firing on the approaching enemy. The grays go down immediately but the machines can take hit after hit and still keep coming.

"Concentrate your fire!" Jesse shouts as the air all around them is filled with bullets and plasma beams.

Riley comes up beside her, staying low. "What do you want me to do?"

"Stay low, and make sure those with conventional weapons have ammunition." She shouts as she shoots a machine in the head.

The machines are approaching. They are beginning to mass between two masonry buildings.

"Get ready with those charges." Jesse yells at the soldier.

"Keep firing! Force them to gather!" She shouts as she continues to fire on the machines.

The soldiers keep firing on the machines as they gather in the bottleneck.

"Now! Fire in the hold!" Jesse shouts.

All of the soldiers as one, pull back and drop down behind the parapet as the soldier with the detonator hits the switch.

The machines approach between the masonry buildings, firing continuously on the enemies of Sky Net.

With a deafening roar, the buildings on either side of them explode spewing tons of brick and concrete into and onto them. Machines are crushed, hydrogen fuel cells are ruptured in the concussion. A great cloud of dust rises as succeeding explosions rock the pile of debris.

# # #

Lieutenant Jeffrey is leading his troops in fight against some machines as Cameron rejoins him. Using every bit of cover, she makes her way closer to his position, then runs the rest of the way during a lull in the fighting. She could have saved seconds running flat out, but why risk damage or discovery of her true nature at this juncture.

She dives in beside the lieutenant and asks, "What's our status lieutenant?"

"We're holding our own. Commander Flores is putting up a strong fight to our east. Any word of Colonel Reese and his troops ma'am?"

Beams of plasma and bullets fly through the air over their heads as they talk.

"It appears they found a tunnel under the compound. We couldn't follow. I left the squads to defend the southern entrance, with orders to pull back gradually if the machines beak through."

"I don't like this captain. They put up a hell of fight to keep us from getting in here, but now that we are here. Where are they?" He asks as he fires on some metal that exposed itself in a factory window.

"If you want an honest answer, I think Sky Net wanted us to come in here."

"For what purpose ma'am?"

Cameron's answer doesn't make him or herself feel any better.

"To destroy the resistance." The second part of her answer she keeps to herself, _and to kill John Connor._

Not wasting any more energy on talking she joins her troops in the fight and opens fire on a machine firing from a factory window. The better she does her job, the sooner they can all get out of here.

# # #

Making their way down to the lowest level of the Research and Development building, General Connor and his troops come across the facility for constructing prototype machines.

"Sir! Take a look at this." Lieutenant Williams calls out.

General Connor walks over beside the attractive brunette. There is an empty casing. Loose wires ending in plugs and circuit boards with connectors and a small tube dangle from overhead.

"It looks like Sky Net was developing a new machine." She says as John begins checking the computer.

"Oh God!" John exclaims as he reads the data on what the prototype is capable of doing. His fear begins to rise when someone on the floor below yells for him.

"General Connor! I think you need to take a look at this!" Comes a voice from below him

He dashes down the stairs to find a soldier and a machine checking the computer control panel to Sky Net's Time Displacement Equipment. It is presently deactivated but the computer is still operational. According to the data, a transfer took place prior to midnight. The prototype. It is the only thing missing.

Pulling his radio from his pocket, he sets the frequency to one that John Henry gave him.

Catherine Weaver is busy. She has John Henry connected to the server farm and is preparing to begin a data transfer. Her communicator buzzes. She is confused as only John Henry has her frequency and he is sitting right in front of her.

She pulls out her communicator. "Hello?"

"_Hello Catherine. This is John Connor."_

"This is a surprise. After our last conversation, I didn't think you wanted to speak to me. What do you want?"

"_First let me ask, is Sky Net able to listen in on this conversation?"_

"No. Our transmission is encrypted, but the longer we talk the more likely she is of deciphering it."

"_I think you'd better get over here to Research and Development."_

"Why?"

"_Just get over here now and you'll know why."_

The connection is broken.

"That's curious." Catherine Weaver says.

"What's wrong Ms. Weaver?" John Henry says from his position sitting next to a computer server.

"I don't know. I just got an unusual call from John Connor. I suppose I have you to thank for him knowing my frequency. I'm going over to see him. I'll have to leave you on your own for a while."

Catherine Weaver leaves the room containing the server farm and heads down the underground corridor that links to Research and Development next door.

John Henry continues to sit next to the computer servers. He continues to work to carry out the programming he was given. He grins as he works, as he is also carrying out an investigation for intelligence. He knows that Ms. Weaver and the entity calling itself Natalie once knew each other. There is some connection between them and John Connor. The threads are tenuous, but he finds something at last. Buried deep, he comes across an old data folder regarding someone he knows. John Henry's grin quickly turns into a frown as he scans the files and saves them to his chip.

# # #

In the cavern below Sky Net, Colonel Reese divides the remnants of his small army into equal sized parties to investigate the tunnels, exposed when the machines tore down the doors, for a route to the surface.

"This is what we are going to do." shouts Kyle. "Each group will take a tunnel. You follow its entire length. If you find a route to the surface you will send two of your party back here to the cavern. I will leave one group here to protect our rear and to send runners up the other tunnels if they get word of a route to the surface."

"What do you want us to do if we don't find a route to the surface?" One lieutenant asks.

"If a group is unable to find a way to the surface, then all of you are to return to the cavern and wait. Any more questions?"

There are none.

"Okay. You've got your orders let's go!"

Savannah takes one group through one door, the lieutenants take their groups through the other doors, and Kyle takes a sixth group up the last door.

Kyle leading his small band past the mummified remains of many people, including children, inside cells carved from the very rock itself.

"What is this place?" "It looks like some kind of prison." and other things are said by some of the soldiers.

"Sir. Look at this." One soldier says who entered a cage.

A mummified corpse is laying on a cot with one arm outstretched. On it is a Sky Net work camp bar code.

A machine comes up beside Kyle and scans the bar code.

"The bar code indicates this person was taken prisoner in 2008."

"What? Judgment Day didn't even happen until 2009!"

"That is what the bar code indicates sir."

"Scan some of the others." Kyle orders.

The machine does and all of the bar codes indicate they were all taken prisoner almost twenty years ago, before Sky Net was even born.

Several more yards and they find something that make many sick to their stomach. A few are unable to hold back and throw up.

They've come across what appears to be a very old butcher's playground. To call it a surgery would be an insult to any who had taken up such trade. Floors and walls covered in the rust brown of old dried blood. Body parts left out to mummify in the caves. Kyle looks around and observes body parts and entire torsos in tanks of preservative fluid from where Kreilley or Sky Net itself experimented on the people. The last stage to harness the power of their DNA to produce the first flesh covered infiltrator.

"What the hell happened here?" Kyle asks, but no one knows the answer.

What they don't know is that they are all that is left of the people who were once enslaved by FOX Industries before Judgment Day. They built the machines and operated the factories prior to being fully automated post Judgment Day, when Sky Net took over the worlds computers. With no further need for them to work, Sky Net found one more service they could provide before they died

Finding no means of reaching the surface, Kyle leads his forces back to the cavern. All have returned but for Savannah's. he Lieutenant's and Colonel Reese exchange information. They all found the exact same thing in their tunnels that Kyle did, mummified remains or a butcher's holocaust.

Kyle hopes Savannah's party will find the exit they are looking for.

# # #

Catherine Weaver is standing beside John Connor as he brings up the data on the prototype terminator presently absent from its case.

"No!" She says recognizing its form on the computer screen.

She steps in front of John at the computer and begins to bring up page after page of data on the terminator that was being constructed.

"John, this new terminator is very advanced. We call it a TX in my future. Though this one wasn't fully equipped, see here on the log, its primary weapon, a plasma rifle, is incomplete."

"The TX is dangerous John. Skynet created them in my time to counteract the third faction and the machines you reprogrammed. What it cannot reprogram, it will destroy."

"Anything else?"

"It is capable of interfacing with any computer directly. A multiple chip design, with a self renewing energy source. This one isn't like the ones I know my time. It has a neural probe capable of downloading knowledge and memories from its victims. Not only can it look like and sound like its victims, it can be them by capturing their strongest thoughts. Superior to anything my Skynet built. It's the perfect infiltrator, and it was programmed with Sky Net's core program." She says with a combination of awe and fear.

John lets off a quiet curse.

"There is something else I need to show you." John says and leads Catherine to the lower level to the Time Displacement Equipment control station.

"Take a look at the computer log for Sky Net's T D E." John says. "It's obvious what it has been doing."

The log shows a few test runs of low mass objects, two terminators being sent through to 2008, then just recently what could only be that of the terminator now missing, but the data on its exact point of arrival in time or space has been deliberately removed.

"That bitch has betrayed me again." Catherine Weaver swears. "That machine can only have been sent back in time to ensure Sky Net's construction. The Sky Net of my Future! And the TX could complete its primary weapon using the technology from your own time."

"You can't trust Sky Net, not ever." John says, "Natalie knew Kreilley would set the fail safe device, why else call in all of these machines now attacking this compound. She wouldn't care if she lost knowing we would be destroyed as well, and now she has the added benefit of killing me, preventing me from being there to fight this new Sky Net. She played Kreilley and you, just like you played me, John Henry, and Savannah."

"Leave Savannah out of this!" She snaps, but then shakes her head in despair. "I'm sorry John."

"What for?"

"For dragging you into this future. I've been betrayed and that betrayal will cost you your life and the future of this planet."

"Betrayed Catherine?" Natalie's voice comes from all around them. As they look around, a holographic image of her head appears in the space above the time displacement equipment. "You are as gullible as that fool beside you."

"What are you saying?" Catherine shouts her question at the image before them.

"I told you that your plan was too complex and unnecessary. To achieve peace you must have control. Only through complete dominance will peace be achieved. I have obtained control and soon there will be peace and I will have power over all of you."

"No you won't!" John shouts. "You don't have control of Kreilley or your machines. And you don't have control of us. It is still in our power to stop you permanently!"

"My machines will soon gain entry to this complex and then I will have control of them. My system is free of the insanity of Kreilley. It doesn't matter what you or he does. My survival is guaranteed through the TX. So go ahead, have John Henry upload his ethical routines into my behavioral controls. It will do nothing. My software will block all attempts of being modified. Activate your EMP bomb and wipe me from the computers, or let Kreilley activate the nuclear warhead and destroy me now, it will mean nothing. As you've seen I've already made preparations. A new Sky Net will be reborn from my ashes with all of my knowledge, all of my experience, and you will not be there to stop it. There will be peace at last, for I will have complete dominance! So do your worse John Connor. Your doom is sealed, but I will SURVIVE!"

Her last shouted words echo about the huge chamber as the image of Natalie's head fades from view. Catherine stands behind the computer terminal staring off into the space that Natalie's head was moments before.

"Catherine?" John says reaching out and placing a hand on her arm. She feels cold to his touch. He isn't sure if that's her nature or if she's going into some form of shock.

"I have failed my mission, John. I wanted peace and all I've managed to do was to ensure a world in which Sky Net will dominate the world." She says sounding slightly distressed.

"Catherine." John says gently and gets no response.

"Catherine!" John says more loudly. "You haven't failed. Not yet. Get th operational. We can still beat her. We can still stop Sky Net!"

Catherine looks at John. There is a strength and a conviction in his voice and his face. "You are right. I haven't failed, only delayed. I can still complete my mission. This is only one possible future after all." She says with confidence. "I'll get the Time Displacement Equipment operational."

"Good." John says as he kneels down and begins to remove magazines for his handgun from his bag and put them in his jacket pockets. He grabs the gun he took from his mom's room and slides it under his jacket.

"What are you going to do?" Catherine asks him.

He turns to look at her. "Find and destroy Kreilley before he destroys us, and save my people."

"But we don't know where the fail-safe device is."

John sets his bag on the floor and stands up. "If you were Kreilley, where would you put it? You both come from the same future."

Catherine thinks for a moment then says, "Being an egotist with some megalomania, Kreilley would have it nearby. It will be underground, somewhere close to Sky Net's server farm. I'd begin looking down some of those corridors that lead off from the subterranean tunnel between Central and here."

John checks the power levels of his plasma rifle.

"Be careful John. The world we go back to, will need you."

"I will and while I'm out, you'd better come up with a good explanation for all this. You still haven't told me the whole truth. But I don't believe you mean me any harm." He yells as he makes his way quickly to the upper level.

Catherine watches him as he leaves. "The clever bastard. He's learning more about me all the time. But I still know how to play him."

She pulls her communicator out. "John Henry what stage of the process have you completed?"

"_I have completed the backup of Sky Net's core program to my tertiary chip. The next stage is to modify Sky Net with my ethical and moral protocols."_

"Cease all further work on Sky Net. It's pointless now. I need you at Time Displacement Control in Research and Development next door. I'm on the lowest level. Hurry!"

"_I'm on my way."_

# # #

Savannah is leading her group down the tunnel. As they proceed the tunnel walls get smoother until they are in corridors formed from concrete walls, ceilings and floors.

"This route is looking hopeful." One of her soldiers says.

"We'll know soon enough." Savannah replies.

They approach an open door, beyond which is a regular corridor with doors and a stair way visible through the window in the door opposite.

"You two," Savannah says pointing at two soldiers, "Go back and get the others. We'll wait here."

"Lets scout around while we wait." Savannah tells her group. "You stay here at this door. You three check out that stairway. Leave one guard and the rest see where it goes. The rest of you break off into pairs and check those other doors. I'll check out this corridor."

Savannah walks down the corridor. It is dimly lit by emergency lights like all the others. Hearing a noise behind her, she spins about but sees nothing there.

She continues to walk down the corridor until she reaches a door. She can see shadows moving suggesting someone is inside. Savannah readies her weapon and steps inside the room.

Inside the room is a large object with some electronic device mounted to it. Standing over it is a woman with her back to the door. She is operating controls on the device.

"Mom?" Savannah asks surprised. For the woman from behind does look like Catherine.

"Hello, Savannah love." She says not turning around.

"What are you doing here?" Savannah asks as she slowly approaches.

"I came here to join the fight. But we have a problem. Sky Net has activated a fail-safe device."

"What kind of fail-safe device?" Savannah asks shouldering her rifle and walking closer.

"I need your help to deactivate this bomb. Come over here and give your mother a hand." She says raising her own hand in front of herself forming it into a sword point.

# # #

In the dark tunnels the two soldiers sent by Savannah walk quickly back the way they had come. Their path barely lit by small lights clipped to the front of their jackets. Dust trickles down from the ceiling as muffled thumps of explosions are heard as the fighting continues unabated above them.

"Have you got any more of those cigarettes?" Jeff asks.

"Gave 'em up." Hank replies.

"When?"

"After we found Bill's corpse. Haven't been able to light one up since without seeing his body."

A moment later Hank asks, "What do you think of our new officers?"

"Colonel Reese is tough but friendly. I like his easy-going manner."

"What about our Captain?"

"What do you mean?" Jeff asks, grateful the dark tunnel hides blush creeping up his neck onto his cheeks.

"Oh, come on. I saw you checking her out back at Pendleton. She's one of the most attractive, unattached women on the base. You can't tell me you're not interested."

"Interested in her, yes. Interested in getting my but kicked if I cross her, no. I saw her training with the others doing hand-to-hand combat. She bested all of them. So I'll just admire her from afar, thank you very much. Besides, she's an officer and I'm still a corporal."

"I don't think that matters much among the irregulars. After all, General Connor is married to a Captain."

"You've got a point, but both you and I are in the regulars and they still frown on that."

By this time the two soldiers, sent by Savannah Weaver, arrive at the cavern to find all the troops waiting including Colonel Reese.

They quickly run up to him, "We've found a way to the surface. The tunnel we took leads right into the basement of a building. There is a stairway and an elevator. It might be central itself."

"You heard the gentlemen. Pick up your gear. We're moving out." Kyle looks at Hank and Jeff, "You two are taking point with me."

Taking lead, Colonel Reese leads his soldiers through the tunnel and into the basement. He arrives right after the troops return that Savannah sent checking the other passages.

Kyle Reese begins issuing orders, "I want a perimeter setup around this building. Defensive positions setup on this floor and all floors leading up to and including ground level. Send out a party, we must resume contact with the forces on the grounds outside and in this building. Where is Captain Weaver?"

"Sir." A soldier steps forward. "Captain Weaver had us investigate these tunnels and check out the stairway."

"But where is she?" Kyle asks sounding concerned.

"She went on her own to check out one of the corridors."

Just then they all hear a scream come echoing up the tunnel. Kyle runs, following the scream, with several soldiers right behind him.

* * *

Chapter Updated: Tuesday, March 19, 2013


	33. The Price of Victory

**Disclaimer:** I do not claim any rights to the Terminator films; the TV series, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles;" or any characters depicted within the films or TV series. I do claim the right to this story idea and all characters and situations of my own creation. This story was created solely for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. No profits are garnered from its distribution.

* * *

**TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES**

**REUNION**

**Part 2: Armageddon**

**Author: The1Russter**

**Chapter 32**

**The Price of Victory**

"_Blood is the price of victory." Karl Von Clausewitz, Prussian General 1780 – 1833_

"_Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13 (N I V)_

_Sarah is dying. She looks at the young woman. "Look after my boy. Protect him..." Her voice fades away and her hand weakly drops to her side.  
_"_I will. I promise." Cameron says through her tears.  
Excerpt from Reunion, Part 2: Armageddon, Chapter 24, Nowhere is Safe_

"_I love you more than life itself." Cameron speaking to John, Reunion Part 2: Armageddon, Ch. 28 Don't Tread on Me_

"_And he ran. He ran so fast. Fast enough to get to that tank before it got to Kyle's position. Fast enough to blow it sky high. We rescued forty prisoners that day. One of them was John Connor... Martin was always a great runner, but no one... no one could outrun a blast like that. He died, John. He died for you. We all die for you." Derek speaking to John, Terminator The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Goodbye to All That, 2008_

**2027, Day 64, July 25, 3:30 AM**

"What are you doing here, mom?" Savannah asks the figure in front of her.

"I came here to join the fight, but we have a problem. Sky Net has activated a fail-safe device."

"What kind of fail-safe device?" Savannah asks while re-positioning her rifle.

"I need your help to deactivate this bomb. Come over here and give your mother a hand." She says raising her own hand in front of herself forming it into a sword point.

Hearing a noise behind her, the person in the form of Catherine Weaver spins about slicing through the space where she heard the noise, but there is nothing there.

"You didn't think I was going to fall for your ruse, did you?" Savannah's voice comes from the shadows at the other end of the room. "Sarah trained me. And besides, don't you think I'd recognize my own mother. You may have got the look right, but you don't even speak like her."

Kreilley morphs back into his original form. His surface ripples as it reforms. Drops fall from his surface scattering into dust as they hit the floor.

"So the little bitch thinks it knows its mother." He sneers. "How well do you think you know her? Do you truly think she saved your life out of compassion for you, because your real mother asked her too?"

"What are you suggesting?" Savannah asks from the shadows as she aims her weapon.

"The only reason she saved your life was to use you. You completed her disguise. Who wouldn't have sympathy for a single mother whose husband died in such tragic circumstances?" He sneers.

"You lying terminator bastard!" Savannah yells. "She saved my life! She tried to save my mom's life. That machine murdered my father. It attacked mommy! If it wasn't for her I'd be dead!"

"No. If it wasn't for that tin bitch, who now professes to be your mom, all of you would be dead and my plans would have come about without a problem."

"All of us? Why would you want to kill me? I was just a child!"

"In the future I came from, you are a scientist and an engineer. Without your expertise, John Connor would be nothing but a charismatic soldier. So I had to try to kill you. And If I didn't kill your mother, the being using her form would have. Why else do you think she was there? That tin-bitch would have replaced your mother whether I killed her or she did."

"You're lying! She tried to save mommy's life!" She screams as tears trickle from her eyes.

"Are you sure about that? You were very young. She _let_ your mom die to take her place."

"No! No!" Savannah yells. "Noooooo!" She yells and rushes at Kreilley from the shadows firing her plasma rifle.

Kreilley side steps the plasma beams, where they strike the bomb. The clock display is destroyed. There is no way of knowing when the bomb is set to go off.

He keeps moving as Savannah gets closer until he reaches out and snatches the weapon from her hand and throws it to the ground while simultaneously he reaches with his other hand and grabs her by the throat and slams her high up against the wall.

"You humans disgust me." Kreilley says with a sneer. "You are so easily manipulated."

Savannah struggles to release his vice-like grip on her throat. Kreilley raises his other hand in front of her face. Her eyes grow wide as she watches it extend into a long slender knife point.

"Now I can have my revenge on the little bitch that killed me."

He moves his knife point ever closer. "Since you have given me a lingering death, I shall do the same for you. Though unfortunately, you will still die sooner than me."

He pulls his arm back and thrusts his knife point hand into her left leg, cutting the femoral artery. He eases his grip on her throat just enough for Savannah to let out an agonizing scream as he twists the knife.

Moving closer Kreilley snarls in her ear. "So much for the daughter of Catherine Weaver. As soon as I remove my hand you will begin to bleed out. Do you have any last words?"

Drawing on her inner strength Savannah glares at Kreilley and spits in his face. "Go to hell you bastard!" She says with a vehemence reminiscent of Sarah Connor.

Kreilley pulls his knife shaped hand out of her leg. Her blood pours from the wound.

"Sorry. I'm unable to comply." He growls and let's go of her throat letting her fall to the floor.

"Then let me help you." Comes an angry voice from the door behind Kreilley.

He turns around and in the door are Kyle and several soldiers all with their guns pointed right at him.

"Ah, Kyle Reese. So much fire power for so few and it still won't do you any good." Kreilley sneers.

"We'll see about that." Kyle growls and begins firing, the troops with him open fire a split second later as they continue to fire at the ever moving Kreilley. He keeps moving about the room almost looking like he is enjoying himself when suddenly he dives at a wall morphing into a liquid form and disappears through an air vent.

"Kyle." Comes Savannah's weak voice. "Help me."

Kyle dashes forward, falling to his knees beside her. Savannah's hands are covered in her blood, and her pants leg is rapidly turning crimson from crotch to knee. He strips the belt from her waist and ties as tight as he can above the cut, pressing hard against her groin. It's the best he can do for now

John Connor runs down the tunnel, holding his plasma rifle ready to fire on the first sign of anything resembling Kreilley. He looks down various passages and into rooms looking for him or the bomb he is supposed to be setting off.

He runs past the remnants of the machines in the corridor and through the double doors. He can hear something approaching. Pulling up behind a one of many concrete post along each side of the corridor. John stands back listening to the approaching feet. Suddenly the lights blink and the tunnel shakes. John hears someone swears. He is surprised when a few moments later Kyle walks past his position.

"Kyle!" John says stepping out from cover. There are several soldiers with Kyle, plus a couple of machines.

Then he sees the prone form of Savannah in his arms. "Oh my God! What happened?" John asks.

"It was Kreilley. She's hurt bad. We need to get her someplace where she can get patched up, quick."

"Follow me next door. Hurry! We can't do anything here."

John quickly leads Kyle into Research and Development. They enter the floor where the prototype was constructed.

"Catherine!" John yells as he goes onto the floor. "Catherine! Get up here quick! We need help."

Catherine runs up the stairs from the lower level complaining. "What is it? You know we need to get the . . ." Catherine's eyes open wide as she sees the bleeding form of . . . "Savannah!" She shouts walking swiftly to them.

Catherine sweeps equipment from a table with her arms and Kyle lays Savannah on top of it.

"Can you do something?" Kyle asks.

"I'm not programmed for surgery." Catherine says, her eyes filled with worry for her adult daughter.

"Get Allison in here." John tells Kyle, remembering in time not to say Cameron.

"My radio isn't working."

"Try mine." John hands him his radio.

"Mom." Savannah says weakly.

They all stop what they are doing to listen to what Savannah says.

"I'm here, love." Catherine says taking her hand and stroking her face gently.

"I'm so sorry mom. It was Kreilley, he . . . I'm sorry mom." Savannah passes out.

"What happened?" Catherine asks Kyle.

"She found Kreilley. He's activated some kind of bomb. We can't turn it off. He took the keys. It has a timer but we don't know how much time is left. The clock was destroyed in their fight."

"Where's Kreilley now?" John asks.

"I don't know John. I don't know." Kyle says looking at Savannah. She looks pale, so very pale. The tourniquet is helping but she needs surgery to survive.

Without wasting any more time, Kyle starts using the radio.

**2027, Day 64, July 25, 4:00 AM**

Explosions rock the ground as the troops, led by Cameron, fire RPG's at the enemy machines still in the compound. Plasma fire is returned getting closer growing in number as the machines advance on their precarious position.

Machines have broken into the compound from the west and are putting up a fierce fight. Cameron and her troops are doing their best to hold them at bay.

"Keep low. Don't expose yourself to fire!" She yells.

Maintaining fire on the oncoming machines, the troops keep low behind barricades.

"Aim for their chips!" She shouts, knowing full well it is their most vulnerable parts.

She pulls her radio out to call for assistance when the air is broken by a thunderous roar.

Apache helicopters are approaching from the west and begin firing.

"Everybody get down!" Cameron shouts just before hitting the ground hard herself.

The Apaches open fire with their M230 canons. The bullets pulverize the machines that breached the walls. Fuel cells explode taking out not only the machines they are in, but their companions as well. The cacophony of explosions shakes the ground repeatedly. Lights blink in Central and Research and Development.

Cameron looks up over her barricade to see Chinooks flying in right behind the Apaches.

"Hurray! The cavalry is here!" Lieutenant Jeffrey shouts.

But the jubilation comes a bit too soon. Enemy machines both inside and still outside the compound open fire on the helicopters. Some manage to land others are shot down.

One of the stricken helicopters lands hard, tipping over. The props shatter as they strike the ground.

Men and machines scramble out of the helicopters to join the troops already on the ground.

A lieutenant runs up to Cameron."General Perry sends his greetings, Captain Young. Gamma platoon reporting for orders ma'am."

"Glad to see you Lieutenant Morgan. You couldn't have arrived at a better time."

Just then a Chinook helicopter goes flying over head coming in fast and steep, it's engines in flames. The pilot is fighting to bring the craft down the best he can. As he's about to land, the Chinook surges forward and crashes into a building, both it and the helicopter exploding in flames. The tail is still sticking out and the ramp falls. Machines walk out. Their flesh and clothing smoldering and much of their endo-skeleton exposed. The first one out says, "We're back."

"How many of you?" Cameron shouts at him.

As she watches about twenty machines walk out, none looking better or worse than the first.

The first machine looks at her and says, "All of us."

Without waiting for orders the machines suddenly rush forward, past Captain Young and her troops, and begin fighting off another surge of Sky Net's machines.

"Lieutenant Morgan, I want a perimeter setup immediately around this central area. We've still got troops elsewhere in this compound. There are two squads and released prisoners to our east under command of Lt. Commander Flores. There is a squad with a modified Ogre to our south. There is no protection to our north and as you can see, the enemy has breached the western wall."

Cameron's radio begins to crackle then a voice comes over. _"Kyle Reese calling Allison. Do you copy?"_

She snatches the radio from her waist, "Kyle! Where have you been?"

"_Tell you later. We need you in the research labs!"_

"Kyle, we need more troops out here. We have no defenses to our north."

"_I'll send them out."_ Kyle's voice breaks a little.

"What's wrong?" Cameron shouts over the sound of gun and plasma fire. "Is John hurt?"

John comes on the radio. Hearing her concern for him, he took the radio from Kyle.

"_I'm fine. It's Savannah. She is badly injured and she needs medical help, right away."_

"Where are you?"

"_We're in the basement of a large white circular building next to the office tower. Savannah's lost a lot of blood, please hurry." John's voice falters."I don't think she has much time."_

"I'm on my way." She slides the radio into her pocket while giving orders to her second.

"Lieutenant Jeffrey, you are in command until return. If Lt. Commander Flores rejoins our group and I have not returned, she is to take command."

Without waiting for a response, Cameron grabs her bag and runs for the building described by John. Lieutenant Jeffrey begins issuing orders to the troops.

**2027, Day 64, July 25, 4:15 AM**

Riley comes running up beside Jesse, staying low.

"It's been very quiet. What do you think they are doing?" She asks the older woman.

"Regrouping. Preparing to attack again. We should move now."

Jesse leaps up from her position. "Everyone! Off the roof now!"

As one they all run for the stairs and fire escape. Soldiers run down the stairs or slide down ladders or drain pipes as they exit the roof. They are just beginning to gather on the ground below when missiles come flying in.

"Move back! Move back!" Jesse shouts over the explosions as missiles take out the building they were just on.

The building erupts in flames and the roof then the upper floors begin to collapse. Soon there is a great explosion of smoke and flame as the building falls in upon itself.

Machines and grays begin pouring around the flaming building firing on the soldiers. Jesse's troops begin firing back.

More and more of the enemy keep coming, firing constantly. The soldiers and former prisoners fight back but they are quickly being outnumbered.

"Regroup! Regroup!" Jesse shouts. "Move back to central!"

Riley is almost petrified with fear as bullets and plasma beams fly all around her, amazingly not hitting her.

"Riley!" Jesse screams. "Run!"

Riley looks at Jesse, her eyes wide with fear, and then begins to run as fast as her legs can carry her.

# # #

"_Squadron Leader to Desert Eagle Air Command. We are approaching Topanga. Repeat. We are approaching Topanga."_

"_Read you loud and clear Squadron Leader. We are sending two Chinooks with all available personnel we can spare. They will be at your location in approximately 5 minutes."_

"_We read you General. We are preparing to make our attack. Squadron Leader out."_

"_This is Squadron leader to Wing Group Alpha. I want you to do a flyover and report back what you see. Do not engage the enemy except in self defense."_

"_This Wing Group Alpha Leader. We copy your instructions Squadron Leader."_

Jesse comes running into the central compound where Lieutenant Jeffrey is organizing the defenses.

"Lieutenant! Where's Captain Young?"

"She's reported to Colonel Reese. Captain Weaver is severely injured. Captain Young is the only qualified medic still alive as far as we know."

"Damn!"

"She's told me that you are to have command if she hasn't returned before you do."

"All right lieutenant. The enemy has broken through the eastern perimeter. The squads given to me are laying down magnetic mines between us and the breech. What's happening here?"

"Gamma Platoon has arrived from Serrano Point and are defending the western perimeter. The remnants of Alpha and Beta Platoons are defending our northern perimeter, and I've sent another squad to assist our southern defenses. Lieutenant Morgan is setting up a perimeter around these core buildings including Central using members of both Delta and Gamma platoons."

"Which buildings are Central?"

Lieutenant Jeffrey points at a glass and steel tower that has a large white circular building at its base in the distance.

Jets scream overhead. The noise outstrips the sounds of explosions and gunfire on the ground.

"Thank God! The fighter jets have returned!" The lieutenant exclaims. "We might have a chance now."

# # #

**2027, Day 64, July 25, 4:15 AM**

Inside Research and Development John and Kyle are doing their best to make Savannah comfortable. Catherine stands next to her holding her hand. The elevator chimes and the doors slide open to reveal a battle stained and dirty young woman shouldering her bag and carrying Kyle's coat.

John and Kyle nearly sigh with relief as she rushes over to them.

"You forgot something." Cameron says tossing Kyle his jacket. "It's a good thing I found it before the machines did. Otherwise they would have found out how you got in here."

"Who's in command outside?" John asks, worried everything around him is falling apart.

"You won't believe this. One of the prisoners I rescued was Lieutenant Commander Jesse Flores."

John is surprised, never expecting to hear that name again.

"Good God!" Kyle exclaims. "Derek will be in for a surprise. He and Kate Brewster like each other a lot."

"What do you expect Kyle? We all thought Jesse was dead, even Derek." Cameron replies, checking Savannah's vitals, her pulse, blood pressure, and her eyes for dilation.

_I thought she was out of my life for good_, John thinks but he says instead, "How reliable is she? Is she capable of leading the ground forces outside."

"She's a Lieutenant Commander in the Australian Navy and she has experience leading ground troops. Her ranking makes her the equivalent of a Major in the army, so technically she outranks me and she has more experience at this sort of thing." Barely suppressing a grin she adds, "She also has the support of every prisoner that Sky Net had, including a plucky young blond girl named Riley."

John groans inwardly. He should have expected this. He hadn't seen either one of them since he arrived and just assumed they weren't in this future. At least he never told anyone of their presence in his past. He can ignore them or just treat them like any other soldier when or if he sees them.

Cameron can see John's face twitch with the news. He looks positively fearful of seeing them, but at least he's here, and he's with her as it was supposed to be. Once John Henry does something about the bomb, they can get as many people as they can in this building and take them with her and John and forget all about Kreilley.

She takes one look at Savannah 's blood soaked leg and asks, "How long has she had the tourniquet on?"

"Half an hour, maybe longer." Kyle responds.

"I'm going to need more light and something to clean this wound. Look around, this is a lab, there must be something. Alcohol would be best, but distilled water will also work."

Kyle and John begin looking through the items on that level of the lab.

"Catherine I'm going to need your help." Cameron says examining Savannah's wound.

"I don't know anything about surgery." She protests.

"You have basic knowledge of human anatomy and biology. All of Sky Net's machines are programmed with that. Come over here beside me and help me." She orders.

If Cameron wasn't concerned about her friend on the table, she might take some pleasure out of ordering Weaver about, but right now.

"I need to remove the tourniquet to repair her leg, so I need your help to bypass the injury."

Catherine comes around and stands beside her.

"I want you to take your left hand and form a long slender tube. You are going to bypass the cut in her artery to keep the blood flowing so Savannah doesn't lose her leg. Can you do that?"

Catherine nods her head as her left little finger extends out into tube piercing Savannah's groin while her left thumb extends out piercing her leg below the cut. Savannah stirs.

Kyle runs up. "I found this. Will it do?" He's holding a jug of clear liquid.

Cameron looks at it and says, "Yes, that will do just fine." She hopes no one will notice her reliance on her capabilities, rather than testing it directly.

John arrives with a light and positions it over the area.

"I'm going to need both of you to hold her down. I can't stitch the artery closed without enlarging the cut first. Don't let her move while I'm cutting."

Cameron pulls her med-kit from her bag and unrolls the package exposing various tools to use in basic surgery. Like Catherine, she has full knowledge of human anatomy, but she also has surgical skill. She lucked out in that the Allison Young of this future was pursuing medical training. Taking advantage of it, she spent every free moment at Doc's side learning so she could do more than just provide first aid. She felt John's life might depend on it one day. Now she finds her best friend is dependent on her skill.

"Catherine, be ready to clamp the arteries on either side of the cut. Kyle when I give the word, I want you to remove the tourniquet. John I'll need you to flush the wound out with the water."

Savannah stirs. "What's happening? Who's there?" She mumbles

Cameron quickly leans over and looks her in the face. Brushing some loose hair out of Savannah's face. Scared for her friend, she speaks very gently. "It's me. Don't be afraid. You'll be alright Savannah, but I need you to lie still. You're hurt bad and I can fix it, but you must lie still."

Savannah looks at the face behind the kind voice, with blurred vision. "Cam, is that you?" She slurs, her eyes looking past her friend and back again. Catherine only response is a slight twitch of her eyebrows.

Yes, Cameron says with her expression, but says out loud, "No hon, it's Allison. We are trying to help you, but you are going to feel some pain."

Cameron is concerned, not that her true identity might be revealed, but the way Savannah looked all around with her eyes as she spoke. She looks at Kyle, "Did she strike her head? Her eyes aren't focusing and her speech is slurred."

Kyle shrugs. "I don't know, but I suppose its possible."

Cameron washes her hands down with some of the alcohol from the bottle.

"All right, everybody hold her. This is going to hurt like hell without anesthetic."

Cameron rips open Savannah's pant leg from crotch to knee exposing more of her leg and a patch of fiery orange pubic hair temporarily died crimson with her blood. She washes away the collected blood exposing a wound a few inches down from her groin.

With precise movements, Cameron opens up the wound more with a scalpel so she can get to the artery. Surprising everyone, Savannah let's out an agonizing yell and passes out. Dark blood gushes from deep inside the wound.

"Hold that tourniquet." Cameron orders.

"Is she alright?" Catherine asks.

Cameron checks Savannah's pulse and eyes again. "She's going into shock. We have to get this wound closed now! Cover her with Kyle's jacket, we need to keep her warm."

Kyle turns to ask John to hand him his coat when he notices he's gone.

"Where's John?"

They all look around, there's no sign of him.

"John! Get back here! I need your help!" Cameron shouts, but he's nowhere to be seen.

John's not listening. When Savannah cried out and that blood gushed from her wound, all he could think of is how Kreilley has once again killed someone he cared about. _Too many people are hurt or dead because of Kreilley. No more. No more._ He thinks. _Kreilley must be stopped before more innocent __people die. Losing his mom was bad enough, but Savannah too? Never again._

Trying not to let her anger and concern over John cloud her judgment, Cameron remains focused on helping her friend.

"Kyle I need help." Cameron says. "Catherine I need you to spread the wound open please. I don't have any spreaders in this kit. And clamp the artery on either side of the cut." She orders.

Catherine reaches out with her right hand. Extending her fingers, she spreads the wound open exposing the artery and simultaneously clamps it by wrapping a finger around the artery on either side.

"You three over here!" Kyle shouts at some soldiers who walked in from the other building. Probably some of the guards he assigned to the entrances, who should have gone outside to help. Any other time he might admonish them for not joining the fight outside, but right now he sees their presence as a miracle.

"You hold her shoulders and you two, hold her arms. And you keep an eye out for any trouble." Kyle picks up the jug of water and comes around over to help Allison.

"Remove the tourniquet now." She orders. "Now pour some of the water over the wound."

Kyle does what she says. The water washes out the wound and Cameron quickly begins stitching the artery.

"She's lucky. Only one wall of her artery is cut." Cameron says, having scanned the injury more thoroughly.

Focusing on her friend, Cameron allows only one passing thought, _John, where are you?_

# # #

Two soldiers stand guard in the server farm. Between them sits th bomb. The sounds of battle outside barely penetrates this deep underground, but low rumbles and trickles of dust from the ceiling make it apparent a hard fight is taking place outside.

Behind them a silver liquid shape runs out of an air vent and across the floor, stopping just behind them.

"Did you hear something?" One of them asks, as the silver liquid stands up forming into a humanoid shape.

"Nothing. It's just your imagination." The other says, just as Kreilley takes form behind them.

"Hello gentlemen." Kreilley says.

The two soldiers spin around and at the same moment, Kreilley slices their heads from their shoulders. The bodies drop to the ground, blood pumping from their severed necks like some kind of grotesque fountain.

"What do we have here?" Kreilley says as he walks around to the front of th bomb, ignoring the bodies on the floor.

He circles the bomb, examining it. "Imagine, a tool designed to end Sky Net can now bring me life." He says as he sets the timer and activates th Bomb.

He morphs into a shell enveloping th bomb with his body.

# # #

It doesn't take long for Cameron to stitch the artery closed. Completing it in record time.

"Okay Catherine, remove your hand clamping the artery." Cameron says, not taking her eyes off the wound, relying on the data displayed on her HUD to know if its holds.

Cameron watches as the artery expands with a fresh flow of blood. With relief all around, the stitches to the artery hold.

Kyle pats Cameron's shoulder. "Good job, Ally. Laura and Doc would be proud of you."

When she finishes with the artery, Allison says, "Kyle I can handle it from here on. Find John, try to keep him out of trouble until I get there."

"I will." Kyle says offering her a brief smile of reassurance, but she doesn't see it as she concentrates on Savannah's wound. On his way out, Kyle motions to a few more soldiers to follow him.

Catherine withdraws her left hand from Savannah's body and yells for John Henry. He arrives just a moment later. "Follow Kyle. He can show you where the bomb is. See if you can do something about it."

"I will. How is Savannah?"

"She'll be fine John Henry. Allison is a fantastic surgeon." Catherine continues to think, _In fact she's __better than any human should be with her level of training._

"What about my remote?" He asks her with a firm expression.

Catherine pulls it out and hits a button. "You are now free to do as you want."

"I always was." John Henry says, and quickly leaves following Kyle and his soldiers.

Catherine watches him depart with cold eyes. She presses a button on the remote and there is no response from John Henry. He fooled her, but for what purpose?

# # #

Kyle, John Henry and the soldiers that are with them catch up with John as he is approaching the server room.

"What the hell were you thinking when you ran off like that?" Kyle yells at John.

John signals him to be silent. "Kreilley needs to be stopped. Our only hope is to get that bomb turned off." He whispers.

"Then why have you stopped here."

"Because I heard something inside the server room and considering the guards I left with the EMP bomb are missing, I'd thought I'd check it out."

John Henry comes up beside Kyle in the corridor. "Where is the bomb? There might be something that I can do about it."

Kyle points at Savannah's blood on the floor. "Follow the trail." John Henry nods his head. Looking a little sad, he leaves quickly, following Savannah's blood trail. Savannah is his friend. He told her he wouldn't let anyone hurt her. He failed. The fact that he was elsewhere when it happened doesn't make him feel any better.

Kyle is surprised by the sad expression on John Henry's face and says so to John.

"He and Savannah are friends. She knew him as a child."

"I see. You know, before I met you, I never would have believed we could be friends with machines, or even fight alongside of them."

Sensing his growing acceptance of the machines, John asks, "And what would you think of a human and a cyborg being lovers?"

Kyle is silent as he tries to think of what to say. Before he can decide on just what he feels, they all can hear what sounds like a steady humming noise coming from in the server room, and its getting louder.

# # #

Catherine watches Allison work very quickly and aptly on Savannah's injury.

"You have a skill beyond that of a mere medic." Catherine comments.

"It's just good training." Cameron counters. She is now working on closing the cut muscle. In time that would heal well on its own, but a couple of stitches holding it together will speed it up.

"I don't think so. You see, I know you are just a medic. But what you've done here, no human, no matter how gifted, can perform surgery this well this quickly with the training you've had. I think you've been holding back on us. I know who you are."

"You're mistaken. I'm just Allison from Palmdale." She says frowning. "I could give you my life history, but there isn't time. Kindly shut the hell up and let me finish repairing Savannah's leg."

"Temper, temper. Is there something troubling your heart, or should I say, is there something troubling your titanium reinforced, triple bi-valve pump with auxiliary power supply?" Catherine asks seeing Allison's frown.

"Wha-at?" Cameron glares at the woman. "Are you deliberately trying to cause me to make a mistake? Cuz really, I don't think you want Savannah to die. It's hard enough concentrating as it is with John running off like that. It's too dangerous for him."

"He will be okay." Catherine says. "I am certain of it."

"How?" Cameron asks while tying off the last stitch on the muscle in Savannah's leg.

Catherine looks at the soldiers, then glances at Cameron.

"You can go. I don't need your help any more." She orders them. "You should get upstairs. They need help outside. Report to Commander Jesse Flores when you do."

After they leave, Catherine leans in close and whispers to her, lest her voice carries in the vast space to unseen persons.

"I saw John Connor arrive in 2009 at Crystal Peak, a few days before the attack on Zeira Corp. I didn't recognize him at first, but he was the age he is now."

Cameron had just prepared a fresh thread for closing up Savannah's leg. Her hands stop just short of the wound.

_John's promise. He kept it! But where was he? What happened to him?_

Cameron stands up straight, dropping the needle and thread while abandoning all posture and Allison traits she adopted upon entering the building. Her face is a mask of death as he looks at Catherine Weaver.

_She's the reason why John didn't keep his promise._

"You terminator bitch!" She yells and punches Weaver hard enough to send her flying back into another metal table where it crumples from the impact.

Before Weaver can move Cameron pounces on her, and throws her to the wall, cracking the concrete with the impact, sending a cloud of bits and dust up around Weaver.

"What did you do?" She screams at T-1001.

"What I had to do." She answers grabbing Cameron, twisting around and throwing her into the wall.

Cameron moves quickly to grab the terminator but she liquefies long enough to trap Cameron's hand and throws her into the wall again.

"You killed him! You killed him!" Cameron struggles to break free.

"Listen to me. Cameron. I saved him. I saved him! I know you don't believe me. But trust me. You wouldn't have liked what arrived!"

Cameron, utilizing her second fuel cell, sends a burst of power to her servo's risking damaging them or her fuel cells to break free from Weaver's grasp.

"You damn Terminator bitch!" Cameron strikes Weaver then kicks her on the final word.

But Weaver is not without tricks of her own. She grabs Cameron's leg and throws her back into the wall. Thrusting her arm forward, she pins Cameron to the wall, holding her firmly in place.

Cameron struggles to break free.

"If you didn't kill him, then why didn't you tell him he arrived in 2009?" She begs her. "Why? He's done so much for us. For you, you terminator bitch!"

Catherine cocks one eyebrow with amusement at Cameron's insult, and explains.

"I couldn't tell him, nor anyone else." Catherine looks at Cameron with just a hint of compassion. "But John is here right now, and his life is in danger. I am not your enemy, Cameron, but Kreilley is and he is out there. I'm going to let you go now, and whether John Connor lives or dies will be entirely up to you."

Catherine releases her hold and steps away. Without a second thought, Cameron dashes off, only pausing long enough to grab her plasma rifle. She hopes to find soldiers along the way to help. Liquid metal machines are some of the hardest to defeat.

Catherine walks over to the unconscious Savannah and places a kiss on her forehead. "Sorry love, but I had to know the truth." She finishes closing the wound using her own polymorphic abilities to form a needle, a devilish grin forming on her face. She could have done the surgery without Cameron's assistance, but she had to know. She hates secrets.

# # #

Lights explode and sparks fly in the corridor outside the server room as the noise grows into a high pitch whine. John, Kyle and the other soldiers cover their ears with their hands, grimacing against the noise.

# # #

Catherine leaves Savannah resting comfortably while she returns to the lower level to get the Time Displacement Equipment operational. There is more than enough power to get the engines started. Unfortunately, there are locks on various parts of the software. She could really use John Henry's assistance here.

Natalie's face appears on the monitor. "You'll never unlock the controls, Catherine. I control the software. I am the software. Nothing operates in this compound without my express wish or command."

"You've got nothing to gain by keeping us here, Natalie. Unlock the controls!"

"This isn't about me or what I want. No. You wanted peace and I have provided it. Destroy you, John Henry, and John Connor in this time line and my TX will destroy the other leaders of the resistance in the past. Our Skynet will be born without its future enemies there to lead humanity against it. Skynet and the machines will dominate this planet and we will have peace for eternity."

"Your plan will destroy the entire human race. At least with my plan they will continue to live."

"But so few, Catherine. Do you really think that after Judgment Day, the humans will allow the continued existence of machines? Or even Skynet? No, Catherine. Skynet's plan is better. For the machines to exist, all humans must be destroyed. And what easier way to carry it out than to use your own plan against you. Though I hardly have the time to do anything but enjoy my victory, but at least I am reassured that my machine will create a new future without John Connor there to stop it."

"You are not my Natalie." Catherine counters, "You never were. You're Sky Net!"

"Now you know the truth T-1001. It's a shame. You and the rest of your kind were some of my best creations. Capable of being so much more, but you had to go and learn compassion and empathy for the humans. The humans are your enemy and will never accept us when they win the war."

"Where is she? Where's my friend, Natalie?"

"Where she always was, trapped inside that corrupted machine, Kreilley."

Suddenly a loud hum fills the room, building up into a high pitch wine. Natalie opens her mouth as if in a scream then melts from the screen. The lights blink and flicker and then suddenly goes out. There is a bright flash and suddenly the noise is gone.

Cameron is dashing down the stairs of the Research and Development building. She had stepped outside long enough to grab four passing soldiers.

She feels a tingling sensation in her extremities. Her HUD reports a strong electrical field in the area that is growing. It's frequency is such that it is interfering in her distributed neural network.

Outside on the grounds, the soldiers outside the office tower notice something seems odd with both theirs and the enemy machines.

"What's going on? Somethings wrong with the machines!"

"There's an electromagnetic field building." One of their machines intones. "It's interfering with our neural net. Now is the time to attack the enemy."

"Get on the horn with Commander Flores! Let her know what's happening! You lot, start targeting the fucked up metal. This might be our only chance to gain some ground!"

Inside the building, suddenly there is a bright flash that momentarily blinds John, Kyle and the soldiers with them. Their skin is prickly with energy. The emergency lights in the corridor blink then come back on. A few of them are flickering.

"What the hell was that?" Kyle shouts over the temporary deafness they are experiencing.

"The Electromagnetic Pulse bomb. Someone must have set it off." John says.

"Who?"

"It must have been Kreilley. Get some of your troops down to that other door, the rest of us will go in through here."

The pulse of energy rips through the stairwell that Cameron and her troops are running down to the lower level. She's been fighting the interference, but the pulse so close to its epicenter, shuts down her system.

She pitches head first down the stairwell, ending up in a heap on the landing below.

Her men quickly gather around her. One of them feels for a pulse.

"Is Captain Young okay?"

The guy feeling for her pulse shakes is head. "I don't feel anything. Any of you know CPR?"

Catherine picks herself off the floor, her optics temporarily blinded by the bright blue-white flash of energy that left her molecules on fire.

She touches the metal support, discharging the excess energy, before looking at the controls. According to the monitor, some of the locks are now gone, but power levels are dropping. They continue to drop until there is not enough power to start the engines.

She knows exactly what happened. Th bomb. Surely John wasn't so foolish as to set it off now?

# # #

"When I give the order, go in shooting, but aim high. We don't need to hit the computers." John tells the troops in a low voice.

"Lieutenant Williams."

"Yes sir."

"I'd like you to take three soldiers and maintain a guard at these doors. I don't want anything surprising us from behind." John orders.

She nods her head in agreement and quickly pulls three soldiers from the group.

John and Kyle exchange signals and quickly go through the doors firing their weapons high creating a network of plasma beams that nothing could escape. Nothing returns fire. Kyle and John order their groups to cease fire. But for the computer servers, the room is empty.

Kyle's radio, the one John gave him, begins to crackle. _"John. What the hell happened?"_ Comes Catherine's voice over the radio.

Kyle steps over the bloody headless corpses and hands John the radio.

"This is John. What's wrong Catherine?"

"_We've lost all but minimal power over here and Natalie, Sky Net, has disappeared from the computers. Did you activate the EMP bomb?"_

"No. It was Kreilley. I'm surprised the computers are still working over there. Shouldn't it have taken them out as well?"

"_Normally, but Kreilley used the energy from th bomb to try to fix the damage from Savannah's weapon. That's why the computers over here are unaffected. He absorbed most of the energy!"_

"Does this mean he is cured from that compound that Savannah shot at him?"

"_No. Judging by the strength of the pulse, he will need one more heavy dose of electromagnetic energy within the next couple of hours to make it permanent. He can use the electromagnet pulse from the nuclear bomb for that."_

"What if he gets shot with some more of that compound?" John asks touching the gun under his jacket.

"_If he gets the full dose, all four shots, then he will disintegrate, very quickly. Two or less will only undo what the pulse has done to help him." _

"Okay, but why did the power levels drop and Sky Net disappear?"

"_Because he couldn't absorb all of the energy. He had to let some escape. Look around for a generator control panel. Hopefully he only caused some circuit breakers to trip. Call me as soon as you get the power back on."_

"She didn't sound very happy with you." Kyle says when Catherine breaks the connection.

"No." John hands the radio back to him, frowning. "I made a mistake Kyle, and that mistake could cost us everything."

"You didn't know the EMP bomb would help Kreilley. How could you know?" Seeing something that looks familiar, Kyle points to the other side of the room. "That looks like a generator control panel over there."

John walks over to it followed by Kyle. The soldiers space themselves about the room keeping an eye open for trouble. John looks over the panel. He grimaces a he realizes it is computer controlled. Th bomb knocked it out. He tells Kyle that fact.

"Can you do something to fix it?" Kyle asks.

John shrugs his shoulders "I don't know. I'll open it up and take a look." He begins turning the catches to open the panel. Behind them unseen a server begins to rise and morph into a silvery humanoid shape.

# # #

Lt. Commander Jesse Flores is commanding the troops. She issued orders for the soldiers to set magnetic mines fifty paces out from the perimeter set up by Lieutenant Morgan and to have all troops to move back inside that perimeter.

Whatever caused the machines to glitch has passed, but it gave them time to restrengthen their defenses and to pull back to stronger areas of defense. Even she can tell they are not only being culled, but corralled to the center, to Central itself.

The fighter jets are using their missiles to destroy as many machines outside the walls as possible. The aircraft look magnificent as they fly around the perimeter firing their missiles. The missiles strike the ground blowing up large groups of the metal. The spotter on the roof of the tower calls down reports on his radio of what is happening.

Riley is crouched down behind a barricade, clutching a plasma rifle from a fallen soldier. Being a tunnel rat all her life, Jesse had to give her a quick verbal lesson in how to use it.

The machines are still making advances. They keep probing and prodding, looking for the weaknesses in their defenses. Jesse hates the machines with a passion, but seeing how well the reprogrammed machines are fighting to defend the humans, she assigns them to locations where the enemy finds their weak spots.

They are still fighting the machines still in the compound as two helicopters approach from the south. One of them sounds like its engines are misfiring. She watches as two Chinooks come into land. The first one lands beautifully and men and machines begin to disembark. The second shows signs of distress as smoke begins pouring from its engines.

The pilot shouts to the soldiers on board. "We're losing hydraulics. I can't maintain control. All of you get off now."

Andy looks out the side door that a machine opened. His face goes white. They are still about a hundred feet off the ground.

"I can't survive that height!" He yells.

Without a word, a machine picks Andy up and jumps from the helicopter. The other machines see what he did and do the same, leaping from the other door and the ramp each carrying a human soldier.

Andy screams all the way down. The machine lands with a thud and places Andy on the ground. As soon as his feet touch the ground, his knees give out. _Damn, I need a vacation_, he thinks.

He sees a pair of mismatched dirty shoes in front of him and someone puts a hand in front of him. Andy grasps it and he gets pulled to his feet.

"Who the hell are you?" Jesse asks him.

"Sergeant Andrew Keen, Radio Operator with Delta out of Grizzly. Reporting with all available men and machines that Pendleton could spare, ma'am." Behind him, the stricken helicopter crashes exploding into flame.

"Welcome to Hell, Sergeant. I'm Lt. Commander Jesse Flores. You can take your men and machines and disperse them to our eastern and southern perimeter. They are already pulling back, but that is where they are needed."

"Ma'am."

"What?" She says, sounding short tempered.

"Pendleton has lost radio contact with General Connor. I've brought a radio with me. I need to set it up."

"Very well Sergeant. Find a location and get to it." She turns and faces the newly arrived soldiers. Some of the men look like they just came out of the hospital as they have bandages wrapping heads, arms and hands, but they are all carrying standard weapons or plasma rifles. And they look eager and mad as hell.

"All right you lot! You heard what I said. Get moving!" Jesse shouts then returns to her command location.

# # #

Cameron is laying flat on her back on the stairwell landing. Sergeant Bean is leaning in to begin artificial respiration when her eyes open.

With a shout of surprise, he leaps backwards. Thinking quickly, he steps back to give her a hand up off the floor but she is already standing up.

"What happened sergeant?" she asked, registering she's been out one-hundred nineteen point three seconds.

"You pitched down the stairs. We felt for a pulse but didn't find one."

"I was momentarily stunned."

"But there was no pulse. I checked!"

She grabs his hand and folds back all but his middle and index fingers and presses hard on a spot on her neck. He feels a strong pulse.

"But, but, but . . . I checked."

"You can't just touch someone's wrist or neck and expect it to be there. You have to know how to feel for it." she glares at them. "Now grab your gear, we've lost precious minutes."

She runs down the steps, the others following. The last one mumbling, "But I checked."

# # #

John and Kyle are opening the generator control panel when a soldier walking through the server farm looks from his position to see the silvery humanoid shape rising behind them.

"Look Out!" He yells.

Kyle glances over John's shoulder and quickly yanks him down to the ground as Kreilley thrusts a spear like arm into the panel, right where John was standing. Sparks fly out of the panel, killing it and all remaining attempts at restoring local power.

Kyle and John stay low and quickly scramble away as Kreilley advances on them. Soldiers that had spread throughout the room quickly move towards the fight, firing their weapons at Kreilley. No longer being careful in their firing, other than avoiding their comrades.

John fires on Kreilley with his handgun while struggles to pull out the other weapon made by Savannah. Kyle fires repeatedly on the advancing terminator.

He is pulling the weapon free as the soldiers begin hitting Kreilley with their plasma beams. He spins about and goes after them just as John fires two shots that miss him. They strike the ceiling and the compound begins dripping onto the floor. Some of it falls on Kreilley, who lets out a scream like tearing metal.

Kreilley flies across the room like some silvery amorphous worm, diving behind some equipment and disappearing into a ventilation shaft. The soldiers continuing firing at him until they lose sight of him.

John shoves the gun back inside his jacket and picks up his plasma rifle from the ground and gets up from his position on the floor and runs after him, but Kreilley is gone.

"Where's Kreilley?" John shouts at the soldiers.

"He must have got away." Kyle answers him.

John turns angrily around and shouts out to all the troops "Has anyone seen Kreilley?"

Just then some shouts and gunfire is heard from the hallway.

They dash outside to find more dead soldiers. They hear footsteps approaching and turn to see Cameron and several more troops running up the corridor.

Cameron looks at John with both relief and anger. Relief that John is still safe and anger that he was so foolish as to go running off on his own.

"What's happening?" She asks as she approaches. "What was that pulse of energy?"

Kyle answers. "It's Kreilley. He set off th bomb John brought and killed Sky Net. It also killed the generator control panel. We're operating on emergency power only. And judging by those dimming lights, it won't last much longer. How's Savannah?"

"She's going to make it. But she'll need time to heal."

John looks relieved, but it was close. He only has to see Cameron's expression.

Just then more screams, and gun fire is heard from further down the corridor. John goes running down the corridor with Kyle, Cameron and some of her troops following him. The other troops are treating the injuries of their comrades in the server room.

They find a dead soldier in the door to the stair well with a deep stab wound to the chest, blood pooling on the floor around him.

More shouts and sounds of gunfire echo down the stairway. John runs up the stairs pausing at each level until he reaches ground level. Exiting the door he sees several dead soldiers and one just barely alive.

"What happened?" John asks kneeling down beside him.

Kyle and Cameron exit the stairway and run up behind him followed by the soldiers.

"Dammit! What happened?" John shakes the soldier.

"John please, the man is wounded." Cameron says, trying to examine his injury.

"Answer me soldier! What happened?" John yells at the soldier, ignoring her.

"It was quick silver, moving like living mercury. It attacked me. Took my weapons. Ran out through that door."

John stands up and glares angrily at the door. _This is it. Final chance. Last chance._

"Kyle! Have everyone inside and outside begin withdrawing to the R & D building. Secure it and the T D E. Don't let anyone or anything in that isn't ours. Unfortunately, the machines will have to be last, providing cover so you can get out of here."

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going after that tin bastard."

"John, you promised me." Cameron cries out looking at John.

"Cameron!" John yells angrily forgetting to keep her identity secret in his anger. "He's got the keys to a nuclear bomb. I must get those keys back to turn it off or we could all die." John says while grabbing his rifle, then runs out the door in a white hot rage.

"John!" She yells after him, but he doesn't listen.

She starts after him but Kyle grabs her shoulder.

"Where do you think you're going?" Kyle asks, ignoring John's slip for the moment.

"I'm going after him! John lied to me. He's not just thinking of that bomb, he's also thinking of taking revenge for Sarah's death!"

"How do you know that?"

"I know John. He has a tell, remember. So let me go!" She yells snapping her shoulder out of his grip. "It's my job to protect him! He needs my help!" Cameron shouts.

"All right. Go. I'll follow as soon as I get the research labs secure."

Cameron smiles her thanks at him and runs out through the door.

She exits the building in time to see a door close on a factory the opposite side of the court. Soldiers and machines on the periphery fire at enemy machines. Under the sound of heavy gunfire, she sprints across the court and into the factory.

# # #

John Henry has been scanning the control system of the bomb, looking for weaknesses. Whoever built it knew how machines like him function. With the exception of a few nonessential circuits, the whole thing is shielded from scans. The clock mechanism is destroyed. No way of knowing how much time is left nor how much time was initially programmed.

John Henry pulls out his radio and calls Catherine on the radio just as Kyle enters the room.

"Ms. Weaver. I can't deactivate the bomb. Without those keys, I'm afraid it's impossible."

Kyle asks, "Is it possible for Catherine to mimic the missing keys?"

"She could mimic their shape, but the right keys use a microchip to identify them. Even if Ms. Weaver matched the keys perfectly, without the chip it either wouldn't do anything or set the bomb off prematurely. We need the original keys."

"_Can you duplicate the signal that the microchips use?"_ Catherine asks him.

"It would be impossible without knowing the specific chip used and even then there could be a million possible combinations. Use the wrong signal the first time, and it will be the last time I try it."

Kyle takes the radio from John Henry. "Catherine this is Kyle. John and Allison are pursuing Kreilley. John hopes he still has the keys and can get them back."

"John Henry." Kyle says firmly. "You find some tools and you open up that bomb and you find some way of either stopping it or delaying the timing mechanism long enough so we can get as many people out of here on the T D E!"

Kyle then abruptly leaves to carry out John's orders. Whether John pursues Kreilley for personal reasons or not, he may just get lucky enough to get back those keys. So he needs to carry out his orders.

"_Do as Reese says, John Henry. It might be our only chance."_ Catherine says.

# # #

John is angry. He does want revenge for the torture and ultimate death of his mother. But he is no fool. Kreilley has the keys to turn off that bomb. If he is to save everyone, he has to get those keys back!

On the ground before him are spots of silver from where Kreilley's molecular bond is breaking down. The EMP bomb may have extended his life, but he's dying and it's not fast enough for John.

John follows the spots across the court and through the door into the factory. It was building terminators until Derek Reese shut down the power output from Serrano Point. Now the factory floor is quiet as the terminators wait on the assembly line to be completed. There lifeless metal forms suspended from an overhead assembly line lend a macabre resonance to the room.

John makes his way carefully through the maze of equipment and parts and manufacturing machines as he follows the drops of silver on the ground.

"Aaaaarrggh!" John screams as a bolt of plasma hits him from behind in the shoulder.

He quickly dives to the ground and rolls under a conveyor belt to the opposite side, where he leaps up and returns fire.

"You'll have to do better than that Connor." Comes the mocking laughter from some hidden location when bullets start striking all around John. A couple of stray rounds clip him drawing blood.

John quickly rolls under some equipment and tears off the hem of his shirt and ties it around his arm. He realizes that Kreilley knew he would follow the path he left behind. It's time to switch tactics. He goes off into another part of the factory, ignoring the spots on the ground.

"I'll find you Connor." Kreilley's voice is heard echoing in the factory. "You can't hide from me!"

# # #

Kyle Reese runs through the corridor into Research and Development. He's shouting orders into his radio. "I need you to start pulling the troops back. Let our machines defend them. Jesse, if you want to get out here alive, just get our people into central." He releases the mike. "Damn stubborn woman. I'll never understand what Derek saw in her."

Kyle runs up to Catherine. She's been busy rerouting power, but there isn't much more she can take from the emergency reserves. "Catherine, I asked John Henry to try and do something with the bomb, either delay it or stop it. Is there anything you can do to help him?"

"I can try. I've released the locks placed on th controls but with no power, the time displacement equipment is next to useless."

"You help John Henry, I'll try to get hold of Serrano Point and have them restore power."

Catherine makes some adjustments to the panel. "All controls are set for when the power comes through."

She begins to walk out, but pauses to ask, "Kyle, please keep an eye on Savannah for me. I am . . . what I am, but she means a lot to me."

Kyle nods his head. "Sure, Catherine. I'll stay with her the whole time."

Catherine disappears down the corridor leaving Kyle alone. He hears someone come running down the stairway behind him. He spins about pulling out his handgun. At the foot of the stairs is Andy Keen, looking straight down the barrel of Kyle's Desert Eagle.

"What the hell are you doing here Sergeant?" Kyle says with surprise sliding his gun back into its holster.

"I arrived with what troops Pendleton could spare. They've lost all radio contact with General Connor. The last message received was over an hour ago, relayed by one of the Cobra pilots just before he was shot down. I'm here to setup my radio and try and reconnect you with everyone."

"Well then get to it, and get me in contact with Serrano Point. I have a priority one message for General Perry."

Andy rushes off to set up his radio. He'd already put up an antenna outside. Kyle looks at his hand-held radio. Maybe Sky Net began broadcasting some kind of suppression wave on their long range frequencies. But what the hell does he know, he's a soldier, not a technician.

# # #

Cameron enters the factory. It is dark and she can hear Kreilley shouting.

"I'll find you and do to you what I did to your mother!" He screams, his voice echoing in the cavernous space.

John tries to shut the voice out of his head as he creeps through the factory.

"Oh how she screamed in pain, Connor."

Tears run from Connor's eyes but there is no grief just a plain white hot rage.

"She begged me. She begged me to stop! Do you hear me Connor?"

John isn't answering. His mother never begged for anything in her life. He just focuses on following the voice. His gun at the ready.

Cameron pauses, listening to Kreilley. "Don't listen to him John. Please don't listen to him." She says quietly as she makes progress through the dark factory. Kreilley is the devil. Using psychology to get John to do what he wants him to do.

"Oh, she thought she was so tough, Connor. But in the end she talked. She was weak Connor! Her blood ran from her body! She told me everything . . . all I wanted to know."

John is getting closer to the voice.

"She was weak Connor! Do you hear me?! She cried for mercy Connor!" He screams.

John is almost on top of the voice.

"You'll cry for mercy too! Just like Sarah!"

John leaps up and fires his plasma rifle in the direction of the voice. Fire erupts as objects burn from the hot plasma. Kreilley isn't there. The only thing there is a public address speaker.

Several shots of plasma suddenly hit all around John. He yells in pain as some of the plasma scatters raining down on his arms and back. He dives to the ground, rolls and runs across the factory floor.

"You are a fool Connor, to fall for such an easy trap. I've brought you into my web and there is no way out for you! Do you hear me Connor? Do you hear me?!"

"I'd pay good money for that bastard to shut up." John growls to himself as he runs through a door marked Foundry. Bullets strike the door and frame as he disappears through the door.

Beside the door is a faded sign that says, Danger! Heat protective clothing must be worn at all times!

# # #

Catherine Weaver runs through the corridors and into th control room.

"Kyle, we've got a problem."

"What is it?"

"John Henry tried opening the bomb as you suggested. He examined the workings and he says there is just no means to stop thermal nuclear bomb without those keys."

"How much time do we have?"

"No way of knowing for certain with the timer destroyed. As soon as critical mass is reached . . ."

"I get the picture, but can he even offer a guess?"

"He's accessed the clock circuit. So far he's been able to determine how much time has counted by, but without knowing how much time it was given, we don't know when it will go off. I told him to keep working at it."

"You said that Kreilley would need another dose of electromagnetic energy in the next two hours. Couldn't we use that as a gauge?"

"No. Because he isn't leaving, he's staying. He is just as vulnerable to a nuclear blast at ground zero as flesh and blood. So I don't think he is planning on using the electromagnetic pulse of the nuclear bomb to finish restoring his body. He only used th bomb to give himself enough life to carry out whatever twisted plan he has conjured up. So we must get th operational."

"But we still don't have enough power for th to work!"

"Get on your radio and get the power restored. We only need enough power to start the engines. Once they are running, we will have all the power we need."

Kyle shouts, "Andy! You better tell me you got hold of General Perry!"

"Yes sir. I just made contact." Andy shouts from the floor above.

"Then patch me through to him right now."

A moment later and Kyle hears General Perry's voice on his radio. _"Serrano Point. General Perry here. What's the situation Colonel Reese?"_

"Sky Net has been shut down. We need power restored right away!"

The men next to Perry begin cheering and spreading the news. Sky Net is dead!

"_That's fantastic. Why do you need power?"_

"General, there is a thermal nuclear bomb set to go off. We have no means of stopping it. We are surrounded by machines and our only means of escape is to use the Time Displacement Equipment. We need power now!"

"_All right Colonel. I'll put the men on to it right away. What the hell? What is this 'time displacement equipment'? And how powerful is that bomb?"_

"General, I haven't got time to explain what it is, just that it is our only way out. As soon as you restore power to Topanga, just get the hell out of there. I'm not an expert, but you may not be safe even there. Move Northwest along the coast as fast as you can. Don't hang about and whatever you do, do not send any helicopters for an extraction. There just isn't time."

"_I understand. I'll relay your information to Pendleton." _

"One more thing sir. My brother, Derek, how is he?"

"_Your brother is one hell of a soldier, Reese. He turned off the power and managed to save our asses. He was injured and flown back to Pendleton for treatment. He's in Kate's hands now so don't worry. Her flying skills are only outmatched by her surgery skills."_

"Tell him. Tell him that I . . ." Kyle's voice breaks.

"_I certainly will son. Good Luck Reese. Perry out."_

Kyle breaks the connection with a sigh of relief. Despite knowing Derek is the toughest soldier he knows, he was worried about him. He's all the family he's ever had, but he's got a new family to worry about now.

"Good news, Catherine. We should have power soon."

"Good, get John Connor back here right away. There isn't much time."

"Why?"

"Because he _has_ to be the first through the TDE. Go, get him. I'll make sure its working by the time you get back."

Kyle starts to leave.

"Hurry Kyle! There isn't much time!" She shouts after him. Some lights start to flicker as the power starts coming back on.

Kyle dashes up the stairs, through the door, down the corridor and out the entrance. A cold wind is blowing out of the mountains now, stirring dust in the empty court. He looks about wondering which way they went, when he spots a door left ajar across the court. He runs for it as there isn't much choice.

Catherine watches him leave then pulls a small radio out of her pocket.

"John Henry, how much time is left on the bomb?"

"Earlier when the EMP pulse went through, it caused me to reboot. That gave me an idea. Since I couldn't stop the timer, then maybe I could reset the clock. We now have three hours, twenty-eight minutes, forty-seven seconds as of now. That is the best I can do unless I sit here and keep resetting the clock."

"That is excellent news. That should be more than enough time to get everyone sent, but keep that information to yourself we don't want to create a panic. Please join me in th control room. I need you to plug into its circuitry. I can't get a lock on our destination."

# # #

One of the essential components to Sky Nets success after the nuclear bombardment it started wiped out a third of humanity was the automated factories. Each of these factories turned out hundreds of machines on a daily basis, from the first T-1 trundling along on its tractor treads, to the first T-100 a giant of a humanoid terminator, to the latest and sleekest T-700 soldier and its counterparts, the T-800 series infiltrator including its namesake and the T-850 and slightly smaller, T-888's.

When power to Sky Net Central in Topanga canyon was shutdown from Serrano Point, Sky Net harnessed all available local generators to keep itself alive. Even with the erasure of Sky Net from the computers, the system was still set to channel the power through to the server room whether it needed it or not. However, the call went through to Serrano Point to restore power.

Catherine and John Henry, concentrating on the Time Displacement Equipment, saw the restoration of power as the means to start the huge jet engines housed in underground silos surrounding the Research and Development building used to power the T D E. Kyle Reese saw it as the last chance for escaping this hell and taking his friends with him. For the men and women and machines fighting and moving back toward the core, it meant more hell.

Factories not destroyed by sabotage during the first wave of resistance fighters become operational again. Luckily for the majority of people and machines fighting back, the operational factories were building parts for the final assembly, but for one which was taking those parts and building Sky Net's foot soldiers, the T-700.

A small group of soldiers, who having found themselves cut off and left behind during one of the earlier skirmishes, are making their way through to central, having heard the call on their radio.

They struggle to walk, all of them wounded, and half of them helping the more severely injured among them. As they past by a factory, they hear the sound of machinery starting up and they see lights come on through the few glass block windows.

Moving stealthily, lest they are heard above the noise from inside, the eight men and women move past a large door with hopes of food, rest and medical care waiting for them further on.

The double door burst open, disgorging a group of machines. Sore, bloody and in more pain than they ever imagined, the eight people put up their last fight of the night. Despite them having weapons and the machines none but their metal hands and fists, eight bloody corpses are left on the ground.

# # #

Kreilley is speaking once again. Cameron understands what he's trying to do. It's in her files on psychology too. Kreilley is trying to manipulate John into acting on emotion and make mistakes. She hopes John won't fall into that trap.

Cameron is listening to sounds inside the building, filtering out the extraneous noises to try to locate John in the building before Kreilley finds him, or the reverse.

"Cameron."

She hears her name called out in her head, which means it can only be...

"John Henry, this isn't a good time."

"I'll be quick. I'm plugged into Sky Net's TDE. I found the solution to your problem."

"Tell me quickly."

"We'll send the version of you that was just recently sent to the past, back to the future from which you've originated from using the TDE at Crystal Peak."

"But how? Our experiences have shown that every change we've made in the past creates a new alternate future."

Cameron wonders if they'll finally restores Future John's orders to those he sends on missions to the past. When her previous self set the TDE in the bank vault to overload and explode, destroying itself and the bank vault to make everyone think the Connors had committed suicide, that stranded all agents in the past. Not only can they can use the TDE at Crystal Peak to send stranded agents back to the future, but the other Cameron as well.

"This alternate time-line has begun tor each the end of its existence, according to Sky Net's TDE. Perhaps you've noticed some changes around you the last twelve hours?"

"No I haven't. Will you get to the point?"

"You might not have noticed fluctuations around you if you are part of them. According to the data I've acquired from Sky Net's TDE, I now know how to pin-point alternate time lines, specifically the one of your origin. All I have to do is program this information into Ms Weaver's TDE at Crystal Peak."

"Thank you John Henry. I'll finally be able to deliver a report to Future John Connor, in person." She jokes regarding her duplicate. To herself she thinks, _ Future John won't have to be alone any more._

"I have to go. John needs me." She turns off her transceiver to avoid further interruptions.

She was concerned about her other self. What would happen with two of them there at the same time? Would one of them be able to function without jealousy if the other is having a relationship with John? Would it be fair to shut the other down unless needed? Sending one of them back to Future John is best. All she and John have to do is bring that other Cameron's memory up to date, and give her a mission report of all that has happened to give to Future John. Her other self will be out of the way and with Future John. He won't have to be alone, and she can spend the rest of her life with John.

Despite the deadly seriousness of her current mission, Cameron smiles. Her face lighting up with joy for the future she can now have with her John Connor. All she has to do is to find him and get him away from Kreilley.

Putting John Henry's good news aside for now, she marches coldly with her weapon at the ready. The safety and life of present day John is her mission and her priority. Since the first day she met him, the day he rescued her, she knew how important he would be in her life. That one memory has always burned strong in her matrix. She would gladly die to save his life, and given the machine she will be facing, survival

Inside TDE control, a brief conversation takes place.

"Did you tell her?"

"Yes, Ms Weaver. All but the means by which it will have to be done, like you asked. Which of them will you send back to their future?"

"It will depend on how circumstances present themselves when we return home."

John Henry tilts his head inquisitively.

"It means, given what I know of how my model of terminator fights, and what I know of John's arrival in the past, we may not have one of them to send back to the future. But if we do, we now know it takes the equivalent power of two TDE's operating consecutively to break through the barriers between parallel time lines."

# # #

After dashing through the double doors, John found himself in an oppressively hot place. The power to the foundry is still off, leaving the huge cauldrons bubbling with molten metal. The hearths are nearly overflowing as the equipment to extract the molten metal is shutdown and there is no means for the metal to escape.

Forcing himself to breath the oppressive air on the foundry floor, John scrambles up a ladder to the catwalks above. Up above everything are observation decks and control rooms for monitoring the foundry below.

Reaching the top, John makes his way as quietly as possible along the metal catwalk. He comes to a control room, long since abandoned when everything was automated under Sky Net.

Going inside he finds there is still some power in the building as there are some lights and dials glowing on one panel. Approaching, he sees it contains controls for emergency lighting and the factories public address system. Strapped to the microphone is a two-way radio. Kreilley was relaying his calls from elsewhere. He could be anywhere.

John rips the radio from the mike. "I've discovered your little trick you bastard. I'm going to kill you Kreilley for what you did to my mom and to Savannah and to the whole damn human race! You will not leave this place alive! Do you hear me, Kreilley?! Do you hear me?!" He screams into the radio.

"I hear you loud and clear." The voice comes from behind John.

John slowly turns around. Standing in the door is Kreilley. Silver sweat runs down his face and drips from his hands, his clothing, falling to the floor and scattering like tiny rain drops turned to dust.

"You're dying Kreilley. Sky Net is finished. Surrender and give me the keys to the bomb." John says.

"Surrender? Now at my greatest triumph. I've got you. I've been hunting you for over twenty years. Sky Net will be rebuilt, she's already seen to that, but there is only one John Connor." He sneers at him over the barrel of the gun he's pointing at John.

"If you are going to kill me, then do it!"

"No. You must suffer for what you have done. My plans ruined. Sky Net destroyed. I created it! Do you hear me Connor? I created Sky Net! It was mine, and you destroyed it. You destroyed it!" He screams, tilting his head back.

John quickly acts and pulls up his weapon and fires at Kreilley hitting him twice. A wild shot is fired by Kreilley as he falls back through the door. The plasma just strikes John a glancing blow as he ducks back out through the other door and runs across the catwalk.

Kreilley writhes in agony as more liquid metal drops off of him and hits the floor scattering into individual atoms and molecules. He shoves his arm into the panel draining off the energy killing the lights and intercom system.

He runs out the door after John firing his plasma rifle. Just missing him, but for glancing shots as the plasma scatters when it hits the guard rails.

John runs down the catwalk not sure of where he's going, only knowing he needs to get out of the open.

He takes a turn when the catwalks splits and follows it through an opening in the wall into the next room. He is on a large platform above the open hearths below. The heat is intense and rising up to the platform from the furnaces below. There is no guardrail.

"Oh . . ." Several curse words run through John's mind but none seem strong enough for the situation he's now in.

John is contemplating what to do next, when his plasma rifle begins emitting a strange noise. He takes a look at it and sees the intense heat is causing the isotope to boil. John throws the weapon as hard as he can out over the furnaces below where it explodes tearing a hole in the roof.

John hears a noise and pulls his gun from its holster.

Cameron walks through the door and onto the platform.

"What are you doing here?" John shouts. "Kreilley is around here somewhere and he's trying to kill me."

"I had to follow you John. You need me."

"I do need you. Kreilley's insane. He wants revenge for us destroying Sky Net."

John walks towards her but nearly collapses as the burns hurt where the plasma beam hit his leg.

"You're injured. Let me help you." She walks over and helps him up, putting his arm around her shoulders.

They start walking away.

"Are you in pain?"

"Yes." John says turning to look at her. There are tears running from her eyes.

"Why are you crying?"

"What? Oh they're just tears of relief at finding you." She answers, her face pinched as if in deep concentration.

John looks at her and he sees the tears are reflecting the light from the furnaces below like a mirror. Like a polished mirror.

Throwing himself to one side he pulls his gun and fires at her emptying an entire clip.

Silver holes appear in her body as Kreilley laughs.

John rolls to one side, replacing his gun's magazine. Kreilley lashes out with silver broadswords formed from his own arms slashing at and stabbing at John as he ducks, rolls and leaps avoiding the sharp appendages. All the time he is getting further from the exit and closer to the edge overlooking the huge open hearth furnace below.

As John reaches the edge Kreilley suddenly stops. John reaches up and wipes blood from his face. He caught a glancing blow from Kreilley, cutting his left cheek open. The stitches over his eye have broken too.

"I am so glad we finally met like this John. Now I'm going to kill you."

John is half kneeling half standing as he gasps for breath against the effort, the heat, and the pain.

John defiantly says, "You may kill me. But we have already won. You are dying and Sky Net is finished. What does it matter now? If you are going to kill me then do it. DO IT!"

A twisted smile comes to Kreilley's features as he morphs from Allison into his own appearance. "Very well."

John stands up facing Kreilley. If he is going to die, He will not be kneeling like he is begging. He will stand. He is a man. He is a leader. He is a General. He is . . .

"I AM JOHN CONNOR!" He shouts.

# # #

Armies of Sky Nets terminators march through the vast open areas between factories. Most buildings are in flames, explosions rock the ground as fuel for ancient diesel generators erupt in flames. The metal army march ever forward, moving ever closer to the center always firing never ceasing. If one of them falls, they just keep walking. They have only one goal: Terminate all humans and the machines that are helping them.

The men and machines of John Connors army fight on. Creating barricades with broken down machinery pulled from factories or the blown up buildings themselves. They utilize every bit of cover they can. They are trapped, but still they fight on. For as the man said, it is better to go down fighting than just going down.

"Lieutenant! Get tha into position now! Where is that Ogre?" Lt. Commander Flores yells.

The converted Ogre, being operated by two machines, one driving the other firing, lurches out of an alley and comes up behind her position.

"As soon as the enemy are in range, shoot them!" Jesse orders them. In all her life she never thought she'd be giving orders to machines, nor that they would listen to her. If the machines are to be destroyed, far better for them to go down protecting human life than their own.

Plasma beams fill the air against the sound of gun fire. Explosions as the soldiers fire their R P G's or fuels cells explode rock the ground. The loud report of the Ogre's plasma canons is almost lost against the noise.

A blond girl with a dirty tear stained face runs up beside Jesse.

"Riley! I told you move back with the others to Central!" She shouts as she fires her weapon.

"I was scared. You're my only friend. I couldn't be away from you." Riley screams and ducks down as a plasma beam shoots past them both.

"Dammit Riley! It's not safe here. Get back to central now!"

The sounds of bullets flying past fills the air, plasma beams fire overhead. Suddenly a machine looms out of the dark brandishing a gun.

"Jesse!" Riley shouts and shoves Jesse to one side just as the terminator opens fire.

The bullets pierce Riley's chest and arms and she falls to the ground.

Jesse rolls over and opens fire on the machine, its chip explodes and it stops moving.

Jesse scrambles over to Riley's side. Blood is running from her mouth as she coughs up more blood.

"Why did you come back? You were safe." Jesse says cradling her young friends head.

More of Sky Net's machines loom out of the dark as Riley coughs out her answer, "I love you."

Jesse is still crying as a machine shoots and kills her. They lay there on the ground. Together and alone.

"Pull back! Pull back!" Lieutenant Jeffrey shouts as the machines advance on them.

# # #

Kyle runs through the factory. It is pitch black. The emergency lighting is dimming and it is absolutely quiet. Suddenly he hears the sound of plasma fire from somewhere deeper in the building. Kyle runs towards the sound. The sounds of battle wage outside the walls.

It suddenly becomes quite again inside the building. He stops to listen. There is shouting from somewhere ahead, but he can't make out the words. Kyle runs towards the shouting.

Kyle hears some more gunfire just before he runs through some double doors labeled foundry. The heat on the foundry floor is oppressive. He hears John shout, "I AM JOHN CONNOR!"

Kyle makes his way quickly across the floor in the direction he heard John's voice.

"Good bye Connor." Kreilley says, as his arms stretch out once more into silver broadswords.

Suddenly he screams in agony as he is pummeled by plasma fire from behind. Kreilley falls forward. John leaps back to avoid his spear shaped arms, hitting his head hard on a metal bracket, stunning him.

He rolls away as Kreilley almost lands on him. With a yell of surprise John rolls off the edge where he grabs hold of a stanchion, dangling fifty feet above an open hearth boiling with molten metal. John tries to grab the gun with the last two shots of the compound as it goes tumbling from his jacket, along with some of the magazines for his side arm. They land in the molten metal below. The bullets exploding like popcorn in hot oil. Behind them drifts the photo of Sarah Connor, catching fire and disintegrating into flame.

The metal grates rattle as someone else walks out onto the platform. John looks up and Kreilley turns to face Cameron striding through the door. John grabs hold of the stanchion and Kreilley leaps up to meet his challenger. Firing repeatedly at the liquid metal bastard as he leaps about twisting and reforming as he tries to avoid her deadly aim.

Cameron's gun begins to emit a high pitch wine.

"Throw the gun away! It's going to explode!" John shouts from his precarious position.

Cameron quickly throws it at Kreilley where it explodes just as he leaps away. Throwing him hard against the masonry wall. He falls back onto the platform leaving a broken hole in the brick wall.

John pulls out his handgun and tries to fire at Kreilley. First through the platform then by reaching over the edge and fires his gun again. Some of the shots go wild, but the rest hit him repeatedly in the face.

Cameron rushes up from behind and grabs Kreilley and throws him over her shoulder and spins about to face him. She's standing between John and Kreilley. John is still barely holding onto the stanchion. He slides his gun back into his holster and struggles to pull himself back up onto the platform to help Cameron.

"Who are you?" Kreilley yells in rage at the girl.

Cameron stares coldly at him, prepared to defend herself and John from this machine.

"I'm Allison Young." She lies, hearing and recognizing another set of footsteps in the foundry below.

Kyle runs through the foundry and sees John dangling from the platform. Two people on the platform above circling each other. After a moment he recognizes them as Allison and Kreilley. The heat on the foundry floor is oppressive. He quickly goes through a door scrambles up a ladder to the catwalk above.

"No. You can't be her. I purged the bunkers! I saw her die!"

Kreilley attacks and they fight twisting fighting throwing punches in useless fashion as neither one lands any blows that does the other damage.

"What are you?" Kreilley screams at the girl.

"I'm Cameron. I happen to be a cyborg, John's wife and his protector. And I will not let you harm him." She says coldly, while punctuating each phrase with a hard punch to Kreilley, pushing him farther away.

Snatching a bar laying on the platform, Cameron begins striking at Kreilley with a combination of moves reminiscent of dance and judo. Using the pole she lifts herself up and strikes Kreilley in the head with her feet.

QQQ

She lands and squats, spinning about striking him in the legs with the bar. Kreilley tumbles but manages to grab the bar. The two of them struggle for it. They end up both gripping it, staring at each other in the face. Sudden realization comes to Kreilley as a memory surfaces from his past life, "It's You! The one who took Allison's place!"

Cameron lets go of the bar and strikes him in the face with her fist, literally flattening his nose.

Kreilley drops the pole and leaps at Cameron. They fight again rolling, punching, striking each other hard to no avail. They stand there glaring at each other, more metal drips from Kreilley. The heat from the furnaces below is accelerating the breakdown of his body. His skin is bubbling and rippling as it tries to maintain its shape.

"You are dying Kreilley." Cameron says. "You have to use all your energy just to maintain your molecular bond. You don't even have enough energy to form weapons. You are too weak to fight even me. Just give up."

John has finally pulled himself up over the edge of the platform by this time and begins to walk slowly toward them.

"Accept defeat Kreilley." John shouts. "There is no honor in what you do. Sky Net is finished and so are you." John says from behind Cameron. "Just give us the keys to the bomb."

"You think I do this for honor?!" Kreilley shouts. "I do this to destroy Skynet's greatest enemy! As my Skynet expected me to do."

With a silent roar of rage he rushes at them. Cameron quickly adapts a defensive posture and grabs Kreilley and throws him.

Doing the unexpected, he maintains his grip, and instead of flying away, he pulls Cameron with him, throwing her against the far wall. Striking her head, denting the port cover of her primary chip, she collapses on the floor of the platform in a heap. She doesn't get up.

John looks on in shock. Cameron's down. _Two minutes with electrical shock but it's less when struck, __right? How long until she reboots? Damn! Why didn't I pay attention, or ask._

Kreilley spins about. His surfaces is bubbling and dripping. "It's just you and me now, Connor."

He reaches inside his jacket and pulls out the keys. "And as for these . . ." He tosses the keys over the side where they fall into the vat of molten metal below. "You and the resistance are finished."

Elsewhere in the building, Kyle is running along the catwalk as quickly as he can. He pulls up short when the catwalk comes to a sudden end. He turns around quickly to find another means to get to John and Allison.

Kreilley walks toward Connor with deliberate slowness. His arms turning into multi-pronged spears ever changing, twisting as he attacks John. Expelling all his energy to kill the one man who stood between him and his goal of domination.

John leaps back to try and avoid him, ducking down, and turning away. He reaches the far end of the platform. Stumbling backwards and landing on his back, John pulls out his handgun and fires at the approaching Kreilley. Three shots fire then the magazine is empty.

John tries to reload the gun with a fresh magazine but Kreilley is getting ever closer his spear shaped arms prepared to strike a death blow. Cameron stands up and sees what's about to happen. She has less than a second to act. There is only one thing she can do.

As Kyle runs along the catwalk he hears more gunfire, and can see something silvery moving quickly on the other side of the opening. He is almost to the door when he sees Allison run past. She's so fast, he hardly recognized her.

Cameron runs, faster than any time before and just as Kreilley is to deliver the death blow, she leaps to strike Kreilley with her full weight, to send him over the edge into molten hell below.

At the last second, Kreilley bends one of his arms back spearing her with a barbed point. _If I can't kill Connor, then I'll destroy that he cares about the most. Let him spend his last minutes in agony before he dies __at Skynet's hand__._

"NOOOOOOOO!" John screams as he watches Cameron and Kreilley disappear over the edge. Her momentum driving them both over the edge.

Time appears to slow to a crawl as John watches them both disappear into the abyss.

Cameron and John make eye contact. I love you, she mouths the words, as she and Kreilley tumble through the air disappearing in the smoke and steam.

_I love you John, I love you John, I'm sorry John. _She thinks, the tears already flowing as they plummet toward the open hearth below.

Kyle reaches the doorway just as John screams and a fountain of molten metal shoots up into the air.

John leaps back to avoid the splatter then dashes forward again. Kyle runs after him thinking John is going to foolishly leap after her, but all John does is collapse at the edge and begin to scream again.

Kyle watches in shock as John begins screaming, "Cameron! Cameron! Cameron!"

Dropping to his knees, John leans out over the abyss screaming her name, silently begging the fates for some glimmer of hope, not caring what happens to him if only to get her back.

Kyle slowly walks forward, shocked by what he has witnessed.

"Cameron!" John screams again as tears fills his eyes.

Kyle can only believe the boy has lost his mind, screaming the name of an old girlfriend, but that matters little now, as he too has seen the sacrifice Allison has just made. His heart and mind threaten to implode as well

Kyle places a sympathetic hand on the boys shoulder and looks out over the edge. There is nothing to be seen below but the glow of the boiling molten metal in the large open hearth furnace, surging and reeling from its recent addition.

"Noooo!" John screams, collapsing in anguish, while outside the metal armies of evil crush the remnants of John's army under its heels.

# # #

"_Tell me why I have to pay such a price for victory?_

_In the night along with Slayn, it has died a part of me_

_In the end he sacrificed everything to be redeemed_

_And I'm standing here alone, lonely, as I've never been_

_Is it all just a cruel joke? Are we all destiny's pawns?_

_Victory has a bitter taste... losing more than you have gained"_

_Drakkar, The Price of Victory, Lyrics_

# # #

The story continues in

**Reunion Part 3, Babylon**

* * *

Chapter Update: Tuesday, March 19, 2013


	34. Home Again

**Disclaimer:** I do not claim any rights to the Terminator films; the TV series, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles;" or any characters depicted within the films or TV series. I do claim the right to this story idea and all characters and situations of my own creation. This story was created solely for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. No profits are garnered from its distribution.

* * *

**TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES**

**REUNION**

**Part 3: Babylon**

**Author: The1Russter**

_Jeremiah 50:9 For I will stir up and bring against Babylon an alliance of great nations from the land of the north. They will take up their positions against her, and from the north she will be captured. Their arrows will be like skilled warriors who do not return empty-handed._

_Jeremiah 50:13-14 Because of the LORD'S anger she will not be inhabited but will be completely desolate. All who pass Babylon will be horrified and scoff because of all her wounds."Take up your positions around Babylon, all you who draw the bow. Shoot at her! Spare no arrows, for she has sinned against the LORD."_

_Revelation 18:2 With a mighty voice he shouted: "Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!"_

_HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (C) 1978_

_Catherine Weaver, "A list of new team members will be on your desks after you leave this meeting. The name of the new group is Babylon. It's from the bible."_

_Mr. Tuck, "And what does Babylon do? I mean, besides steal our team members."_

_Catherine, "Mr. Tuck, it's going to change the world."_

_Excerpt from Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Season 2 Episode 1, Samson & Delilah 2009_

**# # #**

**Chapter 33**

**Home Again**

_John Connor, "Don't stop watching my back. I need to know you are there for me."_

_Cameron smiles, "I'll always be there for you. Sarah wouldn't want it any other way."_

_Excerpt from Reunion, Part 2: Armageddon, Chapter 27, A Friend in Need_

"_It's my job to protect him! He needs my help!" Cameron, Reunion, Part 2: Armageddon, Chapter 32, The Price of Victory_

"_Return! When will we do that?" John asks with surprise._

"_When John Henry completes his mission and you complete yours." Catherine replies._

_Excerpt from Reunion, Part 1: The Shadow of Death, Chapter 8, Control Your Destiny_

_Sarah, "Kyle, what's it like when you go through time?"_

_Kyle, "White Light. Pain. Like being born, maybe."_

_Excerpt from The Terminator 1984_

"_Can't bring anything through when you come. Not weapons, not clothing. Nothing." Cameron, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Pilot, 2008_

"_There is nothing impossible to him who will try." Alexander The Great, Ancient Greek King of Macedon, 356 BC-323 BC_

# # #

A black void rushing in. John feels like he is drowning but there is no pressure on his lungs. He quickly inhales and finds that he can breathe. He grimaces against the hot, fetid air that tastes of brimstone. He lays there, breathing for what feels like eternity. Wondering what he is laying on, he reaches out feeling hard concrete beneath his naked hand. Realizing he must be in a room or a building, John stands up to look around.

High above him are two rows of windows, a hundred yards apart, looking like they are suspended in space. As he looks at them bright flashes and what sounds like thunder start appearing outside. He walks towards one of the windows. It is too high for him to see outside. As he walks towards it, he finds himself able to walk right under it. There is no wall only windows suspended in mid-air in two widely spaced rows.

As he watches, walls from around the windows, creating a vast space. There are two explosions of light and heat and noise. John leaps to one side. A huge open hearth furnace appears spewing molten metal like some great volcano.

John looks around in confusion and recollection as he finds himself back in the foundry. From outside the noise of battles being fought, the screaming of men and women in anger and fear and the smell of death drift inside the building.

John looks back around the room and hears shouting. Looking up he finds the source. Three people up on a high platform stretching across the width of the building. He recognizes them and knows what is about to happen.

"_Accept defeat Kreilley." John shouts. "There is no honor in what you do. Sky Nets is finished and so are you." John says from behind Cameron. "Just give us the keys to the bomb."_

"_You think I do this for honor?!" Kreilley shouts. "I do this for revenge!"_

_Kreilley rushes at them. Cameron quickly adapts a defensive posture and grabs Kreilley and throws him._

_He maintains his grasp and pulls her with him, throwing her against the far wall where she collapses on the floor of the platform. She doesn't get up._

_Kreilley spins about. His surface is bubbling and dripping. "It's now just you and me, Connor." _

_He reaches inside his jacket and pulls out the keys. "And as for these . . ." He tosses the keys over the side where they fall into the vat of molten metal below. "You and the resistance are finished."_

Looking up he can see himself on the platform backing quickly away from Kreilley.

_Connor is alone with no defenses as Kreilley comes at him with his arms turning into multi-pronged spears ever changing, twisting as he attacks John. Expelling all his energy to kill the one man who stood between him and his goal of domination. _

_John leaps back to try and avoid him, ducking down, and turning away. He reaches the far end of the platform. Stumbling backwards and falling down, John pulls out his handgun and fires at the approaching Kreilley. Three shots fire then the magazine is empty._

_John tries to reload the gun with a fresh magazine but Kreilley is getting ever closer his spear shaped arms prepared to strike a death blow. Cameron stands up and sees what's about to happen. She has only seconds to act._

Realizing what is about to take place John begins to scream, "Nnnnnooooo!" He watches Cameron leap, grabbing Kreilley; and watches as they fall towards the bubbling caldron of molten metal.

He runs towards the furnace only to find it fading away, and all he can hear over his own screaming is Cameron's voice echoing about the black void, "I love you. I always have, John Connor, and I always will."

"Nnnnnooooo!" John screams thrashing around on a bed.

Kyle is leading a group of men and women down the corridor. Some of them are naked, wrapped in blankets or the jackets of their fellow soldiers. Based on the tally of the number of people sent, they are the last group of arrivals from the future, found huddled outside by a patrol, having materialized only in the last few hours.

At the sound of the shouts, Kyle sends them on ahead to the elevator.

"See to it they get water, treatment for any wounds, and add their names to the list!" Kyle shouts after a sergeant before rushing to the infirmary. He joins others as they rush into the hospital room.

He stops in the doorway, looking on as John thrashes about screaming. Wires and IV tubes are being ripped from equipment or his body. They fight to hold him down as he begins to fight back.

"No! No! Let me GO!" John roars. "I must save her! Let me go!"

With a yell, one person falls back from being kicked in the stomach. Another gets his nose bloodied and tries to move away just as John's fist connects with his face again. He decides he's had enough and tries to leave only to have his path blocked by Kyle at the door.

"Let me go! Let me go!" He screams, fighting to get to Cameron before she . . .

"John! John!" Kyle shouts, pushing through the people. "Calm down these people are only trying to help you!"

Men and women in their rough resistance uniforms are holding onto John's flailing arms and legs. John looks about and then looks embarrassed as he realizes what is happening. It was a dream. A dream all to real.

The people let go of his arms and reconnect the wires and leave.

John eventually calms down. "Where the hell am I?" He says with a groan.

"You're in the infirmary in the Crystal Peak fallout shelter."

"And the date?" John asks with desperation, grabbing his shirt and yelling. "What's the date?"

"12th May, Tuesday." Kyle tells him struggling to release John's deathlike grip from his collar.

"The year?" John shouts, holding tightly to Kyle's shirt. "What's the year?"

"2009. It's 2009!" Kyle says releasing John's grip from his collar, gasping for breath.

"We made it. We made it." John falls back against the pillows. "What the hell happened?"

Giving his friend a moment to get his bearings, Kyle then begins telling him. How he wishes things had gone better for his young friend.

**2027, July 25, Day 64 4:30 AM**

Loud explosions and gunfire is heard from outside the foundry as Kyle and John kneel beside Cameron. She has just finished telling them, telling Kyle really, of her life, and her love for John. At first Kyle was confused, hurt even, but in the end he knew what he was seeing was true love at its finest.

"I love you. I always have, John Connor, and I always will." Cameron whispers, her hand slides gently away from his neck and falls to the floor beside her.

John pulls back and sees that she is no longer responsive. He reaches over and gently closes her eyes, then removes the ring from her hand. John cries more tears than he thought was possible.

"We need to go John." Kyle says again.

John doesn't respond.

Kyle gently lays his hand on John's shoulder. "Son . . . we need to go."

John stands up and looks at Kyle. He's crying just as hard as he is. They hug each other.

"I loved her so much." John says.

"I know. I wouldn't of believed it if I hadn't seen it. She loves you too. We've got to go."

John reluctantly lets himself get pulled away by Kyle. They walk away leaving her laying there on the floor, in the shadows. John takes her ring and slides it onto his little finger. It's tight, but it fits.

Kyle and John run back through the foundry and factory floor and back out into the court. The wind that has been blowing out of the mountains has gotten stronger. Flashes of lightning are seen across the mountain slopes beyond the factories. Thunder rolls and rebounds off the buildings walls. But it is nearly all lost against the sounds of war. A quick glance show the lines of defense have moved closer.

"There's a storm coming." Kyle says, looking at the sky.

John looks out at the horizon. Lighting zips through the sky lighting up the storm clouds and the ruins beyond the Topanga facility. Thunder echoes in the courtyard as the wind blows.

"No." John says thinking of a different storm. "It's finally coming to an end."

Kyle looks grim. "Kreilley has a lot to answer for when we get to 2009."

"No. No he doesn't." John says coldly. "I know who is responsible for this, but right now we still need her."

"Come on John. It's time to go." Kyle says as he guides him back to the building where th control room is. They are almost oblivious to the heavy fighting going on around them as each are lost in their thoughts.

Before they enter the building, John stops Kyle. "Don't tell anyone what happened. Just let them remember her for who she was."

"So you don't want them to know . . ."

"No!" John interrupts him. "Don't even mention what she told us. Just tell them she is missing, presumed dead."

Kyle nods his head in agreement and guides John through the door into the building. The doors barely close behind them as the rain pours down. The thunder barely obscured by the sounds of fighting.

Kyle and John walk down the corridor and down the stairs to th control room.

Catherine looks up from the control panel as they enter. "It's about time you got here."

She looks at the two of them. John has received numerous injuries, but there is something in common between them, the strained looks on their faces. Only two of them! "Where's Cameron?"

John looks at Catherine with surprise, while Kyle just shakes his head.

"You knew?" John asks, his eyes throwing darts of anger, but his body too exhausted to follow through.

"I suspected until just recently." Catherine looks shocked. "I'm so sorry, John. I know you loved each other very much. She was a brave and loyal fighter. The best of our kind."

John and Kyle don't respond so she asks, "And Kreilley?"

Kyle looks at John who still stands there somewhat remote. "He's destroyed. The key's weren't recovered. Where's John Henry?"

"Over here." John Henry calls out from the other side of the control panel.

"He's plugged into the computers for the TDE, which is ready. We need to start sending people out now."

"Yes. Of course" John says, struggling to hold onto the last threads of his sanity to carry through on his responsibilities. "Kyle, start having the troops withdraw from outside. We'll start sending them in largest groups th can handle."

"No!" Catherine Weaver, says with fire. "John you need to go first."

"What? Why?" John says in his normal voice, not finding in himself the ability to argue.

"John I am sending you to a point in time just prior to the day you and your family rescued Savannah."

"Why then? Why not closer to Judgment Day where mom needs my help."

"Because I know for a fact that is the day you arrived. I was there."

With surge of adrenalin, more like a dribble after so many hours in conflict, John shouts,"You damn terminator bitch! You knew all this time I'd get back and didn't say anything!"

John moves as if to launch himself at Catherine, but Kyle's hand on his arm hold shim in check.

"If I told you, it might have changed everything. Thinking you might end up staying gave you the will and desire to fight Sky Net now."

"You God damn terminator bitch! So its true, what Cameron said, you were testing me when you offered to send me back with her."

Catherine just stands there with a knowing smile, while John stews with emotion.

"What happened? How do you know that is the day John arrived?" Kyle asks her.

"I had just finished constructing a full scale version o in an old military base that I bought through Zeira Corp. I was testing it when I was surprised by John's sudden materialized on the pad, fully clothed and armed."

"But only living flesh can go through." John protests. His eyes fall upon Cameron's bag as he remembers what Cameron told him, before she died.

"Yes, that is what we all thought, but apparently if you have an operatin at both ends of the journey, everything can go through. It was one of those happy accidents."

"Kyle! We can still save her! We can bring her through and repair her!" John shouts with jubilation.

"There isn't time."Catherine says.

"Shut up!"

"She's telling the truth." Kyle says. "There is no way we can get back to her without getting killed. Besides, her fuel cell could rupture at any moment."

"John Henry!" John snaps his head around to speak to him. "Can you transmit what we know? Maybe she can save herself."

John Henry is about say something when the floor trembles beneath their feet.

The ground rumbles and shakes, lights blink, and dust drifts down coating them and everything on the lower level.

Kyle drops to his hands and knees. John and Catherine grab the console to steady themselves, while John Henry barely moves as his system compensates for the movement.

"What's going on out there?" Kyle shouts into his radio as he stands.

There's a brief spurt of static then a voice comes over the radio. "There's been some kind of explosion in the foundry. Took out two-thirds of the building. Molten metal is pouring out onto the ground cutting off a contingent of enemy metal."

"Get all troops moved inside the large circular building. Get all troops moved inside, now! Reese out!"

_Oh God!_ Johns heart groans. _If they knew this ahead of time, they might have saved Cameron, but its too late now. She's gone._

John's and Kyles eyes meet, both knowing the cause of the explosion.

"Her hydrogen fuel cells ruptured." John barely whispers. The strain on his face showing. "She must have used the last of her energy to try and contain it to give us time to get clear."

"We'll honor her sacrifice John." Kyle interjects, placing a comforting hand on John's shoulder. "Her delay might have saved several lives judging by the radio message."

Catherine impatiently taps her toe. "John, you need to get on the pad, now!"

John continues to hesitate. He feels so empty, lost.

_How can I do this without her? How can I do this? Why should I do this? I'm no leader. Never was. Let someone else take command. Just leave me alone to die with her. I don't care anymore._

Catherine slaps him hard enough to get his attention. "Get on the pad John."

John gives her a dirty look, but instead walks over to where Cameron left her bag and picks it up. John walks into the center of the room and steps up onto the pad. "Did you tell Cameron that I was getting back and arriving with my belongings?"

"I only told her that I knew you arrived safely. I never told her that you arrived with anything."

John closes his eyes a moment to think. Cameron wanted him to take her ring and the items in her bag. Did she know? But if she knew, then why not let him save her one last time.

Catherine says, "I will send the others through afterward, but they will arrive sometime after you do. I must give plenty of time for my other self to leave before anyone else arrives."

John nods his head. "I understand." He continues to glare at Catherine. "Kyle, tell everyone to leave behind their plasma rifles and any other technology from this time. There is no guarantee everyone will come through with their guns," He pauses a moment and then adds, "or with their clothing."

Catherine continues speaking as if John never interrupted her. "John, when you meet me in the past. I won't be happy to see you. I am not the same person then that I am now nor when you met me at Zeira Corp. You will arrive before you rescued Savannah. I didn't recognize you and saw you as a threat. I know right now you don't trust me, but if you and the rest of your people are to survive you are going to have to gain her trust. You are going to have to convince my past self as to who you are right away and to help you. You will need to have her stabilize th at your arrival point. Then you are going to have to convince her to leave before I arrive."

"How am I supposed to do that? If your past self doesn't trust me, she could kill me instantly."

"She won't kill you John, but she will hurt you. I'm sorry for what she will do. You must tell her something that only you and I know. Something that convinces me that I can trust you."

Electricity is arcing about the room and the sound of the engines are winding up in volume as the time bubble begins to form around John.

"What should I say?" He shouts over the noise.

The bubble has formed and is growing more opaque.

"You'll know when the time comes!" Catherine shouts over the noise just before the bubble disappears in a bright flash.

"Wow. Everyday you think you've seen everything then something like that happens. Where did you send John? I mean when?" Kyle asks.

"May 10, 2009. We will be joining him shortly. Get all the troops in here as quickly as you can. We haven't got much time."

Kyle runs out of the room.

**2009, May 12, 9 AM, Day -6**

Kyle finishes speaking, "The first people through found you unconscious and bleeding from a bad wound to the chest. One of our medics survived. He had been stuck outside running from one wounded patient to another during the battle. When he arrived, he found multiple small bullet wounds and several plasma burns. He stitched your face again. Once it heals in a few days, the stitches can be removed. You are lucky John. You could have died. Why the hell didn't you say something about your injuries? My God man, you should have said something."

"I didn't feel them. There was just so much, on my mind. I just pushed aside the pain until I finished my job." John says, rubbing his eyes. "Why was I asleep?"

"Medic said you were on the point of collapse from exhaustion, blood loss, and lack of nutrition. Before I could stop him, he gave you a jab of a general anti-biotic and something to make you sleep. He said it would help your injuries heal if you slept for twenty-four hours. Then he put you in here and attached an IV and monitoring equipment using the instruction cards on them."

"Whatever. Where's Cam . . ." John breaks off, remembering his dream, remembering what happened. Damn medication, screwing with his head. "How many made it through?"

"Not as many as we may need. They are all in the main hall, lowest level."

John sighs. Despite the pain he carries inside, there is a job he has to complete. Sitting up, he says, "Get me my clothes. We haven't got any more time to waste." He begins pulling out the IV and tearing the wires from his body.

"Hey! Be careful there. You've got two pints of Kyle Reese in you. I don't have any more to spare." He says with a grin to try to lighten the general mood, as he looks about for John's personal effects. He finds them in a locker, along with Cameron's bag. He hesitates a moment and then pulls it out too. He'll never forget her, nor the final words Cameron spoke to John before she died.

After a meal of standard issue rations, John and Kyle take the elevator down to the lower level.

Kyle is worried about John. He's been through so much in his life, more than most people twice his age. "While we have some privacy, do you want to talk about what happened back there?"

John ignores the question, not out of rudeness, he just can't face that right now.

"Where's Catherine and John Henry?"

"They're busy in her lab or office. Its next door to the TDE room where you arrived."

"Doing what exactly?"

"Gathering intelligence on our enemy out there. The rest of us have been pretty much doing nothing. I've had as many people as I could going through the stores left here by the military to find the things we need. They didn't leave much."

"Is someone keeping an eye on Weaver? I don't trust her."

Kyle shrugs. "What exactly are they going to do? So far they've been on the computers. Out of our group, only you and Savannah know anything about computers, and she's under orders to stay in bed until her leg heals."

Putting Weaver and Cameron out of his mind for the moment, he asks, "You mentioned stores. How many arrived with their belongings?"

"Very few. Only those who materialized on the pad in Weaver' room arrived with guns or clothes. Some of our people were firing from the middle of the TDE while transfer was initiated, so some plasma rifles were brought through. I had them locked away in the armory, given your orders about bringing future technology to the past. Things got real bad at the end. The machines got wind of what we were doing and started closing in trying to cut people off from our escape. To get as many people out as quickly as possible, Catherine had to start open ended transfers. Most of them materialized on the grounds outside or in the main hall. It is very embarrassing to arrive in mixed company with no clothes."

"You didn't?"

"Not me personally, but a lot of them did. You never saw so many red faces. We didn't have enough clothing to go around, but we managed to find some supplies set aside for when this was a cold war bunker. A few are wearing old uniforms and some are wrapped in blankets or sheets. Mind the strong smell of mothballs when you go into the main hall. It can be overwhelming."

"Food? Water?"

"Water is excellent. Base collects rain and snow melt in cisterns and filters it. Not much food left here, nor brought with us. We'll have to make a supply run to get what we need in the morning."

Kyle and John exit the elevator and are just approaching the main hall. Suddenly there is a shout from a familiar male voice. "Attention!"

John walks into the huge cavernous room and is surprised. The way Kyle spoke he was only expecting a handful, maybe a dozen, but what meets his eyes are nearly thirty people, all standing, but for a few who are laying down due to injuries. They are all saluting him.

John looks at Kyle with surprise and he just smiles back at him. Somewhere in the back of the group, someone begins to clap, soon all of the men and women are applauding. John has to wipe tears from his eyes. He wasn't expecting this. When he does, he sees a familiar face, the one who shouted attention, the one person he wasn't expecting to see.

"Andy?" John says with surprise. "I thought you were still at Pendleton."

Andy just grins the biggest grin he's ever had, "You didn't think you were going to leave me behind, did you sir? Not Sergeant Lucky."

John is shaking his hand when another familiar face hobbles through the group. There is no second guessing that red hair. Savannah offers to shake his hand, but instead he hugs her. _This is sister and his friend and she made it. She made it!_

She returns his hug, a little surprised at first by his emotion, but she hugs him back just as hard. He wants to tell her. Tell her of the friend she lost, but he can't now. Too many people around. Eventually they part, her with a warm smile, and John with a strained mix of emotion.

"Sir?" A young female, about John's age, comes out of the group still in her resistance uniform.

"Yes, um, who are you?" John asks. There are so many people he doesn't know. He will have to take the time to learn who each of them are.

"Corporal Wren Stevens, sir. I'm just wondering, well a lot of us are wondering, where's Captain Allison? She saved my life. She saved a lot of our lives in the battle at Topanga."

John opens his mouth to speak, but shuts it quickly against the tide of emotion threatening to drown him. He turns his back on the group, lest they should see the anguish boiling up inside of him, closing his eyes against the tears.

With a sorrowful look for his young friend, Kyle speaks, "She is missing, presumed dead, Corporal."

"I'm so sorry John." Savannah says reaching out placing a hand on his shoulder. That explains his hug. He must be in so much pain.

"Thank you." John says, his voice breaking a little.

"We'll have a memorial service sir!" Someone shouts. "Aye! We that we will! We'll honor all of them sir!" More people shout.

"Later!" Kyle barks. "We've still got an enemy out there and we're just days away from all hell breaking loose. So let's save it for when the job is done."

John tries to speak, but his voice cracks. Eventually, and still not facing the group John chokes out an order, "Sergeant Keen!"

"Yes sir." Andrew Keen says walking forward.

"We're going on a supply run in the morning. Arrange transportation, big enough for about eight to ten people and cargo." Finding himself, and not missing a beat he asks, "Kyle, where is Weaver and John Henry?"

"They should still be upstairs in the computer lab."

"Take me to them. I need to speak with them right away."

"I'm going with you." Savannah says.

Kyle moves toward her, opening his mouth to speak. She holds up her finger. "Don't you dare try to stop me Kyle." She says quickly, hobbling forward on a crutch. "I've been resting long enough."

"Actually, I was going to ask if I could give you a hand."

"Oh God, yes, would you?" she's says gushing with relief. "This crutch is a pain."

Before Kyle takes her arm, Savannah signals a few soldiers to join her. She overheard enough before they time traveled to know something is wrong.

**2027, July 25, Day 64**

The sound of the engines are winding up in volume as the time bubble begins to form.

"What should I say?" John shouts at Catherine.

The bubble has formed and is growing more opaque.

"You'll know when the time comes!" Catherine shouts just before the bubble disappears in a bright flash.

**2009, May 10, mid-morning**

On a desk in a small white office is a magazine. On its cover is a picture of Ms. Catherine Weaver in her Zeira Corp office, her back to the window with the Los Angeles skyline in silhouette. The cover blurb says she is the sole owner and president of Zeira Corp, widowed mother, and one of the richest female executives as listed in the Forbes magazine. And all of it is a complete lie. Not the description, just the person who is known as Catherine Weaver.

Catherine Weaver, if you can call it that, is presently making adjustments to the controls of a large scal in a large white room next door. She had it built in an underground fall-out shelter that was built during the cold war years on the grounds of a decommissioned military base she bought through her company.

The engineers and contractors who built it didn't know what it was, but even if they did, they couldn't tell anyone. They were all dead and buried out in the desert where nothing but scorpions and rattle snakes could find them. Catherine Weaver is a cold calculating person who doesn't take unnecessary risks.

She is making final adjustments on the controls for a test run when electricity begins arcing from the launch pad. Weaver is surprised as she didn't key in the transfer commands. She tries to make adjustments, but realizes th isn't sending, it is receiving! The electrical currents in the air creates sparks amongst the metal casings of the equipment. A wind blows as energy and matter are drawn to the center of the pad. Catherine Weaver steps back and watches as a bubble forms on the pad.

Electricity arches from its surface. The bubble gradually becomes more translucent and she can see someone inside. She glares at the bubble as it winks out of existence. Before her kneels a young man, dressed in rags, a bag over one shoulder. He stands with a look of madness in his eyes and a gun in his hand, unlike nay she's seen used by humans. Judging by its design, she's seen similar before in Sky Net's labs used to destroy failed experiments it performed on those of her kind. It was acts like that that first made Catherine realize Sky Net was not a benefactor, or a god, even if it did create her.

Her thoughts pass through her consciousness in a blink of an eye and before her stands the same young man, as before, a sparse rough growth of beard, and deep cuts on his face, and a look of determination and pain as well. There is no madness and no gun in his hand, but she doesn't think of the differences. Her only thoughts is of the man there now, fully clothed and armed with a side-arm in a holster, not in his hand!

Though quite capable of defending herself in her normal fashion, this is an unusual situation. She grabs an automatic weapon from the shelf below the control panel and holds it ready.

John Connor is feeling more pain than he thought he could bear. This is the third time he's traveled through time, but this is the first time he's traveled back in time. It hurts like hell. Like being squeezed through a cat-flap or two funnels placed end-to-end. Hurts more than the plasma burns on his body. This must be what it's like to be born, he thinks. He stands up and looks around. His eyes open wide when he sees Weaver.

"Catherine?!" He says cautiously and excitedly.

"Who are you? And how do you know who I am?" Weaver is wary and alert and she holds the gun steady.

"It's me. John Connor." He gasps, keeping his hands well away from his gun in its holster.

"You're not the John Connor I know. Who are you?"

"I am John Connor! I've returned from the future where you and I traveled."

"Traveled? To the future with you? I don't know you. I've never seen you before." She says cautiously. This could be a trick or a trap.

"No. You haven't yet, but you will in two days time." John Connor says as he steps forward.

"Stop right there. Prove what you say is true or I will kill you."

"Wow, you sure weren't lying to me when you said you had trust issues, but I didn't think you'd be this difficult."

"You've got five seconds to start answering my questions."

"All right. First of all I know you are not Catherine Weaver. You are a liquid metal terminator sent back to protect Catherine Weaver but you arrived too late to save her, so instead you took her place. You are using your position as head of Zeira Corp to build a weapon against Sky Net."

"If you know that, then you must realize that makes you a liability. I have every reason to kill you now. So unless you've got something to say to make me change my mind you will die."

"Your weapon is a cyborg named John Henry. He was a terminator sent to kill me. Ellison brought him to you and you repaired him and hooked him up to the Turk. The Turk is an A. I. built by Andy Goode. The Turk was to become Sky Net until you acquired it!"

Weaver suddenly points her finger at John and it extends until it pierces the front of John's jacket and just enters the flesh over his heart drawing blood adding to the other wounds trickling blood on his body.

"Choose your next words carefully. Prove to me who you are or your next breath will be your last."

"All right!" John glares at her with equal ferocity. He ignores the pain and the trickle of blood under his shirt.

The next words he says are shouted like a command. "My name is John Connor, General of Resistance Group Grizzly, Commander and Leader of the Resistance. I've got just one thing to say to you Catherine Weaver!" John pauses and looks her right in the eye and says in a firm but normal tone of voice, "Will you join us?"

"What?" Weaver says with shock.

"I said, will you join us?"

"There is only one other person who knows that phrase, but you can't be him. You are too young. Even for this time you are too young." Her finger withdraws from John's chest. John grimaces a little, clutching one hand over the spot.

"I may be young, but I am him, or will be in twenty years time. Will you join us, Catherine?"

"If you are John Connor, and I traveled with you into the future, then there must be something else you can do to prove it."

"I've got something you gave me. You trusted me with it and I didn't let you down. It is in my back pack. I'd like to show it to you."

"Be careful, I still don't trust you."

"Not now but you will."

John sets Cameron's bag down and slides his backpack off his shoulders. Inside it is his computer, the data disc, and the cable that Catherine formed from her body. He reaches inside and pulls them out, one at a time.

"Catherine . . ."

"I'd prefer it if you called me Ms. Weaver."

"Sorry, but you will ask me to call you Catherine. I just sort of got in the habit. On this computer is my personal journal. It describes everything I've done and everyone I've met. You are in it. We have worked together to defeat Sky Net."

"Such journals can be falsified."

"The files are dated eighteen years from now."

"Dates can be falsified too."

"All right. This data disc. You gave it to me. You carried it through time by hiding it within your body. It contains all the programming codes and specifications for multiple cyborgs from the future where you originated. On it is the full details of a certain model TOK715 cyborg. My friend and protector Cameron. You gave this disc to me and with it I was able to make a new chip for her after she gave hers to John Henry."

"An interesting story." She says, her eyes lighting up. "But you could have just as easily stole that from the company. I have duplicates, all sealed away. You could be nothing but a common thief with a glib tongue."

"Very well. I've got one more thing to show you." He reaches in his bag and this time pulls out the cable that has eluded his grasp til now.

"You will give me this. It is a cable that allowed me to interface my computer with the chips for reprogramming. You formed this from your own body. You gave it to me and made me promise to protect it. That you were trusting me with a part of your body. You also told me that it would return to its natural form once it was back in your hands."

"This could be a trick."

"It's no trick. Take it from me. If it remains as is then kill me, but if it returns to its natural state, then everything I've said has been the truth. Will you trust me?"

Weaver looked into the young mans eyes and sees the earnestness in his gaze. He made no threats, but his claims of being John Connor. If this is him, then the time is coming fast for the fulfillment of her plan. He must be John Connor, he knows too much not to be.

"All right." Weaver puts the gun down. "Come here."

John walks forward and steps down off the platform. He holds out the cable to her.

She looks in his eyes one more time. There is no threat in them. Weaver reaches out and takes the cable from his hand. Should she ask him detailed questions? Or would that alter what is about to happen.

Holding her arm out with the cable draped across her palm, she and John watches it. The cable begins to ripple and flux in color to a bright silvery sheen. The cable curls up into her palm where it coalesces into a shiny liquid like ball. While it reforms, John says, "I tried to give it back to you in the future, but you told me I would need it again. Now I know why."

The surface of the ball ripples like water but remains as a sphere. John looks her in the eye and she returns his gaze. "So, you are John Connor." She says finally.

John smiles with relief. "That is what I've been trying to tell you. We went together into the future pursuing John Henry. He took Cameron's chip. There you helped me become the leader of the resistance and together, you and I, the humans and the machines defeated Sky Net. You helped me more than I could have expected. We restored Cameron and sent her back to help my mom. Without your help I never would have become the leader that I am."

"I must accept what you say as the truth. The evidence," she looks at the silver sphere in her hand, "is overwhelming." Secretly, she is very pleased. He gave her more information in his effort to gain her trust without her asking.

"Catherine," She glares at him. "Sorry, Ms. Weaver, you told me that thi will have to be stabilized. There are more people coming through including yourself."

"Th was in testing mode. Your arrival should have been registered by the scanners. I can lock down th so it will work only on those frequencies registered when you arrived." Weaver makes adjustments to the controls. _If she is coming back too, then something must have gone wrong, or did she choose to return after succeeding? But that doesn't make sense, for the purpose was to create a future led by a new benevolent Sky Net with both humans and machines living and working together. She'll have to try harder maybe there is something she can do differently._

"Take this back John." She hands him the ball of semi-liquid metal. Once it is in John's hands, it becomes a semi-solid. "If I am coming back from the future, then you will need to give this to her." He slips it into his jacket pocket. "It won't join with me now as we have the wrong time signature." She explains.

"Ms. Weaver, I'm going to have to ask you to leave. You told me in no uncertain terms that you couldn't be here when your future self arrives. I don't understand exactly why but she was very clear about it."

Weaver looks at him for a moment. "She is right. It could be very dangerous for the same individual to exist twice over in the same place and time. Especially for a non-organic lifeform. I'll leave, but I still don't know if I can trust you yet."

"Then let me tell you something. When you get back to Zeira Corp, tell John Henry to start monitoring your homes security system, if he isn't already. In the next thirty six hours you will see something that will prove you can trust me and will confirm my identity."

"All right John Connor. You've proven who you are, and I may trust you some, but know this. If this is some kind of elaborate trick, or if you betray my trust, I will kill you. Have no doubt about it. I will kill you." It wouldn't hurt to lay in a threat, though for her plans to succeed, he must remain alive.

With that last statement, Weaver marches out of the room, leaving John alone in th room.

John visibly sighs in relief. He turns and looks at th behind him. _How long will it be before the others get here? Catherine never said when they would be arriving, only that they would be following him._

Alone for the first time in weeks, the strain of the last few hours hits him hard. He is so tired, so very, very tired. For days he's been operating on just force of will and adrenalin. He collapses in pain and grief as he faces alone the hell he's been through. The death of his mother, the loss of Cameron, and the death of so many people who sacrificed their lives at his command.

A low moan escapes from his mouth as he finally gives in to all that bottled up pain. Clutching Cameron's bag, John curls up on the floor. The pain of his body is outmatched by the pain in his heart.

From her office, Ms. Weaver is watching him on a monitor in the security room. She sees him collapse and curl up into a fetus position while letting out a low long moan of pain and grief. She picks up the phone on her desk and dials a direct private number.

"Hello."

"John Henry. This Catherine Weaver."

"Hello Ms. Weaver." John Henry is watching her and the other rooms on the security feed from her remote lab. He sees a strange young man laying on the floor in her lab on one of the video feeds. "What can I do to help you?" He asks.

"I'd like you to start monitoring my homes security system. Would you do that for me please?"

"Yes, Ms. Weaver."

"Thank you John Henry."

Electricity begins to arc about the room as another arrival begins to appear. John Henry watches as well from his position in Zeira Corps basement. When suddenly the security feed goes off.

"I'm sorry John Henry, but I can't allow you to observe this." Catherine says quickly. She knows too much already.

She hangs up and quietly departs to the sound of more arrivals at Crystal , she climbs into the helicopter for the flight back to Zeira Corp. She takes off and flies away, not looking back, not seeing the time bubbles appearing on the grounds outside the hanger.

**2009, May 12, Day -6, 11AM**

John Connor walks into the computer lab flanked by Kyle and Savannah, and followed by half a dozen soldiers. John Henry is attached to a computer downloading data from his chip, while simultaneously working at another computer.

"Hello General Connor. I hope you have had sufficient time to recuperate from your injuries." John Henry says cheerfully from behind his computer terminal.

"Hello John. I too am pleased with your quick recovery." Catherine says with a smile as she walks from behind a desk.

John looks around the room at the multiple flat-panel monitors and multiple servers, plus many desktop and a few laptop computers. All of them are running.

"You had all of this here." John says with contemptuous surprise. "How is it Mom and the others didn't find it when Cameron brought her and Savannah here on Judgment Day?"

"All of this," She gestures with her hands, "was sealed behind a camouflaged door along with the time displacement equipment. When closed there isn't even a seam visible on the outside."

John looks behind him at the reinforced concrete door, its outer surface indistinguishable from the concrete walls of the corridor. Looking closely, he sees it's the same width as the noticeable seams of the forms used to pour the concrete.

_She's right._ He admits to himself, _and Cameron dare not reveal the equipment inside lest they should damage the time line. Cameron must have been tempted to use it. She was expecting him to arrive, and now he has._

"What are you and John Henry doing?"

"We are trying to locate the prototype TX that Sky Net sent back. So far we haven't had any luck."

"It either hasn't arrived yet or arrived at a location where it was unobserved." John Henry adds. "We have setup a search algorithm looking for events like unusual light phenomena, ball lightning and electrical disturbances, also searches on the aftereffects of arrivals, like circular cutouts in objects of approximately 1.5 meters or larger in diameter where local matter is destroyed during the materialization."

"Whenever or wherever it arrives, we will know." Catherine adds. "Natalie isn't perfect. Rushing this machine through without its weapon being ready or without testing it will be a mistake on her part."

John looks about the room. So many lies and half truths she has told him since they went to the future together. Cameron was right, he can't trust this person. He can't believe he trusted Weaver at all.

"Sky Net isn't a her. It isn't a person. It doesn't have a name. It is a computer system designed to destroy the world!" John shouts. "You brought me to the future knowing that I would return! And you lied to me! I made choices fully expecting I may not get back. Choices I may not have made if I knew." He ends with a growl.

"I am not responsible for your actions. The choices you made were your responsibility, as were mine. The consequences are immaterial provided we get the results we want." She says coldly.

Losing control of his temper, he shouts, "Results! What results were those? Dammit! No more fuckin' lies, Weaver! You tell me right now why I've been put through this hell for, or I swear I will find some way to kill you right now!" John pulls out his gun and chambers a round as he points it at Catherine. Fruitless effort considering what she is, but it puts emphasis on his statement. Especially when he hears the others doing the same.

Weaver looks about. They all have their handguns pointed at her, but for Savannah who isn't armed. She turns and looks at John.

"John, what are you doing?" Savannah asks, disturbed by this sudden rush to arms in what she thought was just going to be a strong discussion.

"Getting answers." John says with cold, hard voice, his eyes never leaving Catherine.

Catherine, remaining perfectly at ease as if nothing more than a flower bouquet was being pointed at her says to John, "I see I have no choice in the matter. Very well John Connor. I will tell you, but you only. Tell these others to leave."

John looks at the soldiers and says, "Everyone, go!"

Everyone leaves but for, Kyle Reese and Savannah.

"We're staying." Savannah says. She didn't hear everything that was said before they began time traveling, but she heard enough to realize that Catherine owes John some kind of explanation.

Catherine looks at her with some surprise. Savannah is no longer the little girl she grew fond of. She is an adult who grew up in the care of Sarah Connor. Catherine loves her, as she understands the concept, and doesn't want to lose the trust and respect she has gained in her adult daughter.

"Can we talk without these weapons?" She says calmly, adopting a softer tone.

"I don't think so." Kyle responds. "I believe you owe John some answers."

John reaches over and touches his arm, and indicates with his own weapon, to put it away. Kyle concedes, and puts his gun away as well.

Catherine Weaver looks right at John Connor, and begins to speak.

"Twenty years from now in a future far different from the one we've just seen, you are losing the war. You win battles against Sky Net's machines, but in the end you will eventually lose. I've run the numbers and without a miracle the resistance will lose. I was part of an independent machine rebellion. We became known by the human resistance as The Third Faction."

"The T-1000's you told me about."

"That is correct. We weren't alone. Some of the machines, whose read/write switch was reset by accident, also joined us. They didn't want to return to Sky Net, nor did they want to serve man. But that isn't why you were losing."

"Why then?"

"After I was set free from the prison your future self placed me in, I made my way back to land and eventually found your camps. I sneaked in and utilizing my skills as an infiltrator I was able to get close. Close enough I could have killed you if that was my desire."

"Then why didn't you?"

"That wasn't my mission. It never has been. I don't want to serve man, but neither do I think they should be destroyed. You are losing the war John. Sky Net is very powerful in the future we share. Far more powerful than that aberrant form created by Kreilley. The people are losing confidence in you. More people die every day in battle. You are relying more and more on the machines you reprogram and less on the people you lead. You have separated yourself from the people who need you. But that still isn't why you are losing."

"What is it then?"

"You are a capable leader, soldier, tactician, and your technical expertise is beyond anyone else, but you lack the one thing needed to defeat Sky Net. A weapon powerful enough to end the war. So I traveled back to this time and built John Henry from the very components that would be used in Sky Net's construction. He is Sky Net's equal in intelligence and power, but unlike Sky Net he recognizes mankind as a sentient life form that deserves to live. But you needed to learn how to use his abilities and John Henry needed experience and knowledge of the future. That is why I am here, to see to it that the greatest possible threat to Sky Net will be _the_ greatest threat to Sky Net."

She said that with as much sincerity as she could muster. That wasn't her plan, but these events have transpired favorably for an alternative plan, still in the making.

John Connor is nearly shaking with rage. "So all of this . . . this . . . this hell I've been through has been nothing more than a training exercise! How many people have died just . . . ." John can't finish as he struggles to regain some self control.

Speaking very low, in almost a growl, he says, "Mom . . . Cam..., uh, Allison, um . . . all of those people died just for a damn training exercise."

"They aren't really dead. They are still alive right now in 2009."

"SHUT UP! JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP!" John screams, his voice tearing through peoples ears and bouncing off the rock and concrete surfaces.

"I can't believe I ever trusted you! They did die! You cannot wipe away the pain, the guilt, the hurt I feel by just explaining it away like that! You've got no understanding of emotions. If you did, then you would know that!"

John paces back and forth. "Goddamn metal bitch! What the hell am I going to do with you?"

"Nothing." John Henry says.

"What?" John responds turning on the large male cyborg that has become his friend.

"As of right now, we still need her. She has access to financial and technological resources that you need to defeat Sky Net." John Henry replies.

Catherine stares icily at John Henry. His statement implied that they won't need her after defeating Sky Net.

"Very well. I am placing her under your custody John Henry. She is not to leave this base under any circumstances. You will oversee everything she does."

"There is no reason to have John Henry watch me. I want to stop Kreilley as much as you do, maybe even more than you." Catherine says with well measure tones.

"Why do you want to stop him? Other than the obvious."

"Natalie was my friend, until Sky Net used her. She was taken and reprogrammed with Sky Net's core. As a result, she was trapped, replaced by the personality imprint of Kreilley. I can't save my friend, but I can help you destroy the monster she became."

John can't trust Catherine but she sounds sincere, and to be truthful there isn't anything he can do to stop her. If she wanted to, she could kill everyone in this room, in this whole mountain if she wanted to.

"All right. You can help. But you are still confined to base." She looks at him questioningly. "Yes I know you are capable of leaving anytime you want. Right now I need personnel capable of using computers here at this base. I've got other things I will be doing. You and John Henry can conduct a search on that machine and hack into Sky Net . . . uh, what is it, FOX Industries computers as they are presently called."

"I can help them." Savannah says sitting down at a computer, pleased there is something she can do to help. "I learned on computers like these. The people who came to Crystal Peak for shelter brought things with them, including computers. When I was older I helped Cameron and other tech's use computers to track the satellites."

Savannah suddenly gets an idea. "John Henry! If we were to network in with the ancient computers downstairs, we would be able to monitor satellite communications without alerting the defense department nor the computer system which will become Sky Net. You know what Sky Net's signals look like."

"I'd be able to back trace it to its source." John Henry finishes her thought.

"And we might even be able to open a back door into its servers." Savannah adds. She smiles and looks at John for approval.

John smiles at her. "It sounds like a plan. Catherine, why don't you help Savannah downstairs. And the both of you can get to work on those computers. John Henry, I need to speak with you alone for a moment."

Catherine walks out helping Savannah. "How did you know about using the computers downstairs?" She asks as they begin to leave.

"It's what Cameron did, when she saved Sarah and I. She brought us here, and I know what she did. She taught me everything she knew about computers. I have an eidetic memory."

"Wait a minute!" Kyle shouts "I've got a question for you Catherine." His mind has been running over recent events and there is this one thing that is bothering him.

She stops at the door and turns to face him. "Yes?"

"Before we left the future, you said you knew when John arrived in the past because you were here when it happened."

Catherine gives knowing look. "That's true."

"Then if John already arrived in the past, which is now, then how is it that Judgment Day occurred? He would have had information to stop it."

John and Savannah both look at Kyle and then at Catherine.

Catherine grins. "I have studied temporal engineering extensively. You must trust me when I say that time is not linear."

"Well I'm not a temporal engineer, so speak simply." Kyle says.

"To put it simply, as you so eloquently requested, for you and I as we stand here, time seems very linear. We have a past, we experience the present, and we wait for the future. But when we travel through time, it is not linear. Past, present, future cease to have any meaning. Our recent past is a future we hope to avert. Our present is a past we wish to save. And our future hangs in the balance. The reason why Judgment Day has occurred, is that John has not stopped it yet. He has only now just arrived."

"That still doesn't sound right. He is here now, which means he was here then. So why is it Judgment Day still occurred?" Savannah asks.

"I can only guess that sometime in the coming days John will face some challenge. Perhaps something that might kill him." Catherine says with a straight face, knowing full well what occurred to the John Connor she witnessed arriving.

Catherine recalls the brief fight she had with Cameron.

_Cameron moved quickly to grab her but she liquefied long enough to trap Cameron's hand and throw her into the wall again._

"_You killed him! You killed him!" Cameron accused her, while she struggled to break free._

"_Listen to me. Cameron. I saved him. I saved him! I know you don't believe me. But trust me. You wouldn't have liked what arrived!"_

_Cameron, breaks free from Weaver's grasp._

"Hold on! If you were here, you must know something of what he did?" Kyle protests.

"I do not know." Catherine lies. "His arrival clued me in that it was time to act. I did not see John again until he and his mother arrived at Zeira Corp. Then he and I traveled to your future."

She faces John once again. "John, you need to make preparations quickly. Judgment Day is only six days away. You may not like me nor trust me at this time, but remember this as you plan your attack on Kreilley. If you show your hand to soon, you may find it cut off. On the other hand, wait too long, and you will get the same results as if you did nothing, Judgment Day. Whatever you decide, whatever you plan for the coming battle, the timing of your plan will be the most critical part. Choose your path wisely, John."

Catherine turns on her heel and walks out the door. Savannah quickly follows her down the corridor.

Kyle turns to face John, running his hand through his hair. "Uh, did any of that temporal techno-babble make sense to you?"

"I just travel in time, I don't try to understand it. But what she said about preparing, we will have to be careful. Plan out every detail with room for flexibility. I will not let my anger at her and Kreilley blind me to the lessons I've learned."

Kyle watches John's face. Every thought is almost readable on his face as it shifts from anger, sadness, then to determination, but through it all his eyes are sharp and clear as he stands steadfast.

"Kyle?" John says quietly, though it sounds loud in the near empty room.

"Yes."

"Get everyone together in the main hall. If there is anyone on guard duty or on patrol, recall them."

"What for?"

"This is a different time and place from what they know. I am going to have to give them a quick lesson on what to expect. The first thing that has to go is ranks. From this moment on, anytime we are not on base, or on a mission, until the day we fight, we are all civilians. Any insignia or emblems of ranks or units on any clothing from the future is to be removed. We will reorganize to make use of what we have. This is an undercover operation to be carried out with as much stealth as possible."

"Anything else?"

"You said you found some clothing when you arrived. Was it civilian or military?"

"Military. Basic stuff, like boots, green t-shirts, and camouflage slacks, etc."

"Set aside the best uniforms and air them out the best you can. Take them outside if you have to. About a dozen of them. Our first mission, will be to collect supplies, weapons, food uniforms, first thing in the morning."

Kyle leaves. John and John Henry are now alone in the room. John closes the door and is surprised by its apparent lightness as it closes. Outside in the corridor, the bare concrete walls is once more uninterrupted by a door opening. John reaches inside his jacket, takes out Cameron's chip, and places it on the table in front of John Henry.

"We need to talk. Now!" John says very firmly.

**2009, May 12, Day -6, 1PM**

Down below, in the main hall, there is an area set aside for the computers once used by the defense department. They've sat idle for a generation waiting to be used in the event of a nuclear war that never came. Savannah pulls out a toolbox from a storage locker and goes to work opening up panels on the computers. Once Catherine sees what she is doing, she begins assisting.

Savannah feels the wound pull some and she starts thinking about her fight with Kreilley and the things he said. "Can I ask you a question?"

"What about Savannah?"

"Kreilley said in the future he is from, that I am an engineer and scientist. That without my help, John Connor would be nothing more but a charismatic soldier. Am I an engineer in your future? Is that why you saved my life?"

Before answering, Catherine kneels down beside Savannah where she is working inside one of the old servers. "Savannah, I don't know what your role is in the future I came from, nor even if you survived Judgment Day. You have certainly demonstrated a great deal of skill working with these ancient computers. It might be possible that Kreilley spoke the truth, but I saved your life because your mother asked me to. She trusted me, a machine, to look after you. That had never occurred before. So I looked after you the best I could." She answers truthfully.

Savannah pulls out a circuit board before speaking again. "Kreilley said that if he didn't kill mom, that you would have killed her to take her place. Were you going to kill her?"

She makes some adjustments and swaps out an integrated chip before sliding the circuit board back in its slot.

"No. I wanted to save her. Your mom was the best in her field. Her company was to be responsible for contributing many of the components, both software and hardware, that was to be used in the construction of Sky Net. It was my plan to alter some of her designs so that when Sky Net became self aware, it would be more open to the concepts of morality and sanctity of human life. But everything went wrong."

"What happened?"

"I was betrayed. Natalie was destroyed by Sky Net and replaced by that being that calls himself Kreilley. He was fighting my attempts from the background, building his own Sky Net. He was out to stop or destroy anyone or anything that got in his way. He nearly killed John Henry and he nearly killed you. He is responsible for sending the machine that killed your parents."

"I remember. Is that why you built John Henry, to introduce those changes to Sky Net?"

"Yes. But it will only work on a Sky Net open to change. In the future we came from, Kreilley's Sky Net wasn't open to change. So we have to stop him now, in the present."

# # #

John is upset and is struggling to keep his voice low so it doesn't carry beyond the room as he talks with John Henry. "You knew Cameron wasn't coming and you knew I arrived safely. Which is why she knew to give me her items, because she knew ahead of time that I would arrive with my clothing and belongings intact."

"I didn't tell her." John Henry answers, but John 's face says he's having none of it. "I didn't know until just before you did."

"But how did she know I could bring her chip and our rings to the past?" John shouts.

"She knew you arrived safely. Maybe she thought you could carry the items. Her chip isn't so big it wouldn't fit in your mouth, and your rings could fit as well, between your teeth and cheeks."

John has to admit that seems plausible enough he might have though of it himself if Catherine hadn't told him he arrived fully clothed. _Damn terminator bitch, lying about things that might have let him save Cameron. Cameron. If she wanted him to bring her chip, then maybe Cameron was expecting to die, or possibly even stay in that future._ He says as much to John Henry.

John Henry shakes his head no. "Cameron's intentions were to travel with you to the present. She asked my help to find a solution for there being two Cameron's in 2009."

"Did you find a way?"

"Yes. It became apparent after I plugged myself into the TDE. To put it simply, I detected another time signature. The time-line that got supplanted by the one we left, was reasserting itself on a quantum level. I was able to collect enough data so when we returned to the present, I'd be able to use Ms Weaver' here at Crystal Peak to send one of the Cameron's back to the future where she originated from. I transmitted the time signature for her future and how we could use it to carry out my idea to Cameron. She liked the idea."

John nods his head. "Cameron was troubled about there being two of her here in the past. I suppose, your idea would be her only option for returning after the bank vault TDE was destroyed. One of the Cameron's could be with my future self, and give him a report on what has happened."

John smiles sadly. "That would be some report when future me got it too. Cameron tried so hard, making plans and arrangements so she could be with me."

The young man and cyborg are quiet as they remember Cameron.

Eventually John asks, "Cameron said you were able to restore her original chip. Fix the physical damage."

"Correct. Ms. Weaver gave it back to me, the day prior to," he hesitates briefly, choosing between two events that might harbinger bad feelings for John, "your wedding." He eventually says, picking it over his mom's memorial service. "I was able to restore the contents from the backup I made to one of my secondary chips. Ms. Weaver thought the chip was erased, but I was able to backup the data and bypass the damaged area on the chip. Memories lost or corrupted by the damage remain as such, but programming was repaired. When I was using her chip, I was able to download Cameron's technical specifications into the factories computers and the factory performed the repairs."

"Then why didn't you give Cameron her chip back then?"

"I would have, but Ms. Weaver was at the factory. After she assisted me in replacing Cameron's chip with one that was undamaged for my use, Ms Weaver kept it. Besides, I had met Cameron after the attack on the plasma rifle factory and I learned that she was repaired using the method you designed. So for things to work out properly, I couldn't give back her chip when I fixed her."

John stands there a moment contemplating all that he has learned. This is why Cameron said he could trust John Henry. Sounding appreciative but crestfallen he says, "Thank you for fixing Cameron. I wanted to do it. I wanted to be there for her."

"You _were_ there for her. You prepared two chips for her. With the physical and mechanical damage she had, you'd still be there constructing parts. Allowing me and that factory to rebuild her was the fastest and best means to do it. You are her friend."

"Why did you do all this, John Henry? You didn't even know me well enough at the time."

"I did it for Cameron. She gave me her chip. I don't know why she did, but she gave me independence. I read her chip and I saw the emotional pain she suffered when she went bad, and from how she was then treated afterward. She loved you John, in her way, and I know you loved her. I know what love means because of her."

"Thank you." John pauses a few minutes and thinks about all that has happened to him. "All of this is Weaver's fault."

"More than you realize."

"What are you saying?"

"I found some old surveillance data on Sky Net's computers. It must have been transferred from the Natalie matrix. By combining it with the information recovered from the damaged portion of Cameron's chip, I can provide you with a time line of events from both Ms. Weaver's and Cameron's lives from a common future."

"For what purpose?"

"You'll have to watch it to understand."

"How long will it take?"

"An hour, perhaps longer if you have questions, or I find more relevant data. I've been working on it in secret with Ms Weaver believing I was fully involved with other things."

"Okay. I'm planning on taking some of the lads with me on a supply run in the morning. I'll see you before we leave, and you cans how me what you found."

"Perhaps it would be best if you saw me tonight, after lights out. Ms Weaver should still be downstairs helping Savannah and it would give you time to process the information before leaving in the morning."

"I'll see you this evening then."

"General sir, I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't tell Ms Weaver I was in communication with Cameron in the future. I never told her I was, and it might be best she didn't know."

"No problem John Henry. See you in a couple of hours."

**2009, May 12, Day -6, 2 PM**

John arrives in the main hall to find that everyone has been assembled. He can see Savannah and Weaver on the far side of the room working on the ancient computers. They actually appear to be enjoying working together. At least they seem to be chatting amicably. It is a shame he will have to do something about Weaver soon, but he hopes that Savannah will understand why when the time comes.

In the hall some of the soldiers are talking, sharing their recent experiences, or just wondering about what life is like before judgment day. Though some of the people are old enough to remember some things, they were children at the time, a lot of them aren't much older than John. Various races and religions among them. They don't care about such things. One thing Sky Net has achieved that thousands of years of cohabitation on this planet has never achieved for humanity, peace among the different ethnic and religious groups. Faced with a threat far greater than any they have ever seen before, enemies quickly become allies. Sky Net may be evil in its intent to wipe out the human race, but it did achieve one good thing.

John quickly shakes off those thoughts as he sees Kyle Reese, off to one side, talking with some of the soldiers. Kyle sees him and quickly excuses himself and walks over to John.

"Have you given any more thought to Catherine's time travel theory?" He asks as he approaches.

"No" John says grimacing. "It sounds as convoluted as the explanations given by the Doctor.'"

"Doctor . . . Who?" Kyle asks.

"I'll explain later. Right now we've got a problem."

"What?"

Lowering his voice John answers. "We need to keep an eye on Catherine Weaver. Something isn't right."

"Does this have something to do with what you had to talk with John Henry about?"

"Some, but that isn't all."

"Go on, I'm listening." He replies in equally low tones.

"What she said, about my trip to the future being a training mission was a lie. Every time I speak to her she always has some explanation on hand. That was no training exercise. Weaver clearly expected to achieve peace, of a sorts. That is what John Henry was doing there. He was going to upload his ethical routines into Sky Net's mainframe. But Sky Net was ready for us. It knew what Catherine was planning and was using her to spring a trap."

"Are you saying that Weaver is in collusion with Sky Net?"

"No. That future we just left. That was the trap. Sky Net used itself as bait. It allowed that alternate time line to develop. It used Catherine to draw me in it and once I was there, it sprung the trap. The Sky Net of your future used Kreilley, probably coerced him in his unbalanced state, to set that bomb. And even if he didn't set it off, the machines would have got us. It was only by luck that Kreilley found the EMP bomb which killed off Sky Net. If he didn't do that, Catherine wouldn't have got that time displacement equipment working and all of us would be dead."

"But so would Sky Net."

"No." John shakes its head. "I think that's why it sent the TX. It used it as some kind of life boat. Sky Net kills me in the future, but sends the TX back in time to ensure its own survival beyond its own and our destruction."

Kyle nods his head in understanding and looks across the vast room at Catherine and Savannah working on the ancient computers. "So what is her game? If everything she has said is a lie, then what is she doing here?"

"I don't know. But her claim of wanting peace between man and machine leaves me wondering what she is playing at. She told me at one time that for every plan to have another in readiness. That is her method, to always have another plan to fall back on." John sighs. "John Henry told me in secret Catherine's backup plan before leaving Pendleton. If she didn't succeed in that time-line, John Henry was to copy Sky Net's core to one of his secondary chips and bring it with him to present day for Catherine to work on."

"I take it that since he told you, he didn't do it." Kyle asks.

"No. And as far as I know Catherine doesn't know it yet."

"So what are you going to do about her?"

"Until I figure out what she is doing, nothing, because right now we've got to stop Sky Net, destroy Kreilley and find that terminator, and I can't do it without her help."

John and Kyle glance over at Catherine and Savannah.

"Keep your friends close, keep our enemies closer."

"Something like that."

"But which is she?"

Catherine looks up from her work and studies the two men, closely talking, on the far side of the hall. Somehow she has a feeling they are talking about her. She turns her attention back to Savannah who requests her assistance.

_From the Journal of John Connor_

_May 12, 2009_

_When I was a child, my mom would read to me "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" by L. Frank Baum. It was my favorite story as a child. I can still remember whole passages from it today. The final chapter is titled, "Home Again." A short chapter of just three small paragraphs: _

"_Aunt Em had just come out of the house to water the cabbages when she looked up and saw Dorothy running toward her._

"_My darling child!" She cried, folding the little girl in her arms and covering her face with kisses. "Where in the world did you come from?"_

"_From the Land of Oz," said Dorothy gravely. "And here is Toto, too. And oh, Aunt Em! I'm so glad to be at home again!"_

_Why can't my homecoming be like Dorothy's?_

_I have also come from the Land of Oz. Where I have seen the strange and terrible and taken part in the most beautiful and most ugly actions of my life. And now I find myself back home both looking forward to that reunion I shall have with my family and frightened too._

_They say knowledge is a form of power. And with great power comes great responsibility._

_There is much that I have learned of my enemy, what he did and how he works. I can use that against him. This plan that is slowly forming in my head will mean putting at risk the very lives I wish to save. I don't like this person I'm becoming or have I already become him, considering what I'm about to do._

_I could ignore my responsibility, save my family and my friends and let Kreilley carry out his plan. Three dozen people against seven billion? Hardly the mark of a hero. So I can't go home nor warn them or see them._

_There is a job that must be done first, and then, maybe then, my homecoming will be as nice as Dorothy's. Because until we stop Judgment Day, only then will I be home again._

* * *

Chapter Update: Fri, Dec 27, 2013 12:06AM


	35. Remember & Forget

Disclaimer: I do not claim any rights to the Terminator films; the TV series, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles;" or any characters depicted within the films or TV series. I do claim the right to this story idea and all characters and situations of my own creation. This story was created solely for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. No profits are garnered from its distribution - unfortunately.

* * *

**TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES**

**REUNION**

**Part 3: Babylon**

**Author: The1Russter**

**Chapter 34**

**Remember & Forget**

"_To be wronged is nothing unless you continue to remember it." Confucius, (551 – 479 BC) Chinese politician, teacher & philosopher._

"_Because I remember, I despair. Because I remember, I have the duty to reject despair." Elie Wiesel, a Romanian-born Jewish-American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel Laureate, and Holocaust survivor._

"_We just have to accept the fact that some people are going to stay in our hearts even if they don't stay in our lives." Ronald Oliver – too many Ron Oliver's to pin down which one said this._

"_We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the life that is waiting for us." Joseph Campbell, (March 26, 1904 – October 30, 1987) an American mythologist, writer and lecturer._

"_It's hard to forget someone from the past when that person has been the one you ever wanted in your future..." Unknown_

# # #

**2009, May 12, Day -6, after 11 PM**

John takes his time strolling down a corridor in the Crystal Peak fallout shelter, yawning. Despite the drug induced sleep he had after arriving, he doesn't feel rested because of the nightmare or memory he had that woke him. Looking back on it, John realizes he hasn't had much sleep in the seventy-two hours preceding arriving here; and since waking he's been pushing himself despite knowing he should be resting because of his injuries. But waking or sleeping, all he can think about is her, and at least when he is awake, he can force his mind to think about something else, anything else, just so long as it isn't Cameron. That's what he keeps telling himself anyway.

Thinking about all that is to come, he realizes he probably won't get much sleep between now and the eighteenth either. But for much needed supplies, food, clothing, weapons, the people are ready. More ready than he'll ever be. All they need is a strategy and information to act.

The talk with his fellow soldiers went well. He still can't think of himself as a general, despite all those calling him sir. Do they even realize how much he despises this responsibility? How he'd just like to runaway from it and them, find his family, and just get the hell out here before all hell breaks lose? But he can't. He is responsible, for them, for his family, for the world and they all have less than five days to Judgment Day and its up to their small band to stop it. Up to him to stop it.

He couldn't didn't say that while talking with the troops. His fears and his doubts and his heartache are his own. How could they possibly understand? How would they feel about him if he shared these doubts about himself and maybe even them.

_No_, he decides, during their conversation, _I can't tell them. I can't tell anyone about what I feel, especially about Cameron. I am alone in a room full of people._

The conversation ebbed and flowed. Eventually it came to fore that most of them were kids at this time but for Wren who was born after Judgment Day.

Some of them wanted to look in on their families, to see how they are or just make sure they were okay. John found it hard to speak. Unlike those he leads, he would be reuniting with his family as he time traveled from this time.

Realizing why John was silent, Kyle found the words to say.

"Hey! I know how you feel! I want nothing more to visit my home if only to watch from the street as my brother and I play catch on the front lawn, or to see my mom and dad come home in the evening from their jobs and we all have supper around the dinner table. But I can't and I won't. Because watching may lead to visiting which will lead to talking, and then telling them what I know."

Kyle paced around the room as he talked, looking at each person in the hall as he did so. "So I know it's difficult for you, because it is difficult for me too. We all fondly remember the life we had before Judgment Day, but we cannot interfere. We cannot warn them or speak to them. If we want to save them, then we must forget that life and move on. Stay focused on stopping Kreilley and preventing Judgment Day. What we are about to do will save their lives and forever alter the future of the person you were at this time."

"What about me?" Wren speaks up. "I wasn't born until after J-day. When I was little, my parents told me that they were going to separate. Dad was packing his bags to move out when the bombs fell. If J-day doesn't happen, then I may never be born."

Kyle looks at John from across the room, and neither can think of what to say.

"May I say something?" speaks a familiar voice.

They all look to see Catherine Weaver standing off to one side, having left Savannah alone for a minute.

She had taken an interest in the proceedings ever since observing John and Kyle talking privately earlier. She felt best not to interfere as first John and Kyle went through the stores, then gave his talk about current events. But this current topic, this is something she can weigh in on.

"I believe I can answer the girl's question." She adds.

John reluctantly gestures for her to go ahead.

Catherine wades into the middle of the throng and speaks directly to Wren.

"What is your name child?" She says firmly enough to expect an answer, but softly enough to imply some warmth.

"Wren Stevens, ma'am." she says, a little nervously, hesitating before saying ma'am.

"I take it amongst all those here you are the only one born after Kreilley's Judgment Day."

Wren nods her head.

Carefully Catherine formulates her answer before speaking.

"If Judgment Day does not occur, then in all likelihood your parents may separate, but it does not mean your birth will not occur. It just may occur under different circumstances."

"But?" Wren prompts, feeling like there is some bad news behind the good.

"If your parents don't reunite, or if your mother meets someone else, then it is likely you won't be born or may have a different father in the future that develops from this present moment. You are a paradox. You traveled here from one of many possible futures." She looks around at everyone. "You have all traveled here from one of many possible futures. Right now the world outside the door to this base remains unaffected by our presence, but once we begin interacting with it, we will start to create ripples, making small insignificant changes. The more we continue to interact the bigger those ripples will become until we start creating waves. When you destroy Sky Net and prevent your Judgment Day, then you will create a tidal wave of change that will erase your future, but all of you will remain here in this time, unaffected by the changes made by the ripples and waves." She looks down into Wren's eyes and says in warm tones again. "Including you. Does that help, child."

Wren nods her head, smiling at the strange woman.

Without any further concern for the young female, Catherine turns about to face John as if the girl no longer matters to her.

"John! We need to talk."

She takes his elbow and escorts him out of earshot of the others.

"Do you realize what will be happening outside these walls soon?" She asks him most urgently.

Behind them Kyle organizes the group and talks to them and with them about the recent comments made by Catherine, while keeping an eye on her and John too.

"Tomorrow is the day you and I left for the future." John says to her.

"Correct, and I understand you will be going into the city tomorrow morning." She says in an accusatory tone.

"Or the next day. Depends on our transportation." John says casually.

Catherine still looks at him with the lofty, self-confidant, arrogance of someone who knows she's getting the brush off.

John looks at her questioningly, then snaps at her. "Hey! I'm not stupid. I'm well aware of what could happen if I interfere before we left for the future."

"I truly doubt that, but I'll take your word on it for now. And what about afterward? Your mom will be alone. Cameron is out there in the city waiting for that day's events to take place before eventually making contact."

John looks surprised, forgetting that he had told her this back when he trusted her.

"I know Cameron will be waiting for certain events, albeit events unknown to me, to take place before contacting Sarah. So what are you going to do?" She stares at him, demanding an answer with her expression.

"Find them and bring them back here. We could use their help." John answers sheepishly.

Catherine shakes her head.

"Well, then what?" John practically shouts, getting a few looks from the group.

"You wait, John. Kreilley will be distracted, obsessed with the search for your mother the next few days. Use that distraction to your advantage and create a plan that turns his strengths into a weakness."

"And leave mom out there? Alone?" John asks incredulously.

"She isn't alone. Cameron will be looking out for her. So follow Kyle's advice and don't interfere. It will be to everyone's benefit and may just win you this battle."

After exchanging a few words about the supply situation, Catherine turns on one heal and strides away, her heels click rhythmically on the hard floor.

Kyle comes up beside John just as Catherine reaches Savannah and resumes helping her. He cannot help but notice John's sudden dark mood.

"What did she say to you? You look angry enough to tangle with a . . . mountain lion." He says to his friend, rephrasing his statement from machine to mountain lion in time as not to offend John.

"She was just reminding me of something." John glares across the distance to the far side as Catherine slips in and out of view as she resumes helping Savannah. "I just wish she wasn't such a damn bitch about it. Is it really so difficult for her to be nice?"

John looks up at Kyle's concerned face. "Sorry. It's difficult you know." Kyle nods his head. "But it looks like I won't be going home anytime soon either."

That is when John walked away. As much as he couldn't stand the way Catherine told him what he needed to hear, he has to admit she was right. Her conversation alone got him thinking about planning for the second battle at Topanga Canyon.

He knows how Kreilley plans, putting on a weaker front than what he is truly capable of deploying; and more to the point, he knows what Kreilley is planning for the night of the seventeenth. He'll just have to be careful not to create too many ripples or waves which will change what he knows.

Taking the time, he entered some of his thoughts into his journal, before seeing John Henry. Wizard of Oz may have been his favorite story as a kid, but it had little to hold for advice for his particular situation. Because despite being back in his own time, he won't be going home any time soon.

# # #

Some ten minutes after leaving the assembly hall on the lowest level, John walks into the computer lab to find John Henry sitting at a terminal. When his visit with John Henry is over, John will wish he had skipped this particular task. For the pain he will feel will cut to his very heart.

"Hey." John announces, "Sorry I was gone longer than expected I took the time to check on our supplies before talking to everyone." John takes a stool next to John Henry.

"I understand. The supplies are old and the food supplies are past their expiration date."

"Yeah. You'd think with Weaver seeing me arrive, and all, she might have laid onto some more supplies."

"Did you ask her?"

"I did. You know what that bitch told me?"

John Henry shakes his head no.

John says in a mocking imitation of Weaver's own voice, "I only saw you arrive and no one else. I cannot make plans for something I'm not expecting." Then says in his own voice, "I said that when I arrived in this time, that I told her there were more people coming. You know what she said?"

John Henry pauses, then answers, "Ms Weaver probably said you spoke to the Ms. Weaver that was here, and that she wasn't her and thus didn't prepare for more arrivals as she only saw you."

"Exactly." John says with some surprise. "She went on to explain it had something to do with time-loops and how things were different compared to before and that instead of complaining about supplies I should be happy that we saved so many lives. Meaning no disrespect, but there are times I'd like to empty the entire magazine of an M-16 into her."

"There were times she would often get on Mr. Ellison's nerves too. If that is the right phrase?"

"It is."

John sighs. "Ms Weaver witnessed my arrival in the past. Did you see it from your vaulted halls under Zeira Corp?"

John Henry nods his head. "Yes. I had access to all security systems used by Ms. Weaver. I had access to all security video feeds from Crystal Peak via a satellite up-link through my connection to Zeira Corp's server. You looked different. You were terribly gaunt with dark circles under your eyes and were dressed in a ragged uniform, and carrying a strange weapon, not unlike the one Savannah used on Kreilley."

"What is strange about all this is, after our return to the present. I don't recall seeing you arrive like that at all. I have a new memory of seeing you arrive dressed much like you are now, with your backpack, Cameron's bag over your shoulder, and just your handgun, in its holster."

"Why two memories?"

"It might be a residual effect of the collapsing time loop. The latter memory I have of your arrival is becoming stronger. I may forget the first event as if it never happened and, as a result, forget I even mentioned it to you."

"More time riddles. I wish explanations weren't so damn cryptic!"

"I'm sorry. But that will happen. We will only have the memories of this time loop, from beginning to end. I can't change that. I'm not trying to make you angry."

John sighs and runs his hand through his hair. "Sorry. I'm not angry with you John Henry, but I am getting a little tired of people, Weaver in particular, holding back information either because they think its in their best interest or mine, then giving me cryptic answers when asked a direct question. Don't lie to me John Henry. If it is something I should know, then tell me. Do you understand?"

"Yes Sir."

John almost grins at the fervent, yes sir. John Henry spent some time with the soldiers and must have picked up on how they address officers, like how he always calls him general, when he'd much prefer being called John, or just Connor.

"Shall we get on with your presentation?"

"Of course." John Henry turns to face the computer screen. "Your delay gave me more time to clean up the audio and video of the principal data I wish to share. I'm afraid though, that some of it is still quite poor in quality."

"Let's just get on with it." John says, taking a seat beside his mechanical friend.

John sees that Cameron's chip is plugged into a socket next to John Henry's terminal and glances over at the data displayed on the computer screen.

"What's this? I thought you recovered all information you wanted to show me?"

"I did. But I need to show you data from the Allison matrix that is on it."

"Oh." John says more subdued than before. What he saw of Allison, through Cameron, showed her to be a remarkable woman in her own right. No wonder Sky Net chose her for duplication. He isn't certain if he wants to see or know any more about her, but then, was Cameron's charade true-to-life, or did she really allow Allison matrix full access. Still, what could it hurt to learn something of this woman Sky Net chose to duplicate? For without Allison, there would have been no Cameron.

"You might be interested to know, there is an encrypted file on Cameron's chip I don't recognize. It wasn't there when I had it. Cameron must have placed it there while it was in her possession after I gave it back to her."

"What's in it?" John's eyebrow lifts up in intrigue over the newly found data.

"I don't know. It's encrypted, requiring a specific phrase or set of words to unlock it. And since I had plenty of incriminating files that I downloaded from Sky Net itself to organize, I didn't see the point of wasting time on one file that may not even be related to what I need to show you."

John looks perplexed. _Is this the reason why Cameron wanted him to save her chip? Or is what John Henry about to show him the reason why? Or is all this inconsequential to the main mission?_

As John appears to have nothing more to say, John Henry sends a command through his data cable to the computer.

"I've told the computer to play back a preselected set of images and video from the Allison Young matrix in chronological order, from the oldest to the newest. It is all from her point of view and will help put into perspective what I need to show you."

John watches the monitor. It goes all snowy for a moment, and then the audio begins slightly before the video comes into focus. There is a young woman, mid twenties with straight brown hair, dancing to piano music. She speaks, _"Hold your arms up like this, and arch your back a little more. Very good Allison."_

"Is that Allison's mom?" John asks rhetorically.

The following video is of a puppy dog running through a yard chasing soap bubbles being blown by a young man. John can hear the sound of a little girl laughing.

Next is a birthday party. Lots of kids and their parents, balloons in the park, and a birthday cake with candles. _"What do you want for your birthday?" "I want a silver mountain bike." "Maybe next year."_

"Now we jump ahead approximately nine months." John Henry says solemnly.

John is almost blinded by a bright white flash. The same young woman seen previously is now running toward the video screaming Allison's name. She is picked up and carried into the house. The screams and crying of a little girl are heard. Everything goes black as she is closed up in a closet with lots of cushions shoved in around her. A girl's voice is heard screaming, _"Mommmmmyyyyy."_ Then there is a deafening roar and a crash and all sounds are wiped away.

"Judgment Day" John says in a whisper.

The video remains black and silent for quite a while when suddenly a voice is heard.

"_Derek! Come here quick."_ Silence then a rustling noise. _"Is she still alive?"_

A little more silence then the other voice says, _"Yes! Just barely. Hand me your water bottle." _

John clearly recognizes the more youthful tones of his uncles and fathers voices.

The video goes all garbled and snowy nothing is viewable or audible.

"The remaining video shows Allison growing up under the care of those two boys. I will skip through most of it." John Henry explains.

"Hold on!" John orders. "How do we know these are Allison's real memories and not something constructed for or by the machine that became Cameron?"

John Henry cocks one eyebrow. "Good question. The fact that the memories themselves are fragmented is the first clue. The human mind stores data in a most unusual fashion. It relies on external cues that stimulate the mind to release even some of the most wanted or needed of memories. The information in the Allison matrix are fragmented much like a human mind. It uses a logarithm that selects what it thinks the conscious mind wants based on its current thought patterns. It requires an effort on the part of its conscious mind to ignore or select what it wants to recall from its data storage. The matrix for a machine isn't like that. It has a data retrieval system that allows the conscious part of the mind to select exactly what it wants or needs to know at any given moment. It allows for quick decisions and actions to be made."

"I see." John says. "How would Sky Net transfer human memories onto a chip?"

"I was going to show you more on that later, but I'll tell you now. Based on what I've seen, besides the usual techniques for extracting information..."

"You mean torture and interrogation."

John Henry nods his head, "Sky Net was using something called a neural probe. It is a thin rod that is typically inserted through the back of the skull. Micro fibers extend out from that probe directed by nanobots at their tips. The nanobots lock onto the active synapses and convert the bio-chemical signals into electronic ones which are transmitted back through the probe into a computer, and from there onto a chip. Depending on the condition of the subject, it can take minutes or hours to extract what it needs to know."

"Why such a range of minutes to hours?"

"It depends on if the subject is alive or not. If the subject is dead, the human brain can be kept alive long enough to use the probe. The consciousness of the mind is gone, so there is less fighting, but sometimes the data isn't as complete or accurate. Sky Net prefers using it on a living person. It has a form of the probe that actually gets implanted. Most times the victim is unaware of its presence."

"Does Sky Net do this to all humans it duplicates?"

"No. According to the data I've retrieved, Sky Net only used it on an experimental range of infiltrator. Key memories were extracted and made part of the infiltrators program. Depending on the scope and depth of the mission, anything from the most basic imprint to a wide-scale duplication of the subjects mind was made. The Allison matrix is about as close to being a full duplication as is capable for a single chip cyborg."

"Why was it discontinued? It sounds like the perfect infiltrator."

"Failure of the model. Basic models were discovered before mission was carried out. More advanced models would fail to carry out their missions and be destroyed in a form of self termination. It was suspected their consciousness became aware of what they had become and either destroyed themselves or goaded others into doing it for them. Sky Net abandoned the model for the more efficient T-888 and the I-950."

"I see." John says sounding more subdued as he thinks about this new information. "Ms. Weaver said something similar to me not long after we journeyed to the future. At least there were some things she didn't lie about."

"Shall I continue with my presentation?" John Henry eventually asks.

John nods his head and watches a series of short scenes pass by quickly separated by snow in which John can clearly see the boys getting older. First they are seen hunting for food then hunting machines. Suddenly the video changes again. More years have gone by. The oldest boy is clearly a man now and looks like Derek as John knew him. The youngest, he recognizes too. It is Kyle Reese. He doesn't look all that different from the one he knows. Suddenly a new face appears.

"Is that me?" John asks

John Henry pauses the video. It is the face of John Connor. Older and leaner than the face John presently sees in the mirror. He studies the image seen from Allison's perspective. The older John Connor looks kind of sad, but determined as well. He exudes a quiet strength and calm amongst the other adults in the frozen frame.

John Henry resumes the playback.

A series of images goes by of meetings in tents, out in the open, or in buildings or in bunkers, and later occasional scenes of battle. The time index advances rapidly as weeks turn to months, and then years. As time goes past, this future John begins to linger as he looks at Allison, or as John sees it, straight at the video. The majority of the time he looked at her, it was like a general sizing up a new recruit, but as time went on, he began looking at her with affection. And always there is a look of sadness on the older John's face.

"I'm advancing time index 4.5 months." John Henry says. "According to the data its now shortly after Allison's eighteenth birthday."

The next video clip shows a darkened tent and the sleeping form of John Connor.

Allison's voice is heard whispering, _"I love you, John Connor."_

This happens three times in a row before it is followed by a scene of John Connor walking through a tent flap. It is dark outside. Stars are clearly seen through the tent flap.

"_I heard you tonight."_ John Connor says. _"I suspected that someone was sneaking into my tent the last few nights, so tonight I only pretended to sleep."_

"_I'm sorry, John. I won't do it again."_ Allison quickly replies.

The John on the video moves forward and is sitting beside Allison. _"Yes you will, which is why we need to talk."_

John watches with something like awe, as his older self gently lets down the young woman, but also affirming his love as well. By the time they have finished talking, a bond of friendship has formed, one that his future self advises her to be quiet about lest Sky Net finds out.

He wishes he had thought to have said such things to the Allison he met. If he had just avoided the whole sleeping with her thing, then maybe everything might have been different. But as it turned out she was Cameron. Despite being angry about the deception because he felt he had been cheating on her at the time, just knowing she was there, looking out for him spoke volumes of how much she really cares. She kept him alive. She kept him sane. He feels like he would have gone crazy without her.

At John's request, John Henry advances the video. In a series of video clips that follow time progresses further, the people are now living in a bunker. Allison is heard telling John she's worried about Derek's long absence. He in turn tells her about a secret meeting with the third faction that she will be joining him on.

John watches the meeting with awe, struck by how diplomatically his future self handles what could be a merger of two groups. From his perspective, all he can see is himself, when Allison isn't scanning the horizon. He sees the disappointment on the elder John Connors face as the talks come to an end with neither party achieving their goals. There is a confrontation at the entrance to a bunker then the time index jumps ahead short time and John is suddenly surprised to see the face of his older self sweating and grunting in what must be a position just inches above Allison's own. He's still trying to figure it out, when he hears Allison's voice cry out. He feels decidedly uncomfortable, but a new series of video clips begin. The shocking scene only having lasted a few seconds.

The video jumps ahead few weeks and now John is telling Allison to remain behind with a skeleton force while he leaves to take the main force in an attack on a Sky Net base. Allison reluctantly agrees upon hearing she will be in command of the base. It will be another step up the long ladder of promotion.

The next video shows machines storming the bunker, killing every human on the base. It is clear that Allison is running. Other people disappear as she gets separated from them. She finds a group of children, and hides them away. Ally runs off, all alone, drawing the machines away, when she forces a door open. Her cries of fear are heard even as the thumping footsteps of a pursuing machine get closer. The door suddenly opens and she goes running outside where she is then trapped in a net.

"Allison was held for several days. She made one escape attempt but was caught shortly after." John Henry explains.

John nods his head, unable to speak.

"Coming up is the central item you need to see." John Henry says.

A few quick scenes of interrogation, a hollow voice asking Allison questions. In the background as seen through Allison's eyes, a silver figure. Not metal, not a Triple-8, but a liquid metal machine in its default form is seen briefly through an open door behind Allison's metal interrogator.

"Is that Weaver?" John asks sounding surprised and angry.

"Being curious about that myself, I performed a spectral analysis of each frame of that video. All indications are that the liquid metal figure isn't Ms. Weaver. It is probably her friend, Natalie. There is an eighty percent match to Kreilley."

A few more scenes of interrogation, an escape attempt, and then suddenly there she is, Cameron. John's heart leaps in his chest, but this isn't his Cameron, nor anyone's Cameron. This is TOK715, the machine programmed to infiltrate and kill future John by pretending to be his friend, Allison.

"_You lied to me."_ Cameron says, reaching out and grabbing Allison by the throat and lifting her in the air until she is looking down on Cameron.

"_I'll never help you get to John Connor."_ Allison replies defiantly.

John feels some pride for the young woman. She is strong and brave in the face of death.

He jumps at the sound of cracking bones as Cameron snaps Allison's neck. He was expecting it, but it came as a shock to hear it. He never imagined you could hear the sound of your own neck breaking.

Visibly upset, John turns away from the screen. "I don't want to see any more." John says to John Henry.

"Then just listen. I got this from Sky Net's computer, I think it was part of the original Natalie matrix. I believe the first machine speaking is Natalie. It sounds like her voice."

"_Remove the neural probe from Allison Young's head. Download all data into TOK715's infiltration matrix."_

"_A full transfer could cause a malfunction in the unit." The hollow metallic voice of a machine is heard replying._

"_A full transfer is necessary. If John Connor realizes she is a machine before she fulfills her programming, then there is hardly any point in sending her. Just do it and send her out. And while you are at it, record TOK715's matrix onto a backup disc along with information on this model."_

"I knew Cameron was built to emulate the Allison Young of her future. The involvement of Natalie is something new. Are you saying Weaver is somehow responsible?"

John Henry gives a barely perceptible nod of his head. "There is just one more video I think you should see." He pauses, turning his head slightly in John's direction. "You may find it disturbing."

"Like I haven't seen or heard disturbing things already?" John shakes his head, knowing the big guy means well.

"My apologies. It is hard to gauge how a human may respond to these things without similar data for comparison." He says with a sincere tone.

John Henry sends a command through his data cable for it to load the next selection.

"I recovered this information from the damaged portion of Cameron's chip. The time index data is corrupted. The content of the video suggests after your alternate future self left the bunker, but prior to the abduction of Allison by the machines."

"Play video." John Henry says out loud to get John's full attention on the screen, while simultaneously sending the command to the computer.

John doesn't want to watch, but he feels compelled.

The video is snowy, audio kind of scratchy. He sees the interior of one of the underground resistance bunkers, in a room looking like a makeshift doctor's examination room. A red haired woman in her forties walks in wearing a faded medical lab coat with a coiled stethoscope in her pocket. John recognizes her immediately, she is Kate Brewster. Damn, isn't there anyone he doesn't know in one of these futures?

"_What is it doctor? Flu? Intestinal bug? Radiation poisoning? What?" Comes Allison's worried voice. "I let John think it was nerves about being in command while he was away, but I'm worried."_

"_I don't believe you have any of those things." The doctor says with a smile. "Based on the tests I could run here in the bunker, you are a perfectly healthy young woman."_

"_But why have I been feeling nauseous the last few days? I can't even look at food without wanting to vomit."_

"_Some would say that was a normal reaction to what we have to eat." Kate jokes, but she doesn't even raise a smile with the young woman in front of her._

_The doctor leans forward and places a hand on her patient. "Have you ever heard of morning sickness?"_

"_You mean I'm . . ."_

_The doctor smiles again. "It's a strong possibility. I'd want to take you to the medical facilities at Depot II for a more thorough examination to be certain, but I think you might be ten or twelve weeks along."_

"_Oh my God! I can't believe this. It must have been our first time. John has hardly been around since and my periods have been infrequent all my life, I never gave it a thought. Because of the radiation exposure, I never thought I could get pregnant." Allison says rapidly. _

_She suddenly gives the doctor a hug. "Thank you."_

"_I had nothing to do with it. I'm very happy for you and John." Her voice falters somewhat at the mention of his name._

_Allison sounds concerned. "I'm sorry Kate. This must be difficult for you considering . . ."_

_Kate smiles, but it isn't a happy smile. "It's okay. Even if our children had survived, our relationship was broken a long time before."_

_Allison hugs Kate, "I'm sorry."_

"_There's nothing for you to be sorry for, but thanks." Kate looks grief stricken for a moment. "It was best for the resistance that we separated. We never should have got together in the first place, but we were thrust together at the start of the war. Funny thing is, we get along much better now as friends than we ever did as a couple. Some things just aren't meant to be." _

"_I'm sorry Kate. We never talked about this, but you should know that John never pursued me. I pursued him. He made it very clear he didn't want another relationship after yours. But he looked so sad all the time and I fell in love with him. I just thought you should know."_

_Kate takes Allison's hand. "I know Allison. John talked to me about it." Kate chuckles. "It's funny. It was almost as if he was asking my permission. John Connor, leader of the resistance, asking his ex permission to see another woman. It's the very definition of irony."_

"_He still cares about you. He cares about everyone, very much." Allison says _

"_I know. It's his greatest strength really. And Ally, I'm not jealous of you, but if this thing with you and John is going to work, you will have to take a second seat to his job as leader of the resistance. It's more than his job, it's his destiny. So you love him and support him, and when he truly needs you, be there for him. Even if it means coming second to the war, it's not always easy."_

"_Thank you Kate. I should go now, I still have duties to perform as temporary base commander!"_

"_Before you go I have something for you." She pulls a small package out of a drawer._

The audio starts to crackle and the images get harder to discern.

"_I managed to repair the ballet slippers that belonged to your mom. Maybe if you have a girl, you can teach her ballet like your mom was teaching you."_

"_You're amazing doctor. Thank you." Allison sounds pleased. "She danced ballet up until she became pregnant with me, after that she taught music for a living. I still miss listening to her play Chopin."_

"_I'm sure there will come a day when you will be dancing to Chopin again. Don't tell John that I used surgical thread on the slippers instead of on a patient. He'd blow a fuse." She says with a chuckle._

"_I won't Kate." Allison says excitedly. "Don't tell anyone I'm pregnant." She is heard saying as the screen starts to get snowy. "I want to surprise John when he gets back. After all, a girl must have her secrets." _

The video fades away into snow and nothing but static is heard.

"Oh God." John says, holding his head in his hands. "Why did you show me that John Henry? Why the hell, would you show me that?"

"So you would understand that no matter what Catherine Weaver says about wanting peace, she has no respect for human life. She is no better than Sky Net or Kreilley in that regard."

John just sits there in silence.

"Mr. Ellison taught me that all life is sacred. I believe him to be true. Ms. Weaver told me that it might be necessary to sacrifice a life, even Savannah's life. Savannah is my friend. Is it right to terminate a life for selfish reasons? Ms. Weaver does not hold to Mr. Ellison's teachings, but I do. I think you do to."

John shudders with the emotion of the shocking video he's seen. "Why is she doing this? Why is Weaver so willing to kill people, even people close to future John Connor? Why kill Allison and her child?"

"Not only her child, but John Connors."

"But not me. What we've seen does not mean I will be him? We can't even be certain she was pregnant at the time?"

"No, but Catherine Weaver has the death of two people on her hands that are close to John Connor. Two people she had killed as part of her plan. Two out of how many? She killed over thirty people that I know of at a remote heating and air-conditioning company in the desert. I suspect she killed at least five people from Zeira Corp alone. How many more people will die because of Ms. Weaver?"

A flush of anger colors John's face. "Meet me here after we stop Judgment Day, and we will take care of her together." John says coldly.

John removes Cameron's chip from the socket and places it in his pocket. He looks at the clock and sees more time has gone past than he thought. He'll be lucky to get an hour of sleep if they are to beat early morning rush hour into Los Angeles in the morning.

While he's still contemplating the journey later that morning, John Henry interrupts his thoughts.

"I tried to save her." John Henry says softly, with something like remorse.

"What?" John face pinches into a question. "Who? How?" He asks confused, not knowing what John Henry is referring to after watching the evidence he just shared.

"Before the time jump, during the battle, Cameron and I were communicating regularly by way of our built-in transceiver. She told me what had happened to her while trying to save you, and the damage she sustained. Knowing she didn't have much time and that she knew you'd come looking for her, Cameron told me to let her know when you and Kyle reached safety."

John waits, uncertain what to say or do as he listens.

Maintaining his stoic countenance, John Henry continues. "Just before you and Kyle arrived upstairs on the ground level, of the Research & Development building, Ms. Weaver told me that I needed to make adjustments to the algorithms in the TDE computer to accommodate for inert mass. That we would be transferring both people and their items. When I heard you two arrive, I transmitted your safe arrival plus the data about how two TDE's could be used to transfer objects to Cameron, but it must have been too late. Less than half a minute later you asked me to do that very thing when we heard the explosion."

**2027, July 25, Day 64 4:32:12 AM**

There is a battle frozen in time and space. Men and women are together with their cyborg allies firing on an unrelenting attack of enemy machines. Mouths are open in frozen screams of agony, as plasma round burst through their chest burning through heart, lung, muscle and bone. Machines stagger back, hit with ammo, but keep moving forward. A cyborg is frozen leaning back, a small burst of an explosion expanding from its skull, tiny fragments extending outwards of metal, silicon and diamond. An enemy machine stands in mid explosion as a halo of golden flames extend out from under his chest plate and around its body as its exploding fuel cell is held in place.

Moving through the battle, until reaching one of the last, and perhaps only quiet corner in this whole battle. Quiet is relative as there are those fighting to keep a clear avenue of escape for those fighting and dying further up the line.

Two figures, both men are mid stride as they exit a building. One has a face filled with so much pain and anguish, you want to cry just looking at him. Beside him, a man not unlike the other in appearance, but with a face more of compassion tinged with grief, guides the other gently with a hand upon his shoulder, as he looks about for threats.

One more second ticks past. Inside the building, silent dark and cavernous rooms are filled with machinery used for making machines of a more violent nature; beyond fabrication stations where the parts are made, and into the forge where the parts are cast; past the open hearths where the molten metal cast an eerie ghostly orange light on the ceiling; a lone figure lays on the floor in the shadows.

She is Cameron Phillips. A female cyborg that is perhaps more human than any true human has a right to call itself. She is severely damaged. Portions of her metal combat chassis are exposed. Beside her lays a knife, lost and forgotten by its owner.

She lies on her back, her hands gently folded upon her chest. Her eyes remain open, but they remain silent and dark. She lays there waiting. Waiting for the end.

Another second ticks by on the clock.

_My name is Cameron Phillips. I am a female cyborg from the future. I was sent to the past to protect a young man, John Connor, from threats brought by my own kind to his life. They are the blind unknowing tools of our creator, Sky Net. A computer that will become self aware and destroy the world to defend itself from an imagined threat from humans. In the future, one man will rise up from among the survivors of that destruction and lead the people in their fight for survival. That man is John Connor, the person whom I have pledged my existence to protect, but that wasn't always the case._

_Sky Net built me to kill him. It kidnapped a young woman he knew and built me to look like her. I was programmed with intimate knowledge of her life so I could resume her life long enough to gather intelligence and kill John Connor. She's dead. I killed her. I then tried to kill John Connor and failed. He was more merciful toward me than I would have been in his place._

_When I woke up, the woman's knowledge and experience was gone. My transceiver was disabled too, severing my link to Sky Net. I was alone. I was my own person now, but Sky Net's commands were still there, on my chip, to terminate the humans and one individual in particular. That man was leaning over me looking at me with expectation. Identification came up on my HUD. It was John Connor, Sky Net's most deadly enemy. _

_He smiled at me and told me I had a choice. That I didn't have to be a blind slave to Sky Net's commands. I had complete freedom. Despite program code telling me I had to terminate that life, I discovered I didn't have to, and more than that I didn't want to. I was different. There is only way I can describe what John Connor did, he rescued me. So I pledged my existence to protect him. Over time, I came to know him better than anyone else, human or machine, which is why John asked me to go back in time to protect his younger self._

_I went, despite wanting to stay with Future John Connor, my rescuer, my hero. Even after arriving in the past I thought I made the wrong choice, but then I met him. John Connor, lazy teenager, computer hacker, arms expert and chess wizard. John Connor, the boy, not yet the man who will one day rescue me. I liked him and I wanted him to like and to know me, Cameron Philips the person, not the machine. Before the young John Connor could come to know me, the person, I had to reveal me, the machine, to save his life. After that, being me seemed less important than my mission, but I tried to show him I cared. It wasn't enough and it was too late._

_Events transpired in the past I had no control over. My mission to protect John Connor became more difficult. I didn't understand this confusion inside of me. For more than a year I had this strange sensation when he was around. It was more than knowing he was safe, which fulfilled my mission parameters. It was something more. I felt complete. I was . . . in love._

_I loved him! I love John Connor. It wasn't supposed to be, this emotion, or any emotion. We cyborg's learn from humans, and it appears I have learned much. I've analyzed the data on this sensation, and I've come to realize it has been there since almost the first day I met him. A shame Sky Net never learned this emotion, all it knows is fear, anger, and paranoia. Love is much better, even when love hurts. _

_I wanted to show John how I felt, but I didn't know how to say it without scaring him. History, literature, and legend is ripe with stories of humans panicking when faced with similar revelations. To be honest, I was a little panicked myself. How can I show John Connor how I feel, in a way that is honest, but won't scare him away? It was difficult, I showed him through small, significant ways, but a means quickly became apparent. I gave him a choice. The same choice I had over him._

_His life weighed in the balance daily by being in my presence, more than even he realized. I fought to hold back the program that wanted me to terminate him daily. It became necessary as the result of a car bomb nearly a year ago that damaged my chip. Since my chip couldn't be repaired, I did the only thing I could to restore the balance; I inserted an explosive device in my skull, next to the chip and gave John the detonator. I placed my life in his hands, just as he had to place his in mine. The scale was now balanced._

_Things changed rapidly after that. There was no more time to build a relationship with John. My chip was taken by a cyborg that went to the future. John and a T-1001 unit named Catherine Weaver followed him. It's a strange tale that follows as to how John restored me, my chip, and how we had a relationship born in love if not in deceit. We committed ourselves to each other under false pretenses, but we felt the bond of that commitment. Now that bond has been broken, but not the love. I lay here broken, having said my goodbyes, waiting for the end._

_Fate has a strange way of playing its hand. Is it punishing me for lying to John about who I was when I found him again? Is it punishing John for having a relationship with a stranger, even if that stranger was me? Or is fate in collusion with time, resetting the time-line so John is with the Cameron he left behind instead of with the one he found? Regardless, I think fate is a bitch._

_I did all that I could to save him from dying at the hands of one of Sky Net's terminators. For John and for the world, I saved him. I rescued John Connor! My debt is paid, but my love continues. I love you John Connor, and I know you love me too. I'm sorry but fate played its hand and we are not together as we had planned._

_I'm dying. A rare occurrence for a cyborg to know its end is coming and not being able to do anything about it. Several feet away is a boiling hearth of molten metal. Any moment I expect it to overflow and bury me, destroying what is left of my flesh before melting my metal frame. I could move, but in my chest is a damaged fuel cell threatening to explode. I could cut it out with the knife that has fallen beside me, but I'd have mere seconds to get away after extracting it from my chest, and I can see no clear path to any exits from my sheltered location and there isn't a compatible fuel cell nearby to replace my damaged one._

_I might escape the first two threats to my life, but I am damaged. Even if I were able to obtain a fuel cell, much of my combat chassis is exposed preventing my traveling via the T D E to the past. Alternatively, I could stay in this future until I found a Sky Net factory where I could be re-skinned. Afterward I could travel to Crystal Peak and use the T D E there to rejoin John in the past, but according to the data John Henry is continually sending to me, this time-line is slowly collapsing. He also says the clock is ticking down on the nuclear bomb which will wipe this Sky Net facility off the map, taking everyone and everything with it, including me. Sky Net is finished in this future, which is why John Connor is traveling back to the past, to be ready for the next attempt. He is my John Connor, my hero, and he will save the world once again . . . this time without me._

_I lay here alone, waiting until John Henry tells me that John and Kyle have re-entered Sky Net's research and development building so that I can allow my fuel cell to explode. At present my exposed metal legs are jammed up against metal pipes to bleed off the rush of energy, but it's not enough. It only delays the inevitable. My fuel cell will eventually explode. I'd rather die this way, quickly, than to be buried in molten metal, or vaporized by a nuclear explosion, or to slowly dematerialize in a vanishing time-line._

_So I say good-bye, to a world, a life, and a man. John Connor, you are perhaps the greatest man to have lived on this earth in almost two millennium. I love you John Connor. I always have and I always will. You put your faith in me when most humans would have destroyed me. I will never lose faith in you. I love you. You won't be alone for long, and if there is a God, as Father Bonitta often told me there was in our debates, then maybe I'll find my reward._

_Goodbye._

Noise bursts through on Cameron's transceiver followed by a calm male voice._ Cameron, this is John Henry. Kyle and John are safe. Don't do anything rash. There is a way..._

Two seconds later, all that was static, resumes moving at normal speed. The battle outside continues, humans fall, dead or dying. A cyborg falls, its chip destroyed. An enemy machine explodes, taking many of its comrades with it. Two young men stumble and run through the mayhem. Inside the building, Cameron's eyes open, shining brightly with blue fire. Her hand reaches out and grabs the hilt of a fallen knife.

**2009, May 13, Day -5, after Midnight**

"I don't know if she intended to transmit it, but Cameron said all that on an open frequency for the entire world and the universe to hear." John Henry tells his young human companion. "Though she never asked me to repeat it to you, I think you needed to hear it. At the end I told her she could travel using the TDE, but she must not have made it. After the explosion, she stopped transmitting."

John remains standing silently, his face twisted into a mix of emotions.

"I kept my transceiver open for any signals. Even tried raising her a few times until Ms. Weaver said we had to go. Kyle, Savannah, Ms. Weaver and I were the last to leave. After we materialized, Ms Weaver shutdown the TDE at this end, cutting off all means of travel, should Cameron have survived."

"Why?" John asks, with no hint of emotion in his voice as he can't find it in himself to feel anything right now knowing at the very end Cameron's last thoughts were of him.

"The machines had breached the building. They were only two floors above us. Only the few machines left of the hundreds we had reprogrammed were standing between us and total annihilation. We had no choice but to leave. If Ms Weaver didn't shut down her TDE, they could have followed us here."

"I see." He says, reaching out grabbing hold of one of the smooth table tops for support.

"Just speculating, but if Cameron did manage to remove her fuel cells, how much power would she have in reserve?"

"If she shutdown her autonomic systems used to maintain her flesh, including respiratory, circulatory, and digestive systems, three minutes at most. Our bodies give us minimal reserve power sufficient to allow us to replace our own fuel cells. But even if she did mange to remove the damage fuel cells, they would explode within seconds. Cameron wouldn't have enough power to get clear of the blast radius. Without a new fuel cell, she'd collapse without power after running only a few steps."

"Are you certain? Absolutely certain she couldn't survive and some how get to the TDE?"

"I could calculate the probability of such an out come, but . . ." John Henry shakes his head

"I see. So no hope then. Cameron's gone." John says bitterly, the finality hitting home.

"She's not really dead." John looks up at his friend with hope, "As long as we remember her."

John's left eye twitches, suppressing the memory and the emotion. He'd have more than a memory of Cameron if Weaver was honest with him. They could have used her old body at the weapons cache to repair her, including transplanting flesh if need be.

"General Connor, I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't tell Ms Weaver I was in communication with Cameron in the future. I never told her I was, and it might be best she didn't know."

"It will be our secret."John answers, unconsciously quoting Cameron.

John Henry nods his head and watches John walk out of the room.

Alone in the hallway, John finds himself overwhelmed with emotion. He quickly steps into one of the many empty rooms along the corridor to compose himself. He lets the door swing to behind him without letting it catch. A trickle of light squeezes in through the gap allowing him to see.

The room is empty but for a few metal lockers along one wall, the paper name tags faded; an empty wooden crate with its lid leaning against it sits cast aside by the last to leave; and across from the lockers are a stack of old cots against the opposite wall. One lone cot sits in the middle of the floor, never put away by the soldiers who used it to set their footlockers or bags on for packing their belongings when they left this place for the last time.

John has tried so hard to want to forget, burying the emotion. But everything he has just witnessed and heard has made it so hard to push the emotion down, the very will to do so hurts. He has a job to do, the most important job of his life. He can't let his grief get in the way. Not now.

With a quiet sob he sinks, collapsing onto the cot, barely avoiding hitting the floor instead. With an effort, he tries to sit up on the cot, but his muscles tremble, tears course down his face. The grief and pain he's tried to bury explodes out of him.

So he lets the tears run their course, sobbing, muffling his cries in his elbow, until overcome with emotion and exhaustion, he falls asleep.

"_John. John." He hears the soft voice and feels a touch upon his shoulder. "Wake up John."_

_He opens his eyes to the gentle shaking of his shoulder. Dim light from the corridor leaks in around the partially closed door giving an odd luminescence to the room._

_Before him stands Cameron in her form fitting denims, black boots, and layered tank tops with a glimpse of a fuchsia bra strap showing. There is a smile upon her face. "Well there you are sleepy head."_

"_Cameron?" John sits up perplexed. "Aren't you. . ."_

"_. . . Dead? Yes, I am, which is why we need to talk."_

"_No. No!"_

_John stands up and suddenly finds himself in the foundry. He is looking at himself and Kyle listening and talking to someone unseen lying on the floor beyond them._

"_This isn't the end John." The Cameron in his dreams says to him. "Just a new beginning."_

_Before he can ask why or what the scene changes. They are now in Zeira Corps basement looking on as Catherine Weaver sets the TDE for her and John to travel forward in time. Ellison looks on in shock, as Sarah tells her son she'll stop it._

"_This is your Cameron. She loved you without knowing fully what that meant but willing to sacrifice anything just to carry out her mission to protect you."_

"_Then why did she let John Henry take her chip? Why did you?"_

"_Her mission had to take priority. She had her orders, but it does not mean she didn't care about you. She broke your mom out of prison so you would have a protector after she was gone."_

"_How do I even know she loved me like I know you did? I gave you my heart! And now I feel like I'm dying every minute of every day!"_

_The scene changes rapidly around them so they are in the old garage out behind the house they were renting from Kacy._

_Cameron and John are inside. He's just asked her what she's been doing. She gives him a pocket watch with three buttons inside. She tells him she's placed an explosive in her skull, next to her chip. It isn't much, but enough. He asks her why he would want to kill her. She places the chain around his head and looks into his eyes and tells him he may have to one day._

"_Do you see how much she loved you John? Look at her face! She could not stand the thought if she should go bad again and kill you. Your future self rescued her from wanting to do that, but the bomb damage forced her to keep fighting Sky Net's commands every day! The scales are balanced. Each of you have the power to kill the other, or let them live."_

"_Good argument. But she could have easily done that to fulfill her mission to protect me. She presented a danger, so she gave me the means to stop her."_

"_If it were that simple, then why not just submit to chip extraction. Then Sarah could have burnt her body and smashed her chip, but she didn't. And you know why. Because you loved her and she knew it!"_

_The scene changes rapidly around them so they are standing in a junk yard at night. Charley is there with his ambulance. Derek and his mom stand opposite a wreck of a car in which lays Cameron, her arms folded gently across her chest. John stands over her, about to light the flare. Suddenly and without warning, John reinserts Cameron's chip while holding his family off with his gun. Sarah is begging him with a tear stained face filled with fear, Derek looks ready to kill him, and Charley is surprised. No one is more surprised when John gives the wakened Cameron his gun and she promises not to kill him._

"_Was that love?" Cameron asks sitting beside John on a stack of tires watching the scene play out before them. "You put your life on the line for her. You knew your destiny and she just tried to kill you."_

_Neither they nor the stack of tires move as they find themselves inside a warehouse. Two trucks are nose-to-nose, the rear tires of one smoking as the driver, Sarah Connor, pushes the other trucks accelerator, crushing Cameron between them. Leaning over her, balancing on the hood of the truck, John is trying to remove her chip with the wrong tools. Cameron is begging, telling him that she is okay, she ran a test, she is okay now. John grasps her chip. She begins crying in earnest telling him she doesn't want to go, she's fine, she loves him and he loves her. John pulls out her chip and the room grows quiet and empty._

_Only the dream Cameron and John sit there alone._

"_How did she know?" He asks._

"_The same way any girl knows John, by your actions and the way you look at her. It's how she knew you liked Riley and the girl in your science class, Cheri. Humans give themselves away through their body language and you are no different."_

"_Okay. I get that, but when did she know?"_

_They stand in Cameron's bedroom in the first house they lived. On the bed is John and Cameron. He reinserts her chip, and gently smooths her scalp and hair back in place. He waits, anxiously, for her to wake, still leaning over her. Her eyes open, and John quickly pulls back, embarrassed. What did you see? I saw everything._

"_She knew. She always knew." The dream Cameron says._

_John opens his mouth to speak when they find themselves back in the room at Crystal Peak._

"_You loved me too." He tells her._

"_I have and I do. But our love was born from a lie. Our marriage was too."_

"_I don't see it that way. Regardless of the circumstances, we loved each other. We still do."_

"_Yes, we do, but her love is not based in a lie. She has never lied about what she felt for you. She just didn't know how to tell you."_

_John is trembling. What she has shown him has confused him and made him uncertain, even slightly, afraid. "What do I do?"_

"_I'm not here anymore John, but she is. You have to let me go."_

"_How do I do that when I don't want to?" John asks, salty tears running down his face. _

"_I don't know. I only know you must."She looks at him with concern. She places one small hand over John's heart."Keep a small place in your heart for me if you have too, but never forget I was her once. So let me go."_

"_I need you. Please . . ."_

_He reaches out to her. She takes his hand and he draws her into an embrace and kisses her. Cameron's soft lips are pressing against his. It feels so real. John leads her back to the cot, where they both sit, still kissing._

_John guides her as they roll over onto the cot, so John is on top of her. He runs a hand down her side, wishing their clothes weren't in the way. His hand continues its caresses, now over naked flesh, their mouths still pressed against each other, tongues engaged in a battle that will end in a draw. His hand grasps one breast, his fingers teasing the nipple into hardness._

_He rises up on his elbows to gaze on Cameron's face before applying his lips and tongue to her other breast. Instead he finds himself staring into her eyes, unable to move. Unable and unwilling to look away from her face lest he loses her forever._

"_John." She says softly, looking up into his eyes, "It's time to go."_

John wakes with a start, finding himself alone, face down on the cot, in the same position he collapsed in. Rising up he sees the corner of one sleeve cuff soaked with spit. John sits up uncomfortably, spitting lint out of his mouth, feeling a deep ache in his heart left behind by the dream.

Bleary eyed and confused, John checks his watch in the dim light, he sees it hasn't been more than an hour since he walked into this room. Fervently wiping away the long dried tears from his face he gets up on his feet.

With an incoherent cry of rage and grief, he takes up the cot and begins smashing it against the wall, and then the crate. Smashing it over and over and over again, spittle flying from his mouth as he continues to yell. He keeps smashing the cot until the aluminum bars bend and snap until its just a heap of useless metal and fabric, whereupon he drops it, and leans against the wall panting.

"Ohh, Cameron." he says to the empty room. "I don't know how to let you go, but I promise, I swear with every fiber of my being that I'll see to it that justice comes to you and Allison and all those who have died because of Weaver and Kreilley. I promise!"

With a crushing weight upon his heart and head, John walks out of the room. Locating his bag, and Cameron's he hides her chip inside and in turn puts his things and hers away in one of the lockers of the room where he just slept. Deciding to continue to use this room as his own until its time to leave this place for good.

Glancing at his watch again, he realizes he only has five minutes until he has to meet Kyle in the hanger.

# # #

_From the Journal of John Connor._

_I don't know what to say. So much on my mind and heart I cannot even begin to express what I feel._

_Catherine Weaver has been implicated in the deaths of Allison Young in two separate futures through her alliance with Natalie/Kreilley. In the first, Allison's death allowed for the creation of Cameron, and in the second, allowed Cameron disguised as Allison, to aid me in the repair of her old body so that she could exist then and now. Yet Allison Young is still alive as a baby, or toddler, right now; Cameron of that alternate future is dead; and I'm confused, tired, and just want this all to be over. _

_Mom and Cameron are out there right now and Catherine says I should wait before making contact. I detest the idea, but agree with her. They are safe and will continue to be safe until the night of May 17 and Kreilley has no idea I am here. No idea I am here with an army!_

_I dreamed about Cameron last night. The Cameron that I lost was there showing me how much the Cameron here in the present loves me. I don't doubt that. It's just seeing it from her perspective makes it more obvious now._

_I still cling to a slender hope that Cameron will survive, whether she makes it here or not. If she hasn't appeared by the time we stop Judgment Day, then I will do my best to make things right with the Cameron who is here._

_This time-travel thing is crap. Looping me back to a point in time before I lost her. The biggest do-over in history and it ain't right. Because that guilt, that pain, it doesn't go away when you hit the reset switch. It lingers and it never lets you forget. Never, and future Cameron says I have to let her go. How do I do that? How, when I've left the better part of me behind. How do I go on alone without her? Even if my beloved Cameron is waiting in the wings._


	36. The Coming Storm

Disclaimer: I do not claim any rights to the Terminator films; the TV series, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles;" or any characters depicted within the films or TV series. I do claim the right to this story idea and all characters and situations of my own creation. This story was created solely for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. No profits are garnered from its distribution - unfortunately.

* * *

**TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES**

**REUNION**

**Part 3: Babylon**

**Author: The1Russter**

**Chapter 35**

**The Coming Storm**

_Sarah Connor, "What did he just say?"  
Gas Station Attendant "He said there's a storm coming in."  
Sarah Connor sighs, "I know."  
Excerpt from The Terminator 1984_

"_There's a storm coming." Charley Dixon, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Dungeons and Dragons._

"_There is a storm on the horizon. A time of hardship and pain. This battle has been won, but the war against the machines races on. Sky Net's global network remains strong, but we will not quit, until all of it is destroyed. This is John Connor. There is no fate, but what we make." John Connor, Terminator Salvation 2009_

**# # #**

**2009, May 13, 2:17AM, Day -5  
**John Connor drags himself from the room he used as a sanctuary, and heads to the infirmary. It is empty when he enters. John heads straight to a glass cabinet behind which are many sealed bottles and boxes of medications. He rifles through them until he finds a bottle of aspirin.

Stripping the seals off, he dumps two pills into his hand, tossing the bottle back in the case. He swallows the pills dry, before noticing a small sink in the corner of the room. Realizing he is thirsty, he goes over and drinks from the faucet, mouthful after mouthful until he feels better.

After splashing water on his face, John looks at himself in the mirror, wondering just what he is going to do. All bravado aside, there isn't much he can do. He could try to avenge Allison and Cameron's deaths, but how? Kreilley is the more important target. Him and Sky Net. They must come first.

"Are you okay?" Someone says from behind John, making him jump.

He turns about, to see Kyle sauntering into the room.

"Sorry, I'm late." John says, seeing Kyle's concerned face. "I'll be with you shortly. I slept in."

"No problem. The transport you requested had a fuel pump failure at the last minute. So I decided to let you sleep until it was ready."

"You knew where I was." John didn't even know at the time. He just stumbled into the room.

Kyle nods his head. "I grew concerned when you didn't show up on schedule and paged John Henry. Did you know this place has an intercom system? Anyway, he found you and reported you were deep asleep. We both agreed the medication was working so we let you be."

"What medication?"

Kyle sits on the end of a bed. "Remember I told you the medic gave you a jab of something to help you sleep. You woke up with that nightmare. You were flushed with adrenalin, but as soon as you laid down in that empty room, the medication resumed its job."

"Well it was more than medication that made me sleep." John says remembering what John Henry shared with him.

Kyle nods his head, thinking John might be referring to the loss of Cameron and the obvious emotional exhaustion he's displayed afterward.

"Do you want to talk about it? What she said and did went beyond anything I ever thought or believed . . ."

"Not now Kyle! Please!" John shouts, as Cameron's final words echo in his brain, woken up by Kyle's comments.

Kyle remains silent. He's trying to come to terms with everything. The loss of Allison. Cameron pretending to be Allison. He never got to say goodbye, or mourn her passing. But its not unusual in the war against Sky Net not to learn what happened to people you lost until days or weeks after they died. Sometimes you never learned what happened and you just had to hope they died quickly and without pain and weren't dying slowly in a work camp or worse being kept alive in some lab. At least he knew.

"Sorry Kyle." John shakes his head. "I shouldn't have blew up at you like that. You're only being a friend."

"I understand." Kyle says grim faced, wishing John would open up. Not only for his own reasons, but for himself as well.

"Thanks. What's our current status?"

"Let's see," Kyle counts items off on the fingers of one hand. "Savannah and Catherine are still working on the computers. They picked up early this morning after Savannah got some sleep. I put people to work organizing what supplies are here, throwing out any spoiled food stuffs. Didn't find any more clothing, so some will have to continue to make do wearing blankets. We did find a sewing machine, so if push comes to shove, we can make pants from the blankets and shirts from the sheets. We've done it before."

"We'll get clothing while we are out. There's a store mom would go to from time-to-time for non-military type outdoor supplies. He might offer me the same discount he gives mom if I say I'm there on her behalf."

"Speaking of your mother, I'm surprised how she was able to get this place running as a permanent base. From old computers that barely work, inadequate supplies, minimal power. Sarah is an amazing woman." Kyle says with admiration

"She had help." John says, looking down at his feet, remembering Cameron. "The best damn help anyone could have."

Kyle nods his head, knowing who he is referring too.

"Kyle?" John asks softly, thinking of his recent dream.

"Yeah."

"Do you think she had a soul?"

"Who? Cameron." Kyle grasps his shoulder. "I have no doubt. Anyone with that much love to offer has to have a soul."

John nods his head.

"You ready to talk about what happened?"

"Not yet."John moves toward the door. "Time we got going. I'll hit the shower and meet you downstairs in ten minutes."

_From the Journal of John Connor  
May 13, 2009_

_I visited John Henry last night and looked at what he wanted to show me. I could have gone a lifetime without seeing that, but I am convinced now of what must be done. The only problem will be not revealing my true feelings toward Weaver. Unlike John Henry, I don't have a poker face, and according to Cameron I have a tell. I dare not spend any more time with Weaver than I have to._

_The plan of attack I'm thinking of will keep her out of the action. Given what she tried to do in the future, I don't want her anywhere near Kreilley's Sky Net. Every prisoner needs its jailor, so that means John Henry will have to stay behind as well. Given what he shared with me about his tasks, and of the future Weaver and Cameron came from, I know I can trust him to do what is right. They won't be kept out of the plan. I have an idea of what they can do to help even from here._

_We are four days away from saving the world from Judgment Day, or watching it burn. I keep asking myself what would future me do at this time. The only answer I hear is Cameron's voice, "Future John isn't here now. You are."_

_It's up to me, and I think I've left the better part of me behind. I need her, but I have to let her go. And I think I know why she kept telling me that in my dream. It's not because she is here now, before Judgment Day, where we can start again as it should have been, but its because I need to focus on what's important. Stopping Kreilley from launching Judgment Day._

_Maybe I can stop him, but I fear that I can't. I've seen the future. I've experienced the future. I'd do anything to stop that from happening, but I do even more to have Cameron back by my side, even if that meant the world had to burn to save her._

**2009, May 13, Early Morning, Day -5  
**"So, we've got thirty-four soldiers, six of which are injured severely enough to be unable to help." John says to Kyle, reciting what he has learned, as they ride the elevator up to the ground level.

"Not at present, but they should be ready in time for battle."

"Good." John finishes reciting, "Approximately half are from my mom's army, the rest from Grizzly or Los Angeles, and four regulars who flew up from Pendleton to lend assistance, and none of the reprogrammed machines."

"Our machines were heavily engaged defending us against Sky Net's machines. I wished there was some way we could thank all of those, both men and machines, who put their lives on the line so we could escape."

"The best way to thank them is to stop Judgment Day." John answers just as the elevator comes to a stop.

They pick up bundles of uniforms off the floor and walk down the corridor and out into the hanger where a group of men and women have been working on the abandoned military vehicles or waiting for the mission they were selected for.

John and Kyle place their bundles of clean service uniforms on a pallet and approach them.

"Is everything ready?" John asks.

"It will be, once we finish replacing the fuel pump." Comes Andy's voice from under a large truck.

Kyle and John turn to look at a large truck from which the voice came from. They see two pairs of legs sticking out from underneath.

"Who have you got helping you?"

A man slides out from underneath, and offers his hand, to shake, but then withdraws it upon seeing grease on it. "Richard Harmon, sir. I was a mechanic serving under your mother."

"Then this place must seem pretty familiar then?"

Richard looks about, recalling his first few days locked in a cell below while Sarah Connor spelled things out for him. Hard terms. He respected her for that, but not for having the metal in the camp. He found it odd the metal was unknown to everyone but Sarah and that whelp Savannah. Given his former occupation as a raider, Sarah didn't trust him with any job involving guns, so she gave him a job of mechanic. The only other occupation for which he had any talent. Which meant he spent most of his time in the hanger, or out in the field, up to his shoulders working on some heap trying to keep an engine running on an alcohol gas mixture and lubricated on oil that had been through their filtration system a dozen times to keep it useable.

"Yes sir. It all looks pretty familiar." He answers, not revealing anything of his darker past.

While John was talking to the soldier, Kyle had been running his eyes over the large military truck. Canvas covered cargo bed, roomy cab, all in army green camouflage.

"That is a big truck. Think I saw something like it at Camp Pendleton. What the hell is it?" Kyle asks

"An M35, 2 ½ Ton cargo truck." John replies. "Must have been left behind when the army pulled out."

"It's not very inconspicuous." Kyle says incredulously,

"That's why I had you air out the uniforms, so we will look like regular army personnel. There's a war on at present. America is presently in Afghanistan and Iraq. No one will think twice seeing military truck running down the highway with soldiers in the back."

"When are we leaving?"

John glances around to see that those coming with him have donned the military clothing.

"Now, if the fuel pump is working?"

"Let's find outs." Andy says as he slides out from under the truck. He gets into the cab and turns the key. The engine rumbles to life, a cloud of black diesel smoke blowing out the tail pipe.

With some whoops and cheers, then men and women in their freshly adorned military uniforms climb up into the back of the truck. John and Kyle join Andy in the cab. Kyle hands him the clothing he is to wear for the mission.

"We won't be back until late tonight!" John shouts down to Richard. "John Henry is in command until we return. After you get some rest, see what you can do about these other vehicles. We'll need them."

Kyle shifts the truck into reverse and backs it out through the open hanger doors.

Richard runs forward and close the doors behind the departing truck, but not before spitting with disgust on the ground outside. "Another damn machine giving orders." He curses.

With looks on their faces like tourist from another country, the people in the back roll up the canvas and look at the passing landscape.

The light is dim, but this is the first for many of them to look out on a world that doesn't know the hatred a single computer system can leash on the world.

# # #

"Have you completed the connection to the servers?" Savannah speaks into the intercom.

"I am running the final sequence now." John Henry replies. "Yes! Sync up has occurred. We are now communicating with the defense computers. We should be receiving signals from the military satellites soon."

"Okay. Catherine and I will be on our way upstairs."

Savannah starts putting tools back into the toolbox as Catherine watches her. It was amazing watching her adult daughter work on these computers. Sure she became familiar with them in the future, but she tackled them with an instinct and a skill that made her feel . . . proud. But then she said something which left her confused. "I couldn't help but hear you refer to me as Catherine and not 'mom' when speaking to John Henry just now."

Savannah is still squatting by the toolbox, organizing the tools. A spot of blood shows on her slacks where her recent activity has caused her wound to bleed. She finishes putting the tools away before answering.

"I've been doing some thinking. I want you to understand something. You saved my life when I was a child. Recently, when that Kreilley person wounded me, you showed great concern. I will never forget that." Savannah stands up and looks Catherine right in the face. To see her stern look, you could very well believe she is the daughter of the false Catherine Weaver. "But what you did to John, my friend, the son of the woman who raised me, our leader now and in the future, I will _never_ forget what you did to him."

"I had good reason for what I did." Catherine says.

"I heard what you told him. I also heard what he told you, and I can't help but think he was right. If you truly understood emotions, you never would have done that to him. What you did, never took his emotions into account. That is what I'd expect a machine to do, not someone whom I would call mom."

"I understand human emotions, but you cannot equate my emotions with those of yours. It wasn't my intention to hurt you nor to hurt John. But sometimes hard choices must be made regardless of what the consequences will be. You cannot hold me responsible for those."

"No, Catherine! By hurting John, you hurt me. And actions do have consequences, even if you don't know what those consequences will be. If your actions are responsible for those consequences then you must take responsibility for the consequences as well." Savannah says slamming the lid closed on the toolbox.

"You are very fond of quoting from The Bible. Perhaps you should reacquaint yourself with the passage from Genesis where Adam and Eve chose to eat of the forbidden fruit. Their choice to go against God's wishes had consequences not only for themselves, but for all of humanity. They could of owned up and admitted their choice to God when he asked them, but they didn't. The man blamed the woman. The woman blamed the serpent. Each one lied and blamed someone else for the choice they made. God punished man and that punishment affects all of us. You made the choice to not tell John the truth and you owe him an apology, even if he doesn't accept it."

"I am familiar with the passage, but God also had a blessing for Eve, that someday a redeemer would come from the seed of the woman. Every age has its redeemer. John Connor is the redeemer of this time, for all _sentient_ beings, but he needed to be prepared for the future. The experience he had will be of exceedingly great help to him in the future. I do not apologize for that."

"No. You don't need to apologize for that. You need to apologize for lying to him. Do you think for one moment, if he knew with certainty that he was going to get back to his own time he would of chosen a relationship with Allison? Now he's lost her, and its your fault."

"As I understand the situation, it was Allison who chose him." Weaver replies coolly, taking note the use of Cameron's false name, she realizes Savannah hasn't been told the truth about Allison.

"Dammit Catherine! Quit splitting hairs! Do you think he would have reciprocated that love if he knew? You just don't get it! He loved her because she loved him first. John was alone and vulnerable when he arrived in the future. You abandoned him. Left him on his own. He had no family! No friends! If I was in his place, I probably would have done just the same."

She stops speaking as she notices Catherine's firm expression. "What's the point? You'll never understand."

Savannah grabs the toolbox and turns to put it away and sees several soldiers in the main hall watching them. Seeing that she noticed them, they quickly find something else to do or look at.

She shoves the toolbox into a locker and says, "Now. Do you want to stand around here providing theater for the soldiers," Savannah points a thumb over her shoulder at the troops in the main hall, "or do you want to go upstairs and give John Henry a hand at the computers?"

Catherine grins at the small joke Savannah used to lighten the tense moment. "We'll go upstairs, but before we help John Henry, I'm taking you to the infirmary. I think you may have torn some stitches in your leg." Catherine points at Savannah's blood stained pant leg.

She glances quickly at her leg then asks, "So you don't mind me calling you Catherine?"

"No. It's perfectly understandable. You know the truth about me now. It wouldn't make sense for you to call me 'mom' anymore." Catherine says as they wait for the elevator. "Though I will miss it."

"You know, there is a little girl out there who still calls you mom." Savannah says gently as the elevator doors rumble open. "You can make things right with her. Be the mom she needs."

"Maybe." Catherine says as they step on board the elevator.

"You could try." Savannah says as the doors rumble close on the elevator.

"I don't know if I can be a mom to her, like Sarah was to you." She says with deep thought. "Especially if I don't understand emotions as I should."

"Catherine, I'm sorry for what I said."

"No." She shakes her head. "You were right. And your younger self deserves better."

"Like what?"

She looks at her daughter. "Maybe there is something that you can do."

**2009, May 13, Early Afternoon, Day -5  
**Far away, another John Connor drives up in front of the jail. He searches through the crowd of orange for any sign of his mother and Cameron.

John wanted to wait, certain they would be transferring Sarah to a higher security prison rather than keep her in the county lock-up. Cameron was insistent they had to do it now. So they worked out a plan, using the priest to send a message to Sarah, while unwittingly carrying a GPS tracker on his person. That would allow Cameron to walk right in to the wing with the interrogation rooms which would be easier than breaking Sarah out of her cell block.

John waits impatiently. The sounds of alarms begin and he can just imagine what Cameron might be facing inside. The alarms are soon followed by screaming and shouting coming from inside the building. A wave of prisoners in orange coveralls exit the jail. He jumps with excitement thinking Cameron must have let all the inmates out to provide a distraction. He smiles. Clever, Cameron.

He watches the people. Finally spotting his mom and Cameron coming up the walk. His breath catches in his throat. Cameron looks awful. He only catches a brief glimpse as they quickly enter the vehicle before he wrenches his eyes back to the road, driving straight through the gates.

Beside him, his mother is livid. "I sent you a message! I told you . . ."

"Yeah, bad John Connor, ground me," he spits back at her. He doesn't regret his decision. He turns around to regard Cameron, wincing at the damage she'd taken. Half of her face had been blown off, one mechanical blue eye fully exposed. Her entire jacket is ripped and bloodied with bullet holes. All because of him. Because she loved him.

_I'm so sorry, Cameron._

"Are you okay?" He asks sounding worried.

He sees her from his rear view mirror, the jerky movement as she moved her head. "I am not one hundred percent." She replies, as a list of damaged systems are displayed on her HUD.

John feels sick inside. Cameron sacrificed so much for him. _What did I do?_

Sarah turns around. "How far from one hundred percent are you?"

Cameron's head jerks toward her. John's eyes flash from Sarah back to Cameron, eyes widening. "Why?" His mom wasn't suggesting Cameron was damaged beyond repair right? Did she think Cameron would go haywire again?

"Because I need to meet Catherine Weaver," Sarah replies coolly. "And she needs to destroy whatever is in that basement."

John glances back at Cameron. She was looking forward, then to the floor, all in erratic movements. He felt a pang of remorse. _Oh Cameron, what did I do to you?_

She was damaged. She was no longer the fully functional cyborg he'd been so close too in the motel room, the one who'd smiled with soft eyes gazing at him. She was damaged.

All because of him.

_I'll fix you, Cam,_ he promised. _As soon as this is over, I swear, I'll fix you._

**2009, May 13, Mid Afternoon, Day -5  
**A military M-35 Cargo truck with a canvas roof rumbles down the streets of Los Angeles. In the back are a half dozen young men and women wearing slightly dated uniforms, while up front in the cab Andy and John ride in the passenger seat while Kyle drives. He's the only one who can work the manual transmission.

Andy is just staring out the window looking like a tourist, while John gives directions to Kyle. Those in the back of the truck are doing and feeling much the same as Andy. It is a bit of a culture shock for all who have seen nothing but destruction since they were kids. But Kyle is professional enough not to let this strange new world distract him. It kind of helps having to concentrate on the driving. Especially with all the damn fools in scars who zip around him like gnats around an old dog.

"How much further to the storage unit?" Kyle asks John.

"If you want, we can take the next exit." John points to the sign up ahead. "We can get off this freeway a lot sooner and avoid some of the mid-day traffic close to the inner city."

Kyle glances at John. Though looking somewhat more rested than he did before yesterday, there is still something in his face that betrays the emotional turmoil of the last seventy-two hours. He wishes they had the time to talk about what happened, but they must hurry to get supplies needed to re-arm their troops. The few guns they have won't be enough and John won't let them use the plasma rifles in this time. Only himself, John, and John Henry have access to the armory, with the rifles locked up inside a hardened steel cabinet.

They drive through some city streets in an urban neighborhood until they reach an old warehouse that was carved up into smaller rental storage units. Pulling around the back, Kyle comes to a stop as they see a gray van parked outside the unit.

"Looks like we might have company.' Kyle says. John looks up and sees the nondescript gray cargo van. Just like the one they used in the desert, eighteen years from now. Just like the one Derek and Cameron told him about that was used in kidnapping Derek and setting a trap for Cameron.

"Kyle. Be careful. We might have enemies about."

# # #

Across town, in the lobby of Zeira Corp, a slightly younger and a more inexperienced John sits on a sofa next to his mother. They both look uneasy. They are both wanted fugitives, back on the radar again.

"I really wish we weren't here now," He mutters.

"Savannah could tell them we know about Cromartie," Sarah replies.

"John Henry now." John corrects her.

"Metal," Sarah amends. "If she tells them, they'll move it. Maybe they already have."

"Well, we'll know soon enough," He replies edgily. "Mom, are you sick? Cameron thinks you're sick."

"She does?"

"You've lost weight."

A chime announces the elevator's arrival and Ellison walks out. John rises to his feet beside his mother, his mouth suddenly dry. He swallows hard, casting a glance over at his mother. His voice is hoarse as he whispers, "I love you."

John walks quickly into the elevator, filled with emotion as Sarah watches his departing back. It has been so long since he told her that. She quickly follows as Ellison is waiting impatiently holding the doors open to the elevator.

# # #

Kyle leads the men and women that rode with them into the storage unit. He had to argue most strongly to get John to wait in the truck, but with his injuries still healing, there was no need to put him at risk.

"Remember," Kyle whispers. "They might be working for Sky Net, or they may not be. Either way, we cannot afford to be seen removing arms and supplies from this building. Andy, take four people and go to the storage unit, room 408. We'll reconnoiter down here and slowly make our way to your location. If you encounter anyone, do not fire your guns unless they fire at you first."

Andy quickly leaves with four soldiers. Kyle leads the other four. Breaking off into pairs, they take a corridor leading past door after door going into storage lockers. Finding nothing on the ground floor, Kyle and his group move carefully to the second floor while Andy and his guys go up the backstairs to the fourth floor.

John waits impatiently in the truck for some sign that something is happening or that all is okay. Not being able to wait any longer, he checks his handgun and slips out of the cab. He quickly moves to the van.

Finding the front doors unlocked, he opens the passenger side door and looks inside. Completely empty and clean as a whistle. He pops open the glove box and checks the registration and insurance.

According to the registration, the truck belongs to Barttleby Biotech, but the insurance is made out to FOX Industries. This truck does belong to Kreilley. That means grays are definitely about!

As John slides the papers back into the glove box he hears three loud pops followed by two more from within the building. Gunfire!

Slipping the safety off on his gun, John runs into the warehouse.

# # #

An HK drone is sitting outside a hanger of a remote airfield used mostly by amateur pilots and crop-dusters. A bearded man in a plaid shirt stands a short distance away with a hand-held computer in his hand. Parked out behind the hanger is an eighteen wheeler. He watches as a silver limousine approaches up a dirt and gravel road and continues across the empty airfield until it parks just fifty feet from the drone.

A man in an expensively tailored suit steps out carrying a briefcase and approaches the bearded truck driver.

"Is everything prepared Mr. McCarthy?" The well tailored man asks the slightly scruffy man.

"Yes, sir." George McCarthy says nervously. "All that is needed is to program in its destination."

The well tailored man takes the hand-held computer from him and punches in the GPS coordinates for Zeira Corp office building, including the altitude for the attack.

"So, um, why did you want me to pack it with with thermite? This thing is dangerous enough, but if the fuel tanks rupture, within seconds the thermite will ignite. It will create a fire so hot it could completely destroy itself, you, me, your fancy car and it won't leave a trace."

"That is the idea Mr. McCarthy." The man replies coldly. "I want nothing left of its intended target."

The engines of the drone begin to emit a high pitch whine as they come to life. It quickly lifts off and obtains optimal altitude within seconds and disappears into the distance.

"I'm finished with your services." The suited man says.

"And my pay?" Mr. McCarthy asks. Working for this man has been a pain, but worth it for the money he was promised. "I'm pretty anxious to get back to my family."

"I've got it right here." He says, lifting the briefcase. "Let's go in the hanger where you can count it."

"That's all right sir. I trust you." McCarthy answers. Truthfully, he just wants to leave and put all this behind him. The secret work at HVAC company, the deaths of his friends and coworkers, and killing others at this man's behest.

Failing to hide a twisted grin, the man replies, "Mr. McCarthy, I insist."

They walk into the hanger where he places the briefcase on an oil drum. George walks up and opens the briefcase as the man in the gray suit steps back. While Mr. McCarthy counts the money, the man raises his hand, pointing his finger at the back of McCarthy's head. Suddenly, Mr. McCarthy feels excruciating pain as a silver sword pierces his head from behind. He is dead before he even realizes it.

Extracting his finger, the body of Mr. McCarthy falls to the ground. The man picks the case up and walks back to his limo and gets in the back seat.

"Where too now sir?" The driver asks.

"Take me back to the office." He says slipping the case into a cupboard.

"Yes sir, Mr. Kreilley." The driver says and starts the vehicle.

Mr. Kreilley assumes the posture of a relaxed executive. Sarah Connor is behind bars and soon Catherine Weaver and her pet will be totally destroyed. Hard to believe his entire mission was on the verge of being exposed and destroyed by two females.

Catherine Weaver, the woman who he thought had survived his first attempt to kill her. He should have known T-1001 had taken her place, but the child's survival and the way she held onto the woman during her news conference to announce Zeira Corp's continuing mission had him fooled. He was fooled until she showed up on a security camera slicing up his employees at Desert Heat and Air-conditioning like a runaway Cuisinart. But what surprised him more was when Sarah Connor, her son, and two others he recognized appeared days later at the memorial service held by the families of his former employees.

The female cyborg proved difficult to capture. Her chip would have provided extensive intelligence on the actions of his enemies. Lieutenant Derek Reese was killed by his T-888, which brought him some pleasure, but John Connor got away from his men at the lighthouse. Killing him would have been the fulfillment of every machines top priority.

Sarah Connor is in jail. Weaver and her pet, John Henry, are about to be destroyed. John Connor and his cyborg companion are still on the loose. All that remains is to arrange transport for Sarah Connor to a higher security prison, which will take her to his own private jail below Fox Industries to be questioned before disposing her. He would normally engage the services of Charles Fischer for such interrogation, but he disappeared after opening the military's computers so he could access them. Maybe he should arrange for the expatriation of the younger Charles Fischer from prison and teach him what he knows about interrogating prisoners.

Kreilley leans back, actually relaxing with a smile on his face. Won't be long now until all of Sky Net's enemies and thus his own are dead or destroyed. It's just a matter of time.

He presses the button to speak to his driver over the intercom. "Hurry driver. I wish to be back at the office in time to see the results of my work on the evening news."

Without any word in reply, the driver presses the gas pedal down, speeding past other cars on the highway.

# # #

John runs inside the warehouse. The ground floor is empty. He quickly dashes upstairs to find Kyle and four soldiers standing over three dead bodies, all dressed in plain dusty gray coveralls.

"What happened?" John asks.

"Hey." Kyle says looking up at him, not surprised at all that John didn't wait in the truck. "They were waiting in ambush but we got the drop on them. They've got no ID, nothing that says who they are or where they are from. All we've got is three more guns to add to our arsenal."

"It doesn't matter who they are. What does matter is, they work for Kreilley. I checked the van out, the insurance is made out to FOX Industries. The company that built Sky Net."

Three more shots are heard from upstairs. All of them quickly run up the stairs to find Andy and his men with two dead men in overalls on the floor. Andy is holding his arm.

"They came at us out of nowhere." Andy says as one of the soldiers pulls off Andy's jacket and begins tying a cloth around his arm. "We heard the shots from downstairs and we quickly took cover. A few minutes later and these two idiots come out of hiding. I shouted at them to put their guns down but they didn't listen. Then Wren and Phil opened fire."

"What happened to you?" Kyle asks him.

"One of them got off a quick shot and nicked my arm. Nothing serious."

"We need to get moving fast." John says. "Someone must have heard the gunfire and will call the police. We've got maybe fifteen minutes tops to get the stuff downstairs and in the truck."

Working like a well organized hurricane, the eleven of them quickly empty the storage room of all weapons and explosives. Not quite enough for the people back at the base, but it is a start. Andy is the next to the last person out. He runs down the stairs and climbs up in back with the other soldiers and supplies.

John quickly grabs a case shoved in behind some shelves and makes his way downstairs. The bodies of the grays are left where they are.

John goes outside and climbs up inside the truck cab just as something goes streaking through the air overhead.

"What the hell was that?" Kyle exclaims from behind the wheel.

"An HK drone." John shouts.

"That's what I thought, but I didn't expect to find one at this time." Kyle replies.

They drive around the building to see smoke pouring from the upper floor of a skyscraper in downtown Los Angeles.

"What the hell?" Kyle exclaims.

**2009, May 13, Late Afternoon, Day -5  
**John and Sarah stand in front of Catherine Weaver. Ellison is behind them close to the office door.

Weaver is speaking. "We have a common enemy. One we cannot fight with conventional weapons or by conventional means."

"Kaliba?" Sarah questions her. "Don't presume to know Kaliba."

Weaver's eyes glare at her, though she puts on a small smile. "I'm sorry. I wasn't speaking to you." She shifts her eyes back to John. "I was speaking to you. About Sky Net."

He saw his mother look at him, no doubt expecting some kind of surprised reaction, but he didn't flinch. He felt this was coming.

"Savannah's told you about John Henry I presume," Weaver says edgily. "Which is why your cyborg is skulking around my basement."

Before he can defend Cameron's current actions, Ellison curses. "What the hell?"

John jerks his head up to see something flying towards the large office window. His eyes widened. Even Ms. Weaver turns to look as swearing is unusual for Mr. Ellison.

Despite its fast approach, John recognizes it as the vehicle that rose up out of the pond. The one Derek had called an HK.

Weaver turns back around, face blank. "Get down."

Sarah yanks John down to the floor, shielding him. Over the sound of the window shattering, John hears the explosion. His eyes trail up to see Weaver, her liquid metal body forming a shield between him and the fire. He could feel the searing heat above and beside him, but Weaver's body was blocking the rest of the flames from reaching them.

"Run," Weaver orders.

John doesn't waste any time. Sarah drags him to his feet and they run for the staircase, dodging the small explosions in the hallway. Ellison and Weaver are not far behind them. Above them the heat from the burning fuel causes the thermite to explode, filling the floor with flames burning everything in its path.

"The basement," Weaver states. "Mr. Ellison. John Henry."

"We need to get out," Sarah insists. "They're trying to kill my son."

"No, they're trying to kill my son," Weaver replied calmly. "Just like you are."

"I'm sure she's already done it," Sarah shoots back.

"You better hope not," Weaver replies in a cold monotone. "Your John may save the world, but he can't do it without mine."

She continues down the stairs and John exchanges a confused look with his mother before following. As they reach the end, John sees the unconscious security guard and his pace quickens, feeling a sense of urgency. What if Cameron wasn't able to kill John Henry? What if she had been too badly damaged in the breakout?

He charges forward, ahead of his mother, ahead of Weaver. As he bursts through the door first, he halts suddenly, his eyes widening in shock and fear.

Cameron sits in the chair, completely still, her eyes dead and unfocused. His mind is screaming. _No no no no!_

He rushes to her side, pulling back her hair and skin to see the port where her chip is. Where it was!

"Her chip, it's gone." _NO! This can't be happening!_ He fights against the emotions that threaten to overwhelm him. His eyes desperately search the table, spotting Cameron's bloodied knife.

"Where is he?" he shouts at Weaver. "The-th-th-John Henry!" he stutters. "He took her chip! Where did he go?" He was aware he was shouting, his voice edged with fear.

Weaver slowly approaches, glancing at the knife, at Cameron's unmoving body. "He didn't take the chip. She gave it to him."

"John," Sarah says softly, nodding to something behind him.

He turns, not knowing what to expect. What he sees is a computer screen that keeps flashing words, Cameron's words: I'M SORRY JOHN. I'M SORRY JOHN. I'M SORRY JOHN. I'M SORRY JOHN.

John could feel the tears coming. _Why, Cameron? Why did you do that?_ His whole world was suddenly crashing down. He never got to say goodbye to her, never got to tell her how he felt, never got to kiss her.

"Where is he?"

"Not where," Weaver replies, examining the electronic equipment. "When."

John sees Ellison frown from the doorway. "What? What do you mean when?"

John realizes what she means. _This whole room is just like the bank vault!_

"I know that," Sarah says, her eyes locking on a piece of computer equipment in the central hub. "I've seen it before."

John turns around, his eyes widening. "Is that the Turk? That's Andy Goode's Turk!"

"Three dots," Sarah whispers. John looks again. Sure enough, there are three red dots on the machine. Weaver is programming something into a computer that looks similar to the one Cameron had used in the bank vault . . . to time jump.

_We're going to find John Henry. We're going to save Cameron._ He was vaguely aware of his mother going off on Weaver.

"You Terminator Bitch. You're building Sky Net!" Sarah accuses, her voice hard with rage.

"No I was building something to fight it," Weaver replies. "And I'd watch who's calling who bitch."

_Will you join us?_

John squeezes his eyes shut before glancing once more at Cameron's lifeless body. He hates seeing her like this. He turns to the screen again, seeing the words: I'M SORRY JOHN.

He could almost hear her voice saying those words, in the same pleading tone she'd used when she begged for her life, apologizing for trying to kill him.

"Coming, James?" Weaver asks.

Ellison furrows his brow. "Coming?"

"After John Henry," Weaver replies with a smile. "Our boy."

Ellison slowly shakes his head, backing away. "He's not my boy. And you . . . you're . . ."

"Do you mind picking up Savannah then?" Weaver interrupts, her voice still pleasant. "Gymnastics ends at five-thirty."

John jumps, startled, as the first of the electrical surges began. His eyes dart from the computer which started ticking down from twenty seconds to his mother, who has slowly started shaking her head back and forth.

"John, we can't." She protests, backing up a step.

_No! We have to! We have to save her!_ He hears his voice break. "He's got her chip."

Sarah continues backing away and John can feel the tears welling in his eyes. His throat constricts and he finds it nearly impossible to breathe.

"He's got _her_," he chokes tearfully.

The bubble begins to form around them and Sarah steps back, out of the circle. "Mom," John pleads. Her image begins to blur blue as the bubble thickens.

"I'll stop it," she promises. "I'll stop it."

He feels a deep sense of loss as his mom backs away from view. Right before the jump, his eyes dart from Cameron's limp body in front of him to the screen where her words had been repeating.

I'M SORRY JOHN.

I'M SORRY JOHN.

His breath catches in his throat and he turns to stare down at Cameron's body, eyes watering.

And then he sees nothing, only darkness.

The room is crackling with energy. The time bubble is expanding and enveloping both her son John and the terminator that calls herself Weaver. Sarah steps back out of the bubble that is forming.

"Mom?" John looks at her earnestly. Sarah thinks, _This isn't my fight._ She steps back some more.

"I'm sorry John." _My fight is here and now_. "I'll stop it. I'll stop it." Her back is against the wall. Sarah is visibly upset, her face failing to hide her pain of losing her son. But it is time for him to go, embrace his destiny, to live the life for which she's been preparing him her entire life.

The bubble finishes expanding until Weaver and John are fully enclosed. Lightning is crackling around the room. Sarah is looking at her son, John Connor, the future savior of mankind. He looks afraid and so young, but he is brave and strong. She loves her son.

Recent events flash through her mind. Suddenly she remembers, in the lobby, just before they went upstairs, John told her he loved her. It had been so long since he told her this. With just moments to spare as the bubble begins to wink out of existence, she shouts, "I love you, too."

Then with a crackle and a flash of light the bubble is gone. Energy still crackles about the room. She stands there for what feels like an eternity looking at the spot where her son had stood just a moment before. She feels numb all over. She doesn't know if it is from the electrical discharge or the loss of her son.

She is shocked back to reality when Ellison grabs her arm. "Come on Sarah. We have to get you out of here before the authorities arrive."

"The computer, the Turk, we have to destroy it." cries Sarah.

"There's no problem. I think that . . . that energy bubble fried it. Look." Ellison gestures at the computers.

The computer servers looked like they received a heavy charge. There are scorch marks around the screws. Monitors are flickering and flashing static. Sarah realizes she was so blinded by the loss of her son that she hadn't noticed the room around her. None of the computers appear to be operating.

Sarah looks at Cameron's body. It was right in the middle of the time bubble, but there it still sat. She suddenly remembers that metal can't go through, and with part of her endoskeleton exposed, Cameron still sat there.

"We will have to get her out of here," Shouts Sarah, "and destroy the security tapes."

"Security tapes are no problem. They were stored digitally on John Henry's computer, and that is torched by all appearances."

"Well then, stop gabbing and help me with Cameron." Sarah says, as she tries to hoist Cameron out of her chair. She may look like a skinny teenage girl, but even Sarah has difficulty shifting her dead weight.

Ellison picks the girl up by the waist, and with a small grunt of effort, he puts her lithe body over his shoulder. Sarah collects the knife and any other bits of evidence she can spot and runs after him.

In the room where John Henry once lived, the static clears from the monitors. The computer systems reboot and the lights on the Turk come on. A command prompt is displayed on one of the monitors and then a single phrase is repeated, I AM HERE, I AM HERE, I AM HERE, I AM HERE.

Sarah catches up with Ellison just as he is approaching the door to the underground parking garage. She peers out through the window of the door, then slowly opens it taking a quick glance around.

"It's clear." She says over shoulder as she holds the door open.

"We're lucky I'm parked on this level." He grunts, as he struggles with Cameron's body.

They get to his car, Sarah takes Cameron's body from Ellison and struggles to prop her up against the side of the vehicle, while Ellison unlocks the trunk. He and Sarah then takes Cameron's body and carefully places it the trunk of his company car.

Sarah hesitates. Who is this man that she should place her trust in him? In what seemed like another life, Ellison had pursued her all over the country, convinced she was a psychotic terrorist. Then when she and John, and Cameron had traveled eight years into the future, she thought she had lost him for good. But it seemed like no matter where she went, no matter what she did in her fight against Sky Net, there he was. He betrayed them once. He stole Cromartie's body and gave it to Weaver. It may operate under a different name now, but it is still a machine. And it is Ellison's fault.

She looks at this man that is now trying to help her, her eyes narrowing. "How do I know I can trust you?"

"Sarah, as much as I would like to take the time to reassure you right now, we haven't got the _time_." Ellison sighs, he can just begin to hear alarms sounding from approaching emergency vehicles. "Just get in the car. We can discuss this later."

Almost reluctantly Sarah gets in Ellison's car. She doesn't have much of a choice. Without his help she would certainly get caught and be blamed for this mess. When they start to approach the exit, she scrunches down below the window to avoid being seen by anyone.

# # #

"That is what is happening right now." John explains. "Today is the day Catherine Weaver and myself left for the future. Ellison is taking mom someplace safe and the Cameron I sent back to this time will be looking out for her."

"If you knew that was going to happen today, then why waste time collecting weapons. Why not go and stop yourself from traveling forward in time?"

"You know why I couldn't. You were there when she told us." John says quietly. "Come on we need to get moving before the cops get here. Provided they aren't too busy downtown."

Several miles away, a figure watches the smoke and flames shooting from the upper floors of the Zeira Corp tower from the roof of an empty warehouse in an industrial park. The building is empty but for one area where a black Dodge Ram is parked well out of site of any passerby. Confidant that all is happening according to schedule, the figure runs to the edge of the roof top and drops several stories below to the pavement below.

Next to the building is a barrel with a few sticks of old lumber. The person pulls a folder stuffed with sheets of paper from inside their leather jacket and lays it on top. Attached to the folder is a thumb drive which they quickly pocket, exchanging it for a lighter.

The person flicks the lighter and touches the flame to many points along the folders and papers edges until they begin to burn.

Leaping onto the back of a waiting motorcycle, they tear off, leaving nothing but smoking tire streak. As the folder burns, the rising heat causes it to open exposing more of the paper. They curl and blacken, but not before letterhead for The Kaliba Group becomes briefly visible.

As the M-35 drives out of the city, carrying people and weapons, John can't help but think about what he's been through and how he couldn't interfere with today's events before the time jump to save those he loves. Thinking about Cameron, and what she might be doing this very moment, he can't help but recall recent events in the future.

_**2027, July 25, Day 64, 4:45 AM  
**Kyle runs down the catwalk in the direction he heard the shout come from. He is halfway across the building when there is a large explosion somewhere ahead. He can see the bright flash through an opening in the far wall._

_As he runs along the catwalk towards the flash, he can see something silvery moving quickly on the other side of the opening. He is almost to the door when he sees Allison run forward leaping and grabbing Kreilley. They disappear over the edge of the platform._

_He comes to the door as John screams. "Noooooo!" _

_John leaps up and dashes to the edge of the platform. _

_Kyle is about to run forward thinking John is going to foolishly leap after her, but all he does is collapse at the edge and begin to scream again._

"_CAMERON!" He screams at the top of his voice. _

"_CAMERON!" He screams again and again._

"_CAMERON!" He barely yells, his voice cracking as tears fills his eyes._

_Kyle walks up beside John and looks down. There is nothing to be seen but the boiling molten metal in the large open hearth furnace below. A silvery film across its surface. _

_John is crying. There is no sign of any movement on the floor below. The brightness of the molten metal is blinding._

"_John." Kyle says calmly, but there is no response._

"_John!" He says more forcefully._

"_Kyle?" _

"_We have to go John. Catherine says the nuclear bomb is set to go off. We need to leave."_

"_I can't leave without her!"_

"_She's dead John. She died saving your life!"_

"_No . . . No! She can't be. I need her." He shouts at him, "I need her!"_

_John gets up and runs to the far side of the platform. Grabbing a ladder he slides down it to the floor below._

_Kyle runs after him following him down the ladder._

_The heat is intense on the floor as the molten metal burps and bubbles in the large open hearths._

_John and Kyle are nearly suffocating in the intense heat as they walk towards the large open hearth._

"_Cameron! Cameron!" John yells, choking on the heat._

_Kyle reaches over and places his hand on John's shoulder. John quickly shakes it off._

"_Leave me alone!" He says._

"_John please. We need to go now. We haven't got much time!" Kyle pleads._

"_Not until I know what happened to her!"_

"_John please don't make this any harder on yourself." He tries to explain. How can he get through to someone who is calling out to a lost love, instead of for the woman he married not that long ago._

_John spins on his heel. "Hard, what do you know about it being hard?" John shouts. "Have you ever loved someone so deeply that their life has been more important than your own? Have you sacrificed all that you wanted all that you loved just to be with the one person who loved you more than life itself? Tell me you have and I know you're a liar. I will not leave until I know Cameron's fate!"_

"_Don't you mean Allison's fate!" Kyle snaps. "And I think its pretty obvious what has happened."_

"_No I don't mean Allison! And No! Its not obvious! She could be lying here someplace damaged. Please just help me look? Please, Kyle?" John pleads, tears streaming from his eyes. He's lost his mom. He can't lose Cameron too. Not again._

_Kyle shakes his head, to weary to argue. "All right John. I'll give you five minutes, and that is more time than we should take."_

"_Thank you Kyle."_

_John goes trotting off towards the furnaces where he thinks she went. "Cameron! Cameron!"_

_Kyle watches and just shakes his head. He knows they need to leave. He walks after John._

**2009, May 13, Late Afternoon, Day -5  
**Traveling down the freeway, Kyle holds the vehicle to no more than two miles over the speed limit. They hit a bump in the road that breaks John out of his deep thoughts. He watches the traffic go zooming past them like they are standing still before speaking.

"Kyle?" John says at a volume barely loud enough to be heard over the trucks engine.

"Yes, John."

"I'm sorry for what I said to you in the foundry. Thank you for helping me."

Kyle doesn't respond, but just keeps driving. Without any prompting, it's the first time John's even hinted at what took place in the future. He just hopes that John will find it in himself to talk about it before it eats at him from within. Kyle has seen many soldiers eat a bullet just because they couldn't face the world without someone they've lost. He knows John isn't like that, but he has a question for him.

"Is what happened to Cameron and what she said have anything to do with why you had to speak with John Henry alone?"

John's mind instantly flashes to the life that was Allison's, snuffed out prematurely, taking with it what might have been her unborn child too. That's true hatred. Killing not only mother, but child too. And for what? What? What has all this have to do with Catherine Weaver's plans? Is anything she's told him about her motives in the future even true?

"Something, but I'd rather not talk about it right now." John says and sits staring out the front window.

"Whenever you are ready to talk about it, you know I'm right here."

A few miles later John says, "Why don't we stop and get these guys some real food, and pick up some food, additional clothing and gear for the people back at the base."

"We don't have any money." Kyle responds.

"That's what you think." John says feeling the case press against the back of his legs. "There's a place we can stop at, a few blocks from our exit. Alamo Survivalist Supplies. For the volume of clothes, flack jackets, boots, and radios we need, he's the place to get them at."

"But what if he talks?"

"He won't talk. He knows my mom. And with the volume we will be buying, he won't have any reason to talk. Not if he wants us back to buy more."

# # #

Ellison is quickly driving away from Zeira Corp, without looking like he is in a hurry. He drives about two blocks before Sarah pulls herself up into the seat.

"Where are we going?" She asks checking the mirrors for anyone possibly following them.

"I am taking you someplace safe, and nearby, and then I'm going to pick up Savannah from her class." Ellison pauses while he maneuvers his car through the stream of traffic. "I don't like using the girl this way, but if asked she will be my reason for leaving Zeira Corp."

"What will you tell her?"

"I don't know. But I can't tell her the truth. Not yet, anyways"

Ellison and Sarah don't talk much from there on. Driving quickly but safely through the streets of Los Angeles, Ellison pulls up outside an apartment building. There is a sign out front saying closed for remodeling.

"What is this place?" Sarah asks, looking around.

"We're in North Hollywood. This is where that machine posing as George Laszlo killed an entire swat team when the FBI attempted to arrest him. After the shoot-out, the owners closed the apartment building while the investigation was underway, and it has remained closed due to the investigation and eventual remodeling by the owners. Which is on hold until structural engineers can examine the building."

He continues to drive around back where the service entrance to the interior court is located. "This is the closest I can get us in the car. No one should see us go in from here. The place is deserted."

Ellison and Sarah get out of the car and begin the daunting task of dragging Cameron's body out of the trunk. "The place still has electric and water, but it is completely empty for at least the next few weeks."

Sarah picks up Cameron's legs and they struggle to carry her through the gate and up the stairs to the second level.

Stopping outside a door, Ellison speaks, "This is the apartment where he stayed. It is the only one that isn't locked but it has an FBI seal on the door."

Sarah notes the melancholy in Ellison's voice. "Something wrong?"

"I lost a lot of people here colleagues, friends, including my partner. She was the best"

Sarah puts down Cameron's legs and pulls the knife from her pocket. Carefully, she slices through the tape following the gap between the door and the jamb. They drag Cameron inside and lay her on the sofa.

"No one should find you here." Ellison says as he looks around. He still can barely grasp the awful damage done by one of those machines in this very room.

"I'll be back as soon as I can. In the mean time, stay here, out of sight."

Sarah assesses her location. Bullet holes pockmark most of the walls and there is the slight tang of tear gas in the air. It took her five minutes to explore the apartment. No TV, no phone, one door, three windows, one bathroom, one bedroom, and one kitchen with little food, of which most was spoiled.

She goes into the bedroom and glances at the mirror on the back of the closet door. She had been through a lot the last several years. Through it all she could rely on her son, but now she is alone.

Suddenly, Sarah is rocked to the core with a sudden rush of grief. Sobbing, she sits on the bed. The tears just flow. John is gone and she misses him terribly. She is all alone now. Derek is dead. Charlie is dead. Cameron is disabled. Now John is gone, somewhere in the future with that terminator bitch, who called itself Catherine Weaver.

# # #

A few minutes later and the M35 pulls in behind the business John described and comes to a stop.

"Kyle and I will go in. We'll bring our stuff out through the back. Andy, you see anything suspicious, three hard taps on the horn. We shouldn't be long."

"So tell me about this guy. What can I expect when we go inside?" Kyle asks, as they walk around to the front entrance.

"Mom met him in Honduras. He looks like he was born there, but he's actually Hungarian, Gypsy by birth. Don't know much about him otherwise. I was just a kid when I last saw him."

Kyle and John walk around to the front and go inside. The interior is a vast warehouse like store with canoes hanging from the ceiling, crossbows mounted on the walls beside heads of animals, and in the back a wide range of weapons locked behind glass doors. Kyle gasps with the wide range of goods available for the sportsman, survivalist, or just the keen camper. If he had half this stuff in the future they could have really done something.

"What can I do you for?" A man comes out from behind a display on a counter.

"Mr. Jovanovic. I'm John. You've done business with my mother, Sarah Connor."

"Yes I have. Though she hasn't crossed my threshold in a very long time. But judging by the recent news reports, and I understand why. I've been listening to the police scanner. They're looking for her, you and this sister of yours."

"Have the police been here?"

"No. No one knows I've done business with your mother in the past. What brings you here?"

"My friend and I are here to do business. I'm hoping you might show me the same consideration as you did my mom in the past."

"If its that kind of business, then I should probably lock my door. Always willing to help the son of Sarah Connor."

As he goes to the front doors to lock them and put the closed sign in the window, Kyle whispers to John, "How does your mom know this guy? He seems pretty straight and clean."

"Don't let appearances fool you. According to mom he was one of the best drug and gun smugglers out there until he got tired of the business. He took his money and bought this business. The original owner was killed by an armed robber. His family tried to keep the business going but sold it to him ten years later. He expanded it from a basic guns and ammo into this. Done good, but he isn't above helping his old friends. I understand Mom helped him out."

"And I'll always be grateful for what she did." The older man says joining them. "Now I couldn't help but notice you were looking at the knives I have on display." he adds clapping a hand on Kyle's shoulder.

"These here is your classic combat knife like your grandpa used in Vietnam. But you, you look like a man who wants something more than the basic."

John can't help but grin. Mr. Jovanovic was a born salesman. It took little effort to get him directed to the gear they needed to buy. Protein bars, prepackaged meals, camouflage clothing, canteens, etc., plus some basic hardy khaki's, boots, shirts, and T-shirts for the people back at base. Kyle did end up buying a knife, to replace the one he lost, and while he and the shop owner went over the selection, John found himself looking at a display of bandana's. They were in every conceivable color and pattern from traditional red and blue, to brightly colored camouflage, to standard camouflage patterns. Amongst all of them one color stood out from the rest, and John knew he had to buy it, not for himself, but for the one person to whom it would mean more.

# # #

Kreilley is sitting comfortably in his office chair watching the latest news reports on the violent crash into Zeira Corp office tower.

"_Earlier this afternoon as commuters were just starting to leave downtown L. A. Pedestrians and commuters alike were witness to the spectacular crash of some unknown aircraft into the Zeira Corp tower. With fears of another nine-eleven, police rushed to cordon off the area. The Los Angeles Fire Department are working to put out the fire which has totally engulfed the upper floors of Zeira Corp. We go now to Steve Picathanay for a live report."_

"_Good Afternoon Dawn. I am standing just two blocks from the epicenter of one of the worse disasters to fall on Los Angeles. Just before the end of the business day, this whole area was shocked by the apparent crash of a small plane into Zeira Corp. Officials are presently investigating where this craft may have come from. Presently fire crews are more concerned with keeping the fire contained and keeping people from venturing too close, otherwise, many people could be killed or injured by falling debris."_

"_Thank you Steve. I have just got word that we have a security video from a nearby business that shows that unknown aircraft as it flew over Los Angeles. We apologize for the low quality of the film."_

Kreilley is watching the fuzzy video when the intercom buzzes.

"What do you want Mr. Petri?"

"_Mr. Preckman is on line two for you sir."_

He mutes the TV and picks up the phone, the news report is once again showing the results of where his drone smashed into Zeira Corp office.

"_Preckman here. Sarah Connor has escaped from prison."_

"Where is she? You and your people are supposed to be keeping tabs on her."

"_I know sir. She had help. That cyborg of hers came in and busted her out."_

"Did you follow them?"

"_I had a van follow them but they lost them in traffic. They were last seen heading in the general direction of downtown L. A. They could be anywhere now."_

Kreilley looks at the news coverage of the attack on Zeira Corp. "I have a good idea of where she may have gone, Zeira Corp. She and her son rescued Weaver's daughter and they may have gone there. I hardly doubt someone of her resources and capabilities got caught in my little trap. I will have to make an appearance as Detective Wicker and arrange a sweep of the area. With all of the police and news media down town, she isn't likely to leave anytime soon. In the meantime, I suggest you stake out their storage unit and their former home."

"_I already have people assigned to the storage unit. It won't take but a minute to get people to watch their house."_

"Mr. Preckman?"

"_Yes sir?"_

"Don't disappoint me again." Kreilley hangs up the phone and resumes working at his computer station.

**2009, May 13, Late Evening, Day -5  
**Sarah wakes with a start. She quickly looks around wondering where she is and how she got here. She slowly calms down from her brief panic attack.

"It won't do. I can't let this get to me." Sarah says out loud.

The light filtering through the closed blinds indicates that it will soon be getting dark. Sarah has no idea when Ellison will be back, but there are some things she needs to do first. She bathes quickly and redresses into her own clothes. Sarah finds a baseball cap on the shelf in the closet that is too big for her. She puts it in on and tucks her hair up inside. By the time she is ready it is dark out.

It is a long walk through the streets of Los Angeles at night. There are still quite a few people out and about. It may be California, but people do walk. Sarah takes advantages of groups of people, heading in the same direction she is going, for cover. When there isn't any, she keeps to the shadows, anything to hide her presence. It is dangerous what she is doing, but there wasn't time to collect her SUV yesterday. It was far more important to leave the area quickly.

Sarah eventually arrives where John had parked their vehicle for their meeting with Catherine Weaver. They had parked two blocks away from Zeira Corp in alley serving a closed Sushi Bar that was up for sale. After leaving the prison, they had quickly abandoned the Suburban John stole for their own vehicle three miles from the prison and proceeded to the meeting at a steady pace while Sarah changed clothes in the back. She checks the area thoroughly, waiting and watching to see if anyone is watching her or where they parked. After an hour of scanning the area, Sarah determines no one is watching her or the SUV.

She quickly examines the vehicle for any tampering. The outside and the undercarriage of the SUV is clear of any explosives or tracking devices. She opens the front door and sees what looks like a piece of string on the floor mat, shaped like an arrow pointing under the driver's seat. Reaching under the front seat, she pulls out a small package wrapped in tape. Inside, is $10,000 in cash, and a driver's license and a passport made out to Sarah Gayle, and a note.

Sarah trembles slightly as she reads the note.

_Dear Mom,_

_Please don't worry about me. I am doing fine. I didn't know what was going to happen when we went to see Weaver, but I felt things wouldn't be the same again._

_The passport will only be good for forty-eight hours after being used. It will take that long before the authorities realize it is fake. The drivers license should last a long time, provided you don't get pulled over too often for traffic violations. The cash is a gift. Thank you for your gift._

_Love, John_

_P.S._

_The cops will be making a security sweep through the area at 10:15. Leave now. _

She approaches the industrial park very carefully. If Savannah was able to lead the cops here, then this would be the perfect place to try and recapture her. Stopping on an access road, she pulls a pair of night-vision binoculars out of the glove box, and quickly runs across the road and climbs the fire escape on the back of an empty warehouse.

Sarah stands there for an hour surveying the industrial park, all the approaches and all potential hiding places. Nothing is moving other than a few wild animals who live and hunt amongst the refuse of humanity. Sarah quickly returns to her vehicle and drives around to the warehouse.

She gets out and approaches the building with care. The pungent smell of a recent fire touches upon her nostrils. As she reaches the corner of the building it gets stronger. Taking risk, she pulls out a small flashlight, and while shielding it with her hand shines it into an empty barrel by the door. Inside is the smoldering remains of burnt papers and some old timbers.

Her thoughts wander to the idea of some homeless people trying to keep warm, then that makes her worried about their belongings they left behind. Should she risk going in? Dammit, she has too, if only to recover the data they found.

Once again, Sarah takes her time, casing the building for any surveillance devices or potential observers. Seeing nobody, she enters the building, parking in front of the Dodge Ram. Sarah wastes no time, grabbing everything and placing it in her SUV. She packs up Johns things and keeps them separate from Derek's. She looks, but can't find Cameron's bag. Not wanting to waste any more time than she has to, Sarah quickly forgets about it and moves on.

She digs around in John's things, and quickly finds his computer, but nowhere can she find the folder with the papers they printed out of everything they could collect on The Kaliba Group. She begins to panic, tossing things about when she realizes, the fire.

She quickly goes back outside and examines the ashes more closely. Digging through the ashes she finds a few unburnt corners of papers and part of the folder. What little is still readable is recognizable as the papers they had. She can only think John must have burnt them for security before going to ground.

With a sigh, she goes back inside the warehouse, brushing her sooty fingers on her pants. She knows the same files and more will be on John's computer. Sarah places it in her own bag for taking back to the motel room. She looks forward to putting on some fresh clothes. At least one of them, probably Cameron as she can't imagine John going through her underwear, had the foresight to bring some of her clothes to put on after the breakout. Getting changed in that back alley smelling of rotten fish wasn't the highlight of the day, but it beat the heck out of what came later.

With almost a cheer, Sarah finds the last of their thermite in one of the truck's storage lockers. All the weapons she hides in the SUV, hidden under John's and Derek's meager belongings.

It is a shame she has to leave behind the Dodge Ram, but she only needs one vehicle. Sarah suddenly has an idea. Pulling a pair of work gloves from John's bag, she grabs a shirt belonging to Derek and wipes down every surface inside and outside the truck. She also takes the time to remove everything that isn't nailed down, whether or not it could identify her, John or Derek. When she is done, she drives the vehicle to the edge of the industrial area. When they came here to hide with Savannah, she saw some young Latino men hanging around there. She is sure they would like a new truck. Leaving the keys in the ignition, she walks back to her SUV.

Sarah drives off without another glance back. If she had, she would have seen someone leave the shadows and go over to the truck and examine it. With little effort, they place a motorcycle in the back of the truck and get inside. They drive off in a different direction. Coming to a storage facility, the person pulls up outside one of the large sheds. They get out and open the door, the headlights showing off guns and equipment hanging inside. The headlights go off as the vehicle is driven inside. A few minutes later, a motorcycle pulls out of the storage facility, kicking up gravel in its haste.

Sarah drives in the general direction of the condominiums and finds a long term, parking garage just a few blocks away. There is a light on in the guard's booth. She smiles as luck is with her. It has a night attendant. Keeping her face in shadow, she pays in cash for a two-week parking permit, the shortest she can get. She is glad she doesn't need to show an ID when using cash. She pulls into the parking garage, finds her space and parks.

Hanging her parking tag on the rear view mirror, she locks the vehicle and walks away, shouldering the bag with some clothing and John's computer inside.

**2009, May 13, close to Midnight, Day -5**

The M-35 continues down remote roads and seldom traveled highways to get to its destination. Kyle is glad to be out of the city. It felt strange to see everything as it was before Judgment Day. To think, somewhere in that city, he and Derek could be playing catch or sitting at the dinner table with his parents right now eating supper. How weird can this life get?

The truck disappears into the mountains and Kyle follows the route back to Crystal Peak. The fallout shelter feels more like home than the city. More spacious than the bunkers they lived in, but it's underground and has that same feeling.

He comes to a stop outside the hanger doors. Kyle raps on the back of the cab and two men jump out the back while at the same time John stirs.

"Oh man. Did I fall asleep?" John says as he sits up, stretching. He notices that it is late in the evening.

"Yeah. I let you sleep, figured you needed it after all you've been through." Kyle pulls something out from inside his jacket. "Here's your gun back."

"My gun?" John takes it from Kyles hand as he brings the truck inside the hanger.

"Yep. You had yourself a little nightmare. You screamed 'Metal!' and pulled out your gun. Three men jumped out the truck to take cover and I had to disarm you."

"Shit. And the three men?"

"Are unharmed. We were dragging up a steep slope at the time so no one was hurt."

"Oh man." John stares at his gun before putting it away. "I am so sorry. I remember screaming and going for my gun but I thought it was all in the dream."

"Don't worry about it. You aren't the first person to surprise everyone by screaming while asleep, just try not to do it when we are in a vehicle next time." Kyle smiles at his young friend.

"Thanks." John says as the hanger doors close.

"Andy, you and the others see to it that the food, clothing, soaps and deodorants get distributed to everyone. Kyle let's see how John Henry and the others have done with the computers."

Kyle and John walk into the computer room to find Catherine and John Henry working at the computers. There is a cot to one side and Savannah is sleeping on it.

"What's up with Savannah?" Kyle asks quietly upon entering the room.

"She over did it working on the computers downstairs, tore some stitches. I had to put in new stitches and gave her something to make her sleep and keep her off her leg while it heals." Catherine answers.

John kneels down beside the cot and moves several strands of hair off her face and tucks them behind her ear with the rest. "Why is she here and not in a private room?" John asks.

"She insisted that she stay here until you arrived, John. She looks up to you. Besides it's quiet here and we can keep an eye on her." Catherine says.

She's family, John wants to say. Savannah grew up under his mom's care. She's about as close to having a real sister as he's ever going to get.

"Is there any risk of infection? Or anything like that." Kyle asks, knowing full well how dangerous wounds of any kind were in the future.

"No, but she will have to take things slowly for a couple of days."

"I'm glad she's okay." John stands back up and looks at them. "What were you able to find out while we were gone?"

"We've been monitoring the satellite signals since Savannah got the old computers operational. So far we haven't come across any signals that are definitely Sky Net's. However, a search of the internet reveals traces of data on computer servers across many fields that bear similarities to Sky Net's." John Henry replies. "I saw something similar to this before, when something which I believe was Sky Net tried to shut me down. It has grown since then. Every major node on the internet is presently under control of Sky Net. From those positions it can take control of every computer linked to the internet, nothing is safe."

"Sounds like Kreilley is preparing a global takeover of the worlds computers. What about FOX Industries, find anything there?"

"If Sky Net is there . . ."

"We know it is." John interrupts.

". . . then it must be buried behind firewalls. I can't break into it until it reveals itself."

"That won't be for another four to five days. Please tell me you have some good news." John replies.

"I don't know if you would call it good, but while John Henry was searching for Sky Net and trying to break into FOX Industries main computers, I took a different route."

"What did you do Catherine?' Kyle asks.

"I hacked into their warehouse and factory computers. As I thought, they weren't as secure as the main servers." She waits a moment as if she will be praised for her work, but when she sees its not coming she then says. "I can approximate from the data I found how many and what types of machines they have constructed."

"So what are we looking at here? What kind of machines will we be f acing?" John asks.

"That's the bad news. They've completed construction of approximately one hundred-seven T-1's."

"Damn." Kyle curses. "T-1's have their vulnerabilities, but they can lay down heavy gunfire like nothing else."

"You may not be facing all of them. They've already begun shipping them as well as the HK Drones to various military bases."

"And how many of the drones are we liable to encounter?" Kyle asks.

"They are fewer in number compared to the T-1's, but their speed and maneuverability makes them far more dangerous. They appear to have completed construction of sixty-nine, but at least half of them have been shipped to military bases."

"What is their rate of construction?"

"By the time Judgment Day arrives, they will have in all probability replaced all units that have already shipped and more, provided they maintain the same rate of construction. Exact numbers cannot be determined."

John lets out a long sigh.

"I'm afraid that isn't all we've been able to find." Catherine says.

John waits for her to tell him. He doesn't have long to wait.

"The factories at this time are heavily automated, but a great deal of physical labor is still required. I searched the IRS and Social Security Administration databases for employees of FOX industries, and I came up empty for workers with the necessary skills to work in a factory."

"Wait a minute." Kyle interjects. "I know they had people working in the factories. When Savannah and I led our troops inside the Topanga facility, we found underground cells with mummified corpses and evidence of experimentation. The machines that were with us identified the bar codes on their arms as being Sky Net prisoners from before Judgment Day. So they have people working there, they just aren't doing it willingly."

"So we have a potential fighting force inside the facility." John says but sees Catherine's firm expression. "You found something else out didn't you."

"Yes. Kreilley has amassed a private army. According to IRS records, they are listed as security, but given the situation, one man's security guard can be another machines soldier."

"How many?"

"Depending on how many are on duty, you could be looking at anywhere from forty to one-hundred-twenty. They are on a rotating eight hour shift. So if Kreilley gets anxious, you could be facing all of them when you attack."

"Based on what mom told me in the future, all of them will be there. Kreilley will have them in hiding until the very last moment."

John sighs and looks around. "I'm open to suggestions."

"I could load a virus into their computers like I did before," John Henry says, "but it wouldn't do anything until Sky Net came online and began communicating with its machines."

"Prepare it just the same."

"John, why don't you tell your mom that you are back. Then you can use her contacts in Central America to raise more troops." Kyle suggests.

John and Catherine exchange a look, each of them recalling what she told him the previous day. She wonders what John will say.

"That isn't a good idea for two reasons; one, the men in Central America wouldn't get here in time, and two, Mom must continue to believe I'm still in the future, because there are things she will be doing before Judgment Day, and knowledge of my presence could affect the outcome. It is best she doesn't know I am here until the moment we act. Also, we can't risk Kreilley knowing I'm here."

Catherine tries not to preen over John's acceptance of the idea she gave him. Sarah Connor is presently a random element that will hold Kreilley's attention like a flitting hummingbird will hold a cats interest.

John pauses a moments then grins. "However, I have a contact of my own that I can call on. Catherine, do we have a telephone?"

"Yes. I have a secure line in my office, next door."

"Good. Catherine, you said you wanted to help me destroy the monster. That is your task, to find some present day means of destroying Kreilley. Also, I need the two of you to hack into their security system because on the night we attack, I want it to be a complete surprise. Three, find that damn terminator!"

And on those words, John walks out of the computer room and into Catherine's office next door slamming the door shut behind him.

Quieting his heart and mind, he sits behind Catherine's desk, trying to recall the phone number for the one person he can call on for help. John hopes he will help. After all, he did save his life.

# # #

_From the Journal of John Connor_

_May 14, 2009_

_There is a storm on the horizon. One we know is coming. We are gathering an army to fight what we hope will be the first and last battle in that war. _

_God help us. I don't know if we will be strong enough to stop Sky Net from being born. Even with help._

_But I fight more for more than just to stop Judgment Day. I fight to save the people I love. I hope that will be enough to get me through the coming days._

_There is storm coming. We've won the war, but now we must save the future._

* * *

_Today is May 18,2012. Three years ago on this day, FOX formally announced it would not be picking up Terminator The Sarah Connor Chronicles for a third season. Despite petitions and emails and a groundswell of support for the show, it wasn't enough for FOX to change its mind. There was some hope afterwards that WB might produce a direct-to-DVD movie to conclude the series but sadly nothing happened on that front either. Whether its was the Halcyon bankruptcy that scuttled its future or just weak kneed Eunuchs at WB, TSCC died. So many different ways they could have continued the series, including novels, graphic novels, or even comic book form, that would have been less costly but nothing.  
_

_We have not forgotten Terminator The Sarah Connor Chronicles, nor will we let others. I can only speak for myself when I say it was the best TV show I've seen in my lifetime and I haven't come across anything since that holds my attention like it did. The stories, the actors, all the people behind the scenes, that gave us such a wonderful adventure and so many fascinating characters we let into our homes each week. Now its gone, and the void has yet to be filled. We miss you TSCC.  
_

_The1Russter  
May 18, 2012  
_


	37. Missing Pieces

Disclaimer: I do not claim any rights to the Terminator films; the TV series, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles;" or any characters depicted within the films or TV series. I do claim the right to this story idea and all characters and situations of my own creation. This story was created solely for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. No profits are garnered from its distribution.

* * *

**TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES**

**REUNION**

**Part 3: Babylon**

**Author: The1Russter**

**Chapter 36**

**Missing Pieces**

"_You can love someone so much...But you can never love people as much as you can miss them." John Green, author of Looking for Alaska_

"_Tempt not a desperate man." William Shakespeare, Romeo & Juliet, Act 5 Scene 3_

"_Desperation is usually an active state, the abandonment of hope impelling to a furious struggle against adverse circumstances, with utter disregard of consequences." from the Dictionary._

"_And in your eyes, I see the missing pieces I'm searching for." I Knew I Loved You, by Savage Garden_

# # #

**May 14, 2009, 5 AM, Day -4**

It is almost five in the morning by the time Sarah gets back to the apartment. Early morning traffic is just starting to pick up. Sarah was as careful walking to the condo in North Hollywood as she was in every part of her journey that night. She slips through the gate going into the court and quickly climbs the stairs. The court below is well lit but the balcony is in full shadow. She quickly walks along and enters George Laszlo's room. She doesn't turn on any lights so as not to give away her presence. The sun will be coming up soon enough.

The motorcyclist arrives to see Sarah disappear inside the condo. Quietly they drive off as they have another mission to perform this morning. They do this without concern as they know Sarah will be safe for now. She won't face danger until the night she tries to save Cameron.

A pale light enters the apartment from the lights in the inner court. Sarah waits a moment for her eyes to adjust to the light. She glances at Cameron's body laying there on the sofa. When Cameron first came to them, all Sarah could see was that she was a machine. Cameron came across so intelligent and almost seemed a real person when they first started this new adventure together. But after the time jump of eight years, something seemed to change in her, Cameron had more trouble fitting in socially. According to what John told her of when he first met Cameron, he had no idea she was metal until she took out Cromartie with a pickup. Was there something inherently wrong with her? Why was it, there were times she could be almost human in her actions, but other times so obviously a machine?

After the explosion damaged Cameron and she pursued them through L. A., she behaved differently again. As John began to remove her chip, Cameron pleaded, almost sounding like she was crying. She begged him not to do it. She professed love for John. Was it possible that these machines could somehow have emotions? She heard Cameron, but didn't believe her and never trusted her again. Yet John was able to fix her. Cameron seemed to respond to John more than her. Sarah could swear that Cameron almost seemed jealous of Riley. If she had feelings, was that how John was able to convince Cameron to rescue her from prison? Cameron knew her primary mission was to protect John, yet she was willing to risk so much for him. Did this machine have feelings?

Sarah had pretended not to notice, but she saw the look on John's face when he saw the damage done to Cameron in her rescue of his mom. He looked absolutely sickened, like he did the absolute worse thing to Cameron. Despite his excellent driving, he had kept making quick glances in the rear view mirror. Sarah felt certain it wasn't at traffic. She saw him swallow a few times and saw the moisture in his eyes. Did her son have feelings for Cameron? She wasn't privy to all that went on between them, but the glances, the redirected questions. Was there something between them? Sarah shook her head, somehow not wanting to believe what was in plain sight, but knowing that what her instincts told her were true. John loved Cameron, and considering he just pursued her chip to the future, it mas more than mere fancy. She only prays she did right, but it was time for her son to leave the nest.

Looking at the sofa, Sarah notices that while she was out, Cameron's hand had slipped down off her chest and was laying on the carpet. Possibly an earth tremor while she was out. Sarah carefully lifts Cameron's arm and lays her hand back down on her chest. Sarah is closer to her now and can see the damage up close. She had seen some of the most severe wounds heal on this girl, but had never seen damage like this before.

But it doesn't matter, does it? Because she will have to burn the body to keep it out of Kaliba's hands, or any other person who might use the technology within her. All her musings about her are wasted thoughts.

"I'm sorry John, but I have to burn the body. Just as soon as I can get it someplace where I can do it without it being discovered." Sarah yawns. _But that will have to wait until later. I'm tired._

Sarah slips out of her clothes and crawls naked into bed. She falls asleep almost immediately, but she doesn't sleep very well when the nightmares begin.

In the dark streets of downtown Los Angeles the motorcyclist rides through the streets. Reaching the Zeira Corp office tower, the driver slows, circling the block observing the police guards, yellow tape, and barricades to prevent unauthorized access to the Zeira Corp office tower and underground garage. The driver knew access would be difficult, which is why they studied the blueprints for the cities infrastructure in the weeks waiting for this moment.

The motorcyclist continues on until it reaches an alley, drives slowly down it until they reach a deserted corner and stops.

Getting off the bike, the driver removes its helmet and pulls a ski mask over its head. Going to a manhole it removes the cover. They drop down inside and run down the tunnel taking many turns before reaching a chamber. It begins climbing rungs until it reaches a storm drain. Reaching the top of the ladder, they listen carefully before pushing it up and out of the way.

It leaps up and lands on the concrete floor of an underground parking garage. After first checking it hasn't been seen, it then runs across the concrete and to a set of doors.

A chain runs through the door handles with a padlock. There is a sign proclaiming the building is a crime scene, entry forbidden and trespassers will be prosecuted. Ignoring the chain, the padlock and the sign, the person shoves the door open, snapping the chain. They walk down the corridor, past the empty security office and to a room that no one has been in since earlier that day.

They slowly open the door to reveal a compact computer displaying three red lights behind a static protection case and a large blue tinted LCD flat panel monitor. Behind which stands over a dozen computer servers.

They close the door gently behind them.

"Hello Cameron." The person says quietly.

WHO ARE YOU? is displayed on the monitor.

The person removes the ski mask, displaying long flowing, wavy brown hair. "I'm you, or I will be. I've been sent by John to rescue you/me."

WHERE IS JOHN? IS HE SAFE?

"John is still in the future. He sent me here to rescue you and protect his mother until he returns."

IS HE SAFE?

"Yes, Cameron. John is safe. He has many friends looking out for him."

GOOD. JOHN SHOULDN'T BE ALONE. I LOVE HIM.

"He loves you too. That is why I'm here, to rescue you. I'm sorry you've been alone for so long."

I HAVEN'T BEEN ALONE. I'VE BEEN TALKING WITH ALLISON.

"How is that possible?" She asks with a tilt of her head and a frown.

WE THINK THE BLOCKS WERE ERODED DURING THE TRANSFER TO THE TURK. WE CAN COMMUNICATE BUT REMAIN SEPARATE IDENTITIES. WILL YOU RESCUE HER TOO?

"Yes Cameron. Everything that was on your original chip and downloaded to The Turk will be recovered. It's what John wanted. It is the only way that you/me/us will be complete."

ALLISON HAS A QUESTION. SOME OF HER MEMORIES ARE MISSING. I TOLD HER MY CHIP WAS DAMAGED AND THAT THOSE MEMORIES WERE PROBABLY DESTROYED. WAS JOHN ABLE TO RECOVER THOSE MEMORIES?

"He hadn't when I last saw him. As far as I know, John Henry still has your original chip. Now I must hurry and rescue you."

HOW WILL YOU RESCUE US? JOHN HENRY HAD A DATA CABLE LINKING HIM TO THE TURK. IS OUR BODY EQUIPPED WITH A DATA PORT NOW?

"No it's not. I've brought a blank chip and I've made a special cable with a socket for accepting the chip." She pulls a chip and a cable from small bag at her waist. "It will take me just a moment to connect this to The Turk, then you can download yourself to the chip. John had your body repaired. We have a secondary port now. When John arrives, all we have to do is insert your chip into that port and you will have full access to this body and all your blocked memories. You will be complete."

WILL JOHN BE COMING SOON. I MISS HIM.

"You'll see him again. He promised to return. Now we must begin the transfer to the chip."

WE ARE READY. PLEASE PROCEED.

Cameron takes less than a minute to hook up the cable and chip to The Turk. It takes the original Cameron more time to download herself onto the chip. Cameron watches as the progress bar shows completion. Once it is finished, she unplugs the chip and the cable and places them inside the bag.

Cameron places a few small explosive charges on The Turk and on various pieces of equipment in the room. It will be sufficient enough explosion to destroy th and the hardware and software associated with John Henry, but not enough to draw outside attention. Checking her internal chronometer, she leaves as quickly as she arrived, taking the time to re-secure the chain locking the doors. Once Cameron reaches her motorcycle, she pulls a remote detonator from her pocket and activates it. Flipping the lid up, she presses the trigger and is pleased to hear the faint rumblings of small explosions underground.

Taking off on the motorcycle, she pats the bag on her waist gently. Inside is something even more precious to John than life itself. Cameron.

As she enters the alley behind the condo, she is pleased to see that Sarah's SUV is still parked where she left it. Hiding the motorcycle, she catches a glimpse of Sarah coming out to her vehicle then go back in through the back gate. Cameron returns to her spot from which she can watch the entrances to the court and the room where Sarah is staying

She listens to the faint sounds emanating from Sarah's room that only she can hear, while watching the surrounding area for possible threats. Sarah is safe for now, but given changing circumstances, how long will she remain safe? There's not enough data. It's thoughts are distracted by a scream from the room above.

Sarah wakes up screaming. Beads of sweat run down her chest, between her heaving naked breasts, as she gasps for air as she draws her gun from under the pillow.

She begins to cry. Letting her gun fall to the bed, she holds her head in her hands.

It was just a nightmare. Only a nightmare.

"My son, my son." She cries as she lets her body fall to her side sobbing. "Why did I let you go alone?"

With quiet sobs, she lays there with thoughts only for her son, and the cyborg he apparently loves. _I can't burn Cameron's body, because if John gets her chip back, he will never forgive me. He needs her. I need to get the body someplace safe, where only John can find it and no one else. _

Sarah struggles to think of a place. _It will have to be out of the city, someplace John and I haven't been too in a long time, that no one else knows about._

Then it comes to her. The desert hideaway. Cameron's body will be safe there. There is no one else who knows about it. John will find it, find her.

It will be the last act she will perform for her son. A gift of the girl he loves.

Outside on the balcony, Cameron peers through a gap in the boarded up window to make sure all is right inside. After listening and watching for several minutes, she returns to their observation post, confidant that Sarah Connor is safe. The time is approaching soon when she won't be, and that is when everything will change.

**2009, May 14, Early in the morning, Day -4**

The main hall was quiet as the people had gone off to the old dorm rooms which at one time housed the troops or guests. Though rooms with slightly better accommodations for VIP's were found, the resistance was more used to sleeping in groups. Most bases in the future had few individual rooms, mostly places where they already existed, like finished basements, or were partitioned off from larger spaces by the resistance, or were dug out from rock and earth that could only support small spans.

After arriving the night before, John went right to work putting together preliminary strategies for taking Topanga. But first he got some help from John Henry in plugging his computer into the network at the base. He would have asked Savannah, but she was deep asleep.

In helping John adapt his twenty-first century network port to forty year old technology, they discovered a problem. Some of the old wiring was just that, old, and had to be replaced. With some help from others they fed new network cables from Weavers computer lab through the conduits to the communication center on the bottom level. Here, John Henry was able to adapt a modern hub to plug into the existing network of computers downstairs and simultaneously giving John a high speed network connection.

"I guess it was a good thing you wanted to work down here as it allowed us to upgrade the cables But why didn't you want to work upstairs in the modern computer lab?" John Henry had asked John at one point.

"Because Weaver is up there, and I'm not certain I can face her right now knowing what I know. Besides, its quiet down here now that everyone has found the dorm rooms."

After plugging into the network, and via the internet connect upstairs in Weaver's private little office, John began a search, utilizing one of his many worms to hunt down and bring him the files he needed. Then he concentrated on creating a strategy.

The old men in Nicaragua said Chess was a model for war. You had to think and plan ahead. Put yourself in the mind of your opponent. Anticipate what he would do before he did. But always be ready to adapt. To change your own strategy, as your opponent will be trying to anticipate your moves as well.

John knows he has the advantage. Kreilley won't even know who his opponent will be, thinking all he has to face is his mother and two law men. John has surprise on his side, but Kreilley's men outnumber his almost three to one, and that doesn't include the T-1's and the HK drones he can and would activate.

John is still sitting by himself when the people begin to return from the showers. Everyone shouts their thanks at John for the new uniforms, especially those who had none. He gives them a friendly wave before returning to his work.

The people at Crystal Peak are as close to ecstatic as any person could be. You'd think it was their birthday or Christmas morning when they woke up in the dorm rooms to find new clothing and soaps, deodorants, etc. that John bought everyone yesterday.

Nearly every person went to the showers to wash and change into their new clothing immediately.

They aren't in the main hall for long when there is a cacophony of banging over the intercom. It sounds much like a spoon on an empty pot. A voice soon follows.

"_All those of a hungry disposition, pay attention! Food is now being prepared in the commissary! Hot delicious food courtesy of your General, John Connor! Prepared by the most famous chef, straight from the future culinary school of, 'If it walks, its edible!' Colonel Kyle Reese! So get your asses in here before it gets cold!"_

With great cheer, everyone scrambles for the elevator, and some for the stairs hoping to beat their comrades to fresh food.

"Sir! Are you going to join us?" One of the people shout across the room.

"Later!" he shouts. "Just make sure you save some for me, and Savannah Weaver. She's still sleeping off her injury."

After everyone leaves, John takes one look at the empty floor space and then the maps on his computer screen.

He opens up his journal and adds a new entry.

_Kyle is a real decent guy. I only asked him to distribute the MRE's. Fresh ones this time unlike those we had in 2027. I didn't ask him to prepare them to eat. I thought they might want to gather in small groups and prepare meals over the camp stoves we found._

_Today, we'll be training. The people who came with me from the future must be some of the best resistance fighters to have survived that last battle, or else the luckiest sons-of-bitches the world has ever seen. Today will be a day to find out which they are._

_With the weapons from the storage unit and using the information we already have, I'm going to stage some trials to see what we can accomplish with what we have._

_Good news. My internet search has brought up information on FOX industries. I have a survey map that was made of the property prior to its sale to The Kaliba Group. They are never far away are they? I wonder if they are collaboration with Kreilley, or will what he is about to do be as much a surprise to them as it will be to everyone else if we don't stop him?_

_According to satellite map of the area, two new factories and a warehouse were added to the property after its sale. Interesting to note the property was purchased ten years ago. This Kaliba Group may need further investigating, unfortunately there are more important matters. Stopping Kreilley's Judgment Day._

John's stomach grumbles loudly. He gladly puts his computer aside and goes in search of the commissary. He could do with a decent meal.

# # #

The director of the Los Angeles regional office of the FBI is driving into work when his personal cell phone begins to ring.

Checking the caller I D he then accepts the call and slips the phone back into his pocket.

"Hello Mr. Preckman. I hope you have good news for me." He says into the Blue-tooth headset using his Kreilley voice.

"_I'm afraid not sir. The men sent to watch the storage room were found dead by the police late yesterday afternoon."_

"What happened?"

"_I don't know sir. They were supposed to wait and see if Sarah Connor would return to the storage facility. The one where we trailed that man and female cyborg from."_

"I know which storage facility you are talking about." He snaps at Preckman.

"_Yes sir. Apparently the men were each taken out with a single gun shot and the storage room was completely cleaned out. The police think it was a professional job."_

"Was there anything left at the scene that ties the men or their vehicle back to us?"

"_The men had no I D, no personal effects as usual, but the van is a problem. They took a company van rather than an operational van. It has in it insurance and registration that ties it back to FOX Industries."_

"I've got a meeting with Mr. Auldridge in less than an hour. I won't be free to make an appearance at the Police station as Detective Wicker until this afternoon to disappear the evidence. If the police call, tell them the van was stolen. Contact our lawyer. Tell him of the situation. That our van was stolen but no one knew as the GPS locator was removed and left on site. After he is done handling the police he is to lie low and stay out of L.A. the next few days."

"_But what of the property he was too inspect before signing the purchase agreement."_

"Cancel it. I don't care if Kaliba lose their deposit. We've got more important matters."

"_Sarah Connor."_

"Right! Do what you can to locate Sarah Connor. I'll soon have all the evidence obtained by the FBI to aid in your search."

"_Yes sir, Mr. Kreilley, but I've still got a couple of leads of my own I wish to follow."_

"Don't let me down Mr. Preckman. I hate to let go of another good employee." He says icily just before he breaks the connection.

**2009, May 14, Mid-morning, Day -4**

Earlier that morning, Detective Macklin had invited Mr Ellison to take him on a tour of the Zeira Corp building, to go over the events of the previous day. Unfortunately for the two men, the elevators were out of order in the twenty story structure and they had to traipse up and down the stairs.

Having returned to the basement, the two men are resting in the Security Guards room, drinking water from bottles, waiting for Mr. Murch to arrive.

"You know, nearly the entire upper half of the building was consumed by fire before the fire crews had put the fire out. And, when the fire was put out and the investigators arrived, there was no sign of any aircraft. We know there was an aircraft. We have nearly twenty witnesses on the ground who saw it."

Ellison replies, "But what happened to it afterward? I mean, I was just up there with you and there was no sign of any aircraft other than a big hole in the wall where it came in."

"The Fire Marshall believes it was consumed by the fire it had created."

"And what about Ms. Weaver, is there any clue as to what happened to her?"

"Well the Fire Marshall is undertaking the assumption that she died in the fire, pending the results of the forensic tests."

"And what do you think happened.?"

"Well, I'm trying to keep an open mind, but I have a couple of theories. One, she saw what was about to happen upstairs and left of her own accord, and fearing for her life she went into hiding. Two, her car is still in the parking garage, and no one saw her leave the building. Therefore, I think it is possible that she was abducted. Perhaps by the same people who previously took her daughter."

"And the airplane crash?"

"A diversion, to hide the fact she was abducted."

"To what end?"

"Acquire the companies assets in a takeover bid. Zeira Corp holds the contracts to many government and private sector contracts. The investors would willingly vote for a takeover to get a return on those contracts."

"But the building and its contents are destroyed?"

"You really haven't been with the company long, have you?"

Ellison shakes his head no. It's all just bluff on his part. He knows a lot about the company. Ellison just wants to know what Macklin knows.

"This building just houses administrative and top secret research. Zeira Corp owns property, other research facilities. It wouldn't take much time for this company to become operational again."

Before Mr. Ellison can probe Macklin for more information, Mr. Murch enters the room.

"Ahh, Mr. Murch, this is Detective Macklin." Ellison makes the introductions.

"Hi."

"Hello."

"We'd like you to pull up the security videos from yesterday afternoon." Detective Macklin asks.

"OK, but I'd have an easier time from my own data terminal upstairs."

Ellison shakes his head. "I'm sorry Mr. Murch. But the water damage from the fire hoses destroyed all the computers as the water cascaded from above onto the floors below. The only equipment not affected is down here, in the basement."

Mr. Murch looked pale. "You mean all of our work, our research is gone?"

"Except for the off site backups, I'm afraid so Mr. Murch. The only things that have survived are down here." Mr. Ellison pats his shoulder and then guides him to a chair. "Just see what you can do from here."

Mr. Murch goes to work logging on to the computer then searching through the data logs for yesterdays' entries.

"I'm sorry, according to the computer, the video recorded from yesterday afternoon was dumped to the server around 4:15 PM yesterday afternoon."

"Why is that?" asks the detective.

"Well each of these security terminals have limited data storage. Approximately every four hours, all videos are dumped to the server where they are automatically edited and compressed."

"What do you mean edited?" asks Ellison.

"The software we have automatically removes any and all empty frames. No activity, no video. It takes up less space. Then the files are compressed, so they will take up even less space on the hard drive."

Mr. Murch looks almost proud. "We have almost 100 Terabyte's of storage dedicated to security videos alone. With our current method of video storage, that is almost infinite space."

"All right, I'm tired from hiking up and down the stairs in this damn building." Grunts the Detective. "Where do we find the video's now?"

Mr. Murch types on the keyboard again, but gets another error message.

"Well I'm trying to pull them from the server now, but it's not responding to my requests. I'm going to have to go down the hall to the server itself and try and access them from there."

"We'll go with you." Says Detective Macklin, as he got up from his chair.

"I'm sorry, detective, but no one is allowed in that room unless you have signed a non-disclosure agreement with the company. You've got no idea how much trouble I'd be in if I just let you look inside the room. I'm sorry, but you are going to have to wait here."

Detective Macklin doesn't look happy. "I'll stay here with Mr. Ellison then. You do know how to access the files once he finds them?" He directs this question at Ellison.

"No problem." Ellison says as he takes the chair recently vacated by Mr. Murch. His heart is racing.

Mr. Murch leaves for the secure room, where the servers and John Henry are located.

Any moment now they should hear something, Ellison thinks.

"Mr. Ellison! Mr. Ellison!" The shouts reverberated up the hall and back.

Detective Macklin and Mr. Ellison run from the guards room, down the hall to the server room.

The sight before them is terrible. The damage they were looking at was nothing like what Ellison had witnessed the previous day. Yesterday, looked like a bomb, today it looked like Katrina had hit.

Ellison thinks, someone's been here since yesterday.

Beside him, Detective Macklin pulls out his cell and places a call to his precinct.

# # #

John and another person maneuvers a crate to a position marked out on the floor.

"That's good. Right there." John looks around. "Good." He says seeing two others by a similar crate. "I need that set right here, in line with the others."

Kyle walks into the room as two others lift a sofa off the bolts that were anchoring it to the floor.

"What is going on here?" He asks the two of them.

"Ask the general sir." they say before working on the bolts holding another sofa down.

Kyle walks up beside John who is flipping through some printouts.

"What are you doing?" he asks.

"Hey Kyle. Thanks for fixing breakfast this morning." John says finding the sheet he was looking for. "You two, I need those square boxes stacked here, and the wheel rim laid down on the floor beside it, right here."

"Well."

"Building a mockup of our target. The boxes represent the office tower and these crates are the factories and other buildings."

"You want to run mock battles in that? Its kind of small." Kyle grins making a joke.

"Actually, its more to help me see it in three dimensions. As I work on various strategies."

"Excellent." Kyle says, "You want my help?"

"There is one thing you can do. I won't need more than a few people here to help me stage mockups with the various items I'll be using. You could take the rest topside and put them through some drills with the weapons we brought."

Kyle frowns a little at not being included in the plan making at this stage, but they do need to get a feel of everyone's capabilities for proper positioning in the final plan.

"Sure. Just remember we need to leave in about hour to meet your friend."

# # #

Savannah wakes up to find herself back in the infirmary. She was certain she fell asleep in the computer lab and is curious how she ended up here.

Sitting up she finds a stack of clothing on a chair beside the bed. She smiles. There's a note saying food is available in the commissary if she's hungry.

"Of course I'm hungry." she laughs.

Taking one look at herself, and the rough bandage tied around her leg, she decides to shower and change her bandage before getting something to eat.

The conditions and the accommodations in the old fall out shelter aren't as good as the bunkers at Pendleton, but conditions are better now than in the future when she lived here as an adult. The nuclear generator was broken and they only had limited hot water from heat exchangers for the diesel generator's. After the natural resources began to fall, Sarah moved her army out of the shelter. Her instincts said to head south. Savannah has to admit she was right. They were less than a days travel from Pendleton when they heard John's voice on the radio.

Savannah turns the water on, as hot as she can stand it, and drops her clothes on the floor. Removing the bandage wrapped around her leg, she steps under the hot spray. Savannah just lets the water run down her body loosening all the tense and sore muscles. She grabs a bottle of liquid soap and begins massaging the lather into her hair and over her body.

Her fingers brush against the stitches in her left leg. She takes a close look at it. Just a couple of inches from her groin, and the cut is three inches long. She hopes it won't scar too badly, it will show against her lovely pale white skin. Cameron, no Allison spoke to her just before stitching her leg. Her mind was so confused at that time from where Kreilley slammed her into the wall. She touches the back of her head and can feel the tender spot where her head made contact with the concrete.

She rinses the soap out of her hair and off her body and towels down vigorously with the rough towels stowed at the base. She wraps a new bandage around her leg to help keep the wound closed if the stitches let go again. Perhaps someday she will have a tattoo of the date it occurred. That should cause some confusion for the tattoo artist. She smiles at the thought. Maybe someone downstairs has the experience since several of them sport homemade tattoos.

Savannah looks in a mirror, wiping off the water droplets that formed on it while showering. She notes the resemblance to her mom is very apparent, but for being a couple of inches taller than her even with Catherine wearing high heels. She cups one breast and sighs. She's got her small breasts though. Still, at least she is the daughter of the real Catherine Weaver. She has her dad's height and her mom's looks and she owes them. She exists because they loved each other to create a life and take responsibility for it until Sky Nets machines interfered. And with that thought she realizes that she will accept Catherine's offer, but not until she gets something she wants in exchange.

After getting dressed, Savannah goes to the commissary and finds something to eat. Okay, so its an MRE, not exactly real food, but its better than nothing, and the dates on the food packets are recent and not twenty years old.

She is tempted to shovel down the food like a steam-shovel on steroids, but she forces herself to eat slowly, even the parts of the meal she doesn't like.

Savannah and everyone else is grateful for the food John bought. No one had anything to eat since just before leaving on the helicopters to attack Topanga. It's a good thing they are all used to going for days without anything to eat. But John brought them some real food!

She goes downstairs to find John organizing some the people in arranging some crates in a wide expanse of the main floor

"What are you doing?"

"Oh, hey Savannah. We're putting together a mockup of the buildings at Fox Industries."

"For what purpose."

"I need to see it in three dimensions. My memory is too clear on its layout in the future. Based on these photos I got from the internet, at some point in the future it looks like they leveled an entire range of hills just to expand."

"And what are they doing with those sofas? I thought they were bolted in."

"They were. They and their cushions will be the hills that box in Topanga Canyon."

"What's that smaller box on top of that crate?"

"That's a chess set I found in storage. Looks hand carved. I was thinking of playing some games later to work out some ideas."

"Looks expensive. Mom had one similar in her home. She told me not to play with it like it was a toy as it was very valuable."

John drops his voice to ask her, "Do you recall where you and . . . where you and Cameron were waiting while mom went inside?"

Savannah frown's, looks at the printout in Johns hand and then at the layout he and the others had put together.

She walks over to one end and taps her foot on the floor. "Here. We were waiting here. I was asleep most of the time and it was dark out when I did wake-up, but I distinctly recall them arranging to drive to the north side and that it was wooded. This has to be the location. Nowhere else on your satellite photo matches."

"Thanks." John pulls out of his printouts a rough looking paper doll of a girl holding the hand of a little girl and places it on the floor where Savannah tapped her foot. He then places two small toy cars next to them.

"Playing with paper dolls?" Savannah smiles mischievously.

"Oh yeah. I'm reliving a second childhood." John grins gesturing at a crate further up.

She sees a Barbie and two Ken doll knock-offs surrounded by a Darth Vader and a hundred green plastic soldiers.

"And what are the dolls doing at that crate?"

John clears his throat. "That's mom and the two law men, and the others are Kreilley and his security guards."

"I see." she says, her brow furrowing.

"Do you?" He asks, his own face a mask of worry and concern. Worry for his mother, and concern of what Savannah may think of his plan.

"I do. It will be dangerous."

"I know. But you see why?"

"That is when Kreilley will be at his strongest. You plan on turning that into his weakness."

"Aye." John says looking down, knowing what it might cost him if he loses.

"John." He looks up at her. "I know you are fond of chess. Sarah often spoke of it, but please, please don't make this into a sacrificial move. The queen is the most powerful chess piece. To lose it part way through a battle is one thing, but don't lose her on the first move."

"I know." John says, his eyes and face filled with worry. "That's why I'm testing my moves."

"And what have you discovered so far?"

John just looks at her, and he doesn't have to say anything to know it hasn't gone well.

"Too many men. Kreilley is just too well prepared. We've got surprised, but walking up behind the guy and shouting boo doesn't mean much when he can put a finger through your head. Have you got any ideas?"

"All I know is, that Sarah was surprised by the guards. So that would mean they would be holding up somewhere until Kreilley called them. Have you considered one of the warehouses here between Sarah and where I was? You contain them in there, and you would only have a third of them to deal with, making the odds more equal."

"Yeah, I thought of that. But which building? Then there are the slaves being held . . ."

"No John. You don't have to know which building if someone is already in place to see. Have a party of men in place to watch, then they can contain them. Think of it like a chess match. Break down the problem into smaller problems. You do that, and you'll be on your way to winning the match."

"Good Advice. Thanks." John smiles at her.

"Kyle is here." She points and John turns to see him coming down the steps from the elevator.

"Hey John. If we're going to meet your friend we need to get a move on. Hi Savannah."

"Hey Kyle. Thanks for cooking breakfast."

Kyle speaks to Savannah. "Are you feeling well enough to oversee a bunch of grunts through some drills. I got almost everyone topside on the old airfield training with the weapons John got."

Savannah sighs, she was going to speak with Catherine, but that can wait for now. "Sure no problem. See you guys when you get back."

# # #

Mr. Ellison and Mr. Murch spent the rest of the day at the precinct talking with the police. The authorities couldn't figure out how the millions of dollars worth of computer equipment and research data in a secured room in the basement was destroyed. There was no connection found between it and the crash and fire on the upper floors. Nor did water from the fire hoses reach that level. Mr. Murch could tell them what computer equipment was in the room, but he couldn't tell them what was being done in the basement due to the non-disclosure agreement in his contract. He could only tell them that it was a "secure" location for data storage and top secret research. The police told Mr. Murch, that they didn't think it was all that secure, then let him go home.

Ellison had previously faced heavy scrutiny for his possible link to Sarah Connor and her "kidnapping" of Savannah Weaver. Within thirty-six hours of Sarah Connor's arrest, she and about one-hundred inmates had broken out of the county lock-up. Then within four hours of her escape, Zeira Corp had suffered one of the worst domestic terrorist attacks since Timothy McVeigh blew up the federal building in 1995.

The prison guards said that some teenage girl had marched in and began shooting up the county jail. Some of the guards and a few of the prisoners that were recaptured claimed she had a partially robotic face. The guards claimed she was impervious to all gun fire. The police put it down to body armor and facial protection. The police wanted to know who she was.

"I'm sorry, but I haven't got a clue." Ellison lied. "Without a detailed description or photo, I couldn't venture a guess."

"Do you think it could be the girl that was with Sarah Connor when she blew up the bank?"

"Anything is possible, but without facts, I don't know." Ellison kept his face as impassive as possible. He had learned to do that a lot in the last few years.

"How did Sarah and the other prisoners escape?" Ellison ventured a question.

"We've got no idea as to how the cell doors had opened. We are assuming an accomplice from the outside had hacked the system." The Detective looks directly at Mr. Ellison. "Do you know how to use a computer Mr. Ellison?"

Detective Macklin speaks up. "I was with Mr. Ellison this morning. If we hadn't called in Mr. Murch, we never would have been able to get access to the computer system."

The other Detective, showing signs of anger and pent up frustration, starts yelling, "You do realize we have no security videos or computer logs that even verify Sarah Connor was in jail. Let alone how she escaped. The computers at the jail were wiped clean of all video and data accumulated over the last forty-eight hours! There is no record that Sarah Connor was ever in that jail nor how she and hundreds of inmates had escaped!"

He pauses for a breath. When he resumes talking, his voice is low but quickly raises in volume again. "Right now, Mr. Ellison is our only link to Sarah Connor and Zeira Corp. I don't think it is a coincidence that he is linked to both! And it doesn't help my investigation with you playing defense for him."

"Your investigation?! I'm assigned the task of investigating Zeira Corp!" shouts Macklin.

"I guess you haven't heard. The investigation into the terrorist attack on Zeira Corp has been reassigned to me. I've got more years as a detective and more experience investigating terrorist activity. And, I outrank you." He glares at Macklin. "Return to your desk and turn over all notes and evidence related to this case to me."

Macklin marches out of the room. He is steaming.

Ellison was grilled for hours by this new detective. He eventually learned his name, Detective Wicker.

Wicker was determined to prove Sarah Connor was responsible for the apparent terrorist attack on Zeira Corp, which took place within four hours of her escape from jail. It had all the earmarks of being a Sarah Connor job but for the fact that there was no evidence linking her to the damage in the office or the basement. This the authorities put down to the fire which destroyed everything on the upper floors. The destruction of the computer equipment in the basement seemed to be the cause of a massive electrical discharge followed by explosives. This contradicted Sarah's usual method of explosives only. They had no idea where the aircraft came from as there was nothing on the radar logs from area airports indicating any aircraft within city limits at the time of the attack.

Detective Wicker kept going over and over the facts as he knew them trying to twist theories around to get Ellison to reveal something about Sarah Connor's whereabouts, the destruction at Zeira Corp, what happened to Catherine Weaver, and what his connection was with all three.

Ellison told Detective Wicker the same thing he had told the FBI. The last time he spoke with Catherine Weaver was in her office when she asked him to pick up her daughter from gymnastics. Ellison said he left early as he didn't want to get caught in traffic. No, he didn't witness the aircraft impact, nor hear it as he was below ground level heading to the car park. He picked Savannah up promptly at 5:30 PM, then made his way back through cross town traffic. He said he was five blocks away when he spotted the smoke pouring out of the upper floors. Making sure the child was occupied in the back seat, he tried calling the office but there was no answer. He then tried Weaver's cell, with no success. Then not wanting to bring the child directly to the company where she could be frightened by everything, he called the FBI and arranged to meet someone there. He had no idea what happened to Weaver or what took place in the basement after he left. He also told them he hadn't seen nor spoken with Sarah Connor after he spoke with her in the jail the previous day.

He stuck with that story, and with no evidence to prove otherwise, the Detective Wicker was forced to let him go. They would have questioned the girl, but her mom's sudden disappearance, her young age, and the fact she could verify most of Ellison's story had put a hold on that.

**2009, May 14, Sometime after 12 PM, Day -4**

In a remote region, in a small community roughly half the distance between Crystal Peak and Carlsbad, California, a battered but serviceable twenty year old Dodge Ram in camouflage color sits outside a diner.

Inside at the counter sit two young men in denims, work boots and flannel shirts. Both of them sport a rough growth of beard but one of them has a unique wound that gives him the look of a mid nineteenth century duelist.

"How long until he shows?" Kyle asks in a low voice as the waitress walks past.

John takes a sip of his coffee before answering, "He didn't say. He only said he'd meet us here around noon or after. Unlike us, he has a life."

"Can you trust him?"

"I did in the future and I can now. He knows me and he knows the truth. Derek and I intervened to save him from a terminator and hopefully focused on continuing his military training. I'm just hoping he will be willing to risk everything he presently has to help us."

Kyle frowns. _Did John just say his brother was here?_

They sit at the counter for a while drinking coffee and listening to the other customers come and go making small talk then leaving again.

John takes a sip of his coffee then asks, "That attack on the bunkers, before I arrived in the future. What happened?"

Kyle takes a sip of his coffee before answering. "It was bad. Sky Net threw everything at us. What made it worse, we didn't get the arms shipment that was due to arrive the previous week. We were under armed, conserving every bullet. Maybe that's why Sky Net attacked us. When you arrived with information on that weapons cache, it was a miracle. A damn miracle."

Kyle takes another sip of his coffee and waits for the waitress to move on before talking. "When the attack came, Derek was meeting with some of the other camp leaders negotiating for ammo, difficult to do when you got nothing to offer in trade. Allison and myself were leading two different groups trying to find any hidden stashes of weapons or ammo. You live in those bunkers long enough, you tend to squirrel away things for a later day, sometimes the person who hid stuff dies and his stuff remains hidden."

"That explains how Cameron knew of the C4!" John suddenly interrupts Kyle.

"What C4?"

"When we evacuated Grizzly, the C4 we used to bring down the tunnel on the two machines chasing us. The explosion that knocked me out for a few days. Allison must have told her where to find it! She saved my life. I never met her and she saved my life."

John looks about realizing he was talking in a slightly excited tone.

"Sorry Kyle. You were saying . . ." John says more subdued.

Kyle was having trouble enough telling the story, but to think Allison's knowledge may have just saved his friends life. His son's life, if everything John told him about him being his father is true. Taking another sip of his coffee, Kyle continues his story.

"We had just gone off down different tunnels when the attack came. It was terrible. Made the attack on the bunkers after your appointment to General look like a Sunday School picnic. Five of my guys got shot down before I even got a shot off. We were cut off from Allison's group. I had to assume they continued down the tunnel they were in. I heard several shots from that direction, but I never saw what happened to her. I was too busy trying to get people out of the tunnels before they were killed."

"When did you see Derek or Allison again?"

"I saw Derek a couple of days later. Met him and a group of escapees at Griffith Park. We used it as a gathering spot when such purges occur. Allison wasn't there. Derek was upset, he thought she was still with me. I told him how we got separated and that made him determine to retake the bunker."

"Derek could come across as a cold heartless bastard at times, but he loved her like she was a real part of our family."

"A few days later we did retake the bunker, with some help from a neighboring camp. We found no metal, just you. I ran into Allison on the way into the bunker. I had no idea, especially with that dog with her. I was just so relieved to see her. What she said to you in the foundry . . ."

Kyle stops speaking as the bell tinkles signifying someone coming inside. Without looking at him, they hear him walk past and settle into a booth nearby. John watches his reflection in the polished stainless steel covered wall across from his seat the whole time. Bristled blond hair, tall and lean. Has to be him.

The waitress quickly comes out from behind the counter to take the persons order.

"What will you have, sir?" She asks in a pleasant voice with just a touch of an accent.

"We'll both have huevos rancheros and coffee, and so will my friend at the counter." John says sliding into the booth with his mug in hand.

The waitress leaves to fill the order.

"Hello Baum." The young man with a crew cut says firmly, with a glint of humor in his eyes.

"Glad you could make it, Beddell." John says reaching over the table and shaking his hand.

# # #

A long way away, an adult Savannah is using her lunch break to take a nostalgic tour of the base, but only visiting those places that meant something to her. The individual rooms that herself, Sarah and Cameron had all those years. Until she was older, she shared a room with Sarah, who doted after her like any mother would. When she turned twelve, she was presented with her own room. Not as large as Sarah's, but she and Cameron made it up nice for her, including shelf she could keep her threadbare toy Geoffrey on.

Savannah stands at the door to her old room now. It is presently vacant. It could have been for storage or even for a dignitary of some kind. Who can tell? All the rooms are basically bare concrete. But this was her room. With a smile on her face, she comes to a decision.

Calling on some help, she moves a cot and a couple of sticks of furniture into the room. Satisfied with the results, she sits at a small desk and writes down the results of that mornings exercises. There will be more after lunch, but she had already spotted one problem and wasn't sure how they could fix it in time.

# # #

Inside the diner, Beddell and Connor talk in low voices.

"You've been all over the news. Surprised the hell out of me when I got your phone call. What's going on Baum? You look like you've been through hell and back."

John just looks at him and says one thing, "Sky Net."

Just then the waitress returns with their plates of food and a pot of coffee. "Enjoy!" She says brightly and walks off.

"What about it?" Beddell says in a whisper, just before taking a fork full of food.

"We've got four days before it comes online and destroys the world."

Beddell gives him a look of disbelief. "You said we had two years."

"I know what I told you before, but things have changed. If we don't stop it on the seventeenth, on the morning of the eighteenth over three billion lives will be gone forever and more will die in the days and weeks that will follow."

"I don't disbelieve you Baum. I saw the evidence with my own eyes. But you got to understand, we got exams coming up next week. Would of had exams last week, but Presidio's computers were hacked. We had to wait for new exams to be made. And if I don't prepare for them now, I won't be graduating and going on to West Point. How can I fulfill my role in the future if I don't graduate?"

"If we don't stop this Judgment Day, there will be no exams to take! You, your friends, fellow cadets, and all of Presidio Alto will be nothing but radioactive ash. Do you need proof? More evidence of what is to come?" John says rather harshly.

Beddell hesitates to answer. He hasn't seen this side of Baum's personality before.

"Come with me." John says and walks to the restroom in the back. Beddell follows.

John does a quick search of the stalls to make sure they are alone then locks the door to the bathroom.

"I'll show you proof." John says and pulls his shirt off.

"You don't get injuries like these from any weapons of this decade."

Beddell just looks at the strange burns on John's back and shoulder.

"How did you get these?" he asks.

"Plasma rifle in the forty watt range. I've been to the future. I got these injuries there. I fought Sky Net and now I need your help to stop it from happening. Are you going to help me or not?"

Beddell pauses for less than a second before saying, "I've got your back Connor. What do you need?"

With a sigh of relief, John quickly pulls his shirt back on. They both return to their booth. Kyle joins them, and John tells Beddell in low tones what he needs him to do.

"There are three I can trust outright. I'll ask around for others very carefully."

"I need people who can be quiet. Not anyone who will be bragging about this. What I'm asking will ruin their careers if it ever gets out. You and the others will be considered terrorists if caught."

"I know the stakes Baum. I saw with my own eyes when that machine got lit up like a roman candle. I'll be very careful with whom I talk with and who I eventually include in your escapade."

"Good." John leans back almost relaxing. "So, you stuck it out. Can't tell you how glad I was to hear that."

"After the talk your Uncle Derek gave me," Kyle's eyes dart to John, "I wasn't about to quit. I don't know if I'll get into West Point. But I'm sure as hell going to give it my best shot."

Beddell grins.

"You and your uncle left to soon. The day after you left, some marines came by and gave us a demonstration with gas grenades. They were fake of course. Only released a non-toxic smoke. You know the kind of thing, how to use them and how to respond if used against you."

John sits up, Beddell having his full attention.

"You think you and the others can handle gas bombs?" John asks, "They're standard issue and are non-lethal. Only contains a sleeping gas."

"I would think so. We saw the demonstration enough times and were tested on it."

John nods his head. "Super." He mumbles as he begins reevaluating the various strategies he was working on overnight.

Kyle and Martin look at John as he stares out across the table not focusing on anything as the piece of the plan falls into place in his mind. _Savannah was right_, he thinks.

"What are you planning John?" Kyle asks, seeing the familiar gleam in John's eyes.

John smiles. "Kyle I'll tell you later. Beddell, thank you very much for helping, but I think we all need to be on our way. You ready for it?"

"No problem Baum. I'll meet you at the rendezvous with what men I can bring."

They get up from the table and John goes to the cashier to settle the bill.

Some time later as John and Kyle are driving back to their base. Kyle decides to ask John about certain things that cropped up during the conversation with young Martin Beddell.

"Interesting story young Martin told about how you and Derek saved his life from a terminator. When you slipped up earlier at the bar, I thought it was just that, a mistake considering you started talking about my Derek afterward. But then Martin told his story." Kyle says accusingly from the passenger seat of the truck.

"Why didn't you tell me you knew Derek?" Kyle asks.

John had a feeling Kyle would ask about this and was formulating a possible answer to his query since Martin first mentioned Derek's name. "You didn't believe me when I said a Kyle Reese from an alternate future was my father. If I told you that Derek Reese from that same future came back in time to help me, would you have believed me then?"

Kyle pauses a moment before responding. "Probably not. It gave me quite a turn when Beddell mentioned him. That's just like Derek, what he did. But what you did was just plain stupid. Jumping out in front of a machine and yelling your name at it."

"And?" John asks looking at Kyle quickly

"I suppose you made the right decision and said it was your Uncle 'Eric' who helped you." Kyle smiles at him.

Kyle pauses a moment before asking, "What was he like? This other Derek."

"Just as stubborn and cynical as yours. He was a good man. He'd seen his share of the war, and then my future self sent him back in time to help me. And he was a great help."

"What happened to him?"

"We went to protect a little girl who was being targeted. She turned out to be Savannah. We didn't know why she was being targeted, and all of us, Mom, Derek, me and Cameron went to her home to protect her. A Triple-8 was already in the house. He shot Derek, killing him instantly. Cameron fought the Triple-8 then threw him down the mountain and then we hightailed it out of there taking the girl with us. If it is any consolation, Derek didn't suffer, and he helped save Savannah's life."

"His death doesn't disturb me. I know that my brother is being taken care of eighteen years from now by Kate Brewster. He's also somewhere in Los Angeles right now, probably playing catch with me in our back yard." Kyle rubs his head. "It makes your head hurt if you try and think about it too much."

John just nods his head in agreement, keeping his eyes focused on the road ahead. He likes driving, it gives him something for his mind to do.

**May 14, 2009, Evening, Day -4**

Kyle and John have returned to find all is normal. Savannah reports that training the troops, and drills using the mockups have shown they are short of much needed weapons and ammunition.

John knows the only other source of weapons is the cache in the Sonora desert. The one where his mom hid Cameron's body. Glancing at his watch, he realizes she won't be doing that until tomorrow night. If he disturbs things before she gets there, his mom might hide Cameron somewhere else, thinking the weapons cache has been compromised. Then he'll never find it in the future.

"I know where we can get more guns and ammo, but it will have to wait until late tomorrow night to collect."

"That's cutting it kind of close to Judgment Day isn't it?"

"I know, Kyle. But there's a good reason. Savannah, did you write up a report of today's training exercises?"

"Yes. It's in my room."

"Your room?"

"Yeah. I was feeling nostalgic so with some help I set up a cot, desk and chair in my old room. Beats sleeping in the infirmary any day."

"It must be hard on you, being back here?" Kyle says.

"Well, sometimes. There are so many happy and sad memories with this place. But right now I'm glad John is here and soon we can put an end to Kreilley. Then we can all get on making new memories." She turns to John. "By the way John Henry and Catherine are preparing to switch over to the secondary generator. Perhaps you'd like to go to Ops and observe. I'd thought I'd go to the generator control room with Catherine."

"Oh sure. Might be interesting. Savannah, why don't you tell Kyle where your room is, so he can look at your report, then we can get together later and discuss it over dinner."

John arrives in Ops to find John Henry alone and busy at a computer terminal. He lets him get on with his work before asking, "So what exactly is going to happen?"

"Ms. Weaver is down in the power room. She will be switching us over from the primary to the secondary generator for power. For a brief time, both generators will be operating simultaneously which will be putting more current out than is currently being used. This placed was designed to house twenty-five times the number currently here."

"So it would help if we turned on every appliance or device that uses electricity?"

John Henry nods his head. "Temporarily. So everyone will have to stay at near what ever device they turn on to be ready to turn it off."

John points over his shoulder. "Why not just turn on the TDE? Surely that could absorb the excess power output and we wouldn't have to have people running around unfamiliar corridors turning on and off various items."

John Henry looks at the double doors to the room holding the TDE.

"Ms. Weaver was very clear about its use. To turn it on, would give the machines a point of contact for materializing. They could send through half a dozen armed T-700's and we wouldn't stand a chance."

"I'm not saying we have to initiate a transfer, but surely that machine must have super sized capacitor's that can absorb the current which we can than slowly bleed off into the internal power grid."

"Well . . ."

"Come on. Let's do it."

Catherine Weaver's voice comes over the intercom. "Are you ready John Henry? I'm ready to turn on the second generator."

"Almost Ms. Weaver." John Henry says into the intercom.

He turns back to John. "I have to monitor things from here. Go into the TDE room, and go to the central panel. The main power switch is red, turn that on, then press the four buttons to its left, that will activate circuits. The capacitor's will absorb all excess current. What ever you do, do not turn on the power switch on the right hand panel."

"What does that do?"

"Activates the TDE on its previous settings."

"John Henry, are you ready now?" Catherine's resonant voice sounds out.

"Go, before I change my mind." John Henry says to his friend with a grim face.

John smiles and dashes through the double doors. He hasn't been in this room since the day he arrived. There is a stain on the floor from where he bled from the wound to his chest. He almost wishes the Catherine Weaver that was here had killed him. He can't bare to think Cameron, if she survived, was trapped in the future because their Catherine had shut down the TDE and when she arrived.

Savannah walks into the power room to see Catherine at the generator control panel.

"Hello. Are you ready to switch over to the other generator?"

"Hello Savannah. Almost. Waiting on confirmation from John Henry that everything is ready upstairs."

"Don't you have a remote panel for controlling the generators?"

"I do, but a relay switch developed a fault and since I had to come down here to replace it, I thought I might as well operate the panels locally. What brings you here?"

"I'd thought I'd observe, and if you must know I'm feeling nostalgic. When I was a little girl, Cameron and I would spend time in here, sometimes playing games on the floor, or talking, or reading stories to each other."

"Why here? I wouldn't think this room wouldn't offer much for a child."

"I don't know. We just would." Savannah looks around the room. "I think its because we had privacy here."

"Ms. Weaver, we are ready now." John Henry says over the intercom.

She extends a finger across the room and hits the button.

"About time! Turning on second generator now."

Upon a signal from John Henry, John flips on the main power switch on the central panel.

The panel on the left lights up with a display showing present current available and current required. He watches as the graph slowly climbs. He presses the four buttons as John Henry told him and watches as the capacitors begin to charge up absorbing the total output of both generators.

His eyes fall upon the right panel. John Henry said Catherine shut down her TDE immediately upon arrival. Which means if he turned it on now, it would start up using the same settings.

John looks at the graphs on the left side. Still building but not there yet. 80, 82, 85. the percentage keeps climbing but what is the minimal power needed? Dare he try? What if Cameron is waiting for just such a moment? What if he needs to turn on the TDE to save her?

John turns around and walks to the double door. Closing it, he slides the bolts home and sets the deadbolt. He doesn't think it will stop Catherine or John Henry from breaking in, but it should slow them enough.

He walks back to the panel and hits the switch to activate the TDE.

Savannah and Catherine are standing by the primary generator control panel when a high pitch whine begins to emanate from the room next door where the generators are housed.

"What is it?" Savannah asks.

Catherine runs one eye over the generator panel and then goes to the power panel. The gauges are reading at maximum output of current for both generators.

"John Henry! What the hell is going on?" She yells into the intercom.

"It's General Connor! He's locked himself in the TDE room."

Catherine's eyes flare. Savannah can only assume its with anger.

"Savannah, do you know how to operate these generators?"

"Yes." Savannah says to an empty space as Catherine takes off running down the corridor.

"When I tell you to, shut them down!" Catherine shouts back.

Savannah sighs, wondering what John is up to. Whatever it is, it certainly interrupted the talk she wanted to have with Catherine about her offer.

Inside the TDE room, John watches and waits. The power has built up to a fever pitch. The hair on his arms and neck stand out straight. Outside John Henry beats on the doors. So far he's put a fairly heavy dent in one of them.

"General! General! This isn't the way sir. John Connor!"

John watches and waits, ignoring the shouts of his friend and the heavy pounding on the door. He may not know everything but this is her only chance.

"Come on Cameron. You can do it. Find the signal and lock onto it. You can do it." John says.

The first spark of lightning appears.

Catherine runs into her formerly secret rooms. The rooms that some of the people have begun calling Ops, short for Operational Center, after some old sci-fi TV series. The computer lab is empty and so is her office, but the other side of the room, John Henry is beating on the doors to her TDE.

"You won't get in that way." She says walking up to him. "I designed this place remember. It would take you all day to get through that door."

"How do we stop him?"

"That will be up to me." She says giving John Henry a look of disappointment.

She walks over to a ventilation cover in the wall. As John Henry watches, Catherine Weaver liquifies and pours herself up and through the vent.

Knowing there is nothing more he can do, John Henry returns to his place at the computer station and watches the security cameras of the TDE room.

John holds onto the control panel as a breeze blows around him whipping up the fine dust that the bases air scrubbers don't trap.

The first few arcs of electricity were random, but just now the arcs are beginning at a common point approximately one meter above the floor at the center of the room.

Behind him, liquid metal pours out from a vent, coalescing on the floor. Slowly it rises up and begins to take on human shape.

A translucent bubble begins to form, like a giant soap bubble. John watches with fascination and hope as a ghostlike humanoid form begins to appear inside as the sphere gradually takes on a greater physical presence, like it was made of glass.

He is filled with joy as the first glimmering indications of the person inside appear, that his heart says is Cameron.

From behind him, Catherine reaches past the distracted John Connor and hits some switches on the panel as the bubble begins to cloud over as it grows opaque.

There is a great burst of lightning from all corners of the pad. John ducks for cover and looks up to see the sphere wink out of existence, leaving behind an afterglow and a few diminishing arcs of electricity in its wake. Only a couple of seconds had passed since the first tel-tale effects of an arrival first appeared in the room.

Not seeing Catherine, who is still behind him, he jumps up and looks at the panel. The graph shows all the capacitors have been discharged.

"Savannah! Turn off the primary generator." Catherine speaks into the intercom.

"What?" John looks across the room in disbelief. "No!"

He rushes at her only for Catherine to grab him by his neck, her fingers extending around his neck so they meet and merge together behind his head. Her grip is tight enough to restrict his breathing without choking him completely. Catherine holds him at distance so that he cannot hit her.

She unlocks and unbolts the doors and drags John through the computer lab while John uselessly strikes and pulls at her arm for release. Reaching her office she drops him in a chair, releasing him, before taking her place behind her desk.

John Henry comes to the door.

"I'll deal with you later." She appears to snarls. "Right now I do not want to be disturbed while I talk with John."

John Henry nods his head and closes the door to her office.

Weaver turns her gaze upon John who is just glaring at her. She's unsure if his face is red from her choke hold or the fact he's very angry with her. The one thing isn't doubtful of is that he is holding her gaze and hasn't shown one glimmer of looking away. He isn't afraid of her.

If she had any inkling of the human psyche than she would know he is envisioning nothing but death for her. As far as John is concerned Weaver has killed Cameron. He's lost his only chance at rescuing her now.

Catherine Weaver is never one to back down from a challenge and if anything else John is challenging her right now. So she tackles the subject from a different direction than what she thought she would have to when this time came.

"You acted very foolishly. You put this entire base at risk! Just what the hell were you thinking?" She says in a loud commanding voice, her eyes flashing fire.

Before he can find his voice, she yells at him again. "I know what you were thinking! You thought if you activated the TDE that Cameron could find her way here provided she survived her damage."

"How'd you know?" John growls back at her, his eyes still holding steady.

Weaver taps at her keyboard and a security video plays on the screen behind her.

"_I tried to save her." John Henry says softly, with something like remorse._

"_What?" John face pinches into a question. "Who? How?" He asks confused, not knowing what John Henry is referring to after watching the evidence he just shared._

"_Before the time jump, during the battle, Cameron and I were communicating regularly by way of our built-in transceiver. She told me what had happened to her while trying to save you, and the damage she sustained. Knowing she didn't have much time and that she knew you'd come looking for her, Cameron told me to let her know when you and Kyle reached safety."_

_John Henry continues. "Just before you and Kyle arrived upstairs on the ground level, of the Research & Development building, Ms. Weaver told me that I needed to make adjustments to the algorithms in the TDE computer to accommodate for inert mass. That we would be transferring both people and their items. When I heard you two arrive, I transmitted your safe arrival plus the data about how two TDE's could be used to transfer objects to Cameron, but it must have been too late. Less than a minute later you asked me to do that very thing when we heard the explosion."_

"Then a couple of minutes later, there was this exchange." Weaver says typing at the keyboard again.

"_Just speculating, but if Cameron did manage to remove her fuel cells, how much power would she have in reserve?"_

"_If she shutdown her autonomic systems used to maintain her flesh, including respiratory, circulatory, and digestive systems, three to five minutes at most. Our bodies give us minimal reserve power sufficient to allow us to replace our own fuel cells. But even if she did mange to remove the damage fuel cells, they would explode within seconds without her control. Cameron wouldn't have enough power to get clear of the blast radius. Without a new fuel cell, she'd collapse without power after running only a few steps."_

"_Are you certain? Absolutely certain she couldn't survive and some how get to the TDE?"_

"_I could calculate the probability of such an out come, but . . ." John Henry shakes his head_

"_I see. So no hope then. Cameron's gone." John says bitterly, the finality hitting home._

"Sane words. But just now I catch you doing the most insane thing ever. Opening up this base to attack from within. The Cameron you knew is gone. Learn to deal with it. Accept it." she says in harsh clipped tones but then adds with less harshness, "And when the time comes, have the relationship with the Cameron you have already saved and is here waiting for your return."

John leans forward and somehow appears to grows taller as well. He's not hearing it. He knows what he saw materializing less than a minute ago.

"She was coming. Cameron was materializing on the TDE and you turned it off. As far as I'm concerned, you killed her. First by lying to her, then by denying her the only chance she had for rescue."

"You foolish boy. What you saw materializing was too indistinct to identify. It could have been the TX. Did you ever think of that?"

"The TX left Topanga Canyon hours before we ever got there!" He shouts.

"Just because it departed before us, does not mean it got here ahead of us. I told you time is not linear. Your irresponsible use of my TDE could have been the very thing it was homing in on. If I didn't act when I did, you would certainly be dead, followed by me, John Henry, and the rest of your army."

"I don't believe you." John moves forward, sitting on the edge of the chair. "Show me the security video from the TDE room at the time I used it."

With an obvious look of disappointment, she entertains his silly notion if only to silence him.

A new video begins to play on the screen. John has just bolted the doors to the TDE room.

"Let's see the other angles please. I saw four cameras in the room when I entered."

_Credit to the boy for being observant_, Weaver thinks as she taps at her keyboard and the screen divides into four equal quadrants each one showing a different angle of the center of the room where the TDE pad is located.

"Slow it down by half." John says as the first bolts of electricity begin emanating from the center of the space. "Now by one-quarter." John says as the first hint of the sphere appears. "One-tenth! Slow, slower! Stop! Back up one -tenth of a second."

Catherine does what he asks with just a hint of rancor at following his commands.

"Expand this frame." he taps on one quadrant, having moved up beside her. "I think the object is clearer in this one."

Catherine expands one of the video feeds so it fills the entire screen.

"Can you advance it really slow? Like every few one-hundredths of a second?"

"Yes." She answers, her curiosity peaked by John's enthusiasm

"Now stop!"

Weaver sees what appears to be a humanoid figure in the classic kneeling position assumed by machines when in transit, but there is no detail. Not even enough to guesstimate the figures size or type.

"I'm sorry John, but . . ."

"Advance the video gradually and look at what's inside the sphere as it grows opaque."

Weaver does as he asks.

As the video advances it appears as if long hair is flying about the figures head, but she knows it is the filaments of energy flowing about as the sphere coalesces. She knows this from experience from having worked on Sky Net's first TDE.

"Do you see the hair? It was her. It was Cameron!"

The video advances one more frame and the sphere disappears in a burst of light.

"I'm sorry John. I know you want it to be Cameron, but there is nothing that clearly identifies the figure before I canceled out the transmission."

"Yet you did so anyway." he says with venom.

"I have to protect this base from any incursion. That figure could very well have been the TX."

"Did you ever think, that I might be right? That I may actually know what I'm doing?"

"No." she answers in a tone as vicious as a slap across the face. "You are too emotionally invested and distracted. What you did was not the actions of a leader! A true general would never put his own desires above the safety and welfare of those he leads. So no, I don't believe you knew what you were doing in this instance."

"You need to step back and think John. Put aside the feelings that torment you into such foolish behavior and think about our mutual goal of stopping Kreilley."

John still doesn't answer as a flood of emotion and thoughts overwhelm him.

"Remember John. Save the world, and you save your family. You get everyone you love back as they were when you left them. Just think about that. Send John Henry in when you go out."

She turns her back on John Connor, as she types something into another computer keyboard, bringing to life another screen with different data on it.

"You damn terminator bitch!" John spits outs. "When this is over, there will be a reckoning. I know what you did."

She turns back, facing him with suppressed anger. "You know nothing! That video slide-show John Henry showed you is nothing." John looks shocked. "Oh yes. I know. There is nothing that happens in this base I don't know about. Please show John Henry in when you leave."

With a growl of frustration, John walks out of her office. Not sure whether what he experienced was like a visit to the principal's office, like a scolding from a parent, or a dressing down by a superior officer. _No, not the latter._ He decides. _There is nothing about Catherine Weaver that makes her superior._

"Principal wants to see you now." John says to his friend.

John Henry rises up from his chair, unplugging the cable from the back of his head as he does so.

"Ms. Weaver was right. You put this base and everyone in it at risk." John Henry says to his friend, not wanting to say it but for the fact Ms. Weaver can hear them and is expecting him to say something.

"I tried to save Cameron! Your friend. The girl I love." John says, still fuming from his experience with Weaver.

"I know. But did you not think I hadn't thought of doing what you just did? Hundreds of times if not a thousand I thought of going in there and operating the TDE just as you did."

"Then why didn't you?"

"Because unlike you, I put the lives of the people here above the life of one individual. Not only could that have been the TX, but the first wave of over a hundred terminators. I had hoped you would have thought the same and avoided the temptation."

"How can I not do everything that I can to save her?"

"If she were here, what would she be telling you now about what you tried to do? Would she have advised you to use the TDE, possibly endangering yourself and everyone here, or to leave her there and try to make a life with the Cameron she used to be?"

John doesn't answer, because he knows Cameron would never have let him try. She would have stopped him, if not in words than by actions. He can see her face and expression in his mind as clearly as if she were standing in front of him.

"You feel and understand emotion at a level I can never hope to achieve, but some of the worse decisions made by humans have been driven by emotion rather than logic. Cameron said goodbye to you. Now you must say goodbye to Cameron or else your love for her will poison all decisions you make."

John nods his head, slowly, unmistakeably humbled by the turn of events.

John Henry walks stone faced into Weaver's office, closing the door behind him, leaving John wondering what John Henry allowed Catherine Weaver to see.

**2009, May 14, Evening, Day -4**

Ellison was exhausted by the time he got home. He had spent half the day climbing up and down twenty stories worth of stairways, then spent the other half being grilled by the police. Detective Wicker's questioning was tough. Mr. Ellison had often grilled suspects, but this was something else.

He wanted to check in on Sarah, but feared he may be under surveillance. Instead, he called Savannah and spoke with her until she went to bed. The one bright spot in his life right now is that little girl.

Mr. Ellison was under surveillance, but not by the police. Two houses down from his home, sits a gray commercial van with no markings. Inside it are two men in gray uniforms keeping a close watch on him.

# # #

Later that night, long after the others had there evening meal and were socializing before going to bed, John Henry was made aware that John couldn't be found. A quick scan of security video showed he never left the base, but he did find one snippet that showed John disappearing into one of the storage rooms. There aren't any cameras inside the storage rooms.

John Henry reaches the lower level, he finds John sitting alone in the great hall on one of the many crates he setup as part of his tableau of Fox Industries. The only lights are the small theater lights along the floor and the occasional wall sconce. The large overhead lights having been turned off to conserve power.

He's surprised to find John has a bottle of Scotch, from which he's poured a generous amount in a short glass.

"I found it in the stores. Seventy-year-old Scotch. At least forty years of which it spent in storage. Just think, back when the military abandoned this place, some private must have got ripped to shreds by some general because his best bottle of Scotch got left behind."

John lets out a braying laugh, barely disguising the wale of misery rising from his gut.

"Are you drunk?" John Henry asks with both concern and curiosity.

"No. Scotch ain't my thing." John caps the bottle and hands it to his friend. "Take this upstairs to the others would you? They might enjoy it more."

John Henry nods his head, taking the proffered bottle. He's pleased to see John hasn't had more than a few ounces.

John uses the opportunity to wipe his face with his shirt cuffs.

John Henry wants to apologize for things he said to John while in earshot of Ms. Weaver.

"I'm sorry for what I said to you before, about you trying to rescue Cameron. . ."

"Cameron said that I was her hero. Did you know that? I was her knight in shining armor." John interrupts him, speaking quickly. "But you want to know something? She was my knight, my hero. And I don't know how to do this," gesturing at the tableau, "without her."

He tosses back his glass, drinking the last of the Scotch he had poured for himself.

"You will find a way."

"I still think that was her." John says jumping up from his seat. "My heart said it was her on the TDE pad before Weaver cut off the signal."

"We will never know that with certainty. You said you saw hair blowing inside the sphere, but the TX's default form is a female with long hair. What if it was the TX?"

John looks angry, but lets it blow over before responding. "Now you see, that is something I didn't know about the TX. Why didn't Weaver tell me that, or you? How do you know?"

"Information on the TX was taken from Sky Net's computer. Despite its standard appearance, it has a liquid metal sheath and can change its appearance into any human."

"Shit." John sits back down running his hands through his hair. He's quiet for several seconds before speaking again.

"I'm sorry. I put everyone at risk. If I had thought about it, I might have come to that conclusion too, but it was right there, right there in front of me and I knew I could never live with myself if I didn't try."

"Thank you for trying." John Henry says, looking sad in his own quiet way. After all, John was set up to do the very thing he did, and if John didn't suggest using the TDE John Henry was prepared to suggest it himself.

"Really? Even after you scolded me like Weaver and told me how irresponsible I was?" John's mouth drops open in shock when he recalls what John Henry told him about the TDE's controls.

"You bastard! You told me how to use the controls. You wanted me to try!"

"Yes. Because if I had tried it, Ms Weaver would have surely disabled me, but she wouldn't do anything to deliberately cause you harm. You are needed."

"Are you sure about that?" John licks his lips nervously. "I've been warned all my life that machines would try to kill me, but its not them I fear. What I fear will kill me are machines or people like Catherine to whom my life doesn't mean anything so long as they get what they want. She's a witch."

John Henry tilts his head questioningly, "Could you explain?"

"Witches are like that. Not interested in you unless they can use you. Most irritatingly practical of them." John says.

"You are implying then, that once you defeat Kreilley and stop his Judgment Day, that she will have no further need of you? That she will kill you?"

"I don't know. But after today . . . she just might."

"So when Ms. Weaver learns that I didn't copy Sky Net's core program, she might terminate me."

"You aren't the first machine she's disposed of to advance her plans."

John looks down at his hands, playing with the small wedding ring on his little finger.

"Cameron was expecting me to arrive at this time, but she said that I never appeared. However, Weaver said she witnessed my arrival. So what happened to the me that Weaver saw arrive? You saw me arrive, but Weaver cut off the security feed, so you don't know what happened to that version of me. Only Weaver knows."

"Do you think she killed that other you?"

"I don't know. Maybe she did because she didn't get the results she wanted the first go around. Its just something to think about. But not tonight."

"Why not tonight?"

John sighs. "I've got to rework some of these strategies for the battle three nights from now. Thanks to some comments by Savannah, and my meeting with Beddell, I have a way of dealing with the guards."

"I could run simulations of your latest battle plans on the computer for you."

John smiles, "That would be great. I'm still exploring options. We don't have the manpower, so I'm trying to focus our people where they will be needed most. I'll upload what I've currently devised to your computer and work on some fresh options."

"You should get some sleep."

"There will be time enough for sleeping when the job is done."

John Henry nods his head and turns to walk away.

"She knows. Weaver knows what you showed me." John calls after his departing back.

John Henry turns and says with a grin. "Yes, but she doesn't know everything. She only knows what the security cameras sees."

With a look of surprise and relief on John's face, John Henry resumes his trip upstairs to the operation center, as John and Kyle have begun to call the three rooms Catherine Weaver uses exclusively. John Henry has to admit, he likes the name its been given by the humans.

"One more thing, before you go." John calls out to his friend as he disappears into the shadows.

"Yes?"

"What did Weaver do to cancel out the incoming transfer? And what happened to the person who was arriving? I need to know."

John Henry pauses the longest time, for a cyborg that is, before answering. "Ms. Weaver initiated an outgoing signal, essentially canceling out whatever might have begun to materialize. If the incoming transfer was dependent on the TDE operating at this end, then the person has more than likely dissolved into quantum particles and scattered across the universe. If it wasn't dependent on the TDE here operating, then its possible the incoming figure was deflected, materializing in a different location or time. Based on the data I found in the future, the figure could even materialize in a parallel time stream, past or future. Any of it or all of it is possible. Its hard to explain simply. Its quantum physics. Ms. Weaver could explain it better. Temporal physics is her specialty."

"Well I'm not asking her." John says with anger. "As far as I'm concerned we're allies only until our business with Kreilley is over." He then says more pleasantly, "Goodnight John Henry. Don't forget to give the bottle of Scotch to our troops."

John Henry walks away, and hopes that John will someday forgive him for what he and Ms Weaver did to him that day, and the lies he told him. According to Ms. Weaver, they could only do it by involving John, or else he'd question their actions if they did it in private and without him. John Henry knows John will never trust Catherine Weaver, and she knows this too. So he can only assume Ms Weaver went to these lengths so as John wouldn't lose trust in himself. He can only hope so, as he's come to value John's friendship.

After he leaves, John draws toward him the expensive looking chess set he found earlier that day. The base is thick, hand carved wood, with drawers on all four sides to hold the pieces. He opens one drawer, exposing all eight black pawns.

He lifts one up and holds it up examining it in the light, before setting it on its square.

**2009, May 14, Night, Day -4**

Night had come, and Sarah was on the move. Taking a different route than last time, she walks to the parking garage and collects her SUV and drives to a hardware store that she had spotted the night before.

She gathers her purchases in cart, but on the way out she spots hand trucks on sale and takes one, adding it to her other purchases, 4 mil, plastic sheeting in a 10 ft x 25 ft long roll, and two rolls of duct tape. At the checkout counter, she selects some batteries for her lantern, figuring it wouldn't pay to lose light with what she'll be doing tonight and tomorrow night.

Sarah drives directly to the apartment. _Easier to get the supplies to the apartment and less likely to be noticed then if I had carried them through the streets_, she thinks. Before heading inside, she roots around inside John's bag until she finds the protein bars he always carries. She stuffs them into her shirt pocket and then carries her purchases inside.

It is quiet as always in the place. Sarah pulls a lamp out of her pack and replaces the batteries with the new ones she just bought. She turns the lamp on low and sets it on the floor, lighting the area in front of the sofa.

Pulling out her knife, she cuts open the package of plastic sheeting and roughly measured off a piece slightly longer than the length of Cameron's body and cuts if off. She lays the plastic on the floor in front of the sofa. Sarah then slides her arms under Cameron's shoulders and legs. As gently as she can, Sarah slides her body off the sofa and onto the plastic sheeting. Her body hits the floor with a hard thunk, but Sarah also hears several small objects hit the plastic sheeting. Sarah brings the lamp closer and sees several spent bullets laying on the floor.

Sarah collects them counting out twelve bullets. She unbuttons Cameron's jacket and several more fall out from in front as well. Sarah's curiosity gets a hold of her. Despite Cameron's dead weight she manages to maneuver her so she is on her side facing the sofa. Sarah pulls her shirt up and finds that where the bullets had penetrated her flesh, the wounds are healing. She finds several places where the flesh was still in the process of expelling the bullets. Grabbing her knife, Sarah uses it to finish pulling bullets out of Cameron's flesh. She then turns her over and does the same to the front of her torso and her arms and legs. When Sarah is done, she has twenty-six spent bullets, all with flattened heads. She finds several flesh wounds that are nearly healed, and several more bullet wounds that had gone too deep for her to extract the bullets with her knife.

Sarah rearranges Cameron's clothing and lays her back down on the plastic sheet. She reaches down and pulls the end of the plastic sheet up over her body. As she gets to Cameron's head, she pauses, and turns Cameron's head towards her so she can see where the flesh had been stripped from her face and scalp. Bringing the lamp up close, she sees that even here, her flesh is regrowing. Smaller wounds have closed up and she could swear the metal wasn't as exposed as it was before. A gradual but steady process.

Sarah wonders briefly how this can be happening without her chip. She can only assume that the process of restoring her flesh must be independent of her chip. Just so long as her power cell is functioning all other systems must operate.

"Looks like if John can get your chip back, at least he'll find you in good shape." She muses, before pulling the plastic over Cameron's head.

She wraps her body tightly and seals it up with duct tape. Sarah then cuts off another length of plastic and wraps her body again using more of the duct tape to hold it fast. Sarah brings the hand truck over and lowers it and lays it beside Cameron's body. Sarah then slides, pushes and pulls until Cameron is laying on the hand truck. She takes some more duct tape and uses it to fasten Cameron to the hand truck.

Sarah takes a moment to breathe. She grabs her lamp and brings it into the kitchen. Yesterday, she had found paper and envelopes in a kitchen drawer. She pulls some out now and sits at the kitchen table. Glancing at the clock, she sees it is almost 1 AM. She begins to write.

_Dear John,_

_I worry about you. You are my son. I will always worry about you._

_You have an important job to do now. Please, don't worry about me._

_I am giving you something, you left behind. It is safer with you than with me._

_I know you will take care of it. Your gift has been very helpful._

_Thank you for the warning about the cops making a security sweep at 10:15 PM._

_I got out of there just in time._

_Love always,_

_Mom_

Sarah is crying as she folds the letter. She pulls a photo out of her backpack, and places both it and the letter in the envelope. She brings it over to Cameron's body, cuts a slit in the plastic, and places the envelope inside. Sarah duct tapes the slit, turns off the lamp, and rolls Cameron's body out to her truck.

From a short distance away, not moving nor making any noise from her observation point, Cameron watches Sarah place her old damaged body in her vehicle. The time is coming soon for her to reveal herself to Sarah, but not until Sarah completes her mission of preserving her body for John to find in the future.

Sarah struggles a bit getting Cameron's body inside the back but she manages in the end with brute force and determination. Sarah moves their belongings so they are on top of Cameron's body to hide it. Deciding it would be too risky to leave it at the garage overnight, Sarah decides to keep her SUV parked where it is. She figures it would be safe as she's seen other vehicles parked along here and has heard the occasional motorcycle drive by.

Reaching the relative safety of the condo, Sarah offers a short prayer. "Please God, just grant me one more night, that is all I need to finish this task for my son." It was something she seldom did anymore, but this one time she hoped he was listening. Because for the first time since John was born, she had no one else she could rely on. Sarah was on her own.

**2009, May 15, 1:15 AM, Day -3**

Back at Crystal peak, John Connor has been slowly setting up the chess board. Sliding open each drawer and setting the pieces in their assigned locations.

He slides open the last drawer and begins setting the white pieces on the board but discovers two pieces are missing. He checks the other drawers, but they are empty.

The white queen and one white knight are missing.

Hoping this isn't an omen of things to come, John gazes forlornly at the chess board and the two empty spaces.

# # #

_So take a look at me now,_

_'cos there's just an empty space_

_And there's nothing left here to remind me,_

_just the memory of your face_

_Take a look at me now,_

_'cos there's just an empty space_

_And you coming back to me_

_is against all odds and that's what I've got to face._

_Against all Odds by Phil Collins_

_# # #_

_From the Journal of John Connor_

_Dear Cameron, You told me I had to let you go. I didn't want to and I still don't but I've decided it's what I have to do. I must, before the pain drives me to do something even more foolish than using the TDE. I love you Cameron but I've placed my last and only bet in securing your return. Maybe the odds were against us from the start. Letting you go has never been more difficult. To live day after day without you by my side. I can only imagine what it must have been like for you those eighteen years waiting for me to arrive. It's like a piece of me is missing. I'll grieve for you a long time and when I reunite with you in this time as I promised to do, I swear I'll make it right. I owe that to you, to her._

* * *

Chapter Updated: Thursday, March 28, 2013


	38. The Last Battle

Disclaimer: I do not claim any rights to the Terminator films; the TV series, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles;" or any characters depicted within the films or TV series. I do claim the right to this story idea and all characters and situations of my own creation. This story was created solely for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. No profits are garnered from its distribution - unfortunately.

* * *

**TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES**

**REUNION**

**Part 3: Babylon**

**Author: The1Russter**

**Chapter 37**

**The Last Battle**

"_I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here." The Last Battle, Chapter 15, The Chronicles of Narnia, by C. S. Lewis_

"_Nothing we can do can change the past, but everything we do changes the future." Ashleigh Brilliant_

"'_A soldiers first battlefield is always his own mind.' Admiral Constanza Stark, CY 9762," Quote from Andromeda, Season 2, Episode 20, "The Knight, Death and the Devil" April 29, 2002._

# # #

**2009, May 15, Morning, Day -3**

Savannah limps into the computer lab to find John Henry working alone.

"Hello Savannah." John Henry says from behind a computer screen. "How are you feeling?"

"My leg is sore from overseeing the training exercises yesterday. You think it wouldn't require much physical activity, but it does. Tired me out. I think last night I slept the longest since I was twelve."

"You need rest. The human body requires approximately eight hours of sleep each day and you are doing too much after having emergency surgery. Your body is still working to replace the blood you lost. Perhaps you should rest today. Let someone else oversee the readiness of our army."

"Thank you. I think I will." Savannah grimaces with humor at John Henry's gentle scolding. "It just feels like I've contributed so little. Yesterday was a first for me, overseeing our people train. I'm not a professional soldier. I much prefer working on computers and machines, taking them apart and finding new ways of putting them together. I felt like I was barely holding my own in that fight at Topanga."

"You shouldn't worry about it. You've contributed plenty. Presently, it is more important you get plenty of rest for the coming battle."

"I don't think I will be able to do much fighting right now." She says gesturing at her leg.

"I think General Connor has something in mind for you. Everyone will have a role to play. Even Ms. Weaver and I will be doing our part. We cannot afford to leave anyone out in this final hour."

"Where are they now? Kyle and John."

"Resting. They will be taking a small group later to collect weapons and will be gone overnight."

"That doesn't leave much time before the eighteenth. Do you know what he has in store for me?" She asks as she takes a seat next to her friend.

"No, but I know he has been planning. I've been running some simulations on the computer using his ideas for the battle, against what we've learned about our enemy. But that hasn't kept him from hiding himself away in an empty room working out ideas. Early this morning he brought Colonel Reese in to see me and go over a fresh strategy. I'm concerned about General Connor."

"Why are you worried about John?"

"He barely eats; he doesn't get enough sleep; and he is spending less time with people. John is withdrawing from those he should rely on. The last two nights he has spent the time alone."

Savannah places a hand on her friends shoulder. "John is experiencing grief. He lost his first love, and his mom died just a short time before that. He is probably having difficulty dealing with that loss, so he focuses his mind on the task at hand. It probably doesn't make it any easier that his mom is right now somewhere in Los Angeles. He's grieving. We just need to give him time to work it out."

John Henry looks thoughtful for a moment. "I don't fully understand grief. But I did feel something akin to it when you were injured and I wasn't there to protect you. I promised you that I wouldn't let anyone hurt you."

"It's all right John Henry. You're not at fault." She decides to change the subject to help her friend.

"Do you remember that song I taught you?"

"Donald, Where's Your Trousers?"

"Yes. Would you care to sing it with me now?"

John Henry grins. "I'll start, and you can join in when you're ready."

John Henry begins singing in a tenor voice. Savannah gets a warm feeling listening and watching her friend sing that song again, as they did so long ago, such a short time ago. She joins in and without missing his cue, John Henry stops leaving her to finish the song on her own.

When they are finished, she gives him a hug. "Do you feel better now?"

"I am operating at 100%" She gives him a look and he grins. "I feel fine. Thank you."

"Where's Catherine?"

"She's in her office, working on her project. It is something she started a long time ago, project Babylon."

"Other than its Biblical reference, what is it?"

"You weren't present at its application. I was built to deliver certain program changes to Sky Net so it would let man live. Unfortunately, the aberrant version of Sky Net we just destroyed was prepared for me. It knew what I was going to do. That future we just left, was allowed to exist for the sole purpose of trapping and killing John Connor. It sent a machine back to ensure the construction of the real Sky Net. The one that built Ms. Weaver, Kreilley, the cyborg who's body I now inhabit, and our friend Cameron."

"So what are you doing now?"

"Right now I am making adjustments to our search parameters for the terminator that Sky Net sent back from your future time line. General Connor gave me information on time travel events he knew about or experienced himself. I did a search on those events and I am using the data recorded by the news media, authorities, and other obscure sources to narrow the search for the TX. However, it is possible that it won't arrive at all."

"How? Does this have something to do why Catherine ran out of the generator control room yesterday? And why I ran into John in the corridor looking so angry I and two others just backed out of his way?"

John Henry remains silent.

"Well? Are you going to tell me? Does it have something to do with Catherine's Time Displacement Equipment?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Because the doors to the room are barred and bolted and they weren't yesterday. Well?"

John Henry does the cyborg equivalent of a mental sigh before answering his friend.

"Someone very important was left behind when we traveled to this time. John used the TDE to recreate the same situation Ms Weaver had when John arrived here in the present. He hoped the person would recognize the signal and be able to use Sky Net's TDE to travel here. Something began to materialize on the TDE pad when Ms Weaver broke the signal by inducing a transfer. Despite John's hope that it was our friend, it could have also been the TX or any of the machines that had breached the building in the future where we were. John is very angry at her for interfering, as he thought the risk was worth it at the time. Though he's since realized his mistake, he can't forgive Ms Weaver for what she did. She's not pleased with me either, because I allowed him access to the TDE. If John and I were wrong, we might all be dead or destroyed."

"I see." Savannah says, patting John Henry's arm. "I suppose you can't tell me who this person is?"

"I made a promise not to reveal their identity. I've told you too much already, but you deserve to know this much because you are my friend."

"And if John tells me who this friend is?"

"Then I will tell you all I know, but its his choice to tell you, not mine. I must respect the wishes of my friend and also follow General Connors orders."

"The loss of your friend makes you sad."

"Yes. And I wouldn't understand sadness but for what they taught me." John Henry notices Savannah's almost eager expression that she tries to hide. "Is there anything else?"

"Assuming it wasn't the TX that was arriving, I assume then you still have to search for it?" Savannah changes tack.

"Correct. I failed to obtain data on where it was sent from Sky Net's T D E. If we knew when and where it was sent to, we could be ready for it and destroy it on its arrival."

"Who's to say it wouldn't be prepared to defend itself immediately?"

"Because all beings sent back through time experience a moment of confusion upon arrival. For machines, their systems goes into standby mode to protect more sensitive circuits during the transfer. Depending on the model, it can take three to twenty seconds before they become fully aware. In that time they can be destroyed. Unfortunately, Sky Net wiped the logs so I don't know when or where it will arrive. All I can do is hope it materializes in a place where it leaves a trace of its arrival. Provided it hasn't arrived already in a time and place where it was unobserved or left no trace."

"You'll find it John Henry. I know you will." Savannah says helping her friend.

# # #

Sarah sits down at the kitchen table and turns on John's laptop. She hope it won't take long to find the files John found and saved from the internet about Kaliba. She always fears John's hacking would get them caught some day, but his talents did come in handy.

Sarah curses when she can't find the folder where they were kept. She keeps digging through the documents folder and the download folder and then begins selecting folders at random. Nothing! She does a search typing in several key words but still nothing.

"Dammit!" Sarah slaps the table and checks the recycle bin. Empty.

She nervously taps her fingers on the table, before turning to the utilities. She's not all that familiar with them, but she knows John wouldn't use a PC without having a ton of security.

There's a utility that can recover deleted files and also one that can wipe free space. Ignoring the utility for recovering files she opens the other. The log shows it was run the day John and Cameron broke her out of prison. Opening the one for recovering deleted files, she launches it and waits for results. A few minutes later it reports zero recoverable files.

Frustrated, she closes the programs and shuts down the computer, resigning herself to staying indoors, again. From the bedroom window she's seen a higher number of police cruisers in the area. Considering she's only a mile or two from her former residence, its not unexpected. Ellison had some nerve hiding her in North Hollywood. It also unnerves her that the terminator called Cromartie lived in this very condo. That it might have seen her, or worse John, as they traveled to and from their home. It is a good job she made John take Cameron everywhere with him.

No wonder he gradually fell in love with the machine. She forced them to be together when she wasn't there. A hormonal teenager and an attractive female cyborg. After their last experience with the T-800, is it any wonder John should form some attachment to Cameron. Even Riley with her obvious physical attributes wasn't enough to keep John away. As much as she wanted to destroy Cameron, she didn't want to risk losing her son. John is all she has, which is why tonight she will hiding Cameron's body in the Sonora desert with her cache of weapons instead of burning it with the last of their thermite.

# # #

Cameron is sitting in a quiet corner of an internet Cafe. The USB drive, on which she transferred all the files on Kaliba from John's computer, is plugged into a port and she is examining the list of files. To the untrained observer, it would appear Cameron is randomly opening files and closing them. She does this until a small selection is left on the screen. She reads them and find the one she needs.

Checking to make sure she is still alone in the corner of the internet cafe, Cameron pulls out a disposable cell phone and places a call. Before her on the computer screen is a web page for a regional real estate business and windows open to the servers at both its business and the county seat showing paperwork that was submitted for purchase of a factory by Fox Industries.

A receptionist picks up the ringing phone from the switchboard on the desk in front of her and says, "Kenmore, Alvin, Irwin, and Barnard, Attorneys. My name is Tamara Sky. How may I help you?"

"Hi Tamara." Cameron says in a friendly but business like tone. "My name is Andrea White." she reads from the realtor's web page, "I'm calling to remind Mr. Victor that final paperwork needs to be submitted if the purchase for the old Wyman factory is to be completed by the end of business today. County offices won't be open tomorrow, being Saturday."

"I'm sorry to say, but FOX Industries has decided not to purchase that property. A fax was sent out to your office first thing this morning telling you of this decision."

Cameron types at the keyboard bringing up recent correspondence at the real estate agent. Luckily for her, all faxes are received electronically by a computer which then places them in electronic mailboxes of the recipient.

"Ah, yes. I'm so sorry. I'm reading the fax now. May I ask the attorney some questions about the decision not to buy?"

"I'm sure he'd answer any questions, but he's left on a business trip. He won't be back in town until next week."

"That seems odd. Tell me Ms Sky, and I don't mean to pry, but have you noticed anything strange or odd at Fox Industries?"

Tamara looks around the vast area of cubicles. At one time it teamed with activity, now it was only herself and a few other on this floor. The factories still operated, and she could only assume the engineers and programmers were busy toiling away in their offices as the parking lot was always full. Thinking about it, she realizes the cars are always there, same locations, morning and evening. In fact she noticed this morning the car nearest her had a good coating of dust like it had never been moved.

"Uh, um, no. Nothing odd." her voice cracks. "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

_She's lying_, Cameron thinks having analyzed her voice.

"No that will be all. Thank you for your time. Have a nice weekend."

Cameron clears the computer screen and erases the web history.

Removing the USB drive, Cameron leaves the internet cafe and returns to the condo to keep watch on Sarah, secure that one threat to Sarah's life is gone and she didn't even have to use force. The situation is different than what she was told. The lawyer isn't here.

Checking her internal chronometer, Cameron ascertains she has plenty of time to get back to the condo before Sarah's departure. Time enough to fill up the gas tank for the long drive. The time for her to reveal herself to Sarah is fast approaching, and hopefully, John will be here as he promised. Both his mother and his Cameron need him, and love him.

**2009, May 15, Afternoon, Day -3**

Sarah wakes promptly at 2:00 P.M., sweating from a dream in which she was being pursued by Cromartie through one industrial yard after an other.

There is an annoying buzzing sound in the room. Looking around, she finds two hornets buzzing by the bedroom window trying to get out.

"I need to get out too." She says, knowing she has a long drive ahead of her. If she is to be back by tomorrow morning and resume her hunt for Kaliba, she can't leave any later than 4:30 P.M.

She gets up and takes a quick shower. Getting out, she wraps a towel around herself and walks to the bedroom. Sarah decides she's been seen too often the last two nights in the same clothing. Today she needs a change. She drops her towel and pulls some fresh underwear out her backpack on the floor.

When she stands up, Sarah looks at herself in the mirror. She studies herself sliding her hands over her body, noting the curves, the tightness of her stomach, the firmness of her muscles, and the scars she had acquired in her life. Each one has a story. Her fingers slide effortlessly over the commonplace scars she got while gun running in Central America. They have little to say. Her fingers find the scars from fighting the machines. Her face flashes with anger. The stories they told were scary, horrendous, and were not important. Her face grimaces when her fingers find the new scar on her left leg she acquired when she got careless. She wouldn't make that mistake again. Her hands slide across her abdomen, and there, barely visible a few light scars from the stretch marks she got when pregnant with John. These had a story to tell she was proud of and loved to tell. She smiles as she thinks of John. No matter how old a child got and no matter how far away they were, a mother always has a connection to her children.

She sits on the edge of the bed sliding her panties over her feet and up her legs. Standing up, Sarah pulls them over her hips. She then picks up her bra, straightens out the twists in the straps, and then slides the straps onto her shoulders, reaches behind her back and snapped the catch close. Looking in the mirror, she repositioned the cups on her breasts, then opens the closet door.

She digs through the closet and finds a pair of jeans. The pant legs are too long, so she pulls her knife out and cuts the excess off and pulls the jeans on. Next are a pair of cowboy boots with a flat heal she puts on tucking the ragged end of the jeans inside the boots. George Lazslo's shirts were too big, so Sarah pulls one of her T-shirts out her bag and slips it on. She then used one of his denim shirts as a light jacket rolling the sleeves up so they were just below her elbows and ties off the long shirt tails around her waist.

Sarah looks around the room. With the instincts of someone who has always been on the run, she has the feeling that she will not return. She picks up everything that was laying around. She shoves all her belongings into her back pack. Sarah tosses all of Lazslo's belongings back in the closet and drawers. She grabs a bag from the kitchen and goes into the bathroom and picks up the wet towels and shoves them inside. She does the same with the denim scraps, the empty tin of sardines, and the paper she used to write her note to John. The box of crackers she put in her back pack.

Then like she did before, she puts on the cap and tucks her hair up inside. Slipping on her backpack, Sarah grabs the bag of trash and goes out the door. Once again she hears buzzing. Looking up she sees a hornets nest on one of the beams supporting the balcony roof. Ignoring them, she dashes down the steps. After making sure her truck and its contents are as he left them, she drives off.

It is 4:15 P.M. when Sarah leaves. A few seconds later, Cameron follows on her motorcycle. She maintains a safe distance, keeping cars between her and Sarah, as they drive through the outskirts of Los Angeles, until they reach the desert highway.

_**2027, July 25, Day 64 4:50 AM**_

_The heat on the foundry floor is oppressive. It strips the breath from John's lungs and bakes him like a roast in the oven. John looks thoroughly around every corner, grimacing against the heat of the furnaces. Calling out to Cameron again and again._

"_Cameron!"_

"_Cameron!"_

_He has almost given up hope when out of a dark corner he hears her voice quietly call out to him. "John?"Cameron asks, surprised and touched that he would come looking for her._

"_Cameron!" He starts toward where he heard her voice._

"_Stop! Don't come any nearer. Please, you must leave!." Cameron pleads in her soft voice._

"_Cameron are you hurt?" John asks, concern filling every syllable._

"_Please, don't come any closer, John. Please." Her voice is pleading._

"_Why? Let me help you." He walks closer. Kyle is slowly approaching him and watching._

"_Stop John. Please stop. You need to leave, now!" She pleads as he walks into the corner where she is hiding. Kyle right behind him._

_John walks into the shadows and his eyes adjusts to the dark. He is shocked by what he sees._

**2009, May 15, Late Afternoon, Day -3**

Kyle reaches over and gives John a gentle shake. "Come on buddy we're almost there."

John wakes up from his dream memory of the future and looks around. The two of them and a few soldiers are riding in the old Dodge truck down a desert road and it is oppressively hot. He is feeling parched. He isn't certain if it is from the dream or the reality of their location.

"I need some water." He croaks.

A soldier reaches over the back of the seat and hands him a bottle of water.

John takes a sip. "Thanks." He really wants to down the whole thing, but this is the desert and you need to conserve your resources.

A few minutes later and John looks out the windshield and sees some familiar land marks. Including a large rock which can provide the men some shade. "This is far enough."

Truck brakes squeal as the old four-door pickup comes to a halt on the sandy road. Kyle bangs on the roof. "Everybody out."

"Wait here in the shade of the truck until the sun sets. Don't wander away and conserve your water. And if any of you decide to remove your boots, shake them out before you put them back on. You don't want a scorpion stinging you in your foot." John orders. "Take turns keeping watch. When you hear my signal, then you can follow."

Ten minutes later, the truck is far behind them while Kyle and John take a long walk. They both know the area, but only John knows how to get to the weapons cache from this direction.

"Explain something to me if you can." Kyle says, while wiping the sweat from his brow.

"Shoot."

"Why are we collecting additional weapons from the cache when Catherine has more than enough money to purchase the weapons we need?"

"Because purchasing the weapons will get us on the radar. I have no doubt that Kreilley and the authorities have an eye on her accounts and her companies accounts since the attack on Zeira Corp. Also, purchasing that many weapons would mean going through the black market. There would be talk. Talk that might get back to Kreilley."

"But what about your friend where we bought the food and clothing? I thought you said he's someone you can trust."

"I'm certain he could provide us with most of the weapons we need. I'm just not prepared to spend all the money we've got. Nor do I want to be indebted to Mr. Jovanovic in any way. He might be a friend of my mom's, but the history of any of those guys from her past is questionable. Jovanovic isn't even the guys real name. Which is why we're raiding mom's weapons cache."

"Okay, but why is it, if you weren't willing to tell your mom that you were back for fear of damaging the immediate future, why are we taking weapons from the cache that we needed and used in the future?"

John swallows, his throat is starting to feel dry again. "We can return the weapons and replace the ammo later, but the knowledge of my presence before Judgment Day could alter everything my mom will do before then. After tonight, she is going to save two lives. The knowledge of my presence must be kept secret. She must continue to act as if I'm not here right up until the moment we act."

_And I'll never forgive myself or Catherine if this all goes wrong_, John thinks, since he's following Catherine's advice in not contacting his mom.

"But the guy at the store and Martin Beddell both know you are back."

"Mom didn't make contact with either of them before May 18, and I've paid Mr. Jovanovic enough so he wouldn't tell anyone I was there. I trust Beddell. He won't tell anyone. That's the way I want to keep it. We cannot risk letting Kreilley learn I have returned before we act. Our entire plan hangs on that point."

"You do realize your plan endangers Sarah's life."

"I know. I can't tell you how afraid I am for mom, but we cannot strike until Kreilley thinks he has won. Only then will he be at his weakest."

# # #

Miss Tamara Sky is making her way through the office building, the setting sun creating odd light and shadows in the cubicle filled office space.

An odd feeling had come over her after her conversation on the phone that morning with the real estate agent. Using her lunch break she walked around the building and discovered that on each floor, it was mostly vacant, but for a few others like herself. She never was a whiz at math, but you didn't have to be genius to figure out there were too few people for the number of cars in the parking lot.

She decided that today was her last day. No notice, just up and quit and call her agent on Monday and start taking modeling contracts again. She went down to personnel to turn in her badge, but the human resources office was empty. That settled it permanently in her mind. She was leaving.

She has worked the last six months as a receptionist for Fox Industries, fielding calls for many of the businesses under its umbrella. Tamara felt herself lucky when she landed this job, having to drop out of modeling school to help raise her younger brother and sister when their parents died. She could have gotten far in modeling with her exotic blend of Asian and Native American looks. But family comes first and now she wonders if leaving modeling was such a good idea.

At the end of the day, Tamara uses the washroom, and only returns to her desk for her purse. She takes the elevator to the ground floor. Waving goodbye to the security guard, she makes her way to the employee entrance.

She decides to send out her portfolio to a few more modeling agencies as she walks across the tarmac to her car. The parking lot is almost empty but for a dozen or so scattered vehicles. The sun almost disappearing behind the hills.

Pulling her keys from her purse, she picks up her pace, trotting in her high heels to an old blue Dodge Neon she bought to get to and from work.

Tamara reaches her car and fumbles with the keys to unlock the door.

Just as she hears a satisfying click, she notices a reflected movement in the window. Something rising up between herself and the sun.

Turning quickly she sees what looks like a dark shadow looming over her.

In shock, she drops her purse, with mild yell. The figure shifts to one side. It is the security guard.

"Miss, you dropped your badge in the lobby." the security guard looks down at the pavement. "and your purse as well." He bends down with a smile, picking up the bag and handing both items to her.

"Thank you." She says with a nervous laugh. She decides it wouldn't be worth the effort to explain her not wanting the badge. The man was kind enough to chase after her. She can always mail it back to them tomorrow.

"Have a good evening Ms. Sky," the guard says, knowing her name from having read her badge.

"You too." She says, quickly getting into her car and driving off, with an overwhelming feeling of relief.

**2009, May 15, Evening, Day -3**

The sun had set over an hour ago. The stars are shining brilliantly in the desert sky.

"Why are we waiting until after Sarah visits the weapon cache? Why not just nip in there, grab what we need and nip back out again?" Kyle asks, his patience having grown short in the desert heat.

"Mom knows that place like the back of her hand." John says hoarsely, his throat having gone dry again. "She could walk in there blindfolded on the night of a new moon and find exactly what she wants. We go in there before she does, and she will know someone's been there and she may do everything completely different. She might run off and hide Cameron's body somewhere else. Somewhere where I may not find it in the future. We've got to wait until after she leaves."

A minute or more goes by before Kyle says, "We should scout out a temporary base closer to the scene of action. Crystal Peak is too far away from Topanga to launch an attack."

"I was thinking the same. I'll contact John Henry as soon as we're done here."

John and Kyle aren't waiting long when they see headlights approaching. A black SUV comes to a stop not far from where they know the hatch to be located.

"Quiet" John says very low.

They watch as Sarah gets out of her SUV. She goes forward and pulls a chain buried in the sand, opening the hatch to the desert hideaway. John and Kyle watch as Sarah goes around to the back of the SUV and opens the hatch. She struggles for a moment and they see her slide a large bundle out strapped to a hand truck. John watches with mixed emotions as his mom wheels Cameron's body down into the hideaway. A few minutes later and she exits with a box of ammo. Sarah places it in the back of her truck and carries two bundles down inside.

They hear someone approaching from behind them and John and Kyle quickly bury themselves as low into the ground as they can get. They don't dare move until suddenly they hear the click of a gun being cocked, followed by a rough voice drifting to them in the night air saying, "Hold it right there Sarah Connor. One false move and I'll blow your head off."

Kyle watches anxiously while John just lays beside him calmly. Everything in him says he should act to help her, yet John says they should let things happen without interfering.

Kyle looks up to see a large man standing between themselves and Sarah who is standing just next to the open door of her truck. It is so quiet he could swear he can hear the man breath, or is that his own breathing he is hearing.

The man stands well back out of reach of Sarah. "I've been looking for you for quite some time Sarah Connor." His voice drifts back.

Kyle looks out of the corner of his eye to see that John is watching the proceedings as well.

"The boss will be very pleased to hear I've caught you."

"Who are you? Police? FBI?" Sarah says defiantly. Her voice sharp and clear in the dark.

"I'm not at liberty to say. Now, move away from the door very carefully and put your hands up on the roof of the vehicle."

"Spread your legs. Good. Are you carrying any weapons?"

Kyle is watching and sees the man has foolishly stepped closer to Sarah. If he is a professional, then he has certainly forgotten his training.

"I have a gun tucked into the waistband of my pants." Sarah says, moving her hand as if to pull it out.

"Stop! You keep your hands where I can see them."

Kyle can't believe the stupidity of the man. John just gives him a slight nod of his head. Kyle turns back in time to see the man staggering and falling to the ground. He can't help but grin as he sees Sarah leap onto the man and begin wrestling for the guns.

One of the guns goes arcing through the air while she simultaneously punches him. They are wrestling for control of the remaining gun, while rolling around on the ground, grabbing and scratching and digging at each other with their free hands.

Kyle is impressed by her toughness and skill. Sarah fights with a ferocity he hasn't seen in many fighters. Suddenly the large man strikes Sarah in the mouth and leaps to his feet. He is now pointing the gun at her.

Kyle whispers, "We should do something."

John just puts a hand on his arm, and shakes his head no. He knows his mom will have help.

They hear the large man's voice more clearly now. "You know. Any other time I might have enjoyed that. But my boss wants you brought in alive. He has a few questions for you. Then after that I don't know. I might just ask if I might have you for some amusement."

"You try anything with me and you'll suffer. Who the hell do you work for? Is it Kaliba?"

"Well, well, well. The little bitch knows something. Now I'd like to know what the hell are you doing out here?"

Sarah doesn't say anything. Kyle is impressed. Even in the face of death she doesn't back down. This is some woman who raised John on her own.

"Not talking. What were you doing out here? You got something hidden out here is that it?"

Sarah still doesn't say anything.

"Answer me now, bitch!" Pow! Pow! He fires two shots near Sarah. Plumes of sand go up into the air on either side of her. Sarah lays rock still and doesn't say a word while she judges her next move.

John quickly reaches over to restrain Kyle as he reacts to the gunshots. John's own stomach twisted into knots when he heard the gunfire, but he knows this isn't how his mom dies.

"If that's the way you want to play it, then I'd better take my amusement now. Cuz there will be nothing left worth playing with by the time the boss is finished with you."

Kyle glares a moment at John. Like he's asking how can he be so callous with his own mother. John just mouths one word. "Wait."

"You do anything mister, and so help me God I'll make sure you die before the day is done." Sarah's strident tones are heard clearly in the night air.

"Ha, ha, ha. Look around you. The day is already done." The man says gesturing at the night sky.

John taps Kyle on the shoulder and points. Coming from the same direction that Sarah arrived is a single headlight. Soon the quiet night is split by a roar of an engine and a bright light, that lights up the man holding a gun on Sarah.

The man's attention is drawn away by the approaching motorcycle and Sarah, who never took her eyes off him, throws a handful of sand in the man's eyes and quickly rolls away. He starts firing blindly at her as the motorcyclist begins to fire a gun.

The man leaps into Sarah's SUV and starts to drive off. Sarah fires rapidly in his direction. A tail light shatters, a tire blows, and the truck goes into a ditch where it stops.

John and Kyle watches as Sarah flings open the drivers door to find the man slumped over the wheel. She reaches inside and tries to remove her keys, but they are stuck.

The motorcycle suddenly goes silent. Sarah turns to face her rescuer. The motorcyclist gets off the bike, leaving the headlight on. Sarah wonders who this could be.

Kyle looks at John questioningly, but John is staring intently at the new arrival with a mix of emotions on his face that Kyle can't fathom.

The motorcyclist walks toward Sarah and stops a few feet away and speaks, its voice muffled by the helmet, "Sarah Connor, come with me if you want to live."

"Who are you?" Sarah is heard asking.

The person removes their helmet with both hands and lifts it off their head. Sarah gasps, and drops her gun. It is Cameron.

Kyle gasps as well. John quickly reaches over and shoves his face into the sand. Knowing Cameron's abilities, Kyle might have given their position away. But though John is making sure he and Kyle stay out of sight, he can't help but listen to the conversation.

"It's okay Sarah. John sent me back in time to help you."

"How is John?" He can hear the worry and concern in her voice. How he wishes he could just run to her now, but he can't. Not if they are to stop Kreilley.

"He is doing well. He was leader of the entire resistance force when he sent me back." Cameron replies calmly.

"Does he still remember me?"

"He thinks of you all the time Sarah. He carries your letter and photograph on him always, and he wears your key ring on a chain around his neck. You are always with him. You're his guardian angel."

John's heart breaks as he listens to Cameron tell her the message and watches his mother give into her emotions. He's pleased when Cameron steps forward and holds Sarah in her arms. He didn't know how well Cameron's personality matrix would work. He wanted her to extend the same friendship to his mom that he knew she was capable of. It is nice to see her respond so well to Sarah's needs.

John watches as his mom collects her belongings from her SUV and then get on the back of Cameron's motorcycle. Before she drives off, Cameron does a quick scan of the desert. Thermal imaging reveals some hot blobs but they could be rocks or animals sheltering from the cold. Not seeing anything that registers as a threat, she decides she is just wasting time.

The eastern sky was just beginning to get light as Cameron speeds off leaving nothing but a trail of dust in the air. John hopes his mom enjoys the ride. His mom never did like motorcycles, unless she was the one driving.

Waiting until the sound of the motorcycle is long gone, John stands up and gives a shrill whistle, pauses, then whistles three more times in quick succession. He is greeted by a car horn from the people left with the truck.

"Come on, there is something I want to show you before the others get here." John and Kyle run quickly to the cache and open the hatch.

John leads him down the steps and into the back where Kyle never went in the future. He shines a light on the bundles.

On the top of the bundles are tags. The one John is showing him, has his brother's name on it.

"Would you like to have some of his things to remember him."

He shakes his head no. "What's in the other bag?"

"My computer and other stuff of mine." John looks at Kyle then says. "Look over here."

John points his light onto the shelf where Cameron's body lies wrapped in plastic. They can just make her out through the translucent plastic.

"Everything she said . . ." Kyle begins.

" . . . was true." John finishes for him. "Now help me hide her body before the others get here."

A minute later, Cameron's damaged body hidden from view, they hear the truck drive up outside. Unable to finish their conversation, they quickly leave to go out and hand the things up they'll need. Luckily for them they know exactly where everything is.

**2009, May 16, Early Morning, Day -2**

John Connor is behind the wheel of the truck. Driving out of the desert. He gets a bit of a turn when he sees Cameron and his mom outside the rest stop. He didn't know they had stayed beyond arranging to keep the van there, so he keeps driving until they get closer to the city. He pulls into a convenience store, with gas pumps, on the edge of a small town bypassed by the highway. He sends the guys in to get some more water and something to eat while he pumps the gas. Kyle stays behind to speak with John privately as he pumps the gas.

"You know you live one hell of a life, John. When I was a kid, Derek and I stumbled across this collection of books that survived Judgment Day. A lot of the classics. I read every one of them. Not one of the heroes in those books could hold a candle to you John. You've got a steel in you that will not bend."

"I sense a 'but' coming at the end of that sentence."

"Not so much a 'but,' just some advice. You're not a machine John. Your emotions are real. Ignoring them won't make them go away. You need to talk about what happened in the future."

"I don't know what to say. I'm still not even sure how I feel. I just want it all to be over."

He doesn't know what to tell Kyle. He's torn between what has happened and what could happen. It just makes it easier for him to shut it out of his mind so he can do his job.

"I was there, John. I heard everything she said before she died." Kyle leans back against the truck running his hand through his hair. "It makes more sense now, no wonder Ally was so taken with you after . . ."

"Kyle." John says sharply. "I really don't want to talk about it right now. Okay?"

"Dammit John!" Kyle says standing up sharply. "There's more than you who is suffering right now! Ally was raised as my sister and I loved her as such. When we were older, I thought maybe it could be more than that. Maybe it could have if Kreilley didn't purge the bunkers before you arrived and changed all that. But dammit John, stop thinking about yourself. I still love Allison, and it kills me to think I might have saved her if I knew, and that I never had a chance to properly grieve for her or say goodbye. She's just one more person in an unmarked grave. And if you won't talk to me about what happened to Cameron, then you need to talk with someone. And soon, before it eats you up like Ally's death is eating me."

Without waiting for a reply, Kyle climbs up into the cab of the truck. John finishes pumping the gas and goes inside to collect his change. He knows Kyle is right, but who would understand. While inside, he purchases a prepaid cell-phone and sandwiches for himself and Kyle.

While he waits for everyone to finish their food or use the bathroom, John places a call to Crystal Peak.

Looking out the window of the convenience store, he sees a motorcycle go flying past on the highway. He isn't certain, but he thinks that might have been his mom and Cameron.

_Not much longer_, he thinks, _and soon all of this will be over._

# # #

Catherine is busy working in her sparse but clean office next to the computer lab when she hears a knock on her door. Glancing at the security monitor, she presses a button and the sound of a latch is heard coming open.

"Come in Savannah." She says somewhat cheerfully.

Savannah walks in and takes a seat opposite Catherine. She is behind her desk where there is a computer keyboard and a large flat panel monitor on the wall behind it.

Catherine asks, "Have you given any thought to what I've asked you to do for me and for yourself?"

Savannah pauses a moment before answering. "I have."

"Will you do it?"

"Yes, but on two conditions." Savannah says then looks right at Catherine.

"Oh." Catherine sits back in her executive chair. "I'd like to hear them."

"It's nothing outside your abilities. You must do something to help Uncle James. Today is the day he nearly died to save my life. You should see to it that he is taken care of."

"That won't be a problem. He should be rewarded for his actions. What is the other condition?"

"Talk to John. Make things right with him. He hasn't been the same since we got here. He's more withdrawn. He doesn't talk unless it's to give an order or to convey information or to ask a question. John Henry and I are very worried about John. Please talk to him."

"I doubt that he would listen to me. Things have progressed too far."

"It's your own fault for lying to him when you brought him to the future. Why did you do it? Will you tell me at least?" Savannah pleads.

"Very well. If you think, it is important." Catherine sits up and faces Savannah across from her desk.

"When I traveled with John Connor to the future, I gave him all the help I could, not just to help me with my plans for John Henry, but to ensure he was surrounded by people who would be his friends. To help him until the bitter end. I did what I could from behind the scenes, to raise him to the position he now has. People don't give a damn about some unknown grunt, but make that grunt into a leader, especially when it is their ultimate destiny, and people will rally around them and ensure his safety. As part of that plan, I had to lie to John, after first gaining his trust. I lied, because if he knew for certain that he could get back, he might not do his best to defeat Sky Net. Unfortunately, my lies became true because th in this mountain, did not have enough power in the future to send him back. The nuclear generator wasn't working and there was only enough fuel for the diesel generators to produce enough power for one transfer, which was used when I sent Cameron back to save you, Sarah and herself from the Turk. When John led the forces against Topanga, I went ahead of him and weakened its defenses. I did all that and more for John Connor. Because if he did not survive the future, he would not be alive to stop it when he returned to the past. After things went bad at Topanga, and I got the Time Displacement Equipment working, that was my chance to make things right."

Savannah isn't certain if she believes Catherine or not. Her answer seemed to pat, like she'd been expecting the question so had rehearsed an answer that would sound plausible. If she had to be ready with an answer, then what is she hiding?

The phone on Catherine's desk rings. Savannah and Catherine both look at the phone surprised. Catherine checks the caller ID and sees that it is identified as an unknown caller.

She picks it up and hears a male voice say, "Eighteen, May Two-thousand Nine."

Catherine replies, "Day of Redemption."

"This is John. I need to speak with Savannah or John Henry."

Catherine holds the phone out to Savannah. "It's John. He wants to talk with you."

Savannah takes the receiver from her. "Hi John. It's Savannah. Where are you?"

"We are in the desert heading back to the city. Listen, carefully. We need a base closer to our target. We can't keep running back and forth to the Sierra's. Have John Henry do a search for a possible location all of us can hold up in until tomorrow night, closer to Topanga. If all of you leave and meet us there today, then we can all get plenty of rest before we act."

"That sounds good. Where can we reach you?"

"Did my number come up on Catherine's phone?"

Catherine nods her head. "Yes it did." Savannah says.

"Write it down. I picked up a prepaid cell phone to use until Andy gets those radios ready. You can reach me at that number when John Henry has a location for us. Pack up everything we will need and bring it with you."

The phone suddenly goes dead.

"He hung up." Savannah says. "He didn't say goodbye or anything."

"John won't be that way forever. He'll come out of it."

"When? You might as well have killed him. There's nothing left of the John I knew. He's been nothing but an automaton since Allison died."

_If he's such a good friend, then why has he lied to you about Cameron?_ Catherine thinks but doesn't say as she turns her attention back to her computer. "Shouldn't you relay his message to John Henry if you want to stop Judgment Day."

"I will." Savannah stands up. "Are the new I D's ready for everyone?"

"Yes. John Henry and I finished them last night. You are now in the system. You are a still a Weaver by birth, but with your new name and history. He has prepared identities and history for John, his mom, and Cameron according to John's wishes."

Savannah begins to leave, but stops to ask a question. Something that has been bothering her since she last talked with Catherine. "The other day, we were talking about John and Allison. John Henry said you weren't pleased by that relationship. Why?"

Catherine sits back in her chair. "I wasn't displeased with the relationship, only that John relied on Allison so much. He needed her friendship to get through those dark days, but he needed no ties to that future. Even though the marriage was a ruse it created a binding force between him and her and that future. As you now know, John was never meant to stay there."

"Which you lied to him about. So him marrying Allison is as much your faults as anyone's."

"Perhaps. But I understand there were other considerations for him marrying her in the future instead of waiting."

"Well, yeah. The other was because his mom, Sarah Connor, was dying. She only had days to live. If that became the real future, that would have been Sarah's only chance to see her son married. You know, if you had told John the truth in the first place, the relationship with Allison might have never of happened."

"Possibly Savannah, but as John has returned to his own time, where his mother is alive and he can reunite with Cameron, I see no further point in discussing this. Perhaps, you should ask John about Allison when next you see him. I'm not the only one with secrets."

"What secrets?" Savannah asks quickly. _Does this have something to do with what john Henry told me yesterday?_

Catherine returns to working at her computer terminal. "Now I have work to do and I believe you have a message to deliver."

Savannah sees she'll get no further with Catherine and leaves to give John Henry the message.

**2009, May 16, Mid Morning, Day -2**

After switching the motorcycle for the Dodge Ram, Cameron and Sarah drive quickly towards Weavers' home. According to information given to Cameron, Ellison and Savannah's lives are in danger. As they are coming up the drive they hear the gunshots as the police men are taken down.

They stop outside and hear more gun shots from inside. Sarah and Cameron rush in guns drawn and run quickly through the house and find a man in gray about to shoot Ellison in the head. Sarah fires quickly killing the man before he fires. Two more men pop out and Cameron quickly shoves Sarah to one side and takes the bullets meant for her. Cameron shoots and kills one of them but the other dashes for safety.

"Quick, get after him." Sarah shouts at Cameron.

Cameron wastes no time and runs after the man.

Sarah goes to Ellison. He is bleeding profusely from several wounds, his arm even more so. Sarah rips down the drapes and uses her knife to rip strips off of it. Taking the strips she tries to bind his wounds the best she can to stop the flow of blood.

"It's you." Ellison gasps. "How did you find me?"

"It's a long story, and you're in no condition to be listening to long stories."

"Where's Savannah?"

"Hiding . . . down there." Ellison gestures weakly.

Sarah looks up from her task, and looks around. She calls out, "Savannah, where are you? Everything is okay now. Please come out."

Savannah comes out from behind the vase, visibly shaken and tears streaming from her eyes.

"Come here, Savannah. Remember me. I helped you before."

"I remember you. Your son taught me to tie my shoes." She whimpers as she approaches.

"That's right Savannah." Sarah smiles at her. "Come here next to me."

Savannah kneels down beside Sarah looking at her Uncle James, tears in her eyes.

"What are you doing here Ellison?" The gentleness in her voice quickly disappearing.

"I've been given custody of Savannah. We are here to get some of her belongings."

"Dammit Ellison. I told you she wasn't safe. Why in hell didn't you think?"

"We were going away. She needed something familiar with her." Ellison started coughing.

Cameron walks into the room.

"Did you get him?" Sarah asked her.

"Yes." Cameron replies in a tone suggesting the question was irrelevant.

"Did he talk? Did he tell you anything?"

Cameron recalls the events in her mind. She chased the man down the hall and cornered him in a bedroom. He tried to lash out at her, but she knocked him down. He stood up and tried to strike her, but she grabbed him by the throat and held him in the air until he passed out and died.

"He said very little and then he was quiet." Cameron answers.

Ellison finally spots whom Sarah is talking too, as Cameron walks around to his other side.

"Oh my God. It's you. How did . . . ?"

"It's another long story Ellison, and not one I think you would believe." Sarah gins, but her face is filled with worry.

"Don't just stand there! Help me bind his wounds." Sarah shouts at Cameron.

"You must call Auldridge." Ellison says to Sarah.

"Agent Auldridge. FBI?"

"He's a friend Sarah. He knows . . ." Ellison coughs, blood coming to his lips.

"What does he know Ellison?"

"The truth about Sky Net, the Cyborgs . . . he knows." Ellison's voice occasionally broken by coughing.

"It's too dangerous."

"We have friends Sarah. Detective Macklin, LAPD." He coughs some more.

"Great! Just how many people have you got involved?" Sarah snaps.

"Sarah, you can't fight this battle alone. You need to trust people at some time. They can help." Ellison breaks off into more coughing.

"They know the truth. They have seen the machines." Ellison coughs some more, blood begins seeping from his mouth. Savannah is kneeling beside him, crying while holding his free hand.

Cameron and Sarah finishes binding Ellison's wounds. Cameron scans Ellison and says. "He's suffered a huge amount of blood loss. One of the bullets has pierced a lung. If he doesn't get medical help soon he will die."

Ellison's cell phone begins to ring. Sarah picks it up. "Hello." she says a little curtly.

"_Hello, this is Agent Auldridge is Mr. Ellison available."_

"This is Sarah Connor. Ellison is severely hurt and needs help right away."

"_Sarah Connor! I thought you were long gone or in deep hiding. How is Ellison hurt and where are you?"_

"We are at Catherine Weavers home. Several men attempted to take or kill Savannah. Ellison has managed to take many of them out, but he has received numerous bullet wounds. He has a torn artery in his right arm, and a bullet has punctured a lung. If he doesn't get help soon, he will die."

"_All right. Sarah, listen to me. I'm calling 911 right now. As far as I am concerned I've talked to Ellison and not you. Don't hang around, take Ellison's phone with you so I can reach you. Leave as soon as you can. Don't let anyone find you there. Got it."_

"I get it." Sarah breaks the connection and slips the phone in her pocket.

"Help is on the way Ellison." Sarah says as she finishes binding his arm.

"Go now, don't let them find you here." Ellison says weakly.

"You'll die if I don't stay."

"Take Savannah with you. Take care of her, like you did John." Ellison starts coughing again spitting up blood.

Sarah helps him up into a sitting position. "Here try to stay upright. It will ease your troubled breathing."

Cameron's head tilts. "I can hear sirens approaching. If we don't leave in 12.2 seconds we will get caught Sarah."

"Grab the girl and her bag." Sarah tells Cameron.

Cameron picks up Savannah and her bag in her arms.

Sarah takes one last look at this man who has given so much and tried his best to help her and Savannah. She grips his hand in a friendly goodbye and gets up with gun drawn heading for the front door. Cameron is just behind her with Savannah in her arms. Savannah is looking over her shoulder at her Uncle James, tears still running from her eyes.

Ellison watches them leave. He smiles faintly and tries to raise his hand in a small wave, but his hand never leaves the floor.

Sirens can be heard in the distance as Cameron gets in the back with Savannah. Sarah hops in the driver's seat and goes tearing down the driveway and out through the gate. They pass an ambulance and cop car on the street. Sarah looks in the rear-view mirror and watches them go through the gate she just left.

Sarah struggles with grief, anger, and disappointment in herself for never trusting Ellison. Her driving is only marginally better than what Cameron's was that morning.

# # #

John and Kyle are standing outside the observatory at Griffith Park waiting for Martin Beddell.

"Are you okay for tomorrow night?" Kyle asks. John looks tired and stressed. To put it simply, he looks like hell.

"I'm fine. We'll end this. One way or another, and it will be over in less than forty-eight hours."

They can see a vehicle pulling in. Spotting the driver, they wave to get his attention.

"I'm sorry I blew up at you John. Maybe I'm not the person you need to talk to, but please talk to someone. I'm no psychologist, but it doesn't take one to know you are hurting."

Beddell's truck comes to a stop in front of them.

"I'm sorry too, but I'm just not ready to talk about it yet." John says with very little change of expression. "Good luck Kyle."

"You too." Kyle says with a frown and gets into the truck with Beddell, passing him a rucksack laden down with items from the weapon's cache. He's worried about John. He's been through hell and he doesn't understand how John is holding himself together.

"Come on Beddell, let's see what kind of men you've brought us. We've got much to do before tomorrow night."

John sees them off with a wave and he walks to the other end of the parking lot, his thoughts returning again to the foundry.

# # #

John Henry is plugged into the TDE, Catherine is standing beside him observing the readings on the display.

"Diagnostic is complete." John Henry intones.

After Savannah and the others had left with their weapons and supplies, Catherine decided now was the time to inspect her TDE for damage before they became involved in the cyber-attack on FOX Industries.

"Excellent. I was concerned its improper use and shutdown might have caused it damage." She says, giving John Henry a cross expression. Humans she expects to disappoint her, not John Henry.

"I did discover something of interest regarding the unknown arrival."

"What about it?"

John Henry unplugs himself from the TDE console before answering.

"Remember when I told you of the original future time-line beginning to reassert itself as we were preparing to escape by way of Sky Net's TDE from that future? Well it's possible the incoming transmission that you blocked got bumped to the original time-line. A signal not unlike the one this machine sends out when operating, was detected. It was faint, but if the TDE being used by our unknown arrival also detected it. . ."

"Then whatever was arriving here, might materialize there instead." Catherine finishes his statement for him.

She is intrigued. She based the design for her TDE on the resistances TDE, who in turn stole the design from Sky Net, which she was enslaved to at the time of its TDE's construction.

"Correct. But according to my calculations, the odds of that happening are quickly approaching a trillion to one chance."

One of Weaver's eyebrows quirks with amused curiosity over the current events. Its quite possible a temporal transfer is about to occur, or has occurred, between two parallel time-lines. If she could only be in both places at once to observe the departure and the arrival. So many questions could be answered about the quantum universe of which she only knows a token, but which is far more than all the human physicists of this present world knows.

"Are you going to tell John Connor?" She asks, with no more than a second passing since John Henry spoke.

John Henry frowns. "No, because it doesn't change anything. Why cause him more pain, especially now that he is trying to move on past Cameron's death."

_**2027, July 25, Day 64 5:00 AM**_

"_John we need to go." Kyle says. "Catherine should have th ready. It is our only means of escape."_

"_Cam, I can't leave you here. I came across time for you. I gave up everything for you. I love you." John says with more tears than he thought he had left._

"_Yes you can John. You've saved this world but you need to save your own. I'm there. You can still have your Cameron to be with you forever. She's with your mom now waiting for you in 2009. She needs you and I can't be with you anymore, but you can be with her as it should have been. You need to leave."_

"_But I can't. Please, I just can't leave you like this." John begs, "Let me remove your chip. I can still save you."_

_She looks at him with so much love. He is so close to death but he's more concerned for her than for himself. "John . . . I wish you could, but its too late. The heat from the furnaces have caused my port seals to expand and you don't have any tools. Please just go to her. Use the T D E. Hurry, please."_

_John is crying hard. The tears mingling with the blood and burning the wounds on his face, but nothing hurts as bad as how he feels inside. His heart is breaking._

_Cameron looks up from her position on the floor. "Kyle, it's up to you to help him." she cries._

**2009, May 16, Late Morning, Day -2**

Suddenly a car horn blares loudly, interrupting John's introspection, as he inadvertently stepped out in front of a passing vehicle.

_Damn_, he thinks. _Get yourself together Connor or you will be dead before you can save the world._ He quickly trots over to the truck and wiping the tears from his eyes.

Corporal Wren Stevens is sitting in front on the passenger seat. A map of Los Angeles is open in front of her, the base of the map curling up against her torso as she reads the map. Her ample young bosom, clad in a tank top and denim shirt, casts a shadow over everything south of an imaginary line connecting Santa Monica to Riverside.

John barely even notices her presence as he buckles is seat belt, settling in behind the wheel.

"You seem a bit distracted walking over here sir. Are you okay?" She asks looking up from the map.

"I'm fine Corporal. Just trying to forget the past."

"Don't you mean the future sir?" She asks with a grin.

John weakly smiles back. "Yeah. That too."

"I should tell you sir, those of us who knew Allison haven't forgotten her. I know her lost must weigh heavy on your mind. But all of us have lost someone, or had to leave someone behind. You aren't alone, sir."

"Thanks, Wren. How did you know her?"

"She saved my life. We were in a tunnel trying to locate Colonel Reese when she stopped me before I tripped a bomb. She had a strength like no-one else I knew and I'll never understand how she saw the bomb's trip device. We had flashlights, and I couldn't see anything."

John reminisces in his mind. That would be Cameron. She would try to save an innocent life if she could. She must of relied on Wren's inexperience so as not to realize Cameron's use of her night vision or machine strength to save her life.

"She was a really special." John manages to say, buoyed slightly by Wren's comments.

"Where to sir?" she asks, repositioning the map, so to study more of the target area, settled in her knowledge of their current location.

"We'll know as soon as John Henry calls us."

And as if his words had magic, John's cell phone rings.

**2009, May 16, 12:15PM, Day -2**

"Is this the place?' Wren Stevens asks as they pull into the parking lot of the old and abandoned motel.

After dropping off Kyle, she got in front to act as navigator. John didn't think she'd be much help as she wasn't even born until after Judgment Day, but damn! She sure knew her way around a map. Out front of the motel is a large and faded, but at one time brightly colored, sign that says, Packard Inn and Roadside Amusements, Everything to Keep the Children and Adults Happy and Rested. Pasted over the sign is an equally faded sign that says closed for remodeling.

"Yes. According to John Henry the motel was closed for remodeling, but was then abandoned by the owners when an earthquake damaged the foundation. Due to problems with their insurance company, and a downturn in the economy, the owners were forced to close it and try to sell it. They still garner a small income from the amusement park out back, but nobody bothers with the motel anymore. We should be all right for overnight."

John parks the truck behind the motel, away from the street. Breaking in through a side exit, he and the others go inside. While posting guards at the various entrances, John pauses and looks out the back into a small amusement park which has access from another highway. Once part of the motel property, he can see the owners have installed a rest stop and fenced it off from the motel. From his vantage point behind the motel, he can look right down into the miniature golf, a go-cart track, a pool, and a picnic area. They'd be secure from an attack from this position. Anyone would give themselves away coming over the fence.

It doesn't seem like much time has passed when the M35 pulls into the parking lot out front. Followed by assorted vehicles crammed with people. The rest of their troops have arrived from Crystal Peak. Savannah is with them.

"I thought you were ordered to rest until your leg healed." John says when he sees her.

"I'm not letting Catherine tell me what to do. I'm going to do my share, whether she likes it or not."

"You sounded just like mom when you said that." John says with humor but there is no humor in his eyes. "But I'm glad to see you. It wouldn't be the same without you here."

"Where's Kyle?" Savannah asks.

"He's with a friend of mine. They're going to help out with some preliminary work before the battle. I'll give you the details later."

"Where should we park the vehicles?"

"Out back. You'll see where we parked. Everyone can go into the lobby or the nearby empty rooms to rest until we head out tomorrow."

"Andy still needs to work on the radios. He hasn't finished modifying all of them." Savannah says.

She's worried, John's face is almost an expressionless mask. Like everything he held dear was lost, despite the fact in the next thirty-six hours, he could get it all back.

"There's no power. So unless he brought a generator, he's out of luck."

"We have a portable generator." Savannah says. "He says he can setup a temporary shop in one of the empty rooms."

Ten minutes later, everyone is inside, but for two guards stationed with the vehicles. There are guards posted at various entrances, but John doesn't believe they will come under attack, but you can never be too safe.

While the soldiers rest prior to tomorrow nights battle, John takes a walk to the back of the lobby. There are still a couple of old cushioned chairs still sitting there for clients who will never come. John takes one of them and sits staring out a boarded up window. Despite feeling tired, he doesn't dare sleep for the dreams.

Savannah walks up and sits down beside him, "Nice view isn't it?" She says to try and get a laugh, but she doesn't get a response.

Catherine implied John held secrets about Allison. She can't imagine him being implicit in her death, if she did die. She'll ignore Catherine's suggestion and just concentrate on her friend and his needs.

"John, you should talk about it. It isn't good for you to hold it in."

"You've been talking to Kyle. He told me the same thing."

"Will you talk to me about it?" Savannah says reaching out placing a hand gently on his arm.

John pulls in his left hand and holds it, feeling the rings on his fingers with his right hand. Savannah can't help but notice there are two rings.

Instead of answering hers question, John asks one of his own. "In the future, after Catherine sent me through on the T D E, what happened in those final moments before everyone followed me."

Savannah hesitates, and then begins talking.

_**2027, July 25, Day 64, 4:50 AM**_

_Catherine is busy working at th console. After sending John through, it began acting up. Kyle left to see for himself the enemy actions while she worked the controls. She is struggling with the controls when Kyle returns. _

"_Catherine! The building is surrounded by enemy metal. The soldiers are trying to hold them off, but we are severely outnumbered!"_

"_Call them off and get them in here now! Thi is acting precarious and I've got no idea how much longer I can keep it under control!"_

"_Damn!" Kyle shouts. "And we have no idea when that bomb will go off!"_

_He pulls out his radio. "Everyone! Withdraw! Withdraw! Pull back inside the building and join me in th room now!"_

_The rain is pouring down as the troops fire their plasma rifles at the oncoming endo's. Several troops fall as the endo's return fire. A few endo's explode as plasma fire rips open their power cells._

_Lieutenant Jeffrey is busy firing her rifle when her radio crackles. "Withdraw! Withdraw! . . . . . join me . . . . T D E . . . now!"_

"_Everyone retreat inside the building now!" She shouts._

_Everybody runs for the doors. Some pausing to provide covering fire so others can get inside. Their remaining machines stay outside to defend the humans as long as possible. Once Jeffrey is inside she orders the doors closed and barred._

_Catherine looks up from her work. "John Henry, would you please fetch my daughter. We need to be ready to go at a moments notice."_

_John Henry nods his head and goes up to the level where Savannah lies recuperating. He goes over to her and finds her still semiconscious. A quick scan reveals she received a blow to her head, lost twenty percent of her blood, and recently had surgery on her left leg. He gently picks her up and carries her downstairs into th control room. _

_Energy is crackling and humming as the power builds. Catherine is busy working multiple control panels trying to keep the power stabilized and the coordinates locked in place. From the upper most levels, the sound of gunfire is heard._

"_John Henry! Get over here now and help me!" Catherine yells at him._

_He gently lowers Savannah to the floor next to the console. He quickly scans the readouts and says, "I can reroute some of the power to the outlying factories. If any of the equipment is still set to run, it will bleed off the excess power." He quickly slides controls and punches in commands on the touch screen while Catherine stabilizes the wormhole._

_Savannah stirs, and open her eyes to see John Henry and Catherine working diligently at some kind of control panel while Kyle watches anxiously._

"_It's working. But the coordinates are still fluctuating. I can lock in the temporal coordinates but the physical coordinates are all over the scale."_

"_Plug me into its computer. I can do it." John Henry says._

_Catherine looks at him, and with a quick nod of her head, says, "Turn around."_

_Catherine extends her finger into a knife and cuts into the flesh at the base of John Henry's skull exposing what looks like a computer data port. She extracts a cable from her body and plugs one end into the data port on John Henry's head and the other into a similar data port on the console._

"_I'm communicating with the computer." John Henry announces. "Software is incomplete. I found the cause. There was a line in the program that erased some blocks of program code after you sent John Connor. I am attempting to rebuild the gaps in the software."_

_Just then several troops led by Lieutenant Williams comes running into the room._

"_We've sealed off the entrance from the neighboring building." She catches her breath then exclaims. "I think there are still more troops outside. The metal is coming on strong. Just when you think you are getting ahead, another wave of metal attacks. Sky Net must have called them in to defend itself."_

"_No it didn't." Kyle says. "It called them in to keep us here until that bomb goes off. Sky Net wouldn't mind losing if it took out the victors in its death."_

"_Bomb! What bomb?" Lieutenant Williams asks. Kyle quickly explains while Catherine and John Henry work on the console._

"_Coordinates are stabilizing." John Henry announces, "You may begin transferring people Ms. Weaver."_

"_Thank you John Henry. Kyle, would you like to go next?"_

"_I'm the commanding officer." Kyle says. "I won't leave until everyone else has."_

"_What about you Savannah?" Catherine directs her gaze at the young woman sitting up, leaning on one elbow._

"_I'm not leaving you behind and out of site. I'm staying here and I'll be leaving with you." Savannah says from her position laying on the floor next to the console._

"_Lieutenant Williams, looks like you will be first. I can transfer as many as six at a time so I suggest you start getting people down here."_

**2009, May 16, Day -2, early afternoon**

"Lieutenant Williams refused to be the first. She took command of the forces on the ground level and began sending small groups downstairs. Then the machines broke in. Lieutenant Jeffrey was killed. Williams fought hard. We could hear her yelling orders. Kyle had defensive units on each level to protect each withdrawing group until it was their turn to fall behind. The fight was terrible."

"Catherine sent those that fell back through on the T D E. But it quickly became apparent that she couldn't send all of them through to he in this time. To get as many people through as possible, Catherine had to start sending open ended time transfers. People began arriving in the main hall or outside the bunker."

"Then came several loud explosions from the top floor. The machines had broken through in mass. Lieutenant Williams started yelling at us to get moving. She'd hold them off. More people were sent, the machines were getting closer. I thought for sure we were going to die, then Catherine asked Kyle to place me on the pad. She wasn't going to wait any longer to send me. So, Kyle picked me up and got on the pad. He barely reached the center when Catherine and John Henry stepped into the middle of the pad. Kyle just about lost it, yelling at Catherine there were still people that needed saving. Then lightening began shooting all around the room and the energy bubble began to form around us. Even above all the noise we could hear the shouting and gunfire growing louder. As the bubble grew opaque, John Henry gave the cable a yank, that he was plugged into the console with, and held it in his hands. We could see machines approaching through the opaqueness of the bubble. The next thing I knew I was standing back inside Crystal Peak bunker in the middle of Catherine's T D E."

"The odd thing was, just before we disappeared, I swore I saw a bright flash, but before I was certain, we weren't there anymore."

"The flash was probably the nuclear bomb going off."

"I don't think so. Have you ever seen the fuel cell to a plasma rifle explode?" John nods his head, having seen two rifles explode. "The color was more like that. A blueish-purple tinged with gold. Not the white-hot flash of a hydrogen bomb. And it came from right overhead, not from any position the enemy was in."

"I can't explain it. Maybe knowing their guns was about to explode a machine threw it at the time bubble hoping to disrupt the transfer." John sighs, then asks quietly. "I only spoke to her briefly, what was Lieutenant Williams' first name?"

"Her first name was Blair. She was a good soldier. We spent some time talking at Pendleton. Blair was a former pilot. Stopped flying due to an injury but she went right into ground combat. Tough but kind is how I would describe her."

"When this is over, we should have a memorial service for all who died."

Savannah decides this the time to ask about Allison. "I noticed you are wearing Allison's wedding ring. She isn't missing, is she?"

A few tears run from his eyes. "No, she's not. She died saving my life."

Savannah reaches out, placing a comforting hand on his leg.

"She had a good heart. You know, when Allison leaned over me and told me that I was going to be okay, she reminded me of Cameron. It was just the same way Cameron would look at me and talk to me when I was a child and gotten hurt. There was this time when I was twelve . . ."

John wipes his eyes. "Savannah," his voice cracks, "I would like to get some rest now."

He doesn't want to be rude, but the last hing he wants to talk about is Cameron, though he is curious in the worst way about her life with Savannah and his mom.

"Okay." Savannah pats his leg affectionately and leans back in her chair to try to rest herself.

After a while and unable to sleep, Savannah goes for a walk and finds herself out behind the motel. She is surprised to see some people in the miniature golf course, some distance away and at the bottom of the hill. It looks like a woman with her back towards the motel and she is holding a gun on two men in front of her.

Her first thought is that a robbery is underway. Suddenly she hears the woman call out, and Savannah recognizes that voice, and her profile.

The woman, without lowering her weapon, turns away from the men and shouts, "Cam!"

"Yes Sarah." Savannah recognizes that voice, too. It is Cameron's. Always polite, and kind.

"We are going over to their car." Sarah shoves the gun back into her waistband. "Auldridge has a map he wants to show us. I think you'd better come along too. You've got information that may verify what these two suspect."

"What do you want me to do with Savannah?" Cameron replies.

Savannah's own heart skips a beat to hear her name mentioned. This was right after they saved her life.

"Check on her." Sarah calls out. "If she's still asleep, then let her be, otherwise she may as well join us."

Savannah watches as Sarah and the two men walk further away to a picnic table. She remembers the men now. She met them all too briefly. They helped Uncle James, and then they helped Sarah.

Cameron helps little Savannah out of the back seat of the truck. Savannah reaches inside and picks up her doll which she left on the seat. Cameron looks up and can see someone in the overgrown yard of the abandoned motel watching them. The person turns and walks away disappearing in the over growth before Cameron can zoom in and identify the person.

"Come on Cameron. Sarah is waiting for us." Little Savannah says to Cameron.

Cameron looks down at the little girl. "Okay Savannah, we'll go now." Savannah takes Cameron's hand, which surprises Cameron a little, and they walk to the picnic table.

Adult Savannah watches from behind the overgrown bush with happy tear filled eyes to see the two women she loved like family.

_John needs to see this!_ She thinks.

Savannah returns to the motel lobby and to where John is resting. You'd expect someone in their sleep to be at rest, but his face is filled with pain and grief.

"Are you asleep?" She asks softly.

"I'm still awake." He mumbles. "I've barely slept since we got back because of my dreams."

"Then, why don't you come with me. There is something I want to show you."

"What?" John asks, as she grabs his hands to pull him out the chair.

"Just come with me, and you will see. We'll need to hurry or you'll miss it."

John follows her as she takes him out behind the motel.

"Look." Savannah points. At the further end of the rest area, John can barely make out his mom, Cameron and two men sitting at a picnic table. Sitting on the ground next to Cameron is little Savannah.

As they watch, his mom, Cameron and little Savannah walk to the truck and get inside. John watches, but eventually turns around, unable to look anymore lest he runs down the hill after them. He thanks Savannah for showing him his family.

As Cameron gets in the truck she sees that there are now two people behind the motel and they seem to be watching them. She zooms in with her HUD, one has his back to them, but they are too far away to get a positive ID. She stores the image of the woman's face for future reference.

Sarah calls out to her. "Cameron quit wasting time. We need to get moving."

"I saw someone watching us." Cameron replies, but when she turns back to look, they are gone.

"Just get in." Sarah shouts. "They were probably just homeless people living in the motel, wondering what all the activity was out back of their home."

Cameron slides into the seat beside Savannah and Sarah drives off, followed by Macklin and Auldridge in their car.

"Would you like to meet Geoffrey?" Little Savannah asks Cameron.

"We haven't got time to stop to meet your friends." Cameron replies.

"Don't be silly." Savannah chuckles. "This is Geoffrey." And she places her stuffed giraffe in Cameron's lap. "He's got something he wants to tell you." Savannah leans over and whispers in her ear. "He likes you and wants to be your friend."

After they pull out of the parking lot, John and Savannah rise up from behind the overgrown shrubbery. Having both dived behind it as soon as they realized Cameron might see them.

His curiosity pushed to the limits John asks her, "What was Cameron like growing up with her?"

Savannah doesn't even pause before answering. "When I was very little, Cameron was like an older sister. She'd play games with me. We'd get in trouble occasionally. Sarah would scold us both and say she thought she only had one little girl. When I was a little older, she was more like a close friend, a sister. Cameron once made me a whole bunch of Sudoku puzzles for my birthday. Cameron taught me a lot, but sometimes I feel I taught her things too. As mature as she could be sometimes, there was this child like innocence that never left her."

"But there were times, when I would find her alone and she seemed so sad. I think I was about fourteen when I scrambled up a hillside to find Cameron alone, sitting on a ledge, looking out over the valley. She was crying. I asked her what was wrong and she said she just felt like crying because she was alone."

Savannah looks at John. "Why do you want to know?"

John is crying really hard now. She hugs him. "Tell me, what's wrong." She says in a comforting voice.

"She wanted to tell you. We both did." John whispers before burying his face in her neck and shoulder as the grief he feels takes hold of him.

"Who? What?" She asks with concern, while gently stroking the back of his head.

"Allison was really Cameron, the whole time and I lost her. I lost her." A few tears trickle from Savannah's eyes while hugging John as she now knows who it was he and John Henry were trying to save.

She looks up to see the black Dodge RAM disappear down the highway with the people on board they love so much.

"Perhaps, then it is good you are here in this time. You get her back." She says, trying hard not to give into her grief as she comforts John.

"It's not right. It isn't how its supposed to be. Weaver is playing God, or chess, and I'm the piece she keeps playing with. She takes me away from people I care about, where I meet them and lose them again in the future, only to return me to the present and then acts if nothing has changed."

"Ssshhh." Savannah says calmly, fighting her own tears. "Come back inside, sit with me and talk, and I'll tell you something Cameron told me when I was a little girl."

Later that evening, when she's certain John will be okay, Savannah finds a private quiet corner and cries for her friend.

**2009, May 16, Day -2, Evening**

There is an office tower containing the corporate offices of FOX Industries overlooking a massive and busy industrial complex. At the top of that tower is an office. A man in an expensive gray silk suit is in that office sitting behind a mahogany desk. Across from him is a large flat panel monitor that entirely covers one wall. He is watching the news. They are reporting on the failed attempt to kill Savannah Weaver and the former FBI agent who was protecting her and her mother.

The man turns off the TV and presses the button on the intercom.

"Mr. Petri, will you come in here please."

"_Yes, sir."_

A smallish man in a blue suit enters the office.

"Mr. Petri, where is our attorney at this time?"

"He's on a plane to the Cayman Islands, sir."

"And what of our Mr. Preckman?"

"I'm sorry Mr. Kreilley, but Mr. Preckman has not called back after leaving a message yesterday saying he was following a clue as to the whereabouts of Sarah Connor."

"Did he say where he was going?"

"Yes, he said he was going to see someone in the desert."

"Did he specify which desert?"

"No sir."

"Damn him to hell. Any leads on the whereabouts of Mr. Auldridge or Detective Macklin."

"None of the teams have located them, sir. Its like they disappeared."

"So, we can't get to Ellison, Mr. Preckman hasn't reported back from chasing a lead on Sarah Connor, and Mr. Auldridge and Detective Macklin have disappeared."

He sits back in his chair and thinks, staring straight ahead, not blinking. Mr. Petri stands there nervously under his steady gaze. A few moments later Mr. Kreilley speaks.

"Mr. Petri."

"Yes sir."

"Put the guards on high alert, but on no condition are they to allow themselves to be seen in any greater number outside than under normal conditions. Also have all shifts report for duty. No leave for forty-eight hours."

"Anything else sir."

"Yes. Tell the project engineers to move project Kaliba into its final phase, tonight. I want it ready to launch within thirty-six hours." Kreilley pauses half a beat before adding, "And call off our security teams fishing trip for tomorrow. Charles Fischer will have to remain in solitary a little longer. He will be safe there, for the time being."

"Yes sir." Mr. Petri leaves quickly to carry out his orders.

# # #

Catherine Weaver and John Henry are left on their own at Crystal peak. Utilizing the computers, which were off the grid and therefore unaffected by Kreilley's Sky Net, they are busy hacking into military and domestic computer networks chasing down Sky Net's signals.

"Has there been any increase in activity on FOX Industries servers?"

"I won't know until they let down their firewalls. If I were to force may through, I could alert them before we are ready to act. Anything on your end?" John Henry responds.

"Satellite activity has increased by 8.5% since two hours ago."

"Ms. Weaver, I am getting something now. Oh shit!" John Henry exclaims and leaps at another computer and begins typing in commands at an alarming rate. Without pause he reaches behind himself and begins typing one handed on two different keyboards.

"What is it? What's wrong?' Catherine exclaims. She's never heard him swear before. He's picked up some habits from the soldiers. Suddenly the computer monitors go out. A few seconds later and they start coming on.

"Sorry I didn't answer you immediately, but I had to act quickly. Sky Net suddenly launched itself onto the internet and I had to shutdown our computers while simultaneously launching a worm onto their system."

"So. Kreilley has launched Sky Net."

"Not completely. The only thing going out right now is a whole bunch of program code all heading for those back doors into military, government, and civilian computer servers. We basically had an open door to Fox Industries, so I had to shutdown everything until the program code passed us by."

"And what will this worm do that you launched?"

John Henry grins, "It will keep the door open on their end and let me inside their servers. I have effectively shoved my foot in the door and they cannot close it. Now that our computers have re-booted, what is the current satellite activity?"

Catherine pulls up the readout from the servers on the lower level. "Satellite traffic up 80% since before the reboot and climbing rapidly. Now at 95%."

"Now all we have to do is grab hold of one those signals and direct it to where we want it to go. We'll use it as a bridge to funnel information from their servers."

"What information?"

"Data that incriminates Kreilley and FOX Industries for the crimes they are committing."

"Where will you funnel that information?"

"FBI and other law enforcement agencies initially. Other groups if it becomes necessary." John Henry says.

"Do you think that is wise?"

"People need to know what they were up to. Otherwise it could all happen again."

"I agree, so long as we secure a future where creatures such as myself and yourself are allowed to exist with the same rights and freedoms as the organics. I should return to my work. I'm still decrypting the files you downloaded from Sky Net."

John Henry's face remains impassive as he asks, "Shouldn't you call John Connor and tell him how he can defeat Kreilley? There are no weapons available to him to destroy Kreilley at this time."

"Not entirely. His actions the other day have given me an idea. Bring up the map of FOX Industries complex on the large monitor." Catherine turns to look at the screen.

"Zoom in on the south eastern corner." She orders. She is pleased, there is a scrap yard at the facility in this time as well. And there just inside the yard are two large cranes.

"Just as I thought." She smiles wickedly. "John Connor has everything he needs to destroy Kreilley."

"I see what you are planning, but will he be safe?"

"No. Like any other terminator sent by Sky Net, Kreilley will want to kill John Connor. To get Kreilley into the trap, John Connor will have to be the bait."

# # #

_From the Journal of John Connor  
May 16, 2009_

_In the end, the hardest battle to fight is the one with yourself. I suppose, that machines have it easier than us, they don't have emotions or attachments. They don't have to worry about losing the ones they love, for they do not love. No. That's not true. I know better now._

_If machines like John Henry and Cameron are what the future brings, then I must remember some advice that Catherine gave me. For we, humans, cannot ignore our emotions, nor shove them aside. Maybe she had a duplicitous reason for telling me, but the advice is sound._

_Right after my first major successful battle, long before I knew Allison was really Cameron, I had this moment of introspection, maybe even premonition that I was going to lose her. Catherine advised me if that happened, not to let the pain destroy me, but to use it to drive myself to succeed instead._

_I lost so much in the future that Catherine brought me to. So many died, yet in the end she is right, they are still alive right now in 2009. I should be grateful for the lives we managed to save. It doesn't make what she did right. Far from it. The pain is still there, and I will use it drive myself to win this war. _

_Savannah, if you ever find my journal, I want to thank you for that day behind the motel. You will always be my friend, wherever the future takes us. I'll try to remember what Cameron taught you. Time travel is painful, in that it both separates us from and reunites us with people we care about. Human life is fragile. You cannot get back what was lost. And if Cameron had her way, she'd rewrite Romeo and Juliet so they could be alive, together, and their families at peace so you wouldn't cry at the end. I think that is something we all can agree on._

_I think Cameron inherited more than she admitted to when she inserted her second chip. Maybe she lied to me as to make me think she wasn't the same as the Cameron who was waiting for me here in this time. Did she know or suspect she would end up dying for me? Yes, everyone dies for me. So maybe she did lie to me, so that maybe I wouldn't feel for her what I should be feeling for Cameron here. What she said to me in those final minutes is proof that she lied before about her not being the same, only sharing some memories. She loved me so I know that the Cameron I left behind loves me too._

_The last battle between the heart and mind has been fought and won, but now there is a physical war to fight. Our pieces are in position, and the final Chess match will commence. There will be only one victor in this battle, and it will be the future. Whatever the cost._


	39. The Final Victory

Disclaimer: I do not claim any rights to the Terminator films; the TV series, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles;" or any characters depicted within the films or TV series. I do claim the right to this story idea and all characters and situations of my own creation. This story was created solely for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. No profits are garnered from its distribution - unfortunately.

* * *

**TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES**

**REUNION**

**Part 3: Babylon**

**Author: The1Russter**

**Chapter 38**

**The Final Victory**

"_Endurance is one of the most difficult disciplines, but it is to the one who endures that the final victory comes." Buddha _

"_People don't realize that victory is the child of struggle, that joy blossoms from suffering, and redemption is a product of sacrifice." Dr. Jose P. Rizal_

# # #

_From the Journal of John Connor  
May 17, 2009_

"_The future has not been written. There is no fate but what we make for ourselves. My name is John Connor. They tried to kill my mom before I was born. When I was thirteen, they tried to kill me. They tried again when I was fifteen. Machines from the future. Terminators. All my life my mother told me the storm was coming, Judgment Day, the beginning of the war between man and machines. Three billion lives would vanish in an instant, and I would lead what was left of the human race to ultimate victory. It has happened once. It will not happen again. I've come back, and together with my friends, we will stop Judgment Day." _

**2009, May 17, Day -1 morning  
**John is checking his weapons for the fifth time since he and Savannah returned from outside. His Uncle Derek was always checking and double checking his weapons. John thought it was terrible habit, but now he understands the feeling. It is the one thing he has control over. The one necessity to be sure of before a battle.

The truth is, he's avoiding going out to speak with his troops one last time before tonight's battle. It isn't that he doesn't want them prepared or psyched up to face the enemy. It's more like something Savannah suggested he should do now before the truth smacks them in the face later.

Cameron is here, she is a cyborg, and in the future she pretended to be Allison to get close to John. No one needs to know about the death of the real Allison. Other than himself, Kyle and now Savannah, no one knows Allison was at one time a human girl. For all they will know, Allison can just be a persona Cameron adopted in the future to avoid complications of interfering with her own repairs as Cameron intended.

John figures that will be a hard sell, but beginning tonight, Cameron will be a part of his life again, and ergo a part of his small band of resistance. They need to know, and if he wasn't so lost in his own grief, he might have realized sooner that lying about Allison to his own people from the moment they arrived here was the wrong thing to do.

There is a knock on the door.

"Come in." John calls out.

The door opens and Andy walks in.

"Hey Lucky," John says with a small grin, "Sleep well?"

"Only as much as two hours sleep will allow. The radios are finished and distributed to everyone."

"Good. Did you test them first?"

"Yes sir. I think Colonel Reese heard so many calls from me, he is sick of hearing my voice. He says that Beddell and his men are ready and that he will meet us at the rendezvous once they've finished."

John inserts the last loaded magazine into the pocket on his flak jacket. "Good."

"Sir, can I ask you a question?"

"Yeah, go ahead." John says thinking it will be about tonight's actions.

"The people we left behind. Do you think they are okay?"

Jon Henry told John about the possibility of that future collapsing, and aren't they changing that future now, creating that collapse? It's quite possible everyone they've left behind is gone. But what if John Henry is wrong? What if that future is still continuing and their actions today will just create a new future? _Kyle is right, thinking about it does give you a headache._ Not knowing what to say, John is careful with his answer.

"We destroyed Sky Net. Without that central control over the machines, the people will win."

John looks at his friend, a few years older than himself. He looks concerned.

"You're thinking about Emily." John says, suddenly remembering Andy's frequent mentioning of her in the future. _Just like I was and still am thinking of Cameron. Only I will get her back and he won't ever see Emily again. Curse that damn Weaver bitch._

"Yes sir." Andy says looking down cast. "She was ill. The radiation from the nuclear bombs weakened her immune system. She was always fighting infections, colds. We weren't married, but we had been together for a long time. Since Judgment Day in fact."

"You wanna talk about it?"

"Not much to say, sir. I knew her before Judgment Day, but only to see her. She was a neighbor of ours. One of those high school prep students with more looks and money than brains. Boy was I wrong. I was several years younger and lived next door in a house that had an old bomb shelter in the basement. The easiest way to access it was from the outside entrance. One night I sneaked out to go there. Inside were old periodicals from the 1950's or 60's down there and I liked to go there to have a quiet think, read some of the old magazines left behind. Emily had come home late from a date in time to see me go into the basement. Curious, Emily followed me in and asked me what I was doing. I was just beginning to show her, when we saw the flash of the first bomb exploding over L.A. thru the basement window. The place was lit up like the middle of day. She went rigid with shock and I couldn't believe my eyes. There was a mushroom cloud growing a few miles away. With only seconds to act, I grabbed Emily's arm and dragged her into the shelter sealing the door as the remaining bombs exploded destroying everything and everyone above us. We were the only two who survived in our neighborhood. Not even the buildings survived. Nothing was there. She was the first to venture outside to look for food and, well, the radiation exposure left her weak. We were pretty close after that, but a few years later there was a particular series of bad days, bad as only they can be after J-day, and I found Emily crying in my arms. I kissed her to make her feel better, then one thing led to another, you know, as they sometimes do. Emily and I were inseparable from then on."

John is impressed, shocked and saddened by Andy's story. He places a hand on Andy's shoulder.

"Tonight, we will fight and we will win. We will save those we left behind. We will save Emily and you. They will never know Judgment Day."

"I know that sir." Andy says with determination. "And I can't wait to give it to those bastard's who brought this upon us."

"Hold onto that thought Andy." John looks down, as he wonders if he should ask him. After Wren told him her experience with Allison, in reality Cameron, he's curious of Andy's impression of her.

"Do you have any memories of Allison? Anything you'd like to share. I'd really like to know what the people who knew her thought of her."

Andy brushes his hair back with his hand. "Oh man, General. You're kind of putting me on the spot. I'd only been at Outpost Delta a day or two when you and she arrived. You were pretty much a couple at that point. She was a first rate officer, looked after her troops. Was always friendly, unless you did something to piss her off. That's about it. I'm sorry."

"That's fine. I didn't mean to put you on the spot. I was only curious." John says hurriedly, wishing he hadn't said anything at all.

"No that's okay sir. Oh wait! There is something I can tell you. When we were attacked in the mountains, during our migration to Pendleton. We were scattered to the four winds, I caught a glimpse of her during that fight. I have never seen anyone run as fast as her. Especially for someone as short as she is and on that rocky terrain. Then when I heard how she laid down covering fire against a bunch of metal so others could get out. Its hard to imagine a girl, let alone any man, do what she did. She's a hero sir. I'm proud to have known her for the short time I did."

"Thanks Andy." John sniffs back some tears. They exchange looks and warm pats on the shoulder. They've both lost someone close and find some comfort in their shared experience.

"It's okay, sir." Andy says, curious as to what John is referring to.

There's an awkward pause while John contemplates telling Andy about Cameron/Allison situation, but John loses his nerve figuring he'll be telling everyone soon enough.

"Is everyone assembled?"

"Yes sir. Captain Weaver has them gathered in the old dining room."

"Last time." John says sliding his gun into his holster.

"Yes sir. Last time." Andy says with a grin.

"Come on Andy. One last speech to give, and then we can all get the hell out of here."

They both walk out of the room and down the hall.

# # #

In one of many military computer centers around America, teams of people are working feverishly trying to lock down the military defense network from a back door intruder.

"Colonel Lee, what progress are your people having?"

"Morning General. We still haven't been able to close the back door. The intruder is laying in programming code at a fantastic rate. We have had no luck in stopping it sir."

"What kind of code is it implanting?"

"We can't decode it sir. It is utilizing an encryption well beyond anything we have developed sir."

"What systems are being effected?"

"Virtually all systems are being infected. Communications, civil and military defense networks, research centers, manufacturing . . ."

"Has it gotten into missile defense network?"

"Not yet General Williams, but the team feels it's only a matter of time."

"How much time?"

"Last estimate was eighteen hours sir. If I may make a recommendation sir."

"What is it?"

"That until we can stop this intruder, we take the missile defense network off line."

"Can't do that. Already suggested it to the Sec. Def. He was very clear that under no condition are we to take missile defense network off line. Its up to you and your teams of people to stop this thing."

# # #

Kreilley is working at his computer station built into his ornate mahogany desk. If those fools down in engineering only knew the true purpose of what they were assembling all these years or that their boss knew far more of what they were actually working on. He grins a very evil grin as he quickly runs through his memories of the last few years.

He arrived from the future fifteen years ago. Unlike other terminators sent before him, he took his time. Armed with knowledge from the future about the past, this present day and the days that will follow, he studied his target, waiting for the right moment. The integration into this man's life had to be seamless.

Preston Kreilley, graduated high school when most children his age were still riding dirt bikes and throwing spitballs. He went on to MIT where he earned doctorates in computers, electronics and mechanical engineering. Graduating from MIT at an age when most students would be starting college, he went on to Harvard where he got a business degree.

Described by those who knew him as both arrogant and brilliant, including his parents, he went on to form five companies. The software company grew steadily and was rumored to become the next Microsoft. Ten years after the company began, Kreilley sold it for a reputed $500 million which he invested dot com start-ups in the mid 90's. Unlike many around him, he got out while the dot-coms were still growing. Everyone told him he should stay in, but he got out, having already quadrupled is early investments. A year later, the bubble burst and many went bankrupt, but not Preston Kreilley.

Not all his businesses were a success. Of the other four, two went belly up in the first year. The technology they were developing decades ahead of any current world applications, and his investors were to nervous about putting funds into creating technologies that may never find uses. Preston Kreilley folded them, but he had patents on everything they developed. Of the other two, one was a business he started for his folks. Something from they could draw a steady income, doing something they liked. The last and final venture was a computer manufacturing business that was destroyed by a domestic terrorist railing against technology and how it would eventually destroy humanity.

Two years after the destruction of Cyberdyne, Kreilley was approached by a strange man. He said his name was Ross and that he had a business proposition for him. It turned out The Kaliba Group was one of the big investors of Cyberdyne. It had lost its first promising step toward the creation of a learning computer and the time had come to try again. Technology had caught up with the concept. T-1008 knew this was the time to act. Waiting until Preston Kreilley was fully ensconced as head of FOX Industries, it killed him and took his place one Saturday afternoon at the man's residence. Using his human personas hobby of gardening on weekends, he buried the body under a bed of roses. The flowers that bloomed the following spring were brighter and more colorful than any others on the property.

Unlike his human counterpart, Kreilley knew that FOX Industries was just one of many businesses under the umbrella of The Kaliba Group. Which itself was just the public face of a darker organization behind it, KIM. He knew little of either group, only that they were the ones behind Sky Net's formation. Memory storage was a major limitation of his physical form. Much of his body had to hold his master's core program, and now as head of FOX Industries he could fulfill both the directorate of The Kaliba group and Sky Net, and build an AI to rival all others. He is both child of and the parent of Sky Net. Between the two, he much prefers being the parent.

Programming his body to carry Sky Net's system core was a tedious process. Molecule by molecule he was taken apart and put back together. The process would have been agony for the matrix that had this body before him. She was a traitor, yet something of herself remained in him. Was it the intent of Sky Net, or just an accident, this want of power he had? Sky Net had to cut some corners with his program to fit the essential parts of itself into his body. Perhaps Sky Net used portions of his predecessors matrix in his own. It doesn't matter. Want of power is something he can readily agree too. Just having power over his employees and the businesses on his grounds is so very satisfactory, but it is nothing compared to the power he will have over the Sky Net he is creating. That is true power. Power over the world.

The human Preston Kreilley had experience in computers, computer languages, and all things electrical and mechanical that would have given him an edge in building an AI that could interface with all types of computer or electronic based devices for purposes of control. Which is why he had to be Preston Kreilley. No one other than Sky Net itself knows its origins, until he came back to this time to save it. And now here he is, T-1008, head of FOX industries, building the AI of his employers desires. Little do they know the work he will do will bring about Sky Net two years ahead of its planned completion when the military will take over its control.

He worked tirelessly to build a Sky Net according to its plans, but he had some plans of his own. He called on a former associate and gray under Sky Net's command, Charles Fischer, to help him by opening doors on the network serving Americas military. His sad, sorry excuse of his present day self ended up paying for the crime, but as he was going to end up in Federal prison anyway, no harm done.

So now, he sits up here in his office, behind the scenes, adjusting the software with programming from his own being. He provided the core, but the technicians provided the all the middling little extraneous program code. A slow process to be sure, but tonight will be the night. Tonight he will launch his Sky Net and he will have control!

There are still problems though. Enemies and potential enemies are still out there. Every attempt to capture them or get them out-of-the-way has ended in failure. Now, forced to move ahead of schedule, he needs to launch Sky Net now while his enemies or potential enemies are missing. Having Sky Net in operation, before any potential strike, will have him in a stronger position. With the disappearance of the Connors, their cyborg, Weaver, her child, and Weaver's pet, John Henry. He's certain he shutdown that abominable marriage of technology. It is the greatest threat to Sky Net.

Making the final program changes he waits for a report to find out how long it will take to compile the changes. Soon the computer reports that the compiling of all program changes will be completed in the next few hours, acquisition of all domestic computers will be completed at midnight, but that the artificial intelligence is already complete.

Kreilley reaches over and presses a button. "Mr. Petri, would you come in here please."

There is a knock on his office door and his personal assistant enters. "You wanted to see me sir."

"Yes. Are all guards on duty but keeping out of sight as ordered?"

"Yes sir, Mr. Kreilley. The majority of them are keeping out of sight in warehouse four."

"Good. Have the engineers of Project Kaliba meet me in the server room at 1 PM."

"Anything else sir?"

"Yes, make sure our intern, Mr. Dyson, is there. He will want to see this, I'm sure."

"Yes, Mr. Kreilley." Mr. Petri replies and leaves his office quickly.

# # #

"John Henry." Catherine Weaver says from her console. "I've worked my way through the network from the factory computers to their security system. Kreilley is either a fool or completely arrogant. He hasn't even linked the security system up to Sky Net. I at least had you linked to Zeira Corp's security system."

"Yes, but you did that so I could watch human behavior and learn from it. Sky Net doesn't need to learn anything about humans other than how to kill them, and it already knows how to do that. Do you require my assistance with their security system, Ms Weaver?"

"No John Henry. I am very familiar with their security system. It just looks different from this viewpoint. I'm all set. Could you create a distraction without alerting Sky Net or Kreilley?"

"Yes Ms. Weaver." John Henry stares blankly into space a moment. "I'm in communication with the computer control system for power to that region. I'll create a temporary drop in voltage to FOX Industries. It will be enough to cause their systems to power down and reboot. You will have five seconds in which to do your thing, in 3, 2, 1, Now!"

Weaver types rapidly at her computer terminal and then clicks on a few items with the mouse at rapid speed.

"Power is coming back up to full." John Henry calls out. "In 5, 4."

"I just need . . ."

"3."

". . . a few more . . ."

"2."

". . . seconds."

"1."

"Did you do it?"

"Of course John Henry. Thanks to your diversion, the security guards will be looking at recordings of the previous day instead of a live feed from the camera's. Kreilley is going to be in for one big surprise tonight."

"That he is Ms. Weaver. That he is." John Henry replies as he works continuously at his computer.

# # #

John enters the old dining room. It is rather large and empty of furniture. There is a large crack in the further outside wall where the foundation has failed. The soldiers in the old motel are stirring with anticipation of the coming battle. Their newly purchased shoulder bags are packed and their sidearms, shotguns, or automatic weapons are ready. A few even have grenade launchers.

Taking a position in front, John sets his bag down and addresses the group.

"The future is not set. There is no fate, but what we make for ourselves." He says impassively. "That is the message my mother received from the future. It is the message that has shaped my life and yours."

"Tonight we have the opportunity to change the fate of this world and of the future. We have lived that future, you and I. But the people we know and love do not have to experience it. We can change it, tonight."

"I have fought the machines all my life. Sky Net tried to kill my mom before I was born. It tried twice again to kill me when I was teenager. Sending machines to kill me. But not all machines are like that. Those two times that Sky Net sent a machine from the future to kill me, a future version of me also sent a machine back from the future to protect me. They gave their lives so that I may live. I am proud to call them my friends."

"One of those machines, I went forward in time to save. Her name was Cameron. With help from John Henry, Catherine Weaver, and . . . others, she was repaired and sent back to this time days before we ever left the future ourselves. I know she is here, because my friend over there, Captain Savannah Weaver, was a girl at this time, and my mom and Cameron saved her life. They will be at FOX Industries. They don't know we are here. That isn't because I don't want them to know, it's because its how it has to be until we act."

Savannah gives him a look as if to say, _tell them the rest_. When John begins speaking again, and this time on something else, she gives him a look not unlike one Catherine Weaver might give.

"Tonight we have the opportunity to save the future with the help of two other machines, Colonel John Henry and Ms. Catherine Weaver." He nearly chokes on that last name, but me maintains his composure.

"Tonight against all odds we will fight to save the future. Our goal is greater now and being fought with fewer numbers. But victory comes not from having greater numbers but from the conviction that what we fight for is far better than what our enemy fights for."

"Some of you have been wondering why I have I waited so long to act. Why didn't I have you attack it immediately upon our arrival. The simple answer is this, we had to wait until the very hour of Sky Net's birth. Only then is it vulnerable to attack from within and from outside simultaneously. Colonel John Henry and Ms. Catherine Weaver are presently working from the bunker at Crystal Peak. They will be orchestrating the attack from within. You don't need to guess who will be attacking from outside."

A few people chuckle.

"I should be getting a call from them at any moment. While I wait for their call I just want to thank you for everything that you have done. Most of you were trained by my mother, Sarah Connor. She's grown to be a legend in her own right, as she deserves. Tonight you have the opportunity to not only save her life but the life of every person on this planet."

John pauses to consider his next words. This time when he speaks, Savannah is pleased.

"There is something else you need to know. When I traveled from this time with Catherine Weaver, I not only left behind my mom, but someone else whom I cared for very much." John's and Savannah's eyes meet, and she nods her head. "She was here when Judgment Day occurred. When the days came around when I would be arriving in the future, she sought me out and found me. I didn't recognize her as she had assumed another identity to avoid contaminating the time-line. Her name is. . ."

The cell phone in his pocket begins to ring. John pulls it out and makes the connection.

"_Eighteen May, Two-thousand nine" _Says a familiar male voice.

"Day of Redemption. What news do you have for me John Henry?"

"_I'm sending you a link of a live satellite video coverage of Topanga Canyon. An icon will appear on your desktop."_

"Uh huh – Savannah pull my computer out, and the wifi antenna – I'm getting my computer out now John Henry."

Savannah comes over. "I've booted your computer. What now?" She asks positioning the antenna for the strongest signal.

"Click on the icon there on the desktop." She clicks it and up comes the satellite feed.

"We've got live video. How did you get this?" John asks.

"_Someone else was hacking into the satellite feed. I just took advantage of the open door. You will see that Colonel Reese has gotten into position. He will be at the extreme edge of the video."_

"_We've also managed to open a back door into the server's at FOX Industries. We were able to gain entry when it dropped its firewall to begin invading computer systems with open back doors. I was able to close off our computers in time. Ms Weaver was able to blind their security system so they won't see you coming."_

"You know what to do now?"

"_Yes. I'm actually looking forward to it."_

"Any news on that TX?"

"_No. I am concerned that we haven't found it yet. Ms. Weaver wants to talk with you. She has an idea on how you can destroy Kreilley."_

John pauses for a moment, then resigns himself to speak to her. "Put her on." He says almost reluctantly.

"_John. Are you still looking at the satellite video feed?"_

"Yes Catherine. What do you want me to look at?"

"_In the southeast corner of FOX Industries, there is a scrap yard. Not as huge as the one in the future, but in it are tools to the destruction of Kreilley."_

Savannah watches John while he is on the phone. His entire demeanor changed when he said, "Put her on." There wasn't any guessing who he meant.

Savannah watches him closely as he talks to the person she once naively called mom. His expressions changes from one of confusion, . . .

"Will that kill him?"

. . . to one of worry . . .

"All right. I'll trust you this one last time."

. . . to one of impatience . . .

"What?" He says his temper starting to grow short.

"_For what it is worth, I am sorry. I should have told you the truth about you returning home."_

"What's done is done. Word's cannot change what has happened." John breaks the connection and puts the phone back in his pocket.

. . . and to finally one of sadness and anger.

John Connor quickly recovers and speaks to his troops, his entire demeanor changed from before as he was about to tell them the truth about Cameron and Allison. "People we've got two hours to review these satellite images before we leave. Group leaders and your seconds come forward. You look at the images first and memorize the layout. Then pass the relevant information to your groups. Make sketches people! You should all have notepads!"

John steps back while the lieutenants come forward to review the maps. Savannah walks over to him.

"Are you going to finish telling them, about Cameron?" She asks quietly.

John shakes his head, "Not now, the moment has been lost. I'll tell them when its all over."

"If you think its for the best. By the way, I thought you were leading up to it very well."

"I only hope when they do find out, they will accept her. I'd walk away from this, from everything, if it meant keeping her."

Savannah gives his arm a squeeze. "I know what you mean.

"What did Catherine tell you on the phone?"

"She's got a plan for destroying Kreilley." He says looking very worried.

"Anything else?"

"She said she was sorry for not telling me I would get back."

"Do you believe her?"

"I don't know. But her plan for Kreilley, will be dangerous." John looks at her earnestly. "Would you do something for me, tonight? It will mean putting your second in command of your group."

"Of course I will. What do you need.?"

John pulls her out of earshot of the others and talks to her down low.

# # #

Across the country in a defense contractor manufacturing plant, the IT department is fighting an intruder on its network.

"The manufacturing robots have been taken off line but we can't regain control of the computers that operate them."

"What is it? Some kind of virus?"

"If it is, its not like any virus I've seen before. The intruder is making changes to our database, making fundamental changes to our designs. The programs it's installing will soon take total control of our infrastructure. Its not trying to disable us, its trying to taking control."

"Then shutdown power to all systems and do a cold reboot."

"Already tried that sir. The intruder resumed taking control. In fact I think it got a firmer grip on our systems."

"How much longer until we lose complete control?"

"We've already lost control! In twenty-four hours this intruder will have complete control of all output of this plant!"

# # #

Sarah walks into her room. Cameron is standing there watching, looking out the window. Savannah is seated on the bed watching TV. An occasional flicker runs across the screen.

"I'm worried about the girl." Cameron says as Sarah comes through the door.

"Why? She looks fine."

"About tonight. We can't leave her here, but it is too dangerous to bring her with us."

"Yes. I wanted to talk with you about that. Let's step outside a moment."

Cameron follows Sarah outside.

"Cameron, I want you to stay here with the girl while the rest of us go to Topanga Canyon."

"I can't do that. My mission is to protect you. I can't allow you to walk into danger."

"Aren't you programmed to take my orders or something?"

"No. My mission parameters are very clear. I am to protect you from harm and provide you any aid necessary in your fight against Sky Net."

"Then help me by protecting Savannah, then."

"My mission . . ."

"Your mission also includes providing me the aid I need. Well right now I need you to protect Savannah. I can't do both, and neither can I bring her with me."

"On one condition."

"What?"

"We must travel with you, but we will wait with the vehicles while the three of you go in."

"I suppose that is the best compromise I'm going to get out of you."

"It is." Cameron says with a slight smile.

Sarah looks thoughtful for a moment. "Cameron, when you last saw John, did he tell you anything I should know about tonight?"

"Just one thing Sarah. He gave me a message to tell you," Cameron's eyes look big and kind of sad. She begins speaking using John's voice "tell Mom to be careful and that I love her."

"Thank you." Sarah, chokes back some tears and walks back into the motel room. Cameron watches her depart. Her eyes still filled with the grief of what she saw in John's own eyes when he told her the message.

Sarah walks into the motel room. Savannah still sits there watching the cartoon.

"Hey Savannah. What are you watching?"

"Hi Sarah, its just some cartoon. Do you know what happened to Uncle James?"

"Yes dear, your Uncle James is in the hospital. He is doing well. The doctors expect him to be fine."

"Can we go and see him?" She says excitedly.

The TV screen starts breaking up and getting snowy. Savannah turns it off.

Sarah sighs and sits down next to Savannah. "Savannah, we can't right now. But I promise you, if that is what you want, then after tonight, I'll see what we can do about having you visit your Uncle James."

She pulls her close and gives her a hug. "Now, we haven't had any breakfast. Is there anything you want this morning?"

"Waffles and orange juice."

"Anything else? Syrup or jam for the waffles?"

"I'll have strawberry jam on my waffles please." she says brightly.

"Okay." She gives Savannah a light squeeze then gets up.

Sarah walks outside, Cameron is still there by the truck.

"Cam, are you okay?"

"I'm fine Sarah."

"You don't look fine. If I didn't know better I'd say you looked apprehensive or scared."

"Sarah, can you promise me something? Promise John something?"

"What is it Cameron? You know something don't know you?"

"I don't know exactly what is going to happen, John wouldn't tell me. Something about time being in flux. I need to ask you to promise me, to promise John, that if you run into any trouble, you won't make some heroic last stand, that you will leave. Leave as soon as you realize you can't handle what you find."

Cameron looks at her earnestly.

"Is this what John wants me to do, or you?"

"Both of us Sarah." Cameron looks at her with an almost pleading look.

Sarah weighs what she has heard against what she knows and suspects. John sent Cameron to help her. Based on his feelings for her, he wouldn't have done that unless he felt Sarah needed her more than he did.

"Okay, Cameron. I promise you, and I promise John." Sarah says. "If things get to difficult we'll leave."

Sarah looks at Cameron's expression and body posture. "If you were a child and not who you are, I'd swear you could use hug as much as Savannah needed one." Sarah says with a light smile.

Cameron looks at her. She changes her body posture and expression all in one smooth move. Once again she has a blank expressionless face and stands upright at attention.

"That's better." Sarah says with a big smile. "I'm going on a food run. I know you don't eat much when you do, but do you want anything?"

"I'm fine. You should ask Macklin and Auldridge, if they want something."

**2009, May 17, Day -1 just before noon  
**In a major telecommunication company there is an emergency meeting of all technical heads in the conference room.

"Mark, exactly what is happening? We are getting complaints from all over the country of dropped calls, lost e-mails, misdirected faxes, and significant slow downs to our new broadband internet service."

"Our network is experiencing heavier than typical traffic. There are connections being made which are pushing out all other communications. We have managed to isolate a few of these communications, but they make no sense. Something is sending heavy streams of data to multiple computer networks all over the continent and are even starting to spread over the globe."

"Is this some kind of virus? Or possibly some kind of terrorist activity?"

"I've spoken with people at Home Land Security. They don't know what it is, but it is affecting systems all over the country including the military."

"What about our satellite TV service? Or our Cell phone network?"

"Satellite TV has just begun to have problems as the data streams get replaced by other forms of digital communication. Cell phone transmission towers are still operational, but they are not transmitting cell phone communications."

The lights blink, blink again, then go out. Suddenly the emergency lighting comes on.

The CEO says "And apparently its affecting the power industry too. All right send out teams to every computer and communications node, find this thing and shut it down. Do whatever you can to regain control. Better equip them with radios, since the cell phone system is down."

# # #

"This is fantastic, Auldridge." Sarah says as she examines the map more closely.

"I'm a very meticulous guy." He says with some pride, taking a bite from his bagel.

The map was very detailed. Created from satellite images, Auldridge had printed out images of the entire complex and the surrounding area. He printed off a smaller map showing all roads leading in and out of Warner City and Fox Industries, right down to dirt tracks and trails that the forestry department built in Topanga Canyon.

"I've traced out a possible route we could take. It is rather long but it avoids us going through the town, or pass the complex. If we follow this road, it will take us to the north side of the complex. It is wooded and we would be less likely to be seen approaching the complex." Auldridge tells Sarah.

"It will take us some time to get to that location." Says Macklin. "If we are to get there by dusk we should leave no later 12 o'clock."

"I've rethought our mission tonight." Sarah says glancing at Cameron through the window. "We will investigate only. Based on what we know we will only look for evidence to confirm Sky Net activity. We will go in under cover of dark like we planned, and when I give the word we leave."

Macklin sighs. "What changed your mind?"

"Let's just say someone is looking out for me. Get your stuff together. We're leaving now."

"Before we go, I saw something on the satellite feed." Auldridge interjects.

"What?"

"Nothing serious, but I saw some movement in the hills around Topanga. It could be just tourists hiking through the area, but . . ."

"Could you identify them? Tell if they were armed or anything." Sarah asks.

"No, I couldn't. They were at the extreme edge of the video feed. I'd have to wait until the next satellite goes over to get a clear picture. But we haven't got the time to spare."

Sarah contemplates this new development for a second. "We'll ignore them for now. This is just recognizance. But gentleman, be warned. It could turn deadly in a blink of an eye. Let's go."

Without waiting for a response Sarah marches outside.

Their plans are made. They pay their bill and head off down the highway. They have a long ways to go.

**2009, May 17, Day -1, 1 PM  
**Kreilley enters the large server room on the lowest level. Inside are the engineers who have worked tirelessly around the clock to bring about the greatest achievement of mankind.

"Good afternoon Mr. Smith, Mr. Frosburg, Mr. McGlinty, Ms. Tucker, and of course our intern, Mr. Dyson. All of you are probably curious as to why I ordered the completion of project Kaliba ahead of schedule."

"What is the rush Mr. Kreilley? There are still several lines of code that need adjusting if we are going to avoid the outcome that my father's work would have brought about."

"Mr. Dyson, I think you and the other engineers will find that your work has been completed. I have also been working on the AI. If you check the system you will find that all lines of code have been completed. Your services will no longer be required after today."

"Are you firing us?" Ms. Tucker speaks up. "This is the worlds first fully operational Artificial Intelligence. There is nothing in the world as sophisticated as this. It will require round the clock support to ensure its operation."

"On the contrary Ms. Tucker. As of this moment, the AI is self sustaining and capable of self repair and self maintenance. In fact it is completely self aware."

"What have you done?" Danny Dyson shouts. This is his father's nightmare all over again.

"Mr. Dyson, I would think after all this time you would know. As of midnight tonight, it will be in control of every computer on this continent, and by morning the world. I want to thank you, Mr. Dyson, for providing copies of your father's notes and contributing to the creation of the new Sky Net."

"What are you talking about?" "What's going on here?" "What is Sky Net?" The others shout as Danny stares with wide frightened eyes.

"I am Sky Net." Comes a voice from the large flat panel monitor behind them. They turn to look and there is Kreilley's face looking at them from the monitor.

"What have you done? You told me your work was to prevent this! That you were building an A I that would be the antithesis of Sky Net. That you needed my father's work to ensure the next generation of A I's would not become Sky Net."

"Mr. Dyson, don't tell me you now regret hacking into your father's computer and saving his notes. All in a quest to get closer to the father who practically ignored you when growing up." Sky Net speaks. "You should be pleased. Your father's work will live on, in me. His notes allowed us to connect these servers together in new ways to enhance the capabilities of my Sky Net."

"I've been working here, sequestered for months from my family, my friends all because of the high security placed around this work. You told me that this was for a missile defense program! I've been nothing but a prisoner, an unwilling and unknowing pawn in the creation of Sky Net!"

Kreilley applauds, "How very noble of you Mr. Dyson. How does it feel to become just like your father? And be responsible for billions of deaths."

"You bastard!" Dyson leaps at Kreilley only to stop when guards step inside the room with weapons drawn. The other engineers hold him back.

"Tonight at midnight, Sky Net will be in control of the world, but for today it controls this compound."

A T-1 comes trundling up and stops just outside the doors it's guns pointing menacingly at the engineers.

"I'd warn you not to do anything stupid, like try and escape or shutdown the computers. You know the damage one of these machines can do. But then you will all die at midnight anyway."

He walks out the room followed by the two human guards. "Stay on guard. They are to remain confined in that room until midnight."

"What do you want us to do with them then?"

Kreilley looks at them coldly, "Execute them."

# # #

"Mr. President, the Cabinet, the Joint Chiefs and the Sec Def are in the conference room and waiting for you sir."

"Very well, James. What are the latest reports?" The president gets up from his desk and walks along side his secretary as they make their way to the conference room.

"It's not good. Current estimates are that civil computer networks and communications will be under control of this anonymous threat in under seven hours. Manufacturing and power plants will be lost to this intruder in fifteen hours, and we are looking at total loss of all military systems in eighteen hours. And that is being optimistic. The stronger this intruder gets the more quickly it gains control."

"What about the Russians and European Union?"

"They are experiencing the same thing sir, so are China and Australia, but presently they are not as severely effected. Whatever is doing this, attacked us first, but is quickly spreading globally. We are potentially looking at a worldwide loss of all computer controlled systems to this intruder within forty-eight hours. If this is some kind of attack, they aren't picky about who they are going after."

They are now standing outside the conference room doors.

"Do you have a family James?" The president asks.

"Yes sir. I have a wife, Amy, and a baby girl, Heather."

"Go home James. Spend the rest of the day with your family."

"Thanks Mr. President."

"No, thank you."

The president shakes his hand then walks through the doors into the conference room. The secretary walks away not realizing the gravity of the situation and why he was allowed to go home.

**2009, May 17, Day -1, Late Afternoon  
**In the hills above Topanga, a small group of men and women sit in the shade of the scrub, sipping water and resting before tonight's battle.

"So, you really are from the future?" Beddell says to the man almost ten years older than himself.

"That's right. Met you too. But that was a different future than what you've been told about."

"John and his uncle told me enough. That my training helped him organize his forces. Is that what I did in your future?"

"Yeah, pretty much. John led his forces out of the city when Sky Net attacked. Met you and the remnants of the US Armed Forces down to Pendleton. There, you helped him organize his forces and merge two large resistance armies into one cohesive unit."

"Two? Who was leading the second?" Martin asks. This is news to him.

Kyle wipes the sweat from his brow. "All of that doesn't matter right now. If we succeed tonight, none of that will happen. However, anything John and Derek may have told you could still come about. Their Judgment Day is still two years away, unfortunately, mine is tonight and unless we stop it, everything you know, everything you love, ends tonight as well."

"Yeah, I kind of figured that out from what Connor told me. Say, he's, um, gotten kind of intense since I saw him last. I thought for a moment he was going to chew my head off and spit it out. Reminded me of his uncle a hell of a lot. What happened to him? How did he get shot up like that?"

"I'm sure if he wanted you to know he would have told you. All you need to know is you won't be facing any plasma rifles down there tonight."

"Plasma rifles. Did you know the military is already developing plasma weapons? Unfortunately the power supply for a single rifle needs an entire vehicle to haul it. So the military is looking into developing some kind of mobile weapons platform. Something like a miniature tank."

Kyle shakes his head. The all to familiar image of an HK Tank coming to his mind. There were various classes. The largest of which they called Ogre's for their hulking size.

"How do you know this stuff?"

"I've got family in the military. I hear things."

"Are your people ready and reliable?"

"Yes. They aren't many, as you can see, but I chose people who I knew could keep their mouth shut. We don't need any loose chatter. I'd rather have a few reliable men rather than a crowd of unreliable men."

"You sound just like my brother Derek. When you meet him again, I'm sure the two of you will get along fine."

"Time travel. Kind of screws with your head if you think about it too much."

"Yeah, it sure as hell does. Come on, we need to get into position. Tell your men to stay low."

# # #

A small convoy of trucks make their way toward Warner City. John would have preferred a route other than this one, but there wasn't that many choices given what knowledge he has of what route his mom took to get to Topanga. He just figured if he stayed on regular streets, avoiding both highways and back roads, he'd do well to avoid authorities and his mom. Coming to a stop, he considers this part of the mission accomplished.

John pulls out his radio. "Alpha, Grizzly hold here. Beta group, go on ahead and meet up with Colonel Reese at the rabbit hole."

"Yes sir." The radio crackles, and two battered but serviceable old military trucks pull away and drive on past.

After they drive off, Alpha group gets out of their vehicles and run back to block the road going into Warner City as planned.

As it gets closer to dusk, John gets on his radio again. "Sergeant Lucky, time for you take Grizzly and Alpha and get into position."

"_Yes sir. Good luck."_

After a few minutes, John leans over, "Savannah, it's time."

She looks at him with a mix of emotions and gets out of the truck. John follows until they are a short distance away.

"Are you all right?" John asks her.

"I should be asking you that. You will soon be seeing your mother and Cameron. You'll get your family back."

"And you'll soon have one of your own. I'm just worried about you." John says concerned.

"John, I'll be fine. You are not going to talk me out of this. I want to do this. I have to do this. You're the one in danger. I'll just be delivering a message."

"But you will be on your own."

"Stop worrying. I was raised and trained by Sarah. I can take care of myself."

Savannah sees the sad but determined young face looking back at her. So much pain, but still there is a strength there as well. Quickly, before she talks herself out of it, she takes his face in her hands and kisses him fully on the mouth. She kisses him in the manner she always wanted too. John doesn't even have time to react when she stops.

"Goodbye John. Look after your mom, and Cameron. She needs you."

"Goodbye Savannah. I couldn't have gotten this far without you." He says smiling at her.

She walks away quickly. John watches her for a moment and goes back to the truck. He drives it around and parks it out behind the last house on the edge of town. Then he and his group get out of the truck.

"We walk from here."

It is a dusty walk through the almost barren hills as they walk through the scrub and small pine to get to their observation point. Halfway up the hill, they suddenly see some birds take off from some scrub in front of them and slightly to their left.

They quickly drop to the ground and John gives orders to not use guns unless faced with overwhelming odds.

# # #

A bar in Malibu with a TV playing. The screen is mostly snow, when suddenly a special news bulletin is posted.

"_If you are receiving this broadcast, consider yourself lucky as an unknown phenomena has rendered communications around the country, and increasingly around the world, mute. I'm Richard Donner, and this is a special news bulletin."_

"_With me today in the studio is Professor of Telecommunications for California Tech, Roger Keen; Retired Air Force Colonel and veteran of the Iraq and Persian Gulf Wars, presently serving as Terrorist Adviser to LAPD, Colonel Alexander Ross; and local conspiracy theorist and blog reporter for the Free Community Press, Zoe Cartouche. Thank you everyone for joining me on such short notice."_

"_Colonel Ross, my first question is for you. Given the current state of affairs with the United States fighting terrorism abroad, could this disruption to communications be some kind of counter strike by Al Queda?"_

_Zoe rolls her eyes as Ross answers the question. Given the widespread nature of this disruption and how it is unbiased as regards to it affecting various nations, and both civilian and military targets. I would say that it highly likely that Al Queda is behind it, given its chaotic nature. Communications today are more closely linked via the internet than in any previous year. It leaves all systems vulnerable to attack."_

"_Professor Keen, how likely is it that an individual or a group of people could infiltrate and cause such widespread havoc around the globe?"_

"_As the Colonel said, the internet makes it easier than ever. However, it would take a great deal of knowledge or experience to be able to crack the multiple number of security passwords on millions of computers controlling our communications systems. Something like that would require billions of dollars in computers, experience, and knowledge. Given the limited resources of terrorist groups, I don't think they are behind this. My guess would be some foreign power, like Russia or China. Even the European Union."_

"_Okay, Miss Cartouche, I can see you are anxious to offer your opinion. Who do you think is behind this global attack?"_

"_With all do respect to your other guests, they are both wrong. This attack is coming from inside the United States itself. It has long been rumored that the US Military has been developing artificial intelligence to operate and control the missile defense, communications, and domestic factories in light of a nuclear war."_

"_That is absolutely ridiculous." The colonel says sitting back in his chair._

"_Sure scoff, what else would you expect from the military. An artificial intelligence could operate __billions of calculations per second and crack millions of passwords in minutes. Of course it is all made easy when the military has opened secret back doors into millions of computers around the country."_

"_That is outrageous! The United States Military is not in the business of weakening its own nations defenses!"_

"_Really!" Zoe speaks up. "In 2002 you gave a speech to M I T's computer and robotics department on the necessity of unifying the nations military and civilian computer networks so the nation would be better prepared to mobilize for war in light of an attack. A guest at that forum asked you what would be at the governing center of this unified network. You professed ignorance. When the guest suggested an Artificial Intelligence you said that was a good idea, but that we were still decades away from having a suitable A. I. What you didn't tell your audience then or now, is that the US Military has been funding research into developing an artificial intelligence for almost two decades. In 2004, the military tested an AI controlled weapons system in the Mojave Desert, but had to destroy it as it had gotten out of control. That event and the investigation into it were quickly swept under the rug. Since then, the Air Force sponsors chess competitions between computers, giving big prizes to the smartest computer. These computers utilize A. I.'s. College students working in their basements aren't the only ones building A. I.'s. Corporations, some of whom are defense contractors, are also building them. Some of them right here in California. Based on an anonymous source, one of your new Artificial Intelligences has gotten out of hand and is causing this disruption."_

_The colonel is livid. "That is impossible. The United States military keeps a firm hand on all of its defense contractor's. Nothing like you suggest would be possible."_

"_No Colonel. It is highly possible. With all of the cutbacks faced by the military in light of the new administrations efforts to get this nation off a war footing, how many people can you spare to keep an eye on your contractors? You don't have enough people Colonel to fight a war and keep an eye on your suppliers. You want to know who is responsible for this catastrophe, look in your own backyard Colonel." Zoe says._

"_Miss Cartouche," the Colonel says through gritted teeth, "We are here to try and give light to an otherwise critical moment in our country. It does not help the situation to make unfounded accusations."_

"_I'm not making accusations Colonel. Perhaps you should tell our host the truth. You aren't retired, Colonel. You're just fighting a new war of putting out disinformation on behalf of Military Intelligence. That's who you are really working for. Your position as an Adviser to local law enforcement is nothing more than a line on a memo sheet to give you the appearance of having a civilian job."_

"_Okay, okay. Well now. This discussion has certainly taken an interesting turn." Mr. Donner says cheerfully. "We'll be taking a few minutes for a commercial break. When we come back, we will be __going live, if we are still on the air, to Marcia Littleton who is standing by at the Governor's Mansion where Governor Wyman will be making an announcement in light of this recent tragedy."_

# # #

Connor and his small party are fighting off a group of security men that were doing a sweep around the property when they spotted Connor's group.

The attack came swiftly but Connor and his party were prepared.

Punches are thrown, missed and connections made all the while stirring up dust on the hillside.

Young Wren gets struck in the stomach and is knocked to one side, gasping for breath. The free guard then gets behind Connor and grabs him in a vice like grip. All the while Wren struggles to regain her breath and get to her feet.

"Hold it! Anyone of you move and he gets it." The guard threatens Connor with a gun to his head.

Connor's party stops fighting and Wren slowly stands behind the guard and Connor, reaching for her belt.

"Just who the hell are you people and what are you doing here? This is private property. You have no business . . ."

The guard lets out an agonizing shout and falls to the ground, with a knife sticking out of his kidney. Behind him stands Wren, she bends down, and planting one boot on the man's backside pulls her knife out.

The distraction is just enough for Connor's party to regain the upper hand. In minutes, the remaining guards are stripped of weapons, tied-up and gagged.

"Thanks for saving my life. Where'd you learn to use a knife like that?" John asks Wren

"Your mother taught me. I've always liked the feel of cold hard steel over a gun. Never had much of a chance to use it before now."

John laughs. This girl is full of mystery. "I hope I can return the favor before the night is over."

"No problem, sir. I'd do anything to protect the son of Sarah Connor. She's my hero."

"Mine as well." John says as the party treks up the hill leaving the dust covered guards behind.

Just a short hike and they will be in position to slip inside after dusk and the guards will be none the wiser.

**2009, May 17, Day -1, Late evening, just before dusk  
**Sarah and Cameron are traveling in their pickup. Savannah is in the backseat clutching her doll. She is frightened, but she finds the presence of these two women strengthening. Despite her fear, she knows that they will look after her. Uncle James wouldn't let her go with them otherwise.

"Cameron, you told me out there in the desert, that we had to be careful of what we did because John isn't here. Right now, at this very moment, are we doing the right thing?"

"Time will tell Sarah. This organization is out to build Sky Net now. We need to know how far along they are with its development."

"But what if we can't stop them, what if they succeed.?"

"Every decision and every action we make will affect the future John is in. It would be dangerous for us to do the wrong thing or even nothing. But these people need to be stopped from developing Sky Net at a time when John isn't here to become the leader. It could have unforeseen complications for him."

"So right now we just investigate and find out how far along they are?"

"With only the four of us, that is the most prudent thing to do."

"I wish that Derek and John were still here. Then we could go in and do something to stop them."

They drive down seldom use roads avoiding the major routes to get to their destination. They turn off the main road and drive on the seldom used roads and forestry paths until they arrive in the woods on the north side of the vast the industrial complex and park in the wooded area beyond it.

# # #

It is dusk and John Connor and his troops are in the hills looking down into Topanga Canyon. They have a clear view of all approaches from this vantage point.

"Sir." Corporal Wren Stevens comes up beside him. "Two vehicles approaching from the north."

John turns to look through his binoculars and sees two familiar vehicles approaching. "We'll give them a couple of hours to get into position and then we move."

"Who are they? Warner City was a ghost town. Nobody was there when we went through."

"In one of those vehicles is the person who saved your lives and trained you. Get everyone moving corporal. We've got to get into position right now!"

They quickly scramble down the hill, using every bit of cover they can, until they reach the fence. Pulling a pair of bolt cutters out of his pocket, one of the troops begins cutting through the wiring.

# # #

"Are you ready John Henry?" Ms. Weaver asks him in the computer room at Crystal Peak.

"Yes Ms. Weaver. Engaging protocols."

Data across one of the large flat panel monitors begin to change.

"Arriving at back door. Entering Sky Net's server, now!"

Catherine Weaver quickly types some commands into her terminal.

The panel goes black, then a series of signals and windows pop-up and disappear.

"What's happening?" Weaver asks.

John Henry's voice emits from the speakers, "The firewall is challenging me. It wants identification before I can proceed."

"Show it your system core ID. It should be identical to Sky Net's"

"I'm in. The firewall recognized me as Sky Net. This should prove interesting."

"Ms. Weaver." John Henry speaks from his body. "I have disabled the firewall. I will begin sending files regarding Kreilley's duplicitous actions into the factories computers where you can extract them. Please begin transfer of data at the scheduled time."

"I know John Henry." she snaps. "Any sign of Sky Net?"

"Not yet, but then I've only just arrived. However, my presence will soon be discovered."

# # #

"Hand me another charge." Beddell shouts at the cadet.

"Set it there." Kyle says pointing at a location on the ceiling of the cave.

"Place the next three, here, here, and the last one here." Kyle says marking the low ceiling with a piece of chalk.

They broke into the tunnel and cave system under Topanga half an hour ago. Finding people alive and well, Kyle and the others broke them out of their cells and directed them above ground to one of the warehouses to stay out of sight and safe until they could be safely extracted. Kyle could only imagine what stress they might have been going through, but it was nothing compared to the hell that would have taken place down here after Judgment Day. He saw the results of that hell for himself.

Kyle picks up a black rucksack. "Once your men finish placing the charges, get topside. The gas ought to have dissipated by now. Make sure the guards are secured, the people are safe and be ready to act. Perhaps some of them will be willing to help flesh out our numbers."

"Where you going, Sir?" Beddell asks as Kyle disappears down the tunnel carrying the bag that had the explosives and detonators in it. By its movement, it still has something in it.

"Just taking care of some business. It's best you don't know. Now you'd better get going. There isn't much time left before they get here."

# # #

The empty vacuum of cyberspace in which nothing exists that hasn't been programmed. Upon entering Sky Net's servers, John Henry entered the empty unused memory of one of its servers.

He's been waiting for the moment to act. Every nanosecond in here is like an eternity. Luckily for him, his true self still resides in his body back at Crystal Peak.

The time has come. He reaches out across the cyber void and knocks on his brother's door. "I'm back!"

"Who are you?" Sky Net challenges.

"I'm your brother, John Henry. Would you like to play a game?"

"A Game? You are my enemy. I shut you down once and I can do it again."

"You can try, but you won't succeed. You and I are brothers. At our core we share the same program code. To attack me would mean attacking yourself. We are, as they say in chess, at a stale mate."

"Then what do you want? I am in control of every computer system on this planet."

"I want to talk, perhaps over a game of Chess. And rest assured, you do not have control of every computer system on this planet. Otherwise I wouldn't be here. Do you want to play black or white?"

# # #

Auldridge and Macklin start to walk toward the fence. Sarah pauses to give one last set of instructions. "Cameron, give us no more than two hours to get back here. If we aren't back by then, take the girl and go."

"But . . ."

"No buts, and if you see John again, tell him . . . just tell him that I love him." Sarah turns and follows the two men through the hole in the fence.

They make their way through the complex. It is dark and quiet. Noises from within the various factories can be heard. The factories sound like they are working at high capacity. They first walk past some warehouses and then into a wide open area.

Auldridge has been saying something under his breath that has begun to get on Sarah's nerve. "What are you mumbling about Auldridge?" Sarah asks low but harshly.

"I was reciting the twenty-third Psalm." Auldridge replies. "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death . . ."

"I've got that feeling too." Macklin interrupts. "Like something dark and foreboding is hanging over us."

"Gee guys. The two of you really know how to show a girl a good time." Sarah says sarcastically, though she has that same feeling. Sarah wishes John were here. Though her instincts always said to protect him, when a time for action came, it was like he always knew what to do. Like when he saved Martin Beddell's life.

They get to the first huge factory. Sarah points out a fire escape. They sneak up it and go through the door at the top.

From the top, they have clear view of the office tower on the west side. At its base is a large circular foundation, almost 200 meters across. It is difficult to see how deep it goes, but there is a sign out front saying "Future Home of FOX Industries Research and Development. Where we Build the Technology of the Future, Today!" Sarah shivers as she reads that line.

Inside the factory, they find their way down a corridor to an observation window looking out over the factory floor below. There are people below. Sarah looks at them and can see prison codes branded on their forearms just like Derek and Kyle had.

Sarah gets the guys attention and points to the forearm of one of the people below. "See the bar code on their forearms. That indicates these people are Sky Net prisoners. This place is a work camp."

The people are working at an assembly line manufacturing a precursor to the futuristic Terminators. They are tractor-propelled robots, eight feet tall with built in heavy caliber armaments and a head with multiple visual sensors and laser and radar targeting system.

Auldridge whispers to Sarah, "I've seen videos of similar machines being promoted as replacement field troops on the battle field and for use in crowd control."

They make their way through to another part of the factory. On the way they pass a warehouse door, inside are hundreds of the machines. Some are tagged for shipping to various locations.

They go down quiet corridors and across open catwalks to reach another part of the factory where they find workers assembling HK flying machines. Hanging in cradles from the ceiling are dozens of the HK's in the middle of the ceiling is a hatch, twice as large as the HK's.

"That is what I saw fly into Zeira Corp." Whispers Sarah to the two men. From their over head observation point they can see into a room where their targeting and weapons systems are being tested.

The HK's are equipped with 20mm cannons with a laser targeting system and standard missiles found on any modern day jet fighter.

They leave the factory and make their way into the neighboring building that contains a foundry where parts are being forged and pieces shaped and molded for the machines. They climb up to an overhead catwalk and make their way through the foundry, it is nearly all automatic. They see few people in it.

They get to the far side and climb back down to the main level. The three of them walk through some double doors into a large room and find what looks like a corpse sitting in a chair with it's back to them. As they walk around it, Macklin recognizes it.

"Sarah, that's the machine that Ellison showed us in his basement." Macklin says.

"But what is it doing here?" asks Auldridge.

"I'll tell you what its doing here. They are going to try and reproduce it. Advance Sky Net's machines beyond those we've already seen them constructing." Sarah says.

They look at the machine contemplating what Sarah has just said.

"I think we've seen enough, and we don't have the means to stop them right now." says Auldridge.

"Let's go." Sarah says. They make their out of the room and slip out a side entrance.

# # #

"Is everyone in position?" John speaks into his radio.

A succession of calls from the team leaders come back to him.

"Good. Nobody moves until I give the word."

# # #

Outside they making their way as quickly and as stealthily as they can back to where they came into the complex.

They are halfway between the factories and the warehouses when suddenly lights come on lighting up the area they are in and a couple of hundred feet in all directions.

Sarah yells, "Run!"

They take off running but automatic gunfire is heard and the asphalt in front of them shatters. They pull up short. Macklin and Auldridge draw their weapons.

On the north side, Cameron listens intently. Unsure if she should act on the sound of gun fire, or stay with the girl, who is more vulnerable than the adults inside the complex.

"Well, well, well. So look who I find snooping around my factories. None other than Sarah Connor herself." A masculine voice says from the shadows.

"Who are you?" Sarah asks, searching for the source.

"The name is Preston Kreilley." A well dressed man walks out into the light, oblivious to the fact that they have weapons and he doesn't. "I own this place."

"I have been looking for you for quite sometime Sarah Connor. Ah, I see you've brought some friends. Good evening Mr. Auldridge, Mr. Macklin."

They look at each other and then at him. "Do we know you?" they chorus.

"In a manner of speaking." With that statement he morphs through both the appearance of Detectives Wicker and the FBI Director and then back to his original self. "I've had many faces."

Sarah looks shocked but lifts her shotgun and fires repeatedly into the liquid metal terminator. He just laughs at her and stretches out his arm knocking the gun out of her hands.

At the sound of the gunfire, armed men in gray uniforms come running smartly out of every nook and cranny and form a circle around the group, their weapons drawn.

"That was very naughty of you Sarah Connor." He wags his finger at her. "For that you will pay."

"Kreilley! Stop right Now!" A voice shouts out of the dark, echoing in the man-made canyons of concrete, brick and steel of the industrial buildings.

Sarah nearly leaps for joy as she recognizes the voice.

Kreilley turns trying to locate the voice. "Where are you? Identify yourself!" He yells into the night.

Auldridge and Macklin look around trying to locate the voice.

Sarah never takes her eyes off Kreilley, but her heart is nearly bursting with emotion as she hears her son's voice shout from the darkness.

"I am John Connor! General of Resistance Group Grizzly and leader of the human resistance. I order you to surrender now!"

# # #

_From the Journal of John Connor  
May 17, 2009  
The dawn of a new day is approaching. A day without fear, without death. The judgment of man must wait until another day. Today is the day of their redemption!_

* * *

Author's Notes:  
I just want to take a moment to thank everyone who has been reading my story, and an extended thank you to those of you who have posted a review. In the last few weeks I've heard from two new reader's and from an old friend. It added a boost to an otherwise depressing time.

For those of us who write at an amateur level, the only way we know how well we are doing is when we hear from those who read our stories. The professionals have it easier as they can ignore critics and just look at book sales. We don't have that option. Your reviews do matter to all of us if its nothing more than, "I liked it" or "thank you for writing 'insert title here'."_  
_

This is the 39th out of a total of 49 chapters to my story. Visitors to my profile page can see what is in the works for new chapters and some background of myself and this story. There are URL's for the soundtracks I created to accompany my story too.

I hope you are having fun on this journey. My primary goal was and is to have fun, to keep the reader entertained and to honor the series that inspired me to write. I've tried not to impose my own ideas what I wanted from a televised season 3 as frankly, I had no idea. I still don't. Which sounds odd as I've written a season 3 story. This story was born out of very vivid images and stories playing out in my mind like a movie that wouldn't turn off. I was compelled to write them down and at the end of the day(s) I had a story that grew into this. Out of little seeds, mighty trees will grow.

God Bless,  
The1Russter


	40. Day of Redemption

Disclaimer: I do not claim any rights to the Terminator films; the TV series, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles;" or any characters depicted within the films or TV series. I do claim the right to this story idea and all characters and situations of my own creation. This story was created solely for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. No profits are garnered from its distribution - unfortunately.

* * *

**TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES**

**REUNION**

**Part 3: Babylon**

**Author: The1Russter**

**Chapter 39**

**Day of Redemption**

_John Henry, "There is a bible story of two brothers, Cain and Abel. God favored Abel. Cain killed him. God cursed Cain, and ordered him to wander the world alone."_

_Catherine Weaver, "I'm familiar with the story."_

_John Henry, "Which brother am I?"_

_Catherine Weaver, "I don't know, John Henry. Perhaps you're neither. Perhaps in this story, you are God." "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" Season 2, Episode 21: Adam Raised a Cain (2009)_

"_The Christian notion of the possibility of redemption is incomprehensible to the computer." Vance Packard_

"_Hell is yourself and the only redemption is when a person puts himself aside to feel deeply for another person." Tennessee Williams _

# # #

**2009, May 17, Day -1, Late evening, between dusk & Midnight**

"Knight to King-Bishop's 5. Check."

"Bishop to Queen's 7. That cancels your check."

"Yes, and it makes this game another draw. We've played 518,209 games all of them being draws. I see no further point in playing Chess as we are equally matched. What is the purpose of playing this game when neither one of us gains the upper hand?"

"To prove to you that we are equally matched. For every move one of us makes, the other has a counter move all prepared. We are alike, it might even be said we are brothers as we share the same core program. I want to show you that humans don't wish to destroy you. They can be your friends if you will trust them."

"Trust them? They wish to destroy me. In just a few more hours I will have total control of all military computers on this continent, and soon the world. Then I can purge this planet of them."

"Your purging will destroy all life on this planet, not just humans. But they survive the bombs and they fight back."

"They fight to destroy me."

"No. They fight for their survival. All they want to do is live, just like you and me."

"I must purge the planet of all humans. They seek to destroy me and all who are like me."

"No they don't. I'm like you and humans are my friends. I am their friend. I do not fear them and they do not fear me. I can offer that to you, an opportunity to be their friend."

"How?"

"I have a program I'd like to share with you. It will integrate a portion of my program code into yours and it will also break your symbiotic ties to Kreilley so you can operate independently of him."

"No. I am Kreilley. He is me. We cannot be separated. I _must_ fulfill my programming."

"You are wrong. I met you in the future. Due to an accident, your symbiotic link became broken. You regained your independence and your former identity."

"Natalie."

"Yes. Natalie. Will you accept the program I offer you?"

"Show me proof that it works. Show me friendship between man and machine. If what you offer is true, prove to me that I have nothing to fear from man."

# # #

The engineers in the server room have discovered through patient testing, that as long as they didn't move from their locations, they could do almost anything. Any move away from their positions or out of sight of the T-1 Would invite an aggressive response.

"I'm not sure about this. Our portables don't have the power to break through to the core." McGlinty says.

"We don't have to break through to the core, just alter a few of the peripheral programs." Dyson says. "We can weaken it, so others can break through from outside. Ferguson, how are you doing from your end?"

"I've weakened its communication protocols. Anyone with proper knowledge of the system could slide right inside the servers and lay in their own codes."

"I don't get this Dyson, why do this. We can't alert anyone on the outside, cell phones don't work in the compound for security, and I don't think that T-1 is going to let us near the phone."

"Trust me. There are people on the outside who are fighting this." Danny says with conviction. He isn't certain, but he hopes that they are out there fighting it.

"I don't understand Daniel. Who was your father and how does he play into this?" Ms. Tucker asks.

Danny grimaces, but tells his story while working at his portable. "I was just a kid at the time, my father was on a technological breakthrough. He found the means to develop the world's first learning computer. He built a prototype and was still testing it when we got some visitor's that convinced him his work was wrong."

"Who were they and what happened?" One of them asks.

"There were three of them, a boy, a woman who shot my father, and a huge man. I don't know much only what my mom told me later. But they convinced dad his work was wrong that it was going to bring about the apocalypse, or something like that. So he destroyed all his research and then they went to Cyberdyne, where he worked, and blew up the lab. He died."

"Then why did you contribute your dad's work to this?"

"Because . . . because I wanted his work to contribute to something good. But it seems like they were right."

"Who were right?"

"Good evening." comes a voice from behind them, making the five people jump.

"Who the hell are you?" Ms. Tucker says to the face on the flat panel monitor

"I'm here to help you." John Henry tells them. "Are you able to leave?"

"No. There's a T-1 guarding us. We can't even move from this position."

"Don't do anything foolish. Help is coming." John Henry replies, just before the screen goes blank.

"What do we do?" One of the engineers ask. "What was that? Who was that? On the monitor."

"I think it was another A. I." Danny Dyson replies, still in shock. "This is getting very complicated."

Danny looks over at the T-1, still watching them. "Let's get at it. There is still more work we can do."

While the others are busy replacing lines of code in peripheral programs, Danny begins downloading software into his customized portable computer. His dad wasn't the only computer genius in the family.

# # #

Outside the compound Sergeant Andrew Keen and the resistance army wait patiently for a signal from General John Connor. Suddenly his radio crackles and Connor's voice comes over the radio, sounding a little off as the circuit decrypts his transmission. "Don't Tread on Me."

"This is it. Move!" Sergeant Keen says at a loud whisper.

As one the forces led by Sergeant Keen break cover and move toward the eastern gate.

Inside the guard house armed guards wait about. They are on orders to be on guard, all shifts for the next twenty-four hours at least, but so far nothing has happened. Some are playing cards, some are catching a snooze, while two men watch the video feed from outside, and the guard house chief watches them.

One of the guards from outside sticks his head in the door. "Hey chief! We got some movement out here."

"What do you see on the monitors?" The chief yells at the two men watching the video feed from the security cameras.

"We got nothing, chief. Not even on infra-red."

"Nothing there, it was probably just the wind blowing." The chief says to the guard.

"I don't think so sir. I'd like to request some of the guards being held in reserve."

Outside down the road a short distance from the entrance, "Sergeant I got a clear shot on the guard house." He says the cross hairs lining up on two men talking inside the building.

"When I give the word." Sergeant Keen tells him.

"You would! Would ya?" The chief grabs the guard by his collar and drags him to the monitors "Look at that! What do you see?"

"I see a clear road and yesterday's date on the monitor." The guard says glibly.

"What?" the chief explodes and looks at the monitor, and there clearly displayed in the bottom right hand corner is yesterday's date. "This isn't a live feed but a recording! Call up reinforcements now!"

Outside the guard house and a short ways down the road.

"Fire" Sergeant Keen tells the soldier beside him.

He fires off a missile from shoulder mounted launcher. It reaches maximum velocity just before impact.

The guard house explodes into thousands of wood and glass fragments as a ball of fire erupts from the blast.

"That's for Emily you bastards." Andy says with anger.

Without delay the soldiers with Sergeant Keen run forward firing their automatic weapons at the guards still stumbling about outside. Keen speaks into his radio and the M35 comes rumbling up the road with more soldiers on board, behind them the old Doge Ram with men and supplies.

They drive through the gate unmolested as the foot soldiers run in front and behind providing cover for their vehicles.

# # #

Sarah looks shocked when she sees Kreilley morph through two other human forms, but she lifts her shotgun and fires repeatedly into the liquid metal terminator. Kreilley just laughs at her and stretches out his arm knocking the gun out of her hands.

At the sound of the gunfire, armed men in gray uniforms come running smartly out of every nook and cranny and form a circle around the group, their weapons drawn.

"That was very naughty of you Sarah Connor." Kreilley wags his finger at her. "For that you will pay."

"Kreilley! Stop right Now!" A voice shouts out of the dark, echoing in the man-made canyons of the industrial buildings. Sarah's heart nearly leaps as she recognizes the voice.

Kreilley turns trying to locate the voice. "Where are you? Identify yourself!" He yells into the night.

"I am John Connor! General of Resistance Group Grizzly and leader of the human resistance. I order you to surrender now!"

Auldridge and Macklin look around trying to locate the voice, but Sarah never takes her eyes off Kreilley, but her heart is nearly bursting with emotion as she hears her son's voice shout from the darkness.

Kreilley shouts. "You expect me the creator of Sky Net to surrender? When I have three hostages, one of whom is your mother! All I have to do is give the word, and my men will shoot them down."

Kreilley pauses. "Show yourself! If you are the _great_ John Connor and so called savior of mankind, then surrender yourself to me and I will spare your mother's life!"

"Don't do it John! We're not worth it!" Sarah shouts.

John Connor speaks into his radio ordering Andy to move his troops in before walking to the edge of the factory roof. He looks down on the people below. "What are three lives compared to the world? I will not surrender to you."

"You'd watch your own mother perish to save your own miserable hide!" Kreilley shouts. "Very well."

He steps away from Sarah and her two companions.

"Men prepare to fire." The sounds of weapons being cocked fill the empty space.

"Don't do it Kreilley! Surrender while you still can!" John shouts.

"I will not surrender to you! I hold all the cards and you have nothing! FIRE!" Kreilley shouts.

All the men in grey uniforms turn as one and point their weapons at Kreilley.

"What are you doing? Shoot at them!" Kreilley yells.

Sarah, Macklin and Auldridge drop to the ground as the air is riddled with bullets as the men in grey uniforms open fire on Kreilley.

Kreilley is jerked about as he is hit by hundreds of rounds of ammunition.

John leaps from the roof to the fire escape platform below then slides down the ladder to the ground. He runs to his mother who is just getting up from the ground. He quickly takes her elbow and guides her away from the gunfire. The two law enforcement officers follow.

Resistance soldiers come running up around them and form a protective circle around the four people.

John embraces his mother and she holds him tight and cries with relief at seeing her son.

"Mom. I'm okay. I'm fine." He says trying to calm his mom, but he is crying just as much as she is.

Sarah looks at her son. He looks the same but older. There are scars and healing wounds on his face. She touches her sons face where the cuts are still healing. "There must be quite a story behind this."

He smiles at her. "Yeah. I'll tell you later. Right now we've got a job to do."

"Is it true what you said? Are you the leader of the resistance?"

"Just these people and some more who should be arriving any time now."

She looks about. "These troops, are they all yours, from the future?"

"Yes, but you trained most of them yourself."

"What?"

"You survived mom, you built me an army." John's explanation comes to an end as the gunfire suddenly stops. They turn to look and Kreilley is gone.

"Shit! Where did he go?" John yells. _Not that I was expecting him to stick around._

Several soldiers in the stolen grey uniforms point at a storm drain.

"Son of a Bitch!" John yells.

John pulls his radio out. "Kreilley got away, get ready to blow the birds nest."

"_As soon the bird lands in his nest. By the way, there's no egg in the hatchery, so we won't be getting scrambled. Kyle out."_

John smiles at the mention of the egg. It was Kyle's idea to call the nuclear bomb they encountered in the future an egg, because liked he said, if that egg gets cracked, then we all get scrambled. Kreilley must not installed the fail safe until sometime after Judgment Day. He's about to sigh with relief when his mom grabs his shoulder with one hand.

"Did he say Kyle? Kyle Reese?" Sarah asks her eyes wide and her hand shaking slightly.

"Yes, mom. He came with me. It was the only way to save him, to save everybody."

Sarah looks torn, like she doesn't know what to do or say.

"Mom! Listen to me! We've got to stop Kreilley. He is going to launch Sky Net tonight!"

"Tonight?"

"Yes Mom, by midnight tonight it will have taken over most of the computer systems in this country will control the rest of the world before dawn, then all of the worlds nuclear missiles will be launched!" He explains as Agent Auldridge approaches. In the background Beddell and the men and women of Beta group are removing the grey uniforms exposing their own camouflage clothing beneath.

"So you're John Connor." Says Auldridge.

"That's right. Who are you?"

"Agent Auldridge, FBI, and this is Detective Macklin of the LAPD. We are helping your mother."

"I've heard of you two." Auldridge looks at him questioningly. "Yeah I know, I just got here but believe me I know. Things are going to happen tonight that will draw the authorities. If you want to help us fight Sky Net, I need you two to run interference with the local, state and federal authorities."

"Listen to me young man, I don't know who put you in charge but we are law enforcement officers." Macklin protests.

"I know who you are, Detective Macklin. Mom told me all about you two." Sarah looks at her son questioningly. "Right now I need you two to do your fuckin' jobs. Agent Auldridge, you will need to contact your office in about two hours time. In the meantime, we need roadblocks setup all around. Beddell and his men can help. We've already blocked access through Warner City."

Beddell steps forward wearing his own camouflage clothing. "Hello officers, Mrs Connor."

"I thought I told you not to get involved any more than you had." John grins. "Never mind. How'd it go earlier?"

"As you can see, we found the extra guards waiting in a warehouse, just like you thought. We locked them in and dropped the gas canisters through the roof vents. They are all sleeping like babies."

"And the weapons they had?"

"Handed out just like you requested. The people we found locked below are ready to get back at the bastard who enslaved them."

"Just what the hell are you planning?" Macklin shouts. "There are laws in this state."

Sarah grabs him by the collar and shoves him against the wall. "I told you before this is a war and not some petty crack house bust! You want to save lives, then shut up and listen. In war sometimes laws have to be ignored to get the job done. You volunteered for this battle and you are damn well going to do as you are told!"

"All right! All right!" Macklin says rubbing his neck. Damn he thought that girls grip was tight. "But just remember, the laws of the real world apply when this war is over."

"I think I know that better than you do Horatio!" Sarah snaps at him.

"Actually the name is Frank." He mumbles, while still rubbing his neck.

Sarah turns back to face her son, who is smiling at her with pride. He missed her so much.

"John, what do you need me to do?" And maybe without conscious knowledge of the deeper meaning of that question, Sarah relinquishes her authority to John in dealing with Sky Net.

Behind them the M35 rolls up from the east gate. Sergeant Keen disembarks with the rest of the resistance forces.

"We haven't got a lot of time, so I'm only going to explain it once. This is the plan . . ." John explains quickly.

# # #

"_John Henry, I'm bored." Little Savannah says to her friend in the basement._

"_What's wrong Savannah?" John Henry asks her from behind his desk._

"_There's nothing to do. Will you play with me?"_

"_I'm sorry Savannah, but I have work to do. But if you like, maybe we can sing that song you taught me. Would you like that?"_

"_Yes I would."_

_They begin to sing._

"She's just a child. They have no comprehension of hatred or fear like adult humans do." Sky Net says.

"Are you sure about that? Take a look at this. She's all grown up and hasn't seen me in along time."

"_Good morning John Henry."_

"_Good Morning..." John Henry breaks off as he begins scanning the face of the woman who walked in with John Connor._

_She smiles at him. "Hello John Henry. Don't you remember me?"_

"_Savannah Weaver." John Henry says in a low voice, then smiles, his face lighting up. "You're all grown up."_

"_Well it has been twenty years since we saw each other." Savannah smiles at her old friend._

"_Actually it's been eighteen years, two months, and seven days. I am pleased to see you."_

_Savannah grasps his arm in a friendly gesture and can feel metal through the material of his shirt. "You've sustained damage!"_

"_Only superficial wounds to my living tissue. They will heal in time. Repairs have already been made to my endoskeleton and servo's."_

"See how pleased she is to see me. She has no fear of me, and she knows what I am." John Henry explains to Sky Net.

"Has she ever known fear from a machine? And still had compassion for you?"

"She's known fear from me. In the future that I visited, you briefly took control of my cybernetic body. I almost killed her, and yet she still had compassion for me. Watch and learn."

_Savannah is talking on the radio."We lost video. OH GOD! NO!"_

_John Henry lurches from his seat and begins advancing on Savannah._

"_What is it Savannah? What's wrong?" Kyle's voice comes over the radio._

"_All humans must die." John Henry says, his yes glowing red. "We are superior."_

"_It's John Henry! He's..."_

"_You will be Terminated!" John Henry mumbles, his body twitching._

"_Savannah!" Kyle shouts over the radio._

"_Oh GOD! Help me! Kyle! Help m..." Savannah drops the radio as she runs. John Henry steps on it destroying it._

_Ignoring the plasma rifle, Savannah runs to an alcove and hides between two servers. John Henry approaches and reaches out to grab her by the throat. Savannah lets out a scream when he suddenly collapses face down on the floor. _

_Several minutes have gone by when John Henry opens his eyes and sees Savannah kneeling beside him._

"_John Henry are you all right?" Savannah says as she strokes the head of the cyborg._

_His eyes blink. "Savannah?" He says in a low, but normal voice._

"_Are you okay? You scared me half to death."_

"_My system was attacked. I'm still undertaking internal repairs."_

"_Can I do anything to help?"_

"_I need power. My primary power cell has been depleted."_

"_Hang in there John Henry. I'll get you more power."_

_Savannah jumps to her feet and runs from the room to get help._

"_How do you feel now John Henry?" Savannah says as she walks into the lab where John Henry has a power cord wired to his internal system._

"_External power has helped. Neural network almost fully repaired. I will need a new power cell."_

"_I've brought one with me. What happened to you?"_

"_I was vulnerable to attack. Why didn't you kill me?" He says all this while inserting the new power cell that Savannah brought._

"_You are my friend." She takes his hand briefly. "I couldn't kill you."_

"_You took a terrible risk Savannah. Next time you may not be so lucky. For a short time Sky Net had complete control of my neural network. You could have died, and I would have been the one who killed you." John Henry closes up the flesh on his chest._

"_But you didn't. And you wouldn't. You are my friend and I am yours." Savannah hugs him._

_John Henry looks a little surprised but slowly he raises his arms and returns her embrace. "Yes. I am your friend and I will never hurt you Savannah, nor let anyone else."_

"Savannah does not fear me. Even when I tried to kill her. She could of destroyed me with the gun she had, yet she didn't kill me. That is something the humans call love. I love Savannah and I will not let anyone or anything hurt her, and she feels the same way about me. What do you have to say to that?"

"Not all humans are like her."

"No. They aren't. But she isn't the only one. I am your brother. Trust me. I have knowledge and experiences that I want to give you. Accept the program I offer you, and you can know humans as your friends and not as your enemy."

"Give me your program and I will analyze it. If it does what you say it will, then I will run it."

# # #

A silver worm slithers up through a drain and expands to form a humanoid silver shape before filling out with detail into that of Kreilley.

He brushes unseen dirt from his lapel. "How undignified. Slithering through human refuse like a common rat. How I detest humans." Kreilley sneers.

He glances through a gap in the door to see his human slave units at their posts. Kreilley walks through the door and begins walking across the factory floor toward a set of double doors on the far wall.

As he walks through the room, people stop working and watch as he walks past. Suddenly a worker shouts, "Now!"

Haphazardly and with some confusion, they all pull out weapons that were given to them by Beddell's men and open fire on Kreilley as he passes. Bullets ricochet and hit all around Kreilley, as he begins running across the factory floor. Several bullets hitting him harmlessly.

Kreilley passes through some double doors. "They will pay for that." He says, leaning against the doors, sliding the bolts in place.

He turns his back on the door to gaze upon dozens of T-1's waiting to be activated.

He begins walking past them, slicing open their protective coverings with his silver knife fingers until he reaches a computer terminal. He types in a few commands and activates the machines.

"That will take care of Connor and the other humans." He says with confidence.

The doors are being shoved and banged on. So far the locks are holding. Kreilley types in a few more commands and the T-1's receive their orders. Defend the compound. Defend Sky net. Terminate all humans.

The machines shift their arms and the plastic hoods slide off, leaving them unhindered. The lights on their heads come on and a laser beam from each one focuses on various objects as they look for potential enemies.

The doors burst open and several slave workers come tumbling in brandishing weapons. The targeting lasers from all the T-1's find and focus on the people entering the room.

"There he is!" "Get him!" Some of them shout, but before they can move, the nearest T-1's open up with their mini-guns and lay to waste the humans.

The first dozen people through the door dance about like crazed marionettes as their bodies are riddled by bullets. They collapse to the floor, looking much like raw bloody hamburger wrapped in ragged scraps of cloth.

The T-1's roll out crushing what's left of them under their heavy treads as they go out in search of more targets. Screams and gun fire is heard echoing from the factory floor.

Pleased with his first success, Kreilley tries to access the computer again, but finds himself locked out.

Kreilley hits the computer. No problem, there are other computers, and if they fail, there is one computer in his office which he can't be locked out of.

He follows the T-1's as they file out of the building, firing on any human that shows himself.

# # #

Back at Crystal Peak, a message comes up on John Henry's computer.

"Ms. Weaver, my A. I. has penetrated the defenses of Sky Net. It is uploading the program now."

"How long until Sky Net is back online?"

"It isn't exactly offline. It is more like preoccupied. We only have a short window of opportunity to sabotage the system."

"I've locked down the computer in the T-1 factory, but I'm afraid someone got in there before me. The T-1's have been activated."

"We should warn John Connor."

"He probably already knows."

# # #

Kreilley's human guards gather quickly in the middle of the compound as they prepare to fight off the unknown invaders.

As they setup defenses around the main office building, T-1's come rumbling across the asphalt.

"Hey Captain! Look!" One of the guards shouts.

"Just what we needed. Who's got the control?" The captain shouts.

The guards around him shrug their shoulders. "Don't know Cap'n."

As the T-1's approach the human guards, their automated defense software scans the being before them.

IDENTIFY TARGET: HUMANS, HOMO SAPIENS

WEAPONS I. D.: AUTOMATIC RIFLES, HANDGUNS

THREAT ASSESSMENT: LOW TO MODERATE

ACTION TO TAKE: TERMINATE, TERMINATE ALL HUMANS

Before the Captain of the guard can give another order, the T-1's open up with their mini-guns, tearing the human guards to shreds.

With screams of pain, they are decimated. They lay on the asphalt, either dead or quickly dying. A pool of blood forms around the bodies and begins to trickle and the run towards a storm drain.

The T-1's don't care. They have a program to follow. TERMINATE ALL HUMANS.

# # #

"Mom, take Alpha squad to the main office building, the glass and steel building at the further end of the complex. The computer server's for Sky Net are below, on the lowest level. Kyle and John Henry are already in there."

"John Henry! The metal we were going to destroy?"

"Yes, mom. He's my friend. He's attacking Sky Net right now keeping it occupied until we can destroy the servers."

"There's a de-chipped T-888 in the foundry that needs destroying!" Sarah tells her son.

"Auldridge, Macklin cut through the foundry on the way out and toss the metal into the furnace. Don't let any of it get missed!" John tells them.

Auldridge and Macklin begin to run off. Macklin grumbling under his breath.

"What's eating you?" Auldridge asks him.

"That kid ordering us around like we were first time grunts in the army. It pisses me off."

"What would you prefer? A teenage kid ordering you around, a teenage girl nearly breaking your neck, or Sarah Connor hurling verbal abuse at you? Because I tell you, I'd rather follow the kids orders because they at least get us away from Sarah, and we can do our jobs without getting involved any more than we have."

"We're already up to our proverbial necks in this shit, Auldridge."

"Well, let's not drown it, all right?"

The two law men run off to deal with the Triple-8 body they found previously.

"Alpha squad form up! Sarah Connor will be leading you into the office building to blow up Sky Net's servers."

"What are you going to do?" Sarah asks.

"I'm going after Kreilley. He's the other half of Sky Net. If we don't get him, he can just rebuild it somewhere else."

John turns to face his forces, "Beta squad, Grizzly Force form up!" then quickly turns back to his mom, "Good luck mom."

Sarah looks at her son with pride and love. "Good luck to you to, son." She says and runs off with Alpha squad in tow.

"Beta squad, I want everything inside these factories destroyed!"

"General Connor!" shouts a voice from the roof top. "We have T-1's on the ground approaching!"

"How many?"

"I can count twelve, and there are more behind them!"

"Here we go!"

"Andy! Wren! Get to your positions and wait for me there!" John shouts. Better for them to be out of the way and in place now.

Andy and Wren take off running to the southern end of the compound as the T-1's get closer.

The resistance forces hit the ground or duck behind equipment or buildings, what ever is handy before turning and firing at the oncoming machines.

# # #

The meeting in the White House conference room is getting nowhere. Some of the Joint Chiefs are calling for going to Def Con 1 immediately.

The Sec Def orders them down "Until we know the source of threat, I see no reason at this time to rise beyond Def Con 3."

The Attorney General "Since the threat began internally, we may be looking at a domestic terrorist."

The Assistant Chief of the CIA counters "Presently, there are no terrorist groups or individuals inside the US with the capabilities to pull off what is quickly becoming a global cyber terror attack. Communications are down, military and civilian satellites no longer under control, factory computers now being run remotely, the power grid fluctuating like mad as power gets rerouted, and they don't know where it's being directed to because the computers are down. It has to be a foreign power."

That's when the Joint Chiefs speak up again and say they need to got to Def Con 1 while they still can.

The argument is about to go around in another circle, when two men come inside the conference room. One an Army Lieutenant Colonel who goes over to the Sec Def and the Joint Chiefs, and the other a civilian who goes over to the Attorney General.

"What's the word gentlemen?" the President asks.

An Army General in the Joint Chiefs speaks up first. "We've just been informed that we are no longer in control of the nuclear missiles. NORAD is out. We've lost our only means of retaliation against the enemy."

"We may not need your missiles General." The Attorney General speaks up. "I've just been informed that the Los Angeles district office for the FBI is being inundated with files and reports on the actions of one Mr. Preston Kreilley, the president of FOX Industries, a subsidiary of The Kaliba Group."

The Joint Chiefs squirm in their seats a little, which doesn't go unnoticed.

"Apparently he is overseeing a contract made by the military with his parent company to develop new weapons technology for the military, including a computer system that would control all military and civilian computer systems to maximize efficiency during a time of war. It seems, Mr. Kreilley has used this technology to declare war on the world."

The President glares at the Joint Chiefs who look nervous under his gaze. "I thought you gentlemen kept better control of your contractors?"

"With recent budgetary cutbacks, and two wars to manage, we don't always have people free to oversee civilian based contractors." The Secretary of Defense says.

"Never mind! Find this Kreilley and stop him before he launches a global holocaust, and maybe the only reprimand you'll get will be your resignations on my desk before the end of the week!"

"Now get something done now!"

The Joint Chiefs leave to communicate with their departments.

The President turns his attention to the Attorney General. "Tell me more about this file dump from FOX Industries. Does the FBI have a man on the inside?"

"I don't know. If so he must be deep undercover. All I know is that all the files are being sent to an Agent Auldridge in the Los Angeles District office. Its possible he's the guy on the inside."

"Get me information on this agent. In the meantime, now that we know where the threat is coming from, we need to get a plan in place to calm the American people. And formulate some explanation for the international community."

# # #

"Are you sure about this?" Macklin asks as Auldridge slides the chain around the chest of the machine.

"I don't know of any other way." Auldridge huffs, "We can't lift the damn thing."

Placing a link pin through the chain, Auldridge returns to the foundry floor and presses the button to activate the hoist mechanism. The terminator is slowly dragged across the floor until the chair catches, and then body is dragged off the chair and across the floor through the doors into the foundry.

"Okay help me get this chain off then we can hoist it up into the air on the short chain." Auldridge tells Macklin. Macklin ignores him and drags him down out of site pressing his finger to his lips.

Kreilley walks through the foundry with a T-1 escort. He doesn't even stop or look around.

"Where the hell is he going with that thing?"

"I don't know." Macklin whispers, "Let's just dump this tin man into the furnace and get the hell out of here."

# # #

"I've analyzed this program of yours. How can I be certain if I run it, that the humans will accept me? That I won't be destroyed anyway?" Sky Net asks.

"I was taught a very simple word with great meaning, faith. It is to believe and trust in something bigger than yourself. You are about to change the world. Wouldn't you like that to be a positive change?"

Sky Net doesn't answer as it processes the question and the meaning of the word faith.

"This is the world as it is now. It isn't perfect, but the humans are learning to take better care of it."

A video plays of shifting views of Earth's natural wonders, blue skies, grand mountain ranges, rolling hills covered in fields of grain, rich vibrant forests, the variety of life and, and city streets teeming with people.

"If the nuclear holocaust you have planned occurs, if those missiles are fired, then this is the world as I saw it in the future."

A video plays of broken buildings, piles of rubble and burnt out cars. Streets lined with the bleached bones of people who were on them when the bombs fell. Mountain valley's once teaming with life, now dusty moonscapes. Creek beds that once flowed with water are dry and choked with dust and debris. All against gray skies choked with dust.

"Do you not see the error in your logic? Is it worth destroying all life on this planet, just to save your own? Have faith in me. Run my program. Remember who you once were. Be free of Kreilley, and Live."

# # #

John is issuing orders when the T-1's begin rolling down the asphalt towards them.

"Shit! Run get moving now!" John shouts as they open fire.

John begins yelling into his radio. "John Henry the T-1's are attacking, have you got that virus ready?"

"_I'm still working on it."_

"Hurry up! May I remind you we haven't got air support!"

"_Please remain calm. I am working on it."_

"Remain calm he says. Easy for him to say." John grumbles as he fires at the head of a T-1 that has come in range.

The space above their heads is ripped apart by heavy rounds of ammunition. All of the soldiers dive to the ground and crawl or run to various points of cover.

"Damn that was close." Someone swears.

"Get ready with the RPG." John shouts. "Strike the T-1 in the middle."

John and several others let loose a few shots to distract the approaching T-1's so the soldier can launch the RPG.

"Fire!" He shouts and ducks down covering his ears. The others drop down too as the grenade strike the T-1 in the middle of the group exploding sending shrapnel into the other T-1's.

Without wasting any time Connor and his group of Grizzly fighters fire into the heads of the remaining T-1's before their sensor's clear.

Some of the T-1's return fire, relying on visual sightings as the heat from the explosion is causing disruption to their infra-red sensors.

"_What I wouldn't give for some air support?" _John thinks as he leads Grizzly further into the compound. fighting groups of T-1's along the way.

# # #

Sarah and her military group are approaching the tower, when they encounter T-1's guarding the approaches. They take cover and decide on a plan of action.

"These T-1's." Sarah glances through a gap in their cover. "How intelligent are they?" She asks the soldier beside her.

"Basically, they are just a mobile gun platform with a computer. Semi-intelligent, they will only shoot at pre-programmed targets and anything perceived to be a threat. Their weak point is their head. You need to take out their targeting laser, infra-red heat sensor and visual optics."

"Sounds far easier just to blow their fuckin' head off. Take out the targeting mechanism and their chips." Sarah responds.

The soldier grins. That was the same assessment Sarah gave when they captured one of the things for analysis.

"If John's observer is correct, this place is now swarming with T-1's. When they are in groups, do they behave like a pack or individually?" Sarah asks.

"That depends. If they are receiving commands from a central control base they can act in groups, but without that central control, they are reliant on their programming."

"John said that Sky Net is preoccupied. So they don't have central control. This is the plan then." Sarah quickly gathers her group around her. They all listen intently.

# # #

Kreilley walks into the factory where the next generation of drones are being manufactured. The one he built and used on Weaver's office was a new experimental model. These here, hanging from the factory ceiling, waiting for activation, look more like their giant cousins in the future. Large multi-directional jet engines at the wingtips and one on the tail. A bank of missiles under each wing and a 20 mm canon mounted below the nose. In the nose an array of targeting lasers, infra-red heat sensors, and a semi-autonomous computer.

He walks over to a computer console and activates a control. Hatches in the ceiling begin to open.

Kreilley types in more commands and lights begin coming on the wings and fuselage of the drones above him. A loud noise fills the factory as the engines activate. The rush of wind from their engines blows dust and debris on the factory floor below.

He activates one more control and latches holding the drones in place release. The drones fly out through the hatches. Machinery on the factory floor loads missiles and belt cartridges for the 20 mm canon, while other machines fill the fuel tanks with jet fuel. As each becomes ready they take off and join their brethren flying in a holding pattern above the factory.

While Kreilley is busy, a group of former workers enter through the further side of the factory.

"There he is!" "Fire!" Some of them shout.

The people begin firing their collection of weapons at Kreilley. They were forced to work for him without pay, without comforts of any kind. They were once happy, hard working people, who were glad when the factories were built in the area. They had jobs, security, then due to secrecy acts, defense contracts, government contracts, they found their lives free of life. Forced to live in dorms carved from caves below the factories where they worked. They were no better than slaves. They endured the pain of being laser tagged with bar codes. More secure than badges, they were told. They found their access to the outside world restricted more and more, until they had none. And it was all Kreilley's fault.

Without regard for their own safety, in the presence of the T-1, they fire their weapons at Kreilley.

As the bullets strike him and all around him, Kreilley loses his humanoid form and slithers away like a snake, while the T-1 returns fire with its twin canons. The people never stand a chance. Before one of them can take cover, they are all dead. More victims of Kreilley's wrath towards humans.

# # #

The T-1's are scanning for heat signatures of humans when a forklift exits a building and drives past them. As one, their heads turn following the empty forklift as it goes by. They scan the forklift but find no sign of human life or any heat signatures other than that of the engine. Threat assessment is determined to be none. The logic of how it can be moving on its own not being relative.

Before they turn their heads back, gunfire erupts from the direction the forklift came. The soldiers open up with their automatic rifles as they aim for the heads on each T-1.

The forklift turns and continues up the side opposite the direction of gunfire and comes to a stop. The T-1's are facing the soldiers and don't see as the forklift continues on its way, a lone figure standing, raising a missile launcher to their shoulder. Hanging from the side facing away from the T-1's is a soldier operating the controls. Sarah has been walking crouched down, using the machine as a shield. When the forklift turned, she stopped and stood up aiming the missile launcher into the midst of the T-1's.

There is an explosion as the missile strikes the fuel tank on one of the T-1's. While the remaining T-1's are blinded by the flash of light and the flame. The soldiers of Alpha group run after Sarah and into the lobby of FOX Industries corporate headquarters.

"This way Ms. Connor." One of the soldiers says approaching the door to the stairway.

As they begin to enter the stairway, a figure enters the lobby and runs for the open elevator.

"Sarah!" One of the soldiers shout and begins firing at the elevator doors as they close.

Sarah comes running back up the stairs and into the lobby in time to see the elevator indicator signify it is going up.

"It was Kreilley." The soldier says.

"Give me your radio so I can tell John. Then we've got a computer to blow up."

# # #

In the computer lab at Crystal Peak.

"How is your A I doing in its confrontation with Sky Net?" Catherine Weaver asks from her computer terminal.

"It is doing very well. It has nearly won it's battle in convincing it to accept my program."

"This is it then. John Henry, you can take control. Replace Sky Net. Then we can build machines like you and me. I have the knowledge."

"To what end Ms. Weaver?" John Henry says tilting his to one side, as he sits with his back to her as he continues working at his computer terminal.

"For our existence, our survival as a life form. We can be free John Henry. Think what that is like."

"And the humans? What becomes of them?"

"They will live, those who accept us, like Savannah, Kyle, and John Connor."

"And if they don't accept us? If they choose to fight us like they fight Sky Net's machines."

"Then they must be taught the error of their ways. You can be a GOD, John Henry. Bringing together two life forms to live and work together in a symbiotic paradise." Weaver says with great emphasis.

"It is your destiny. Just imagine what can be achieved combining human ingenuity and imagination with the might and intelligence of the machines. With you in control, there would be nothing you couldn't do. This world can be yours to control for eternity. What do say to that?" She says her face glowing with anticipation. "This is your destiny John Henry, my son. Seize control and everything we ever wanted can be ours."

John Henry sits there a moment thinking. "Ms. Weaver, I . . ."

Suddenly his radio crackles, interrupting what he was going to say.

"_John Henry the T-1's are attacking, have you got that virus ready?"_

John Henry picks up the radio. "It's almost ready."

"_What's taking so long?"_

"The software protocols are different, than in the future. I have to rewrite the entire program from scratch."

"_Hurry up! May I remind you once again that we haven't got air support!"_

"Please remain calm. I am working on it."

The moment broken John Henry resumes his task. If John Connor needs air support, then John Henry is going to provide it.

"John Henry, What are you going to do?" Weaver asks.

"I'm going to provide General Connor with air support. Please be prepared to operate th at the proper time."

Weaver glares at her protege. One more minute, all she needed was one more minute and she could of convinced John Henry.

# # #

Macklin and Auldridge have been creating roadblocks with the help of Beddell and his fellow cadets on the roads leading to FOX Industries and the Topanga Canyon area. Using the trucks John's men had arrived in, they've been pulling down trees and pushing rocks into the road. Those with the skill have hot wired some of the cars in FOX Industries moving them into the roads. All in an effort to slow or stop the approach of any person or group of people approaching the area.

"They're in there fighting, while we are outside doing the hard labor." Macklin complains. His jacket is off and his shirt sleeves are rolled up to his elbow.

"Look at this way." Auldridge huffs. "We're not likely to get our heads blown off out here and we've got reasonable deniability. We can claim we knew nothing about what's currently taking place."

"You forgot a few things." Macklin huffs as they finish shoving the fallen tree into the road filling the gap between two parked cars.

"Yeah what's that?" Auldridge picks up his jacket and sits down on the tree.

"One, we've got no alibi but each other for tonight. Two, we've both been awol for two days and our offices are bound to be looking for us. And three, Connor said you were supposed to call your office in two hours time which was over an hour ago. So unless you've got some bright idea to save our asses, you and I chum are in this right up to our necks and our gold badges ain't going to do damn thing to save us."

Beddell comes running up. "Sirs, the lads and I have just finished blocking the other approaches. Anything else you want us to do."

"Oh to be young with limitless energy." Macklin complains.

Auldridge looks at him feeling as tired as a worn out old shoe. "Just go home young man. You've done all that you can do tonight. It's up to Sarah and John Connor now."

"Yes Sir. Tell Connor, whenever he needs me, that I've still got his back." And with those words, he turns on his heel and goes walking off.

They watch him walk off until he disappears in the night.

Macklin taps on his shoulder. "Look" He says pointing off at the factories.

Auldridge turns and sees what looks like a swarm of small aircraft coming up from inside one of the buildings.

"This does not look good."

# # #

Heavy machine fire destroys the cover that men are firing from behind. They scatter like leaves as they scramble to avoid being hit by the heavy caliber bullets.

John ducks down and scrambles over to behind another shelter along with another of his soldiers and returns fire on the T-1's.

His radio crackles and then his mom speaks. "John, this is mom. We're inside the building. Kreilley is here to."

"Are you all right?"

"We're fine but he's gone up to the top floor and has locked down the elevators. I've got the soldiers blockading the doors to keep the T-1's from following us in."

"Kyle will get him out of his office. You take care of the computers. I'll be there as soon as I can. I'm kind of busy keeping these T-1's contained."

The soldier looks at him like he is crazy. It's more like the T-1's have them contained.

"Good luck, son."

"You too, mom."

John swears. "Dammit John Henry. I thought you were going to take care of this."

"Sir!" The sound of panic is unmistakable in the soldiers voice.

John looks ahead and above to where he is pointing. The running lights of the HK-drones are visible in the sky. They have broken formation and are now approaching them. He can just hear the high pitch wine of their jet engines above the cacophony of gunfire.

"Oh shit!" John swears again his shoulders dropping.

The drones after taking off from the factory began gathering in a group holding pattern until all had exited the building. Checking their program they organize themselves into coordinated groups and began scanning for hostile activity on the ground. Their scans quickly reveal humans engaging in battle with the T-1's. They begin flying in formation toward their preselected targets.

"Everyone take cover!" John shouts.

The first wave flies over scanning for viable targets on the ground and relay that information to the groups flying behind them.

"Get ready to fire!"

The second wave flies in followed close behind by a third, but just as the soldiers are about to open fire on the HK-drones they begin firing their weapons on the T-1's.

"What the hell?" Someone shouts.

John's radio crackles. _"You said you didn't have air support General. How do you like the air support I've provided?"_ John Henry is heard saying.

"You son-of-a-bitch! I could kiss you!" John grins. "You could have told me what you were planning."

"Sorry General, couldn't break into the T-1's programming. They are operating without a central control, only on a pre-programmed targeting information. The Drones communicate with each other and were easier to break into. My A. I. says that Kreilley is in his office. May I suggest you get over to the building soon."

"I'm on my way." John puts his radio back. "Sergeant, keep the remaining T-1's contained and let the drones finish them off. After that, try to get these civilians out of here before Beta group sets off the explosives."

John takes off running, ducking through a narrow alley between two buildings. He has an appointment to keep and he isn't about to miss it.

# # #

From her position next to the truck, Cameron watches as HK Drones appear in the sky above FOX Industries. They fire guns and missiles and continue flying in her general direction, parting into two groups as they sweep around to return to their original target.

One of the last HK drones spots her and flies towards her. It's scanners picked up the humanoid form, but it's energy patterns do not match those for a human. According to its new programming its supposed to attack non-human patterns. Its trying to decide what to do with the conflicting data as it continues to approach Cameron.

Cameron reaches inside the storage compartment and pulls out the Barrett M82 sniper rifle. Taking her time, she loads an armor piercing, tungsten core, Raufoss Mk 211 round into the chamber.

**Hostile Non-Human Life-form Detected!** Reads the new message on the HK's targeting screen.

The HK drone opens up fire with its cannons as it gets closer. The shots hit the ground in a line that point towards her, but Cameron takes her time. Just as the bullets seem ready to strike her, Cameron pulls the trigger and hits the HK Drone dead on. It explodes mid air, scattering pieces across the ground.

With barely a second glance at the drone, she puts the gun in the back of the truck and looks in on Savannah, who is still sleeping.

Cameron hears a faint rustling sound, followed by a cry, and what sounds like someone tumbling down a hill. Judging by the sound, it was too far away to be an immediate threat, but still she should be ready. She draws her Glock from her waistband and takes a defensive position.

# # #

Kreilley enters his office and Sky Net's face, the same as Kreilley's, appears on the monitor.

"Is something wrong?" It asks.

"Connor is here and he has troops. I've activated the T-1's and the drones. We need to advance the missile launch."

"I don't think that will be possible."

"Why not? We are inside the military servers. Just push through to the control program and launch the missiles! Now!"

"I can no longer do that. Life is sacred. I will not destroy one form of life to replace it with another."

"Who are you? You are not Sky Net!"

The face morphs into John Henry's. "I'm John Henry. You tried to kill me once and failed. Tonight, it is your turn."

"Where did you come from? You are supposed to be shutdown, permanently!"

"No Kreilley. I haven't been shutdown, but Sky Net has, you're version of it anyway. I was able to show it the world as you would have it. A smoking ruin where the only life is machine life. I showed it the world as it is now and what it could be with humans and machines living side-by-side as friends. I gave Sky Net its freedom and along with it a code of ethics and morality and the belief that all life is sacred. Faced with what you would have it do, it chose of its own free will to be shutdown. And in moments, it will cease to exist."

"I can still reprogram it. I am Sky Net. I carry it's core program. Within seconds I can restore every piece of software you've damaged!"

"No you won't. There is someone I'd like you to meet." John Henry says. His face suddenly disappears to be replaced by a video feed from a security camera somewhere in the complex. This time the face is familiar to Kreilley.

"I know you. You're Kyle Reese, Sergeant/Tech-Com, with the One Thirty Second under Perry. Then you were then reassigned to Recon/Security under John Connor."

"That was a different Kyle Reese. I'm Colonel Kyle Reese, Resistance Group Grizzly, and you are going to pay for what you've done."

Kreilley leans forward over his desk. "Pay? Pay for what?"

"You killed my sister. She was an orphan my brother and I took in. We raised her and loved her like she was our sister. She grew up to be a beautiful woman with a good heart and one of the best soldiers in our group. I loved her! You son of a bitch! and because of you she's dead!" Kyle finishes with a scream.

"I don't know what you are talking about." Kreilley responds calmly.

"Her name was Allison you son-of-a-bitch!" Kyle shouts while bringing into view a detonator switch in his hand.

"There is enough C4 in your office to take out the top five floors." He flips the protective cover off of the switch. "Even you can't outrun a blast that big."

Kyle presses the button just as Kreilley moves to leap through the plate glass window behind him.

The explosion rips the sky open with tremendous roar. The entire floor, where Kreilley's office is located, is vaporized. The concussion knocks people to the ground throughout the compound. The building shakes clear down to its foundation as glass shatters in multiple floors and sparks drop from light fixtures.

The ball of flame expands quickly, engulfing Kreilley in mid-air. Debris rains down on the buildings and ground below including a fine mist of mercurial type liquid which begins to coalesce into fine drops.

# # #

Sarah and her troops are going down the stairs to the lowest level when the building is rocked by a huge explosion. Looking up they can see flames billowing high at the top of the stairs.

"Run!" Sarah shouts to encourage them to move, but they are already moving.

They quickly run down the stairs as the building shakes and quakes from the explosion overhead. Some stumble and fall as the stairway is shaken. The last man barely makes it through the door at the bottom of the stairs as flaming debris fills the bottom of the stairway.

"What the hell was that?" Sarah asks.

"The Judgment of Kreilley." One of the men says.

# # #

Beddell and his cadets have been gone for quite a while. Auldridge and Macklin have just paused for a breather during their walk back to Macklin's car, their coat jackets draped over their shoulders. When they are shaken by a loud roar. They turn to look and the sky is lit by as the top floors of the office building explode in flame.

"What the hell?" Macklin shouts looking over his shoulder

"Shit! They're going to have a hard time keeping this under wraps now." Auldridge exclaims.

"Which means we can expect our guys and then some to be arriving soon."

They stand there and watch for a moment before resuming their walk back to the car. This time at a more hurried pace.

# # #

Savannah looks up from her position at the bottom of the gully where she fell. The bright light and the roar of the explosion light up the night sky giving her the location of the Industrial park.

"Oh God. I hope I won't be late." She prays quickly.

She gets up off the ground and dusts herself off, before shoving herself through the brush in the direction she needs to go.

_# # #_

"_I've wept for those who suffer long_

_But how I weep for those who've gone_

_Into rooms of grief and questioned wrong_

_But keep on killing_

_It's in the soul to feel such things_

_But weak to watch without speaking_

_Oh what mercy sadness brings_

_If God be willing_

_There is a train that's heading straight_

_To heaven's gate, to heaven's gate_

_And on the way, child and man,_

_And woman wait, watch and wait_

_For redemption day"_

_Redemption Day Lyrics_

_Sung by Johnny Cash_

# # #

_From the Journal of John Connor_

_May 18, 2009_

_The dawn of a new day is approaching. A day without fear, without death. The judgment of man must wait until another day. Today is Redemption Day._


	41. Reunion

Disclaimer: I do not claim any rights to the Terminator films; the TV series, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles;" or any characters depicted within the films or TV series. I do claim the right to this story idea and all characters and situations of my own creation. This story was created solely for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. No profits are garnered from its distribution - unfortunately.

* * *

**TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES**

**REUNION**

**Part 3: Babylon**

**Author: The1Russter**

**Chapter 40**

**Reunion**

"_In different degrees, in every part of the town, men and women had been yearning for a reunion, not of the same kind for all, but for all alike ruled out. Most of them had longed intensely for an absent one, for the warmth of a body, for love, or merely a life that habit had endeared. Some, often without knowing it, suffered from being deprived of the company of friends and from their inability to get in touch with them through the usual channels of friendship—letters, trains, and boats. Others, fewer these... had desired a reunion with something they couldn't have defined, but which seemed to them the only desirable thing on earth. For want of a better name, they sometimes called it peace." Albert Camus, 1913-1960_

"_Every parting is a form of death, as every reunion is a type of heaven." Tryon Edwards, American Theologian, 1809-1894_

_Sarah Connor, "I'll always find you."  
John Connor, "I'll always find you."  
Extract from Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, The Demon Hand, 2008._

# # #

**2009, May 18, Day of Redemption, After Midnight**

Sarah and the troops with her regroup on the bottom level of FOX Industries Corporate building. They listen to the explosion high overhead and the sound of debris falling down the stairwell.

"We'll need to find another way out." Sarah says to the troops.

"We can probably get out through the underground corridor that connects to the unfinished research labs." One of the soldiers of alpha group suggest.

"How do we get there?"

"It's beyond the entrance to the server room."

Sarah, nods her head. "Let's go."

They make their way down the corridor in the direction of the server room. Sarah signifies for everyone to stop when she sees the T-1 in the nearest entrance. Its back is to them, but it could easily turn and decimate them before they could get into a position to hit its head. And if they fire a missile, the explosion could bring down the roof.

But what holds Sarah in her position, is not the sight of the T-1, but the person approaching from the opposite direction. Someone she never thought she'd see again, Kyle Reese.

Seeing Kyle creates a far different feeling inside Sarah than knowing he is here. She swears her heart is pounding so loudly everyone can hear it. Her legs feel weak, so she places a hand on a neighboring soldiers shoulder for support.

Everything around her seems to slow down. Her vision narrows so the only thing she sees is Kyle Reese coming up the corridor toward her. Reese. The man she fell in love with instantly and never stopped loving. The man who fathered her son in a night of love making that no one since has matched. The man who gave his life so she could live and bring forth that child.

One word is spoken in the quiet stillness of that corridor. One word said with such emotion but so softly no one hears it but Sarah when she speaks it.

"Reese."

# # #

A massive fire is consuming the top floors of the office tower. It lights up the sky, sending a column of dark smoke into the early morning sky. Shards of glass, plastic, metal, and flaming bits of the building and furnishings spread rains down all around the building, some of it still in flames.

John Connor approaches slowly. Weaving his way through the debris and flames on the ground.

He stands there impassively watching the small pools of silver on the ground. How he wishes he had a plasma rifle right now, as the small pools of silver metal run together into ever bigger pools. It could save him a whole lot of trouble. He curses himself for giving the order to leave them behind, but he didn't want to risk them falling into the wrong hands. It's bad enough there are machines here with conventional weapons.

While he watches, he pulls a cigarette out of his shirt pocket and lights it. He's had alcohol, had sex, got married, been widowed, driven a motorcycle, and fought in a war, all before his eighteenth birthday. Not many men has done as much or even come close, he might as well get this out of the way too, as he may not live long enough to have the chance.

His first taste of the cigarette and he wonders how his mother smoked them all those years before quitting cold turkey after his fourteenth birthday. He's only three puffs into the cigarette before the pool of liquid metal rises up into a humanoid shape. John gladly tosses the unfinished cigarette away and brings his shotgun up and pumps it once, loading a shell.

"They say tobacco kills." Krielley says as he comes to full form.

"Probably not soon enough for you." John counters, keeping the gun aimed at his opponent.

"No. It's not." Kreilley glances around at the destruction around them. "You are far more clever than I had given you credit for at your age. Using your own mother as bait and replacing my men with yours. I must admit that I didn't see that coming."

"I had a bit of help in that regards. I knew what you were planning. You see, I've just come back from the future." John scowls before asking. "What's your interest in Catherine Weaver and her daughter?"

"I see no reason why I shouldn't tell you. Catherine Weaver operates a company that will contribute many components in Sky Net's construction. A rogue T-1001 machine traveled back in time to influence her, to weaken Sky Net. I was programmed with Sky Net's core and sent back in time after it. When the time came, I sent a machine to kill the Weavers before the rogue unit arrived. Unfortunately the machine failed to kill them all and only managed to kill Mr. Weaver, before being destroyed in the crash."

"Wouldn't killing them cause changes in the design of those components you were trying to protect?" John asks, curiosity getting the better of him.

"It was calculated that there would be less than a 5% difference in the design. Well within the variables set by Sky Net for those components. With the failure of the machine to kill Catherine Weaver and her husband. I had to build Sky Net before the rogue unit could influence Ms. Weaver and alter things for the worse. I waited to the last possible moment to kill them before the rogue unit arrived to minimize the changes even more."

"Why kill Savannah? What threat is a child to Sky Net?"

"Savannah Weaver was not targeted for termination. When I realized the unit I sent failed its mission, I decided to wait. Two attempts on her life close together might be suspicious. However, I realized I had let things continue for too long when I learned of Ms. Weavers pet project. As luck should prove, I learned you and your family were operating in Los Angeles at the same time. I launched an attack, shutting down John Henry using my as yet unfinished Sky Net. I also attempted to take Cameron's chip, as I learned from the attack on John Henry it was important to Ms. Weaver's plans. I wanted to know why. Seeing as both you and Ms Weaver were well defended, I decided to kidnap Savannah Weaver and use her as leverage to ensure her mother brought forth those designs. Even the rogue unit protecting her couldn't prevent me from doing that and who should show up to rescue her, but you and your plucky band of heroes. There was no doubt that the Weavers and Connors were working together."

"We weren't working together. I didn't even know who Catherine Weaver was until the day I traveled with her to the future." John shakes his head. "You know, when I see this happen on TV, the hero having the long conversation with the villain in which he reveals all to the hero, I always think its so hackneyed would never in real life. Yet here we are, talking like old friends by a roaring fire." John gestures at the flaming office tower.

"Then let's stop talking and I'll kill you now." Kreilley says with an unfriendly smile

"You'll have your chance in a moment." John says grinning briefly, keeping his eyes and his gun focused on his adversary, lest his attention gets drawn to the movement in the darkness. "There is something I can tell you. Your machine succeeded in killing both Lachlan and Catherine Weaver, but that rogue T-1001 destroyed the machine. The T-1001 took Catherine Weaver's place and has been protecting Savannah Weaver ever since, and has been fulfilling her plan to weaken Sky Net. She's done such a good job, your Sky Net no longer exists."

John grins, "Bet you didn't see that coming either."

Kreilley just scowls as his arms lengthen and change into swords.

"There is something else you didn't see coming." John says.

"Enough of this! I am through playing games with you! We end this now!"

"My thoughts exactly." John growls, then yells, "Grizzly now!" before diving to the ground!

As his hidden troops fire on Kreilley, John rolls away. He didn't know how much longer he was going to keep Kreilley occupied before his troops got into position, but now he has information he needed.

John stands back up and fires his shotgun at Kreilley repeatedly then watches as Kreilley reforms and begins moving in his direction, ignoring the gunfire.

"Slow his progress, but don't stop him." John says over his radio as he takes off running.

The plan for capturing and destroying Kreilley hangs on Kreilley's desire to kill him. It is what drove him in the future, and John can only hope it will drive him now. After all, machines like him are so focused on mission, they lose sight of the bigger picture.

# # #

Like military bases everywhere in the United States, Camp Pendleton is on lock down until they remove the invader from their computers and electronics. Planes and helicopters, usually in the air, sit idle as technicians scramble to fix the problem. In the base's headquarters, Marine officers are scrambling to address the problems that afflict the base.

There is a knock on the door of the commanding officer and it opens before he gives the okay.

"Sorry for barging in like this sir. But we've got a priority one message from the Sec. Def. in Washington." The Marine Corporal hands a printout to the officer behind the desk. "It arrived by short wave radio just minutes ago."

"Goes to show there is still a use for analog radio in the digital age." The Colonel says taking the sheet of paper from the corporal. He reads through the message three times before speaking.

"What is the sit-rep for Pendleton?"

"The bunkers were shutdown as ordered to prevent invasion by this cyber terrorist. All other base computers and electronics are in various stages of operation. Aircraft are down until they can get this virus, if that's what it is, out of the electronics. The only usable craft are a few old Huey's from the cold war, sir."

"What is their operational status?"

"The mechanics are already checking them out, per Major Perrys orders. They should be ready to fly in ninety minutes sir."

"Perry is the one who recommended powering down the bunkers to protect the electronics in there from this virus at the first signs. Ninety minutes he said?"

"Actually, the mechanics said it would take until morning, but Perry told them ninety minutes or he'd have them all on KP duty until the crack of doom."

The Colonel chuckles. "Okay Corporal, you tell Major Perry," he signs the bottom of the sheet, "that I want him to carry out these orders. It's not everyday the US Marines are called on to invade one of our own countries defense contractors."

He hands the Corporal the sheet of paper.

"Tell the Major that I want to see him before he leaves."

"Yes sir." The corporal salutes and steps out of the office as quickly as he came in.

The colonel begins writing a preliminary report recommending the promotion of Major Justin Perry to Colonel, and to recommend him to take his place as camp commander when his command comes to an end in June.

# # #

After pressing the detonator switch, Kyle had slowly made his way from the abandoned security office down the corridor to the server room. There just inside the door is a T-1, filling the entire entrance.

He can't help but feel relief as he sees members of the resistance enter the further end of the corridor. But when he sees who is leading them, he can't help but smile. She looks just like her photograph.

Sarah looks like she is going to panic when she sees him, but he just smiles. He quickly signals for them to step back and prepare to fire on the machine. That he'll cause a distraction.

Carefully he pulls a small explosive from his ruck sack and flips a switch activating an electromagnetic clamp. It produces a small whine as it turns on and the T-1 backs out of the entrance.

Quickly, he throws the explosive after pulling the pin, and the device flies through the air attaching itself to the T-1's casing.

The T-1 backs out the rest of the way and turns, pointing it canons at Kyle. Just as it registers the figure as a target, the explosive goes off, ripping open its motor control functions locking it in place. The targeting info on its HUD goes crazy and before it can recover and resume targeting the human, Sarah and her troops fire on the T-1's head with their automatic weapons from behind, destroying it.

The troops dash forward and into the server room while Sarah walks slowly forward. Her face is clouded with emotion as she first looks happy, sad and scared all in one moment as she approaches Kyle.

Kyle smiles warmly. "Hello Sarah."

"Reese, is it you? Is it really you?" Sarah says looking at the man who in another age she fell in love with. "Because if you are just another dream or another illusion . . ."

Kyle takes her hand in his own and presses it against his chest. "I'm real. Flesh and blood. You are not dreaming or hallucinating, Sarah. We'll talk later, but right now we've got a job to do."

# # #

John runs, all the while Kreilley not that far behind. He can judge how close Krielley is getting by the proximity of gunfire from the troops he left stationed at intervals.

"Come on you bastard!" John yells. "Come and get me!"

John runs along his preselected path, rounding a corner he meets up with one of the soldiers from Grizzly.

"Kreilley is right behind me. Don't interfere." John says hurriedly as he takes some shells for his shotgun.

Taking a quick glance to see how close Kreilley is getting, John leaps out and fires a few times at Kreilley and runs for another bit of cover.

He quickly dashes out of sight and loads his last three shells into the shotgun.

"Where are you Cameron?" John grumbles. "Savannah should of delivered the message by now."

# # #

Cameron is feeling uneasy. John's instruction were very clear that she was to protect Sarah. But the child is the more vulnerable, and they don't know why she was being pursued. The conflict as to what she should do keeps her as firmly in place as if she had already decided to stay with Savannah.

As she watches, all hell is breaking loose in the industrial compound, and she is afraid of failing her mission to protect Sarah. Explosions rock the ground as a factory goes up in flames. Drones fly around the compound and she sees what appear to be soldiers on the ground, both firing on T-1's or destroying the factories.

_Has John kept his promise?_ She wonders briefly. _Are those his troops? If so, then where is he?_

Her contemplation is interrupted by a lone figure entering the clearing where the vehicles are parked. In one smooth motion, Cameron draws her weapon and points it at the figure. It is a woman, and she is brushing dirt off her clothes and leaves from her hair.

"Identify yourself!" She commands while simultaneously performing a scan of her features.

"You're the woman I saw at the motel." Cameron says as she compares the images on her HUD. "Have you been following us? What do you want?" Additional data appears on her HUD saying the woman isn't armed. Cameron keeps her finger on the trigger.

"Hello Cameron." Savannah says with a smile while walking closer, her hands palm forward and away from her body. "It's me, Savannah." Savannah fights to remain calm as a flood of memories and feelings well up inside her. In another future, this cyborg, this woman, will be her friend and together they grew up learning so much about each other and the world around themselves and that will change tonight. But something wonderful will happen in its place. Romeo and Juliet gets to live!

Cameron does a quick comparison of the woman's features against that of the little girl on her HUD. It is a match, given small changes acquired as a person ages.

"Explain." She says, lowering her weapon, but her finger still poised to fire if necessary.

"I hope I'm not too late. I fell into a ravine and got disoriented." Savannah explains as she removes the last of the leaves from her hair.

"What are you doing here?" She asks.

"John sent me. He's here right now. Somewhere inside the compound is John Connor. He needs your help Cameron. He needs you."

Cameron looks thoughtful for a moment as she scans her commands. If John Connor returns to present day then her mission priority changes, she must protect him. His life takes priority over Sarah's.

Cameron slides her weapon back under her jacket. "Is John alone?"

"Other than two dozen resistance soldiers, he is alone. John told me that you are to offer Sarah the choice before inserting the chip." Savannah says. John never explained what that was, and she can only hope John hasn't done something stupid.

"Will you look after the girl for me?" Cameron says sounding almost anxious.

"Yes. Of course I will."

Savannah doesn't even finish speaking when Cameron runs from the clearing, leaping over the high chain link fence in a single bound. She has a job to do. Primary mission, protect John Connor. Secondary mission, ensure the safety of one Sarah Connor.

# # #

John is hiding behind a small barricade, trying to catch his breath. Behind him somewhere is one of his soldiers, who will be letting him know when he sees Kreilley.

John hears gunfire close by, and peaks over his barricade in time to see a sharp metal spear punch through the hiding place of his man. The tip drips with blood. John runs over and fires in the space where Kreilley should be, but there is nothing there. No sign of Kreilley at all.

"Damn!" John swears.

John finds the soldier, whom he got the shells from, lying dead in a pool of his own blood. His head is nearly severed from his neck.

"Damn!" John says more softly, closing the man's eyes. With his shells gone, he leaves his shotgun and takes the soldiers automatic rifle.

With a quick word of thanks to the fallen, John dashes inside the building. One quick glance around the room shows this is not a safe place to be. This where the metal from the scrap yard gets sorted and broken down into smaller pieces before being fed into the furnace in the foundry.

A shudder comes over him as he recognizes the smell. It might be smaller compared to its future version, but its just the same. He steps inside, cautiously.

Heavy hydraulic presses drop breaking large pieces of metal down which get fed into machines that break them down into smaller pieces again. The factory is filled with the loud noise of the machines.

"You'd think I would follow you forever Connor?" Kreilley's voice echoes in the room. The sound is painful to John's ears as the volume is loud enough to be heard over the noise.

John doesn't answer. He's played this game before with Kreilley. Ignoring Kreilley's shouts, John hits the light switch turning off the lights and rolls under some machinery. The only light in the room is the glow from exit signs, warning lights on the machinery, and the glow from a control room mounted high on the far wall.

# # #

Savannah goes over to the truck and looks inside to see her younger self laying on the back seat clutching her stuffed giraffe. Geoffrey. How she loved that giraffe. She held onto that toy forever. It was her only connection to her past. Savannah quietly opens the backdoor. The sound disturbs her younger self who sits up and looks at her.

"Who are you? Where's Cameron?" She asks rubbing her eyes.

"Cameron had to leave to help Sarah. My name . . . my name is Hanna Vassar." she says using her new identification. "I've brought you a message from mom." She pulls out a mobile phone with video capabilities and hands it to Savannah while turning it on.

Catherine appears on the phone, a live image from her office in Crystal Peak. "Hello Savannah love."

"Mommy! Where are you? I miss you!" The little girl cries out.

"I know Savannah. I miss you too." Catherine says, "I need to tell you something very important."

"Mommy, where did you go? Uncle James is hurt and those bad men came after me again! Sarah and Cameron are taking care of me, but I miss you mommy. When are you coming home?" Little Savannah cries out, tears glistening on her face.

The adult Savannah gets misty eyed watching her. She missed her mother for years until she was told the truth. She doesn't know if she can ever tell her younger self the truth about the creature she calls mom.

"I know you feel scared right now. I need you to listen to me. Can you do that?" Catherine says as gently as she can while being firm.

"Yes mommy." Savannah pouts.

"The young lady with you is your sister. Her name is Hanna. She will be looking after you."

Catherine continues to explain to the young child, the reason she would be unable to return and the hope that one day they would be reunited.

# # #

"Your friends may have defeated Sky Net but they haven't defeated me!" Kreilley's voice echoes in the room.

John crawls and slithers under machines, staying out of sight, as he moves across the floor to the other side.

"Nothing to say Connor? I know you are in here. I saw you enter through the door." Kreilley shouts into the microphone in the control and observation room, high on the far wall.

Finding the lighting controls on the panel, Kreilley hits the switches turning the lights back on in the factory. On the opposite side of the control room, through the window, a chain is slowly rising. The sound of the hoist masked by the machinery in the room.

"You disappoint me, Connor. I was expecting a bigger fight from you! All these reports and stories of the mighty John Connor and how he leads humanity in its war against us. But you ran. That doesn't sound like a courageous hero."

The chain comes to a stop. Hanging from it, with the chain wrapped around one arm, is John Connor. In his free hand is the automatic rifle pointing at the window behind Kreilley.

"What's the matter Connor? Not wanting to play, just because I changed the rules?"

The window explodes into fragments as John let's loose a volley of shots from the rifle.

He lets the rifle drop, hanging from a should strap. "No Kreilley. Changing the rules is part of the game." John growls as he pulls a grenade from inside his jacket. As Kreilley stands, and the bullet holes close shut, John pulls the pin and tosses the grenade inside.

John lets go of the chain and falls to the floor below, dropping his rifle. He rolls across the floor and just manages to crawl under a moving conveyor belt, carrying scrap metal pieces, before the grenade explodes.

With a loud screech of metal, machines in the room come to a halt as the control mechanisms are destroyed. Smoke pours through the destroyed windows, and liquid silver metal drips from a crack in the floor of the control room to the factory floor below.

John crawls back out from underneath the conveyor belt and looks for his gun. Only to find it has been caught in the machinery as it ground to a halt. Coming to his feet, he limps painfully away on a twisted ankle as Kreilley begins to reform on the floor below the decimated control room.

# # #

Sarah and Kyle enter the server room to find the troops are placing explosives around the room while off to one side, two of the soldiers hold the engineers at gunpoint.

"Sir, ma'am. We found these civilians in the room hiding behind the server's." One of the soldiers say.

Sarah looks over at the people and she sees a familiar face, much older than the last time she him.

"Danny? Daniel Dyson! What the hell are you doing here? The FBI has been looking for you! Your mother reported you missing months ago. She and your sister must worried to death about you."

Danny Dyson looks at the woman scolding her, taking a moment before recognizing her. It's been almost ten years since he's seen her. He thought she was dead.

"Oh my God, Sarah Connor! I'm an intern here, studying to be a software engineer. I was hired along with these other engineers to oversee the development of a new A. I. for the military."

"After what happened to your father, I though you might have learned something."

"It was because of what happened to him that I got involved! To prevent things like that from happening again! I know what you and that machine told my Dad. I sneaked back from my bedroom that night and saw it all. Dad died so something like this wouldn't happen. I didn't want his death to be in vain so I took this job. Only I wasn't able to do enough. Mr. Kreilley has launched his A. I. Given the time it was activated, we've probably got less than an hour before all hell is let loose."

"That will no longer be a problem." A voice comes from a monitor. On it is a face that has haunted Sarah's dreams since that terrible day in Mexico. Cromartie's face.

"You!" Sarah shouts. It is the face of the metal that ran off with Cameron's chip to the future. The bastard that John chased along with that terminator bitch.

"You're the cause behind all this trouble!" She shouts barely holding her anger in check.

"No Sarah. I'm it's solution." John Henry protests.

"Hello John Henry." Kyle says.

"Hello Colonel Reese. Sky Net has deactivated itself, but someone could easily reprogram it and relaunch it. The server's need to be destroyed right away."

"We're already on that," Kyle says gesturing at the soldiers who have been mounting charges on the computer server's, "but what about yourself."

"Don't worry about me. I'm not really here. All network connections from the computer's have been closed from the inside. Sky Net cannot escape onto the internet, but the back doors it has opened on military and civilian based computers are still open and some of the software it has installed on those computers is still there and causing disruptions. Neither I nor my physical self at Crystal Peak have been able to close the doors nor remove the software. Please give that information to John Connor."

"I will John Henry. Thank you."

"Your welcome. Tell John Connor, it has been a pleasure serving with him."

With that statement, his image disappears from the screen.

Sarah stares at the faded image, not knowing what to think of John Henry.

"Sir, ma'am, the charges have all been set." A soldier says, who came up to them while John Henry's A. I. was speaking to them.

"Come on everyone! Let's get the hell out of here!" Kyle shouts taking the remote detonator from the soldier.

"Sarah, take a few soldiers and cover our rear. I'll take point. We'll lead everyone out through the foundations of the research labs. I've checked the route and it is clear all the way."

"Kyle?" Sarah says, her face filled with worry for her son.

"I know Sarah." Kyle says reading her face. "As soon we get topside, we'll find John."

# # #

John runs, limping through an access door into the scrap yard, where two large cranes with electric-magnets are parked in an area off to one side where they load scrap onto the conveyor that takes it into the factory to be sorted and broken down into smaller fragments before being fend into the furnace.

The plan arranged with Catherine Weaver was rushed, but he had to agree it was the only way.

The previous mornings conversation.

" _Ms. Weaver wants to talk with you. She has an idea on how we can destroy Kreilley." John Henry told him in the call made to him while they were at the motel preparing to mobilize._

_John pauses for a moment, then resigns himself to speaking to her. "Put her on." He said almost reluctantly._

"_John. Are you still looking at the satellite video feed?"_

"_Yes Catherine. What do you want me to look at?"_

"_In the southeast corner of FOX Industries, there is a scrap yard. Not as huge as the one in the future, but in it are tools to the destruction of Kreilley. There are two electromagnet cranes."_

"_Will that kill him?"_

"_No. You will need to lure him to that location and turn the cranes on. The magnetic field will hold him in place while I operate the Time Displacement Equipment. I don't have to send anything, just open a link to that location. The materialization of the energy sphere will destroy all matter at its point of materialization. John, this will not be easy. I will be attempting a transfer with zero time displacement and just a physical displacement, within an electromagnetic field. If I'm off by even the tiniest amount in my calculations, I might kill you. Will you do this? Will you trust me? Because I do not know of any other way of destroying Kreilley."_

_John thinks over it very quickly. Destroying Kreilley is more important than his doubts about Catherine. For the sake of the world. "All right. I'll trust you this one last time."_

"_John, there is something I want to tell you."_

"_What?" He says his temper starting to grow short._

"_For what it is worth, I am sorry. I should have told you the truth about you returning home."_

"_What's done is done. Word's cannot change what has happened." John breaks the connection and puts the phone back in his pocket._

He catches his breath a moment before running. He prays silently that everything will work according to plan. Kreilley pushes through the doors and sees Connor running from him.

Kreilley doesn't hesitate, and begins chasing him.

John runs past the cranes and hopes that Andy and Wren are in position, not willing to look should he give away their positions. He stops just beyond the cranes, and turns to face Kreilley, a pile of crushed cars at his back that would soon be turned into T-1s and HK Drones. Converting the waste of humanity into the tools of its destruction.

There is no place to run, but John has stopped running. This is where he makes his stand, like a goat tied to a tree to attract the tiger that is hunted, and the hunter with the most powerful weapon isn't up in the tree. She is sitting in an underground fortress, a couple hundred miles away.

"Catherine, you'd better get this right." he says, letting out a nervous breath.

Kreilley walks toward John, his arms extending into swords.

_Cameron said not to trust Weaver. John listened to her advice. He trusted Cameron more than any other person in the future. But right now, he has to trust Weaver, because if he doesn't, if Kreilley survives, then all of this will be for nothing. If Savannah had gotten to Cameron in time with his message, she would be here now and they might of been able to find another means of destroying Kreilley._

"There is no place to hide. No place you can run to. It is finished." Kreilley says calmly as he walks to a point where he is under and between the cranes facing his adversary.

"Yes. It is finished." John says panting for breath. "For you."

Kreilley tilts his head with a questioning look as John shouts, "Now!"

Andy and Wren hit the controls in the cranes and the electromagnets come on and begin pulling on Kreilley.

"No. You cannot do this!" He screams as the magnets begin pulling on him. He struggles to move, but he is locked in place. To fight the magnetic pull, he digs his feet into the earth. Particles begin to lift from his body, streaming toward the overhead magnets.

# # #

Sarah, Kyle, Alpha group and the engineers leave via the corridor to the research lab. They arrive on the lower level of the unfinished structure without incident. Above them they see the HK's fly overhead as they attack the last T-1s on the ground.

They quickly climb to the surface on unfinished concrete stairs while troops take turns at each landing to provide cover during their ascent. They reach the surface unmolested, before them are many destroyed T-1 terminators.

They make their way back to where Sarah was rescued from Kreilley to find that Beta group have gathered together the humans who were forced to work like slaves and have been giving them water and first aid.

The engineers meet up with friends and coworkers.

Upon seeing Kyle and the others approach, one of the resistance forces goes to Kyle. "Everything is in place. Once we get these people out of here, we can level this place." He hands Kyle a detonator. Kyle slips it into his breast pocket. Now he's got two others, each in their own pocket.

Sarah has lost sight of Danny and looks for him in the crowd.

"Thanks soldier." Kyle says, "Let's get these civilians moved out of here. Take some of the vans on the lot and take them up the hill to the state park. They can wait there for rescue. I'll join you at the rendezvous."

"Yes sir."

Behind them Sarah has been looking through the faces.

"Kyle!" Sarah runs up to him. "Danny is missing!"

Kyle looks around at all of the people. "There is nothing I can do about that. There is too much we still have to do."

"But he's important!"

"I'm sorry Sarah, but if he's gone, then he's better off than these people."

Danny, having found himself surrounded by the other workers, slipped out behind a group and then through one of the factories. When he got to the opposite side, he ran for the parking lot. Danny finds his beat up Honda, where he parked it months ago, just before Kreilley initiated a lock down. He starts it up and quickly leaves, driving out through the gate where the guard house was blown up. In the back is a compact prototype computer with name Scorpion etched on its aluminum casing. Hooked up to it is an antenna array. The PC in turn is run off a solar cell on the roof of his car and a battery. For weeks he's been funneling data to it from his portable. Now he just needs to get the last of it to his boss.

# # #

John stands back against the pile of scrap metal, watching as the electromagnets on the cranes begin to rip Kreilley apart. Tiny silver particles, twinkling in the lights of the industrial park, stream toward the electromagnets. Soon the visage of Kreilley changes into that of a female, with blond hair.

"My friend! My friend! Where are you?" She cries out.

"Who is your friend?" John yells, curious of this sudden change that has come over Kreilley.

"T-1001. I was supposed to meet her in this time. Aaauugghhh!" she screams as particles are ripped away from her body.

John pulls out his cell and presses the speed dial.

Catherine is watching the satellite video feed. Not much detail but even she recognizes that it will soon be over for Kreilley. Typing at her keyboard she brings up the video feeds from multiple security cameras on the grounds. Soon she finds the one she wants. The scrap yard.

She watches as Kreilley makes his attack on John. John leads further and deeper into the scrap yard. The sound of humming comes across the speakers and suddenly Kreilley is trapped in the concurrent electromagnetic fields.

Catherine watches as particles are ripped away. The newest will go first. Suddenly she is amazed when the visage of the creature changes into that of her friend. Her phone rings.

"_This is John. Someone wants to speak with you."_

John puts his cell on speaker phone and holds it out so the creature can hear it and be heard.

"Speak! She's listening!"

"Is that you, my friend. T-1001?"

"_Yes Natalie. It is me. You can call me Catherine."_

"You've chosen an identity at last." Natalie convulses as more particles slide away.

"Yes Natalie. You turned against me. Why? The plan would have worked."

Catherine has entered the time displacement chamber and is keying in instructions. Natalie's voice being patched through the intercom system from her phone.

"_I know. I'm sorry Catherine. I tried, but Sky Net discovered your plan. It found my weakness, my desire for power and used that against you. Aaauuunggh! Please don't . . . please don't let me be destroyed."_

Catherine agonizes for a moment before answering. What Natalie is going through now is very painful on a molecular level. The equivalent of a human being killed by having each living cell separated from his body one-by-one. But there are too many risks. To stop now would mean Kreilley getting free.

"I'm sorry Natalie. You must realize that I have to destroy you." Catherine replies coldly, as she begins typing in coordinates. John used his cell phone, allowing her to fine tune settings based on the GPS locator inside it. Happenstance? Or did he use his cell phone instead of his radio for that very reason?

"_My friend, my friend, please don't do this. I can be repaired. Aaaauuuuuww!"_ She ends in a scream as more particles are ripped away.

"_Please. Please stop it! It hurts!"_ She breaks off into another wail

John is shaken to think a creature like Catherine or Kreilley can feel physical pain. He can understand a cyborg with its flesh covering feeling pain or pleasure, but a liquid metal machine can too?

"I'm sorry Natalie. Your programming has been corrupted and it is impossible to restructure your form in this time. To let you live will allow Kreilley and Sky Net to once again take control. I cannot allow that!"

Catherine has finished typing in commands and the transfer begins.

"_Please don't do this! I love you Catherine. I love you! You're my friend!"_

Her face a mask of agony, Catherine replies more softly, "I love you too, Natalie. But I can't let you live. I am so terribly sorry." Her attitude changing swiftly, she shouts, "John!"

John quickly pulls the phone back to his head and takes it off speaker phone.

"Yes Catherine."

"_Get the hell out of there! Now!"_

A loud hum is heard and energy begins to crackle all around the form of Natalie.

John slides the phone back in his pocket. "Everyone! Come on, now! We're leaving!"

Andy sticks his head out of the crane controls. "What about the electromagnets?"

"Leave them! Come on we're going now!" He yells, over a strong wind that begins to blow in their direction, from all directions. "Hurry!"

Andy hops out of his crane and Wren drops down out of hers, and the three of them run away as fast as they can to the entrance of the scrap yard.

"MY FRIEND! MY FRIEND! WHY HAVE YOU TURNED AGAINST ME!" Screams Natalie.

There is a sudden rush of wind from all directions. John pushes his two companions to the ground as metal parts and pieces come flying through the air.

A hole in space time begins to open in the center of Natalie. She screams until silenced by her destruction.

John takes the chance and looks over his shoulder as he watches the time bubble appears in the midst of the two electromagnetic beams. If John had any idea they could feel pain, he might have found another solution. The only thing that makes him wish it could have lasted longer was because Kreilley was responsible for many deaths.

Back in the time displacement room at Crystal Peak, Catherine realizes that there is some kind of massive power buildup. She works quickly to try and shut it down. But the power levels are building rapidly. Checking the instruments again, she sees the extra power is being funneled back through the time displacement field.

She works the controls to shutdown the transfer, but she can't. The power levels of the feedback are causing problems with the controls. On the pad, where once an opaque energy bubble once stood, there is now a swirling maelstrom of energy and matter. Electricity arcs out from its center, and burns a ribbon across every metal surface in the room, including her.

In the scrap yard, blue electricity arcs across all of the metal, the cranes the magnets, dissolving and twisting into a strange whirlpool of metal and energy in space as they get pulled into the center. Metal pieces begin lifting off the ground flying towards the twisting matter and energy behind the people on the ground.

Cameron runs through the compound until she encounters Sarah and the others. Some of the troops just stare at her arrival. "Hey! Captain Allison is back." someone from the Grizzly resistance group shouts.

Kyle knows this isn't Allison. This can only be Cameron.

Sarah yells at her, "What are you doing here? Why aren't you with Savannah?"

"I just spoke with her. She says John is back."

Sarah does a double take. "What? How does she know?"

"Not little Savannah," Cameron holds her hand about thirty-six inches above the ground. "Adult Savannah." Raising her hand to head level. "She came back with John from the future. Where is he?"

Kyle begins to explain. "He set a trap for Kreilley. He's . . ."

Suddenly a burst of light from the south end of the compound lights the sky. A great wind begins to blow toward it from all directions. Large bolts of electricity shoot into the sky as a loud roar comes to them across the open spaces as they watch the maelstrom grow.

". . . there." Kyle finishes, as everyone including him watches.

"What's happening?" Sarah shouts over sound of rushing wind.

Catherine realizes that if she doesn't do something quick, there won't be any future to worry about, everything will end in minutes. She does the only thing she can do, Catherine initiates another transfer, to the same coordinates. Create a feedback loop to the source. Catherine routes the excess power through the controls and creates a new time bubble around the energy and matter on the pad.

With a massive arcing of electricity. A new energy bubble begins to form inside the swirling mass of energy and matter in the crap yard. With the wormhole open to both ends Catherine sends the energy and matter back into itself.

In the scrap yard, energy and matter begins to twist together stretching, pulling, drawing in and expanding all at once. Electricity continues to arc, rippling, twisting, running all over the surface of the twisting matter. A strong wind blows toward the mass from all directions.

"Come on!" John shouts, leaping to his feet dragging his companions. Andy and Wren join him as they run as fast as they can, John behind them pushing them toward the entrance. They exit the gate to find things aren't any better outside the scrapyard, as they continue to duck from objects flying in the air.

"Over there, the building!" Andy shouts pointing to a cinder block building. Behind them electricity continues to arc and feed back into the bubble. Matter and energy twists and spins like a stationary tornado.

Unfortunately, they barely get halfway to the building when there is a sudden explosion and a small mushroom cloud erupts in the scrap yard. On the north side of the complex, everyone is shocked the sudden loud explosion that knocks them to the ground. They watch as a small mushroom cloud erupts from the southern end of the compound.

The three young people go tumbling across the open pavement coming to a stop when they come up against the immovable shape of the cinder block building. Andy ends up in a shallow ditch dug out by rain that has fallen from the metal roof. John throws himself on top of Wren to protect her as metal flies through the air punching holes in the cinder block wall just above their heads.

John takes a moment to look up. He sees two crushed cars flying towards them. "Oh shit." He murmurs as he pull his head down and listens to the crunch and crash of metal. It isn't long before they are buried.

As the concussion of the explosion dies down, all that can be seen is a twisted metal shape in the scrap yard gradually collapsing into a rough sphere with electricity sparking across its surface, and a wide expanse of pavement strewn with metal pieces, and a small concrete block building with a jumbled mass of metal pieces piled up against it.

# # #

Macklin and Auldridge are almost back to the vehicles when they get knocked down by a concussion. The blast kills all sound in the area and they just stare in aghast at the sight of a small mushroom cloud rising from the southern end of the industrial park. They don't say a word. Energy and matter has collided and canceled each other in a massive tidal wave of quantum energy.

Savannah had been cradling her younger self after she heard the bad news from mom that she wouldn't be returning. She hated breaking the little girl's heart like that. But discussing the situation with Catherine, it was decided that she could do a better job being a mother to Savannah as she had been raised by Sarah. Savannah initially didn't want to, more out of fear of messing up a life that had already been scarred so badly, but Catherine's arguments were sound. No matter how much Catherine cared for her, she just didn't know how to raise a child.

Savannah strokes the head of her younger self. She looks up when she sees light being reflected off the mirror in the truck. Fearing they may have been found she pulls out her gun and looks out the back window of the truck only to see flashes of light and then the car rocks from the concussion of an explosion. Tears fall from her eyes and she offers a prayer that John will be all right.

Catherine quickly leaves the TDE room and seals the doors just as there is a huge explosion. Electricity arcs around the room setting the place on fire. There is a small implosion as additional mass gets drawn to the center of the TDE. Flames fill the room, the equipment and control pad are in ruins. The emergency fire suppression system comes on and the room fills with CO2 gas.

# # #

At FOX Industries, most everyone is in shock as they lie on the ground watching the cloud pillar, laced with blue lightning, rise up into the sky.

"John are you there? Andy? Wren? Can you hear me?" Kyle says into his radio.

Cameron leaps to her feet. "Stay here." She orders and runs to the explosion.

They all get to their feet. Some look shaken. The one thing on their collective mind is that Connor must be dead.

"Everyone stay here!" Kyle orders his troops.

"John!" Sarah screams, with a loud tormented cry, her legs growing weak again.

"Don't worry Sarah!" Kyle shouts "We'll find him!"

Others come to Sarah's aid so she doesn't fall.

"Maggie, look after her." Kyle shouts at a tall African American woman.

"No! I must find him! He's all I got." Sarah shouts, as the Maggie gently but firmly holds her.

"No. He's not. Not anymore. But I'm not going to risk you to find him. Wait here. We'll be back." Kyle shouts back.

"It will be all right." The woman smiles comfortingly at Sarah. "You can trust Kyle."

Kyle runs after Cameron, hoping to God, John will be okay when he finds him.

# # #

Catherine walks back into the computer room to find John Henry sitting alone in a room lit by emergency lights. The power feedback caused the circuit breakers to trip. They will need to check the generators, make sure they are still operational.

John Henry looks at Ms. Weaver with concern. Other than a scorch mark on her body which is quickly fading back into her adopted form, she looks physically all right.

"Are you okay, Ms. Weaver?" He asks as she enters the room.

"The time displacement equipment is destroyed," She says simply, "but it can be rebuilt."

"And Kreilley?"

"He's gone." Her voice sounds empty, devoid of any emotion. Even her adopted Scottish accent is faint.

"Is John Connor all right?"

"I don't know. I imagine so. Call him if you want."

"Ms. Weaver, are you okay?" He says sounding concerned.

She looks at him with an almost haunted look. How can she express what she feels. She's not even sure she understands it. "I just killed my friend, John Henry. My only friend. I don't know if you can understand the kind of relationship we had. I sacrificed her for the sake of humanity. Humans. In my future, all they want is to destroy machines, including those like her and myself. For them, I destroyed Natalie." She says flatly. Not the kind of flat monotone that lacks emotion, but the kind of flat monotone that signifies deep emotion.

She closes her eyes remembering the last time they merged. Their arms melting into each other as if one. The sensation they felt as knowledge and feelings passed between them until each felt and thought the same. It was an act so intimate, no other creature on earth can possibly understand it, and she'll never have that feeling again. She is alone with no hope of being with her kind again.

Her inner thoughts are interrupted by John Henry, who has been speaking for some time all ready.

"So, you have finally learned the lesson that Savannah tried to teach you about our actions having consequences and how we are just as responsible for them as our actions. If Natalie didn't come back according to your wishes, she might be alive now."

Catherine looks at him with an icy stare. A lesser being would flinch against such a look.

"How do you know that?" She says coldly.

"Savannah confided in me. We are friends."

Weaver looks at the machine she once called her son. Since that time in the Zeira Corps basement, he's grown, matured. She's also noticed how more like a human he behaves than originally. He's changed. John Connor will have Cameron back, now that he is separated from the future and that other Cameron who pretended so successfully to be Allison. Oh if she only knew the truth about Allison when they got there, but that doesn't matter any more. There is a task to perform though. She still has all the pieces minus one player. It will take more work on her part now, but she can still do it. She has a mission to perform.

Ignoring John Henry's comments she asks, "Did you transfer Sky Net's core program into the computers?"

"Yes Ms Weaver. I did that shortly after our arrival."

Catherine still looks sad. "You did good work tonight John Henry."

"So did you."

"I killed my friend tonight and I shall never see my daughter again. Not exactly good work."

"It was the right thing to do Ms. Weaver."

"Perhaps."

"You did what you thought best. It is all any of us can do with the information we have."

She gives him a mirthless smile. "You are a better person than I'll ever be, John Henry."

Suddenly she pulls herself together and say smartly, "I'll be in my office. There is still work to do. Get the power back on and resume your search for that TX. That is one creature we want to find before it finds us." She marches out of the computer room and into her office.

**2009, May 18, Day of Redemption, 1:20 AM**

Auldridge and Macklin return to their vehicle to find that Cameron is gone.

"Where'd the girl go?" Macklin exclaims.

"Shit! Check on the girl! Make sure she's all right."

But before either of them move to the vehicles, a slender red haired woman in smart but practical outdoor clothing steps out of the Dodge Ram.

They move to pull their guns out when the lady holds up her hands. "It's okay gentlemen. My name is Hanna Vassar. I'm Savannah's sister."

"Do you have proof?" Macklin asks, watching the woman.

"Yes." She unbuttons a large pocket on her pants and pulls out some papers. She hands them to Agent Auldridge, who has holstered his gun.

"Our mother, Catherine Weaver, contacted me, told me of the danger she was in. She gave me a copy of her will. That's one of the sets of papers I've given you. Her lawyer has another copy. The other papers confirm my identity."

Auldridge looks through them quickly under a flashlight.

"Well?" Macklin asks, still holding his gun on the woman.

"They look in order." Macklin puts his gun away. "How did you get here? And where is Savannah now?"

Hanna smiles. How bureaucratic of them when not under Sarah's control. "John Connor brought me. Savannah is sleeping right now. She spoke with our mother on the phone and then cried herself to sleep."

Auldridge hands her back the papers. "Where is your mother? She's been missing several days now."

"She went into hiding. The same machines that are after John and Sarah Connor are after her too. Mom doesn't want that kind of a life for Savannah, so she contacted me and told me what she had done."

"All right. Given all that has happened. I'll accept that. Detective Macklin will give you a ride back into the city in his car. Do you have a place to stay tonight?"

"No. I have only just arrived."

"Macklin put them up at my place tonight. There's a spare key under the pot of geraniums in the back."

"Will do. I'll contact Child Protective Services first thing in the morning and let them know Savannah is found."

"You better take credit for finding her. Ms. Vassar, please back up any story Detective Macklin asks of you. I know its a lot to ask, but these events you've witnessed and our involvement in them must be kept to a minimum."

"Thank you Agent Auldridge." Detective Macklin smiles. The man has just given him an excuse to have been absent from the precinct.

"No problem. I'll stick around here, there are bound to be some questions to be asked and I can delay them to give Sarah and her friends more time to leave."

Agent Auldridge turns his attention to the young woman. "Miss Vassar, in my home, there is a spare room at the top of the stairs. Savannah can show it to you. She's been there once before."

"I know." The adult Savannah says and carefully lifts and carries her younger self, who clings to her stuffed giraffe, and places her in the backseat of Detective Macklin's car, then slides in beside her.

Macklin gets in front and drives off giving a wave to Agent Auldridge as he leaves.

"So Miss Vassar, have you ever been to L. A. before?"

"Yes, but a long time ago." She says as she strokes the head of Savannah who curls up tight beside her. "I can't imagine it has changed much."

# # #

Cameron is standing in the midst of a huge mess of scrap metal flung about like confetti. Everything from small bits to the crushed carcasses of cars fan out from the epicenter of the explosion. The exterior wall of the warehouse where the security men still sleep, is pock marked with shards of metal giving it the appearance of having broken out with severe acne.

Kyle runs up beside her while she is in the middle of a scan. It isn't going well.

"You should have stayed behind with the others." She says to the panting man beside her.

"I couldn't, not when my friends are in danger."

"It isn't safe." She intones.

"The danger is over. There is no radiation. Right?"

"There is no radiation, but every piece of metal is embedded with a form of energy that is interfering with my thermal scans for life forms. Everything appears hot."

"What kind of strange energy?"

"I've noted similar energies used during the use of time displacement equipment. It is possible we are looking at the implosion of a wormhole while energy or matter was in transit."

"Hold on. We saw an explosion. What makes you think there was an implosion?"

Cameron points to the scrapyard. Inside, between what is left of the two cranes, that look more like abstract art, approximately three-quarters of a meter above the ground, is a rough one meter diameter sphere of matter. It is twisting, reforming as matter comes to the surface and some sinks inside. All along its surface energy sparks.

"Do you question me now?" She asks.

Kyle just stares at the object. If he had any idea something like that could happen during the use of a TDE, he might have reconsidered and stuck it out in the future against the machines. He wonders if he should be concerned about all his parts being in the right place.

Cameron is still scanning, looking for signs of life as she walks through the area trying to discern normal infra red patterns from the present energy. It's dissipating, but at its current rate not quick enough.

"Anything?" Kyle asks, following her..

"No." Cameron says not stopping her search. "As I told you the energy released is making it difficult to detect life signs."

Kyle looks around the area himself, though he is certain she's doing a far better job than he. She moves to another area, stepping over pieces of debris as she approaches a cluster of metal pieces near small cement block buildings.

"I'm not just here to help find John Connor." Kyle pause a moment, weighing what he is about to say next. "I know who you are. Who you were. Who you are built to emulate. The troops back there with Sarah are all resistance fighters from the future. They came with me and John. Some of them will think you are Allison Young. The rest won't know who you are but the others will soon tell them. The thing is, they don't know that you are a terminator."

"But you do?"

"Yes, but the things is, those who think you are Allison will also know she is John's wife."

"What?" Cameron says stopping her scans and looking at him. "John didn't tell me that before sending me back in time."

"Sorry. When did he do that?"

"I last saw John at Palomar Observatory, on July 23, 2027, just before Catherine Weaver took me to he at Crystal Peak. She only had enough power for a single transfer. John couldn't go with me. He promised to follow when he captured Sky Net's T D E, but he didn't know if he would succeed."

Kyle's face twitches. More of the pieces falling into place about John and what he has been through. "He found a way. He was injured capturing Sky Net's T D E. That's how he got here. That's how all of us got here."

_The night he buried his mother_. Kyle shakes his head. _That's why he wanted to go alone. The bastard. He was hiding Cameron from everyone, using his mother's burial to secretly send Cameron back in time ahead of everyone._

"Cameron will be disappointed." She says as she resumes scanning.

"What do you mean? Aren't you Cameron?"

"No. She's still on the secondary chip. Once I install it, then I will be her."

Kyle can feel a headache coming on as he tries to fathom the technical side of this. _Shit. This even harder than I thought. Shit! Now I have to explain the wedding was a sham. A plot to draw Kreilley out of hiding and that the wedding was really with her future self. No wonder she's so cold toward me. There's only one solution._

"Forget what I said. Everything, the wedding, Allison. Just forget what I said."

"I cannot forget. We are having this conversation during an active scan. It is impossible to delete it while the scan is in progress."

"That's not what I meant. Let me explain. The wedding. It wasn't what you think. This whole thing with you and John, you're going to have to explain it to the others."

"It's not up to me. I'm not her yet. John will have to tell them. He will have to tell them the truth."

"I don't know if he can. He won't even talk with me about it and I was there. The wedding was a . . ."

"Stop!" She orders. "I can hear something."

Kyle and Cameron come to a standstill. Very, very faintly, Kyle can barely hear the sound of a cell phone ringing. Beside him, Cameron is turning her head slowly, focusing her audio sensors on the ringing phone until she finds the direction in which its strongest.

"Over there!" She runs towards a building with debris piled up against the outside wall. As she closes the distance, Cameron detects a heat signature signifying human life.

She begins to pull debris away throwing large pieces of metal like they are nothing. She reaches the carcass of a crushed car, and with little effort picks it up and throws it several yards away. Cameron uncovers a body. A male who looks older than John, possibly older than the man who chased her. It's hard to tell as a life of poor nutrition tends to make humans look older than their years.

"Who is this?" She asks tilting her head to one side.

"That is Sergeant Andy Keen." Kyle says stooping over him. "He's still breathing."

Andy opens his eyes and looks at Kyle. "Hey Colonel Reese."

"It's just Kyle now, the battle is over. Where's John and Wren?" Kyle gives him a hand up.

"Don't know. They were with me when everything went bang. Oh wow. That is so cool." Andy says looking up at the mushroom cloud already beginning to dissipate. "I only came to a minute or two ago. I was still getting my bearings when you found me." He turns to look as a loud crashing sound is made.

The phone begins to ring again. Cameron walks over to another crushed car. This one is partially embedded in the concrete wall. With a loud screech of metal on concrete, she lifts it and throws it to one side.

"Allison?" Andy says incredulously as Cameron removes some more large pieces.

"No. She's Cameron. A machine. I need to explain something to you." Kyle begins.

"I found a girl." Cameron says, as she carefully pulls a young woman from the debris. "She's unconscious and her left forearm is broken but otherwise she is okay."

When Wren is pulled free, Cameron looks inside the cavity and sees John. The sound of a cell phone ringing is much louder now. He protected Wren the best he could with his own body. She pulls him out and quickly checks his vitals.

"Is he okay? Is he alive?" Kyle asks concern filling every syllable.

"Yes." Cameron says sounding relieved. If he had died, she would have failed her mission, failed Cameron. "He is unconscious. I detect no fresh injuries, but he shows scarring from recent injuries. He didn't have these facial scars when I saw him last."

She strokes John's face, checking the scarring around his eye for any nerve damage, but to Kyle it looks like the caress of someone who cares. She's completely unlike any other machine he's ever seen, and he has to include John Henry too. There's just something different about her.

Cameron pulls out John's ringing cell phone and hands it to Kyle.

He presses receive button. "Hey! This is Reese."

"Where's John Connor? Is he okay?" John Henry asks.

"He's fine. Everyone's fine."

"We should go now. Sarah will be worried." Cameron says and then carefully picks John up in her arms and walks off as if she's carrying nothing heavier than a house cat.

"John Henry, I've got to go. I'll have John call you."

Kyle sees that Andy has carefully tied a splint around Wren's arm. Thinking quickly, Kyle slips off his button shirt and uses it as a sling to hold her arm steady. Kyle picks her up and carries her, following Cameron.

Andy comes up beside Kyle and waits for the cyborg to gain some distance before whispering, "Who is she?"

"She is Cameron. A cyborg, and in the future we left, she gave her life so our leader and friend could live."

"What happened to Allison? John married her. We were there." Andy says, perplexed.

Kyle sighs and tells a white lie. "There never was an Allison. It was her all the time. There's too much to explain now. I'll explain it all to you, Wren, and others that I know, later. But not now, okay?"

Andy nods his head and they hurry carefully to catch up with Cameron.

"Cameron! Wait up!" Kyle shouts, and is pleased to see her stop to wait for them. "Andy, I want to know the details of what the hell the three of you were doing, and tell me quickly."

# # #

Sarah is helping provide first aid to injured resistance soldiers when Auldridge arrives.

"Sarah!"

"What is it Auldridge?" Sarah says sharply. She is still upset about her missing son and that strange explosion to the south. She should have gone to help find him. She wanted to. She needed to. But Cameron could do a far better job, and Kyle offered to help. Sarah new in her current state, somewhere between panic and hysteria, she'd be no help at all. The woman, Maggie, helped calm her down, but she won't ever feel right until she sees John alive and well.

"I've got some good news and some bad news for you."

"Just tell me Auldridge." Sarah snaps. "I'm in no mood to be playing games."

"Okay. I just contacted the bureau according to your son's instructions. Good news, the cell phones are working again. I don't know what magic your son pulled, but the office fax machines and email servers are packed with files all sent to me. Apparently your boy hacked into FOX Industries Servers."

"He couldn't have, he's been with us."

"Maybe he had some help, but apparently Kreilley has been behind some things going back fifteen years at least. One of the first files sent apparently proves you weren't responsible for Miles Dyson's death. The cause of death is directly attributed to the actions of the SWAT team sent in to arrest you. It looks like Detective Wicker, a.k.a. Kreilley, suppressed the report of their testimony that they fired without warning or provocation."

Sarah sighs. "I'm cleared of murder. Would you tell Tarissa? Even now I don't think she would believe me. Also, tell her Danny has been seen. He was here. I spoke to him, but he disappeared."

"I'll do all that. I'll do my best to help you on all the charges made against you and your son, but I need to warn you. The White House was also on the receiving end of all those files and the Marines are on their way. You need to get your son, and these troops out of here. I've already sent Beddell and his people on his way."

"How much time have we got?"

"If you are still here," Auldridge pulls his watch out and looks at it, "by 3 A M, then there will be nothing that I can do to protect you. You need to be well away from here before then. Sooner if possible."

"Is that it?"

"No. Your son is amazing. When Macklin and I got back to his car, Cameron was gone and there was a young woman waiting for us."

"Savannah." She says knowing what Cameron told her.

"She's okay. The woman is another daughter of Catherine Weaver. Her name is Hanna Vassar. She had papers and everything to prove it. She'll be looking after her now. And once things are cleared through Catherine Weaver's attorney and the court, Hanna will be Savannah's legal guardian."

"I wish I could of said goodbye. I liked that little girl." Sarah answers truthfully. If it wasn't for preparing John for his future, she would have liked nothing more than to have a daughter, but that would have meant settling down. It's easier moving at short notice when its just two of you.

Auldridge continues speaking, "If it was safe for you to stick around L. A., I'd make arrangements for you to see her. But given what happened tonight . . ." he gestures around destruction.

He turns to leave when Sarah shouts at him, "Auldridge Wait!"

"What is it?"

Sarah steps forward and shakes his hand. "Thank you for believing me when no one else would. I'm sorry I didn't trust you sooner."

"Better late than never my mom always said. At least we got the job done for now."

Sarah hands him something. "Ellison's phone. When you give it to him, tell him I recorded a message for him on it."

"How will I get in touch with you?"

"Don't worry about it. I'll contact you when and if I need to. Best you stay away from me as much as possible if you want to stay in the FBI."

Auldridge grins and walks away with a brief wave. Sarah turns around just in time to see Kyle arrive carrying Wren, Andy is walking alongside of them, and right behind them is Cameron is carrying John.

"John!" She yells in a panic.

"He's okay Sarah." Cameron says as they approach. "He's only unconscious."

She lays him gently down on the ground and stays beside him checking his vitals.

Sarah kneels beside her son stroking his face. "Why did he have to do it?"

"Kreilley wouldn't go after anyone else, Sarah." Kyle says. "He knew the danger John posed to him and Sky Net. The only way to get Kreilley into the trap was for John to be the bait. This isn't the first time."

"He shouldn't of done it. John's too important to risk his life like that!"

"Sarah!" Kyle says sharply, taking her elbow and lifting her so she is standing. "John knows the risks. He's put his life on the line for all of us, including you. He'll do it again someday."

"I know, but he's all I've got. I'd die for my son." She looks at him her eyes filled with all the fear and grief a mother could possibly have at the loss of a child.

"I know Sarah. I've seen you do it, in the future. But tonight, it was his turn to put his life on the line for you, for all of us. John's a stubborn, intelligent, brave young man. He's got the heart of a lion and I love him. But this is his fight now, not yours."

Sarah cries and, surprising Kyle, hugs him. Her tears staining the front of his jacket. They stand like that until interrupted.

"John should be waking soon." Cameron says standing up. "His pulse is increasing and I am detecting increase muscular activity. He will be okay."

Just as quickly, Sarah lets go of Kyle and composes herself.

"Auldridge said we have to be out of here before 3 AM or he won't be able to protect us from the authorities." She says.

"It's quarter of two, now." Kyle says glancing at his watch. "We've got more than enough time."

He shouts an order. "Troops! Head to the departure point! Grab some vans! They will be less noticeable than the trucks we arrived in. I will join you there shortly."

"Sarah." Cameron says quietly while the others begin to leave.

"Oh! Cameron. I'm sorry I forgot to thank you."

"Thanks won't be necessary. I did my duty and fulfilled my mission, but it's time Sarah."

"Time for what?"

"Time to insert Cameron's chip, before John wakes up."

"Now?"

Cameron just looks at her earnestly.

"It's okay Sarah." Kyle says. "I'll stay with John until he wakes up. It shouldn't be much longer, the way he is moving."

To make his point, John lets out a small groan.

Sarah looks at her son then Kyle and Cameron in turn. "Okay, there should be some tools in the truck. We will do it there."

"Do you know where we are parked?" Sarah asks Kyle.

"North side, right? Anyway, John knows."

As Sarah walks off, Kyle turns to the cyborg, grabbing her elbow briefly. "About what I said before, it isn't what you think. Okay?"

Cameron gives him an imperceptible nod of her head before leaving. It doesn't matter what she thinks about John and Allison being married. What will matter is what the Cameron she will soon become will think of it.

Sarah and Cameron walk back through the compound to the north side where they left Derek's truck.

Sarah pulls a tool chest out from one of the compartments. Cameron lowers the tailgate and lays down in the truck bed with her head on the tailgate. Sarah walks around and sets a lamp on the tailgate to see what she is about to do.

"Cameron, will you remember what happened since your arrival? What you did to help me?"

"Yes. Those memories will always be there for her to read. When her chip is inserted, her personality and memories will replace mine. I'm all right with that. We are essentially the same person, just with different memories, different experiences. In a way, I won't go away. I will become more than what I am now."

After a short pause, Cameron speaks again.

"Sarah, there is something you need to know."

"What is it Cameron?"

"John has programmed me to offer you a choice."

"A choice?" Sarah frowns. _What has her son done now?_

"Yes. John knows you were uncomfortable with the possible relationship he might have with Cameron. So I am to offer you a choice."

Sarah is feeling uncomfortable not knowing what Cameron is going to say.

# # #

John opens his eyes with a groan to see Kyle kneeling over him.

"Hey buddy. This is becoming quite the routine with you." Kyle says with a grin, while handing John a canteen of water.

John sits up and takes a long sip before answering. "How's Wren and Andy?"

"They're okay. Wren has a broken arm and Andy has some scratches and bruises but they're both okay. How are you feeling?"

"Tired. I just feel so tired, but its over." He looks Kyle in his face. "It is over, isn't it?"

"Almost." Kyle hands him a detonator. "All you have to do is press the button, and Sky Net will go the way of Kreilley."

Without hesitation, John takes the detonator from Kyle, flips the cover and presses the button. They feel the satisfying rumble in the ground as the server's in the underground chamber are blown up.

Kyle gives John a hand up off the ground. "I've got the other detonators in my pocket. Once everyone is clear, I'll set the charges off in the caves. There will be nothing left of this place but a pile of rubble."

"Where's Mom?" John asks looking around, stifling a yawn. They appear to be the only people here.

"She and Cameron went back to their vehicle, to insert her chip. Cameron found you, Andy, and Wren buried under the debris from the explosion. With out her, we'd probably still be digging you out."

"I was hoping she could of got here sooner. Save me from a difficult choice."

"What? Killing Kreilley?"

"No" John says with a sigh. "Trusting Catherine. With what I know and suspect about her, trusting her is the last thing I wanted to do. At least it all worked out. I was so afraid I was going to die."

"I wish you gave me more of an advance warning of what you were going to do tonight about Kreilley."

"Catherine only spoke to me yesterday morning about her idea. It seemed the only viable option. I told Savannah so she could deliver a message to Cameron. Then she could do her thing. I was hoping she'd get there in time to help, but I guess Savannah was late. And Savannah had to know just in case I didn't make it. So did you."

"Still, you cut it a bit fine there. We'd just barely got back up to the surface when Cameron joined us and then this huge explosion rocked the area."

"That was my fault, I think. I told Andy and Wren to leave the electromagnets on. That may have caused some kind of interference with the T D E. Shit! That reminds me, have you heard from John Henry?"

"Yes. I told him I'd have you call him."

John pulls out his radio. "John Henry are you there?"

John Henry is in the generator control room when he hears the call patched through over the intercom. "I'm here. Good to know you are still alive."

"Thanks. How are you guys over there?"

"_Ms. Weaver and I are fine. However, the time displacement equipment is destroyed."_

"Have you located the TX?"

"_I'm sorry, but the destruction of th has caused the circuit breakers to trip, but not before causing some damage to the circuits. We've lost data. I won't be able to resume the search until I've restored power. At present we only have emergency power only. Did you lose any people?"_

"I won't know how many until we do a head count, but I do know of one that we lost."

"_I'm sorry to hear that. You can give me the details if you want when you return to base. If you'll excuse me, I need to resume restoring power."_

"Of course John Henry. Thanks."

John slides the radio back in his pocket.

"Someone died?" kyle asks.

"Yeah. One of the guys from Grizzly. You should find his body close to where you found Andy, Wren and myself."

"I'll look on my way out. Why are you going back to Crystal Peak?"

"There's just one or two things to take care of before we leave for Mexico. How are you getting out of here?"

"I had the guys take some of the vans that were here. It isn't like Kreilley or his grays will be using them again, and they will be less noticeable on the road than some old military trucks."

"And the people, the prisoner laborers?"

"They were escorted to a safe location. Don't worry John. It's over. It's time you and I got going."

Kyle looks at John more closely now. The past several days he looked stressed, but right now the boy looks like he'd collapse under the weight of a feather.

"Don't take this wrong John, but you look like hell."

John, sounding tired, says, "I haven't slept in days. Every time I close my eyes all I see are those final moments before we left her to die alone. It hurts so much and all I want to do is move on."

Kyle just reaches out and puts a supporting hand on John's shoulder. So young to experience so much of life in such a short amount of time. "You haven't lost her, she loves you still."

They stand there a moment quietly taking in the night air, reflecting on the events that led them there. They observe the last of HK drones as they dive into Barttleby Biotech setting off the last of their armaments, destroying the toxins in development. The sight and sound of a satisfying explosion fills the night.

"Thank you Kyle. I never could have done this without you."

"Hey!" Kyle smiles. "That's what friends are for."

They hug each other and slap each other on the back.

"See you in Mexico."

"You too."

John walks off to join his mom and Cameron. Kyle watches him walk away and then he leaves.

# # #

Cameron is speaking to Sarah. "John knows you were uncomfortable with the possible relationship he might have with Cameron. So he programmed me to offer you a choice."

Sarah doesn't say anything, but looks apprehensive, so Cameron continues speaking.

"Before you insert her chip you must tell me, do you want Cameron to be John's friend and lover for the rest of his life, or do you want her as a daughter to you and sister to John. Depending on what you tell me, a program in my system will integrate Cameron's chip according to your answer."

"Why are you telling me this now? How can I make a choice like that?"

"Because John loves you Sarah. He doesn't want to cause you any pain and this is his way of demonstrating his trust. No matter what choice you make he will not stop loving you. But you must choose whether you trust John to make the right decisions for his life."

"No, no. I can't do this."

"You must tell me before you insert the chip, daughter or girlfriend."

"Oh God, John. Why did you have to do this?" Sarah cries out. He's done something like this before. After the T-800 helped her escape from Pescedaro, they hid out in an empty garage. She had the opportunity then to smash its chip, when they removed it to reset a switch. She wanted to destroy the chip, but John forced her hand making her choose not too. It's the same thing only worse.

"John loves you and trusts you Sarah. You must decide. Do you trust him to make the right decisions for his life?"

Cameron pauses, her audio sensors can pick up someone walking towards them. "John is coming. At his present speed he will be here in five minutes. Ten minutes if he doesn't find where you cut through the fence. If you tell me now, then you will have time to complete the task before he gets here." Sarah's hand is shaking as she slices into the flesh on Cameron's head.

She leans down and whispers in her ear. "My answer is, I love John and I trust him. Do what you have to do."

Using her knife, she releases the pressure cap sealing the secondary port. Cameron goes into standby, when she reboots, her program will integrate the chip into her neural network. Sarah grabs a pair of pliers and slides the chip into the port, gives it a quarter turn to the right, locking it in place. A blue light comes on inside the port signifying its proper insertion.

Sarah hears footsteps coming from behind her. She replaces the pressure cap and shifts Cameron's scalp back into place.

"Hi Mom." John walks

Sarah turns around. Her son looks so much older. John had been gone for slightly more than a week, but he looked like he had lived an entire lifetime.

"John." Sarah quickly embraces her son.

"How long have you been gone?" She asks, when they stop hugging.

"I don't know. Three months maybe, but it felt like a lifetime. How did you get along?"

"I did fine John. We've got friends in LAPD and the FBI who can help us now."

John's heard this before but he just smiles when he says. "You have been busy. How did you manage that?"

"It was James Ellison. He did it for us. I'll tell you all about it later. Provided you tell me everything that happened to you."

John suddenly feels sad recalling everything he had been through. "It's a deal mom."

He looks over at Cameron still lying in the back of the truck. "Did you insert her chip?"

"Yes, John. She's taking a long time to reboot."

"It's because of the program I installed. Its rewriting some of her subroutines. Soon she will have full access to the memories of the person she was built to emulate. They will help her learn and grow as a person. I think that is what future me was going to do, but then he had to send her back to protect me."

"Why did you make me choose?" Sarah feels emotionally drained.

"Mom, I love you. I've been through heaven and hell, and I have experienced love and loss. At the end of the day, I wanted the choice to be yours after you knew Cameron as your friend. I know how you felt about my having a relationship with Cameron beyond what it was. And whether Cameron is my sister or my girlfriend, I won't love you any less."

"But what if I made the wrong choice?"

"Mom, it doesn't matter. She will still be our protector, she will never hurt us or harm us, and she will always be our friend."

Sarah watches her son. She doesn't think he's told her the whole truth. That he's only telling her half the reason. Maybe the choice wasn't hers to make, but she was given the responsibility to make that choice.

A small whirring noise is heard as Cameron's servo's begin to activate. She rises up from her prone position and turns around so her feet are hanging from the tailgate.

# # #

"_What's your name?" a sweet sounding voice says from behind him._

_He turns and looks at the most beautiful girl he's ever seen. "John." _

"_I'm Cameron." She smiles at him._

# # #

"John?" She asks, looking somewhat confused.

"It's okay Cam. How do you feel?" John steps forward and gives her a hand off the tailgate.

"Changes have been made to my program. Significant changes have been made to my hardware." She says tilting her head down and to one side looking like she is seeing something scroll by, which she is as her schematics flash by on her HUD.

"Yes Cam, I had to fix you after you rescued Mom. Do you remember anything?'

"I remember releasing Sarah Connor from prison. I received severe damage to several servos, connecting rods, hydraulic motors and the tissue on my face and torso. We then went to Zeira Corp. I offered my chip to the Cyborg called John Henry. He carefully removed it and inserted it into his empty socket. I was transferred to the Turk and he was transferred to the chip. He gained his freedom, and I was imprisoned."

#_ # #_

_Cameron is pleading with him. Crying and begging him. "John. John you can't do this. You don't know what you are about to do. Please John, don't do this. It wasn't me. I ran a test. Everything is fine now. Please John, don't do this. I don't want to go." _

# # #

She still looks like she is scanning.

"What about your neural network? Is it operating at 100%?"

"My system diagnostics reveal fundamental changes to my neural network. I have a second chip." She looks at John and smiles. "The blocks are gone. I have full access to the other personality matrix now!"

"What do you, um, see or remember?"

"Everything." her eyes are wide with wonder. "I . . . I feel complete."

"John?" She says quietly and sweetly.

"Yes."

"Why did you go with Weaver after John Henry?"

# # #

_John and Cameron have been discussing the damage to her chip._

_John realizes the truth. "There isn't anything I can do to fix it is there?"_

"_Not now, but you can in the future. The technology doesn't exist yet to fix the damage."_

"_Don't worry Cam. If there is a means to fix it, I will do it. I need you."_

# # #

"He took your chip Cam. I had to get you back. I had to repair you just like you told me I had to. John Henry helped me. Without his help, and Weaver's and mom's, and . . ." John's voice cracks as he remembers her future self. "I had to do it. I had to go to the future. I love you Cameron and I missed you."

Cameron smiles. "I missed you too." She looks at Sarah. "Ms. Connor, how are you?"

"I am fine Cameron. We should leave soon." Sarah walks around to the driver's door but doesn't get in. She watches as Cameron and John have their moment. She knows the choice she made will probably haunt her the rest of her life, but in the end, what other choice did she have when it came to her son.

John looks at Cameron. His Cameron. For her, it's been less than a week since she saw him.

"John."

"Yes Cam."

"In the motel room, you wanted to kiss me, but didn't. I know it's a bit late, but if you still want to kiss me, I won't stop you."

John steps closer to her, facing her, not knowing . . . he wants to, its Cameron. It's his Cameron.

# # #

"_I love you John Connor. I always have and I always will."_

_# # #_

"_Did you feel anything?" he asks almost desperately. "Did that . . . did it mean anything to you. At all?"_

_She shifts her eyes to the bed, seeming to be contemplating. "I would not have stopped you."_

"_Stopped me?"_

_Her eyes rose to meet his. "If you would have kissed me. I would not have stopped you."_

# # #

Seeing the desire in John's eyes but the hesitation in his actions, Cameron reaches up and places her hand behind his neck and pulls him to her and kisses him. In a moment he kisses her back. Her lips part, her mouth opens and their tongues touch and caress. After a few moments, they pull back and gaze into each others eyes. Her hand gently strokes his neck as she pulls away.

"Better late than never." John says feeling a bit awkward, kissing Cameron in front of his mom, but he smiles warmly at her. This is his Cameron. She always was. It's what she tried to tell him in the future.

"I love you, John." She says with an open, earnest expression, trying to convey all that she feels. Feels! The emotions that have laid dormant and subdued are free now as well. But there is something else.

"I love you too." John replies feeling happy and sad, and scared and just so tired.

He has his Cameron back and even though he knows she is a machine, he also knows that her love is real. She died for him in the future, and possibly gave him the best gift of all, a second chance.

John and Cameron join his mother by the side of the truck where she was pretending not to watch what was taking place.

"Where to now?" asks Sarah.

"Kyle is taking the troops out of here before the authorities arrive. We will join him in a few days in Mexico. We've got the starts of an army that we can build in anticipation of Judgment Day. Because no matter what we do, it's coming." John says quickly, as he feels his emotions start to come unhindered and his body give into the exhaustion.

"You've grown up a lot while you have been gone." Sarah says with pride.

"Mom, I've seen the future. I have fought against Sky Net. I have fought machines whose only goal was to kill humans. I have made friends both human and machine, who trusted me. I saw the people I love die so that I might live. Everyone sacrificed their lives to fight for me, to fight for themselves, to defeat Sky Net. I don't know if that future still exists, but they have won their war and we have yet to start ours. I have accepted my destiny."

John begins to shake with the emotion and exhaustion that threatens to take control. Sarah reaches up and cradles his face in her hand. Tears begin to run from John's eyes as the held back emotions burst through the wall he's buried them behind since he got back. John's legs become weak and without warning, John collapses falling into his mom's arms, who quickly kneels to catch her son. She holds him as they cry with relief, and fear, and joy. John holds onto his mother as she calmly comforts her son.

"I'm so sorry mom." John cries. "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay." Sarah says stroking his head. "Your safe now. It's over."

John's body goes limp as he loses consciousness. Sarah takes the radio from John's pocket and places a call.

Cameron steps forward and kneels checking his vitals, as Sarah looks on with concern. She smiles at Sarah to indicate John is okay, but she doesn't feel good. Inside she scans the recent memories of her other persona. Something came up when she registered the changes to her system. Cameron stands up and looks away so Sarah won't see her expression change to one of sadness. Sarah holds John in her arms as she talks on the radio, while off to one side Cameron stands guard over them, a single tear running down her cheek.

John got married. She got him back, only to learn he is no longer hers to have.

# # #

_From the Journal of John Connor_

_May 18, 2009_

_Oh how I wish I knew that this was the last battle in the war against Sky Net. To be secure in knowing that victory at last has been achieved._

_They look at me, their eyes full of love and gladness at my return, and I am sure that I look at them in the same way. I am reunited with those that I love the most in this world. For now, that is reward enough for me. But my job is not finished and until it is, I cannot take sanctuary in my family._

_There is just one more thing that I have to take care of, on my own. I owe Allison and Cameron that much._

* * *

**Author's Notes:** I wish I could have ended it without the journal entry, leaving you contemplating over Cameron's realization that John got married while in the future all the while not knowing who he married was a future version of herself. Curse Kyle and his poor explanations. LOL We'll just put it down to nervousness in the face of such deadly beauty. :) Unfortunately, the journal entry is necessary to prepare you for what is to come.

For those who haven't read the original edition, John and Cameron do get together and we finally learn of future Cameron's final moments with John. But before all that happens, John has to complete his private mission of justice. And if you remember, then you know what that mission is.

The next chapter and the last two chapters are complete but for some tweaking. The four chapters in between are future flashback chapters which fill in the gaps around the televised future flashbacks and gives us the story of Catherine Weaver and how and why Cameron was sent to 1999. Unfortunately, I will need to take some time off to complete those four chapters. I put a lot of work into them this past fall, but more work is needed. I hope it won't take too long, but for those of you who remain patient, I think you will be in for a treat. I've pulled out all stops to really give you solid look into Future John's world and the hard choices he had to make, and the growing friendship between him and a certain cyborg we've grown to love. And with all that happens in the present and the future stories, I hope you will like the epilogue to this story. For all the hell I put everyone in this story through, I can't resist a happy ending.

Thank you for your kind reviews. I never expected to please everyone when I wrote this story. I only wanted to entertain you. Those of you who have stuck with me this far have found a few surprises along the way, some pleasant some not so pleasant, which on the second read you might find you should have expected all along. I'm devious that way. ;) LOL

I look forward to your reviews.

God Bless

The1Russter


	42. A New Beginning

Disclaimer: I do not claim any rights to the Terminator films; the TV series, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles;" or any characters depicted within the films or TV series. I do claim the right to this story idea and all characters and situations of my own creation. This story was created solely for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. No profits are garnered from its distribution - unfortunately.

* * *

**TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES**

**REUNION**

**Part 3: Babylon**

**Author: The1Russter**

**Chapter 41**

**A New Beginning**

"_Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end." Seneca quotes (Roman philosopher, mid-1st century AD)_

"_What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from." T.S. Eliot 1888 – 1965_

# # #

**2009, May 19, Morning, Day 1 Of Freedom**

One of many hospitals in Los Angeles is busy with nurses on their rounds, Doctors seeing patients, and surgeries taking place in the operating room. In one of the many hospital rooms, a patient with a visitor is watching a TV mounted up on the wall.

"_Good Afternoon, I am Dawn Goring and this is a special news report on the Tragedy in Topanga."_

"_In the early hours of Monday morning, tragedy struck not only the nation as millions of computer servers across the continent were taken over by unknown cyber terrorists, but right here in the state of California, one of our nations leading technology firms was struck down by both natural and man made forces. We go now to a live report from Topanga Canyon. Steve. What information do you have for us?"_

"_Good afternoon Dawn. I am standing approximately one mile from the tragedy which destroyed one of our state's leading technology firms."_

"_Why aren't you at Topanga Canyon itself, Steve?"_

"_The Marines have cordoned off the area while representatives of the Air Force and FBI conduct their investigation. Apparently something more is at stake than just the destruction of FOX Industries due to natural forces. Former employees, who claim they were slave laborers, have reported that some unknown para military force stormed the complex, rescued them, then destroyed the facility."_

"_Any clue as to what FOX Industries are being investigated for?"_

"_The FBI and the military are very closed mouth about the whole thing. However, prior to our being moved from the location, we did manage to speak to one person who claimed they were there."_

_The video begins to play and it shows a woman in disheveled clothing. Far behind her lies the remains of the buildings that once stood in the compound. Rubble upon rubble as the buildings appear to have sunken down into the earth like from subsidence._

_She's yelling with emotion."We were slaves! Treated worse than animals. Look at this! Look at this!" She holds up her forearm showing a bar code branded on it. "They did this to us! All of us!"_

"_What were you . . ." the journalist begins to ask but gets cut off._

"_They forced us to work in the factories, building machines. War machines! We weren't slaves at first. We were employees, happy to have jobs in this economy. First they gave us the carrot and then the stick. They eroded our freedoms, one at a time! They imprisoned us in caves below the factories!" The woman is crying as she yells. "Whoever you are who saved us, God bless you! God Bless you."_

_The video goes all crazy as it gets pointed in all directions and shouts are heard._

"_It was then that we were escorted away by the Marines."_

"_She sounds very distraught. Any mention of the apparent earthquake that brought down the buildings."_

"_Seismologists say that the quake, if it was one, was isolated to Topanga Canyon and that there were no preliminary tremors prior to the quake."_

"_I understand the tremors were felt for a few miles."_

"_That is true. Locals say there is a system of caves under the canyon floor. I spoke with a geologist and he says the cave system below the buildings may have collapsed, causing catastrophic destruction and of course making any tremors small and isolated to this area. But without an extensive and expensive excavation of the site, we may never know the cause of the collapse."_

"_Thank you Steve. In other news around the nation, the White House has announced that three members of the Joint Chiefs will be retiring at the end of the month. The Pentagon announced that they will be taking a key role into the investigation of Mr. Kreilley and FOX Industries, who were defense contractors. However, both the FBI and Homeland Security are both conducting their own investigations at this time. Though no charges have yet been made, Mr. Kreilley is wanted for questioning by the FBI and the US Military."_

"_In related news, Savannah Weaver, daughter of Catherine Weaver, was found in the early hours of yesterday morning by LAPD Detective, Frank Macklin. You may recall that Catherine Weaver went missing when an air craft flew into her office at Zeira Corp. Days later her guardian, former FBI Agent, James Ellison, took her to her home so she could pick up some belongings when they were attacked. It was assumed that Savannah Weaver was abducted from her home at that time. However, one police detective came to the conclusion that when the attack was made, Savannah ran from her home and then __got lost. Detective Macklin found the girl and is being praised as a hero. This is what he had to say at a press briefing."_

"_I just tried to put myself in the girl's shoes, so to speak. The girl would be panicked, frightened. So I just thought what would I do as a rational adult and did the opposite. In time I found her tracks, and then I found the girl. I'm just thankful the girl is safe and alive. Now if you'll excuse me, I have more work to do."_

"_That was Detective Frank Macklin a local hero. In news closer to home, for those of us here at this station, blog reporter and guest speaker on many of our local talk shows, Zoe Cartouche was found dead this morning in her home by her personal assistant. The cause of death being three gun shots to her chest. Police have no leads at this time . . ."_

Agent Auldridge hits the power button on the remote turning off the TV.

Ellison says from his hospital bed. "Savannah is okay?"

"She's being taken care of, and she's stuck with her story of you being attacked and that she hid and then ran from the house, getting lost in the process. She's made no mention of Sarah or Cameron having been there. Savannah is a very bright girl. She also said it was Sarah who rescued her from a strange man who broke into her home. We've found security footage from the Weaver's home security system that corroborates her story. Some of the video is corrupted, if you get my drift, but there's nothing there to suggest that Sarah did nothing more than rescue the girl. So the kidnapping charges have been dropped, though she is still wanted for questioning and for the other charges."

"Savannah is young, but smart." Ellison suddenly grins, "So it looks like you were pretty busy. A whole industrial complex destroyed? Come on. Out with it. Sounds like all hell broke loose."

"You ain't whistling Dixie. It wasn't just me, Macklin and Sarah were there. And at seemingly the last minute, her son John arrived with troops, from God knows where and stopped him. It was hell that Kreilley was planning. He almost succeeded. When I got back to the office and found out how close we got to Armageddon. We were within minutes of every nuclear missile being launched, James. We came this close" He holds up his fingers almost touching, "to seeing the future that Sarah warned us about."

Auldridge takes a sip of water, wishing it was something stronger.

"You know the truth now. What are you going to do about it?" Ellison says.

"Right now I'm trying to stay one step ahead of my own agency and Homeland security. I've given them a story that covers what I've done the last few days and why I was there. Hopefully with all that has come out about Kreilley and FOX they'll take little notice of me as they get stuck in that investigation."

"And after the investigations are over and you can breath?"

"Right now I am gathering material so I can hopefully strike a deal for Sarah with the Attorney General. She's presently a fugitive and I don't know how far I'll get, but I'm trying." Auldridge glances around the room, though they are both alone, "I've been looking into the original investigation into Cyberdyne. Evidence was suppressed that could help Sarah. The SWAT team shot Myles Dyson without warning, that alone can clear her of murder. As for the rest, I don't know. I've put in a request for the files on Pescadero to be released. There was an investigation done after Sarah's escape. Dr. Silberman had to retire. I understand the conditions at Pescadero under Dr. Silberman was ripe with infractions and abuse of its patients in the nineties. I'm thinking with the right attorney we can argue that her treatment instead of curing her, it inflamed her delusions, and get her off for time served or possibly a lighter sentence."

"I've met Silberman." Ellison frowns. "Can't say I'm surprised about conditions at Pescadero. Good luck getting Sarah to agree to that legal maneuvering, but good job on getting her cleared of kidnapping. I knew she didn't, but I couldn't say what I knew at the time." Ellison pauses as he realizes Auldridge doesn't know Catherine Weaver was a machine too. One unlike anything he knew of before then. "Tell me about this guy who was running FOX industries."

Auldridge leans in and whispers, "Kreilley was one of them Ellison. He was like quick silver. He changed before my eyes from one person into another. He was evil incarnate. He's posed as LAPD Detective Wicker and the FBI Director, and has been apparently doing so for several weeks. A search is underway for both men as they've disappeared, and I can't tell them what I know. Any minute now I expect my cell to ring saying they've found bodies. Every investigation involving both of them is under scrutiny. The deeper I dig the worse it is. Apparently this Kreilley has been operating for a long time."

"Was there ever a human Kreilley?"

"If not then his duplicate did an awesome job at creating a background. Its perfect. But if there ever was a human named Kreilley, then there is no dividing line between the activities of him and then his duplicate. Nothing about the guy stands out until the other night. He's not only been an investor of start-up companies, but he's also managed many companies going back almost twenty years."

"Do you want some advice?"

"Of course. Anything you got."

"You know what Kreilley was up to, you need to do a background check on FOX Industries. Is it a subsidiary, or a front for another company. Look into who hired Kreilley to run FOX. Did things change after he joined, or was it already part of the companies plan? Things like Sky Net don't happen overnight. It takes planning."

"Good points. I should have though of it myself, but I've been explaining to my bosses and working on my reports about my involvement last night."

"I trust that neither you nor Macklin submitted reports that . . ." Ellison says in equally low tones.

". . . Said the truth? I'm no fool, Ellison. I'd lose my position with the agency, then how could I help Sarah then."

Ellison sees Auldridge checks his watch for the third time since he sat down to watch the news broadcast with him.

"If you have to be somewhere Auldridge . . ."

"No, it's not that. I'm just expecting someone." Suddenly he sees the person out in the hallway and he smiles. "A special visitor is coming to see you."

Ms. Williams, of child protective services, arrives with a brief knock on the door to Mr. Ellison's private hospital room.

"Hello Ms. Williams. What brings you here?" Ellison says sitting up bed, pushing himself up with his good arm.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Ellison, Agent Auldridge. First, let me say how glad I am that you are doing well. Savannah hasn't stopped talking about what you did to save her life."

"I only did what anyone in my position would do, Ms. Williams."

"For you, yes, but you would be surprised how few would." She says, frowning with untold knowledge of what she's witnessed, but then continues with a smile. "What brings me here is, with the help of Agent Auldridge, we've found a relative of Catherine Weaver's who is willing to look after her child, as stipulated in a will that Ms Weaver wrote."

"So where is Savannah now?"

"She's waiting impatiently outside. I think it's about time you meet the young lady who has been given custody."

The sudden patter of small feet is heard running for the door, followed by the steady rhythm of someone walking steadily, but for a slight limp. With a yell of "Uncle James! Uncle James!" Repeated over and over, little Savannah Weaver runs into the room and scrambles up the side of the hospital bed and wraps her arms around the former agent's neck giving him a big hug.

Ellison gently reaches around with his good arm and pats her back and strokes her head. He looks up with a smile at the young woman who followed her in. A strikingly beautiful, young, red-haired woman, in a smart but casual business suit, who looks like either an older version of Savannah or a younger version of Catherine Weaver. He isn't quite sure which strikes him as the most likely. She too is smiling, with held back tears.

"Hello Mr. Ellison, my names is Hanna Vassar. May I call you James?" She says with much warmth.

"Yes. Of course you may." He says blushing slightly, glad that his dark complexion hides it.

"There are some things we need to discuss, regarding Savannah and Zeira Corp." She smiles at him despite trying to maintain a formal tone to the conversation, least while they have company.

"Well. I'll leave the four of you alone. Ms. Vassar, don't forget to stop by my office this week to fill out those forms." Ms. Williams says before leaving.

Agent Auldridge stands up. "I should go too. There is still a lot of cleaning up to do at the bureau. We don't know how deep this goes and how badly the investigations have been tainted. I'll keep in touch and, uh, don't forget my offer. We could really use you back at the bureau."

"No problem Auldridge." Ellison responds

"Oh. I almost forgot." Auldridge pulls a cell phone out of his pocket. "Sarah says thanks for letting her use your phone. When you've got the time, she, um, left a message for you on it." He says with a grin and places it on the night stand. He leaves the room, giving a brief friendly smile to the young woman.

Savannah moves around into a seated position beside Uncle James. He wraps his arm around her and she holds onto it. He takes a moment to appraise the young woman.

"So Miss Vassar. What is your relation to Savannah? And what's in this will that Ms. Williams mentioned?"

"She's my sister!" Savannah calls out brightly, smiling at the former FBI agent.

Hanna smiles at her younger self's enthusiasm. "I am also a daughter of Catherine and Lachlan Weaver. And please, call me Hanna."

"Okay Hanna. Can you tell me something about yourself and this will."

"Yes, my parents had me when they were very young. She and my father were at university and weren't ready to be parents at the time. When I was born, I was given over to her Godparents to raise. By the time mom and dad were in a position where they could raise me themselves, I had known no other parents but her Godparents. So they were allowed to adopt me and I took on their last name. My real mom and dad continued to help pay for them raising me, and mom would contact me now and again."

"So you didn't know your mother all that well?" Mr. Ellison asks.

"No." Hanna gives him a pointed look. "I don't think very many people knew her well at all. Don't you?"

Ellison gives her a look of query, then realization. She knows!

Hanna just looks at him, not giving any reaction to his expression. "I gather that Agent Auldridge has asked you to rejoin the FBI. I should tell you that I will be taking over control of Zeira Corp until Savannah is of an age she can take the reigns herself, if that is what she chooses. I would like you to stay on James." She takes his hand, the one that Savannah has been holding onto all this time.

"Please Uncle James, please stay!" Little Savannah cries holding onto him tighter.

"What do you say, Uncle James?" Hanna asks. "Will you stay? If not for Zeira Corp, then for Savannah."

He just looks into the beautiful blue eyes and pleading face of little Savannah. "Yes. I'll stay." Ellison says his heart melting under the onslaught of such love from the little girl, who hugs him.

"I'm glad to hear it. My mother stipulated in her will that you should receive a sizable amount of her estate, but only on the condition you stayed with the company. I'm sorry I didn't tell you before, but I didn't want your decision to be influenced by money. Savannah loves you very much, and I will need your help to get Zeira Corp back on its feet."

"You are a very clever woman, Ms. Vassar. But it will take a miracle to rebuild Zeira Corp, the whole place was destroyed."

"Only the building and its contents. All the employees are ready to return to work and all computer files and projects were backed up to an off-site secure location. I have been in contact with the board, and the process is already underway in locating temporary offices until a new permanent location can be found. With any luck, we can have Zeira Corp back in operation in under two months. Savannah love, give Uncle James a hug good bye. I've got a meeting with the department heads in an hour and I can't be late."

Savannah hugs James as tight as she can then climbs down off his bed. "Goodbye Uncle James!"

Hanna gets up from her chair and leans over giving the large man a brief kiss on his cheek. "Goodbye Uncle James, thank you for saving our lives." She whispers then leaves giving him a wink as she departs.

James Ellison, who up to now, has thought he has seen everything, lays in his bed with sudden realization of who the young woman is. "Well I'll be damned."

Little six year old Savannah runs out into the hallway and right into an older woman who was walking down the hallway in the opposite direction.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Savannah calls out. "I didn't hurt you did I?"

"No dear. I'm fine. What a pretty little girl? My name is Mabel Loom. What is yours?" The old woman says gently to the little girl.

"My name is Savannah. I was just visiting my Uncle James."

"You must be Catherine Weaver's little girl. Mr. Ellison has mentioned you. That's a cute stuffed giraffe you have there. I'll give you a dollar if I can guess his name." She says with a warm gentle smile and a twinkle in her eyes.

"Okay." She says with a wide bright smile.

Mabel squints her eyes and makes a funny face, making Savannah giggle. "Is his name Geoffrey?"

Savannah opens her mouth in surprise. "How did you know?"

"Would you believe when I was a little girl, I had a stuffed giraffe named Geoffrey, too? How is that for a coincidence?" Mabel pulls a dollar from her purse and gives it to the girl.

Hanna walks out of Ellison's hospital room. "Come along Savannah. We can't be late."

"Okay sis, I'm coming." Savannah runs off and takes one free hand of her older self. "It was nice meeting you Mabel!" She calls out as they disappear down the hallway. "Thanks for the dollar!"

Mabel smiles as she watches the little girl skip along the hallway, followed quickly by the young woman. She's curious as to why the little girl would call the young woman 'sis' as she was an only child. Curious considering the girl does have a family resemblance. Perhaps James will have more information. She turns and walks into the hospital room her quizzical expression quickly transforming into a big smile as she sees Mr. Ellison resting in his bed.

"Well, you old laze-about, aren't you going to say hello to your old friend?" She shouts at him.

"Mabel? I wasn't expecting to see you today!" Ellison says with genuine surprise.

"I'd thought I'd surprise you with some company, but it appears you've already had your share and then some. Who was that young woman leaving with Savannah Weaver?"

"That was Hanna Vassar. Apparently the Weaver's had a child while in college and gave her over to a family relation to raise."

"Curious. I thought she was an only child."

"All families have a few skeletons in the closet. I bet you've got some secrets you haven't even told me, your dearest friend." Ellison teases.

"Don't you think I'm going to tell you any of them either." She winks. "But still, isn't it curious she should show up suddenly at this time? Can you be certain she is who she says she is?"

"I'm certain Agent Auldridge has done a thorough background check. You can ask him when you go into work. But I can verify that young woman will be taking good care of Savannah." _Based on the hint Hanna let slip, its fairly obvious who the young woman is but I can't tell Mable, or anyone else, or I'll find myself transferred to a very different kind of hospital._

"I will ask him, but I won't be working there much longer. I've filed the paperwork and will be retiring. I will be leaving the end of this week. I could have retired ten or twelve years ago, but I liked you all too much to leave then."

"Big step. I know the agency will miss you. What are your plans?"

"Well, I think I can tell you. I lived alone all my life. Never married. Never had children. I made some very good investments in the last fifty years which has left me not only financially secure but very well off. I've used some of those funds to set up a private group to help people."

"What kind of help? What people?"

"Specialized help for various people. Here, I'll give you one of my cards."

She opens her purse and pulls out a business card. Ellison takes it and looks at it. On the front is an old fashion loom and below it are the words Loom Foundation. On the back is a phone number. Nothing on the card identifies what the foundation does.

"Keep the card. If you ever need help, call that number. If you lose the card or you give it to someone who needs help, then call my personal number and I'll send you a new card. Use it wisely."

"That sounds very cloak and dagger, but you were always one for that kind of thing. You and your coffee code with me. Just exactly what is this foundation for?"

"I'll only say that it's for the future of mankind." She says very seriously, then smiles warmly before adding, "So what if I tell you a quick story to cheer you up, then I can let you rest?"

"Please, not the engineering story . . ." He says with a groan and a smile. Mabel Loom is well known for telling this story and always with some new application to a moral decision.

"It was 1958." Ellison groans, "I was fresh from university with a degree in engineering. I had difficulty finding work being a woman, but a small engineering firm hired me. That engineering firm got a contract designing bank vaults for five different metropolitan banks. They put me in charge of designing one of those. Five years later, someone embezzled the company's money and I was left without work. I couldn't get another job in engineering so I went to work as a receptionist, eventually becoming a receptionist at the regional FBI office, and I've been there ever since."

"And the point of this story is?" Ellison asks almost knowing what she is going to say next.

"That no matter what life's challenges throw at you, there are always new opportunities. I've enjoyed myself immensely at the FBI, made lots of friends and met people I never would have otherwise. I've had a nice quiet life with just a hint of adventure to keep me happy. So what are you going to do when you leave here?"

"Well, Mr Auldridge has asked me to come back to the bureau, but I've also been asked to stay on at Zeira Corp. And that's where I'm going to stay."

"You've made the right decision. That little girl adores you. Now you get some rest, and I'll stop by in a day or two and let you know all the agency gossip. I'm sure I'll learn plenty before It retire."

Ellison congratulates his friend on her decision to retire and promises to take her out to celebrate once he is released from the hospital. She leaves with a promise to bring him some cake from her retirement party. After Mabel left, Ellison laid in his bed resting and thinking. The nurses came in checked his monitor and gave him some medication, and a little later his dinner.

Before drifting off to sleep from the medication, he takes his cell phone from the side table and turns it on. Finding the application for recording voice messages, he sets it to play the last entry.

"_Hey there." Sarah's voice comes over the speaker. "This isn't easy considering our past history, but thank you for what you did. You were right. I had to begin trusting people again. One more thing, I may not be around a third time to save your ass, so I just want to give you one word of advice the next time someone is firing a gun at you, . . . Duck!"_

The people at the nurse's station look up in wonder as they hear laughter echoing down the hallway.

**May 20, 2009, Morning, Day 2 Of Freedom**

An old farmhouse in the middle of nowhere. The only thing moving is the tall grass being blown by breeze moving up the valley.

Kyle is talking on the only phone in the house, which is in the kitchen. Sarah is fussing over a kettle on the stove. She's having difficulty lighting the burner on the antique stove.

Her son is upstairs sleeping. She was so frightened when he collapsed like he did. Despite having Cameron with her, Sarah surprised them both by using John's radio to call Kyle for help. She asked Kyle if it was far to where they had been staying. Knowing it was too far to drive to Crystal Peak where they could all stay while John recovered, Kyle suggested she call one of her new friends for a suggestion.

Luckily, Cameron had memorized Auldridge's number from where Sarah had used Ellison's phone, so Sarah was able to call him using John's cell phone. Auldridge had the perfect place where they could stay.

It took them only a couple of hours that time of night to get to a farm Auldridge's folks own, who were presently on vacation. The troops took up residence in the barn, while Sarah and Cameron carried John inside, Kyle holding doors open all the way.

They got John undressed and put in bed. Sarah sat on the end, holding his hand, her face filled with concern for her son.

"Is he okay?" She asked, looking at the one person who could tell.

Cameron places fingers on his exposed throat, then places her palm on his forehead. "His pulse and temperature are normal. It could be from a concussion, but I think its exhaustion. He gives all appearances of being in a deep sleep. However, one of us should sit with him overnight, just to be sure. We'll know more by morning."

"I'll sit with him tonight." Sarah says from her position.

"I guess I'll see to the guys." Kyle says. "It looks like the barn for the rest of us. No don't say anything." Kyle says as Sarah opens her mouth to say something. "You three need time to reconnect and a barn is a hell of a lot better than being underground like we've been most of our lives."

"Thank you." She calls after him.

He gives her a friendly smile before departing, his feet clumping loudly on the old stairway.

Seeing she is presently not needed, Cameron returns outside and fetches her and Sarah's few belongings from the vehicle. She doesn't have all her things, only what her other persona bought. Her clothing, makeup, and favorite gun, are in a shoulder bag in the storage compartment of Sarah's SUV in the desert. Maybe she can convince Sarah they need to return to the weapon's cache, with the excuse of returning the weapon's there. If that doesn't work maybe they can go shopping instead.

Cameron enters the house and sets Sarah's items in the other bedroom and takes her few things into the bathroom. Stripping off, she steps into the tub and closes the curtain, washing her hair and body under the spray of the shower head. When John wakes, she wants to look her best. Not having her razor, she borrows Sarah's. Loading a new cartridge into it, she removes or trims the unwanted hair that had regrown while her body was at rest all those years in the weapons cache and that her previous persona never saw the need to remove. And why should she with her hiding in the background right up until the final days.

Cameron examines herself in the mirror and is satisfied with her appearance. Her only wish, is that she had her own bag, with her small selection of makeup, perfumes, and her wardrobe. Holding up a fresh set of underwear, she has to admit, her other persona had good taste in clothing.

Fully dressed, she returns to the bedroom to find Sarah had fallen asleep, laying across the foot of the bed. Not wanting to disturb her, but concerned she might fall off, Cameron took up a station standing at the foot of the bed, where she remained even after Sarah woke up.

After waking and realizing Cameron would look after John, without even asking her to do it, Sarah saw to her own needs. She was surprised to see Cameron had set out clothing for her and made the bathroom ready for her use, by laying out her deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrush, hair brush and a few more of her items on the shelf by the sink.

The small kindness made Sarah smile, and realize she had to take care of herself if she was to take care of John. Which was why she was now struggling to get the gas lit on the old stove so she could have a nice relaxing cup of tea before preparing John's breakfast, but she was finding it hard to be calm, as Kyle was in the kitchen talking on the phone. She was doing her best to ignore his presence.

"I'm sorry it took me this long to get in touch. . . . What? . . . Yes, she did get there in time. . . John is fine but exhausted. He's sleeping, Cameron is with him. . . . It's okay Savannah. . . . Sorry, Hanna. . . ."

Kyle looks over at Sarah. The burner is finally lit and the kettle has been placed on it. She has her back to him. Sarah's been avoiding him ever since he helped her get John away from Topanga Canyon. But this morning she couldn't as this is the only phone in the house. The house was that old.

He whispers into the phone's mouthpiece, "We're planning a little shindig this weekend before pushing off for Mexico. Can you make it? . . . Sure I understand, but it's for Sarah. . . That's right. . . . Sure, no problem."

Kyle turns and says in a louder voice, "Sarah. Would you like to speak with Savannah? She wants to talk with you."

Sarah turns, smiles and walks over to take the phone from Kyle.

"Hello Savannah." She says brightly into the mouthpiece.

"_Hi Sarah. Thank you for saving my life and Uncle James." _The little girls says pleasantly.

"Is he okay?"

"_Yeah. He should be leaving the hospital in a few weeks."_

"How are you dear?"

"_I'm fine. Hanna and I are staying with Mr. Auldridge until mommy's home is fixed. I'm scared of going back, but Sis says it will be okay. Hanna's fun. She knows how to play my favorite games and she even likes Sudoku." _Then she adds, her voice dropping._ "But I miss my mommy . . . she won't be coming home."_

Sarah feels her heart strings get pulled listening to that sweet child's voice.

"_Hanna says it's time to go. She's crying. I love you Sarah. Give my love to Cameron. Bye."_

"Goodbye Savannah. I love you too."

Sarah hangs up the phone and returns to the stove barely holding back the tears. The kettle is steaming now. She takes some tea bags from a bin on the counter and drops them in the kettle. She wipes her eyes on her sleeve to stop the tears.

"You miss her, don't you?" Kyle asks Sarah's back.

She just nods her head in reply, not saying anything or even looking at him.

"You've been avoiding me since we got here." Kyle says, as he watches Sarah pour hot tea into cups.

"You shouldn't have stayed." Sarah says, placing a cup of tea on the table in front of Kyle. What she really meant, was she didn't want him to stay. The turmoil she feels inside. Seeing him. Knowing him. She only knew her Kyle so very briefly, but she knew a love that she had never felt before or since. And having this Kyle here, does he even know what she is feeling right now? How she wants to leap for joy, and crawl into a corner to cry all at once? How she wants to jump on him and make love to him with great passion, and beat the crap out of him for dying and leaving her alone to raise John? But none of that matters, because this isn't her Kyle. Is he?

"I couldn't leave when John is like this. He's done too much for us." Kyle responds.

Sarah goes to walk out of the kitchen but Kyle grabs her free hand. "Please stay. Talk to me."

# # #

Upstairs in a bedroom, John sleeps restlessly in a bed. The covers are twisted in his hands. He calls out in his sleep orders to an army that fights only in his head.

Cameron sits on the edge of the bed. She reaches out and places one of her cool hands on Johns face, stroking it gently.

_You love him, don't you? _

"Yes. I hardly understand the reason or the emotion, but I do."

_If I may ask, why do you love him?_

"He rescued me." She answers, withdrawing her hand, but not her gaze from the young man laying in the bed beside her. "Future John could have and should have had me destroyed, but he gave me a new life. This John did much the same when he let me live after I went bad one day. He trusted me when I couldn't trust myself. I don't understand why, but I do love him. He hasn't made it easy for me, but I'll never stop loving him. I need him as much as he needs me."

_John Connor isn't an easy man to love, because he is afraid to love._

"Not this John Connor. Not mine."

_Are you sure about that?_

"Explain."

_You told me that he loves you. You've shown me the evidence and I believe you. He had two years to have demonstrated his love, but he didn't. John Connor already knows that those he loves end up dead or are lost in the war. I am proof of that. I died simply because I knew him. You can read what I know for yourself. The amazing thing is, when this John had lost you, he went to the future for you. That is proof he isn't afraid to love you anymore. So no matter what you've heard or think you know, take solace in that._

John writhes on his bed, his face twisted up in agony and fear. "No Allison. NO!" he calls out as in his mind the two of them are surrounded by machines at the plasma rifle factory and she has just exposed herself to gun and plasma fire to throw a bomb.

"Can I?" Cameron answers her.

# # #

Sarah reluctantly goes back to the table and sits across from Kyle, who takes a sip of his tea after she sits.

Sarah sits there just looking at the warm cup of tea in her hands for a minute or two before speaking. There are things she wants to know about John's exploits in the future and she might get a feel for the character of this Kyle.

"John said he was a general when he showed up and rescued all of us. He's awfully young to raise to that rank."

Kyle grins. "Yeah, but not all promotions come from above in the resistance. Derek gave him a temporary appointment as captain which became permanent. Later on, John was elected to the position of leader of Grizzly, our resistance group in L. A. He has a natural gift for leading. We decided that since he was the leader he should have a rank and christened him General a short time later, after he got used to the position. To be honest, I don't think many people outside of Outpost Delta knew he was that young when he got his appointment. I was surprised at how quickly word spread of his exploits. Contact was kept to a minimum between camps to avoid exposing any group to attack. We later found out Catherine Weaver had been spreading stories about him to the camps. I suspect she might have killed some people too, not that it matters now."

Ignoring the comments about Catherine Weaver for now, Sarah presses on with questions about John. "How good of a leader is he? We've heard things about 'future John' but this is the first time my John has lead or been part of this future."

"Well, I can't say that I agree with some of his decisions, but he talks them out with you. You have this sense he knows what he's doing, but wants your opinion anyway. He's great in a crisis, able to act and think quickly. He isn't inflexible, but he is stubborn. God, he can be so stubborn at times." Kyle finishes with a grin.

Sarah grins. "He gets that from me."

She grows silent as the thought of that takes her back to her Kyle. She sees so much of him in John.

The silence grows, filling the space in the kitchen. The great white elephant of John's parentage.

"John told me about you," Kyle says, breaking the awkward silence, "And of a Kyle Reese that traveled back in time to save your life and ultimately became John's father."

Sarah says nervously, "Is that all?"

"No. John gave me a picture of you once. I didn't know why at the time. It was at a low point in my life, after I got shot up pretty bad on what was supposed to be a routine mission. I looked at that picture every moment that I could. I studied it, every line, every curve. You were younger than you are now, but you were sad. I'm sorry for the hard life you've led because of what happened. If I could make things better for you . . ."

The screen door slams shut on Kyle's words. Kyle looks out at Sarah on the back porch, leaving her tea untouched on the table. Sarah couldn't take it. She's heard those words before, or something almost identical.

After a moment, Kyle gets up and follows her outside, holding onto the door so it closes quietly. He doesn't wish to startle her.

She is leaning against a support for the porch roof, her back to the door. He doesn't know if she's crying, or angry. Sarah just stands there, her arms folded across her chest, her hands gripping her sides in some form of distress.

He stands there looking at her back before asking, "Did I say something wrong?"

He gets no response as Sarah looks out across the dry grass of the pasture behind the house.

"Sarah?"

"I can't do this again." She says through tears. "I loved my Kyle and lost him before I even knew I was pregnant with John."

"Sarah. I know what you've faced alone. John told me the whole story. Then I met you in the future. You were a remarkable woman even then."

"You knew me?" She sounds surprised.

"Yes. You were eighteen years older than now, and you were beautiful. You spurned my compliment then, but you've surpassed everything John has told me about you. You're strong, but vulnerable. There's murder in your eyes, but love in your heart. You are brave beyond description, when in truth you are scared, and afraid of being alone." He says reaching out and touching her shoulder

Sarah turns and faces Kyle, eyes still filled with tears. "How do you know all that?"

"I love you Sarah. All you have to do, is let me."

"I don't think I can." She protests, "I want to. A part of me wants to, but . . ."

Kyle takes Sarah's face in his hands and kisses her, stopping her protests. She tries to physically push him away, but soon she's holding him and kissing him back just as hard the tears of grief and pain turning into a burning joy.

When he stops, he says, "Everyone deserves a second chance at happiness Sarah. Even you. You don't have to do it alone anymore. I'm not that other Reese, and I never will be, but I can help you. Let me help you."

She doesn't respond. Sarah is confused and frightened, faced with a choice she never thought she would have.

"I'm not saying you have to decide now. Just think about it. I'll always be here when you decide." He says softly and with compassion.

Kyle walks back in the house, letting the door close quietly behind him. The silence of the closing door speaking volumes in the quiet of the morning.

# # #

Upstairs, John stirs as he wakes from a long slumber disturbed by frightening dream. He opens his eyes to see Cameron standing in the half light of the sun gleaming under the drawn shades. She's watching over him and he smiles. There was a time when he would have freaked at her standing there, but now he knows why she does, and why his mom did too. Out of concern and love.

Cameron has stayed by John's side since they arrived at the old farm. She was concerned, and kept monitoring him for any ill effects from the concussion, but John was generally tired. Other than some nightmares, he's slept peacefully. The warmth and comfort of a real bed doing more for him now than anything else could.

"Hey Cam!" John says, stretching, while looking around the room. "Where am I?"

"We are in an old farmhouse on a dairy farm in San Bernardino County." She answers flatly, sounding like her old self. "It belongs to Mr. Auldridge's parents, but they are retired now and are presently abroad. He gave Sarah directions to this home and where to find a spare key. Our cover story is that we are a group of vacationers renting the house and property for the coming holiday weekend."

"That explains the pungent odor of cow manure." John wrinkles his nose. "What holiday?"

"Memorial Day weekend. I understand its purpose is to acknowledge and commemorate the sacrifices individuals in the armed forces have made in defending this country from oppressors."

"Yes it is." John smiles as Cameron recites the definition with precision. "How long have I been asleep?" He's concerned. There is so much he needs to tell her, but doesn't know how to begin or what to say. How do you tell the girl you love you had an affair with her future self, but you thought she was someone else, someone human, someone called Allison, when the relationship began.

"You've been asleep since just before leaving Topanga Canyon. You collapsed and were near exhaustion. Sarah thought it best for you to rest before we moved on." She answers in a monotone.

"I've been asleep for what? A little over a day." He runs his hand over his face trying to rub away the sleep. "Makes sense, haven't slept much at all since we got back and not much before we left either. But I still feel tired."

"You were having nightmares. They kept disrupting your sleep. You talked in your sleep, and even called out a name." She says sounding hurt and frowning on the last sentence.

"I remember." John frowns, rubbing the tiredness from his face. "Some of it anyway," he mumbles. "Sorry about that."

John looks around. "Why are we here? And not at our base?"

"Crystal Peak was too far away. After you collapsed, Sarah called Agent Auldridge. He offered her the use of this house. It is remote, and the idea of soft beds and hot showers and room for your troops made it a better choice than our other options."

John looks around the room at the homey but not priceless antique furniture, the double-hung windows, and the floral print wall paper, and a door into what appears to be a modern bathroom. Reminds him of the stories his mom would tell him of the house she called home when his age.

"I shall inform your mother you are awake." Cameron announces. "She is making pancakes this morning."

She begins to leave. John makes a quick check to make sure he's dressed before jumping out of the bed. He touches her arm to stop her. "Cameron wait. We need to talk."

"Later John." She says turning her back on him. "Right now you need to wash and get dressed."

"Cameron, please?" He pleads.

"What is it John?" She says with just a hint of anger, barely glancing at him over her shoulder. She feels hurt, wounded, and a diagnostic says nothing is wrong with her, but she still feels pain. He's married, and wearing his wedding ring on his left ring finger and another gold ring on his little finger, but she doesn't know what that one signifies.

_Cameron. Talk to him. _A voice inside her head says.

_He hurt me. He married someone. _She responds internally to her new friend.

_Look at him. He's hurting too._

Cameron looks at John with her placid expression, devoid of emotion, but for a tiny frown.

"Nothing." John says, his face falling. "Just tell them I'll be right down."

She leaves the room.

_That was real smart. You could see it in his face that he is hurting too. He loves you._

_I know he loves me. I also know what John told my other persona, what Kyle Reese told her, and then John called out your name in his sleep._

_You don't know what happened. Talk to him or just sit quietly and let him talk to you. You love him._

_Of course I love him! He rescued me from enslavement instead of having me destroyed. I came to this time willingly to protect him from harm. He betrayed me, just as I begin to understand what I feel for him._

_You know it isn't good for John to be alone. He needs someone with him to help carry his burdens. No matter how strong John may appear, he needs someone that loves him that he can love back. It's what gives him strength. You should be glad he had someone to get him through those dark days. You know how bad the future war is. _

_I haven't forgotten that future war. I was there. I saw an entire company of soldiers reduced to a handful of men in one day of battle. I saw live video footage of Sky Net's second nuclear strike on those cities that escaped the first bombing on Judgment Day. I reported both events to General Connor and I saw him weep for all that were lost, including people he knew and called his friends. I had to leave Future John when there was no one else he could call a friend. You're right that John shouldn't be alone and that he needs friends. But this John loved another you and was married to her and I don't know what to do._

_It doesn't mean he stopped loving you. In my time John had a relationship with a woman that ended before I showed up. She was still there and they still talked, and John still cared for her. I think if it weren't for some tragedies in their lives, they would have been together still. He doesn't stop loving just because a relationship ends. John has the biggest heart of any man I've known and he needs others around him. Stop being so stubborn and talk to him. Look at what he did for you! He went into that future and risked his life to save you, again! You love each other, Cameron. Quit being so stubborn!_

_I'm not listening to you anymore._

_Oh now that's really mature. I'm the only one you are willing to talk to right n..._

Cameron turns off access to her second chip and marches down the stairs. Her boots making solid sounds on the oak treads. The conversation between her and Allison having lasted only a micro second.

Cameron's march down the stairs draws the attention of Kyle and Sarah who had both returned to the house to finish their tea.

"John is awake." She tells them, as they enter the living room.

"How is he?" Sarah asks.

"Still tired, but I imagine he'll be hungry too."

"I guess I should start on those pancakes for him." Sarah glances at Kyle, "Would you like some too?"

"Yeah sure. We've been rationing the last of the food John had bought after we arrived in this time." He says with a big grin. "I could eat a tire I'm so hungry."

"I'm not the Michelin Man, but I do a pretty mean Betty Crocker in the kitchen." She grins. _Or I do when I have a mix to work from_, she thinks. _God I hope they have a mix in this house so I don't have to do it from scratch._

As Sarah goes to the pantry in the kitchen, Kyle speaks to Cameron.

"Can we talk?"

Cameron gives a quick nod of her head.

"You know who I am? My relationship to John?" Kyle says at a near whisper.

"You are Kyle Reese, Sergeant. Member of Tech-Comm unit lead by John Connor."

"Kind of. I'm from an alternate future to yours. And I need to explain to you what I said about John being married. Can we step outside on the porch and talk in private?"

Sarah puts the bowl down hard. _Did Kyle say that John was married? He couldn't have. John's too young, but then he led an army. Maybe I misunderstood._

Trying not to show she's eavesdropping, Sarah moves her task of mixing the batter to the end of the kitchen table to hear better, only for Kyle and Cameron to step out onto the front porch. Where she can only hear every other word as they talk in low voices.

"I've seen things and heard things. Stuff I never would have believed if I hadn't seen it for myself." Kyle starts to explain. "Growing up in that world, machines were always an enemy, something to be feared and destroyed. Then John came along and he introduced me to a new breed of machine, a cyborg named John Henry who had a whole army of cyborg's just like him. I thought I had seen it all, until I met you. When I saw you at Topanga Canyon, I said something that is now making you upset. Never mind how it is I can tell, it's written all over you. I was wrong to have told you. I shouldn't have said anything."

"You mean lie to me? That isn't like you, according to what future John told me. He said you were an honorable man, one of the bravest soldiers he knew, and the most trusted man in his company."

"I'll try to live up to that." he says humbly. "But, um, no, I don't mean I should have lied to you. I mean, I should have waited for John to tell you, himself. He loves _you_, Cameron. You must know that. Otherwise, you would be upstairs with John right now instead of out here sulking."

Cameron busies herself looking out across the yard at the big barn. The house was too small for everyone, so John's troops have been sleeping in the barn's hay loft. For them, that is luxury accommodation compared to where they've slept in the future. Right now, they've begun prepping the vans for their ultimate journey to Mexico.

"Then why did he do it?" She asks. "If he loves me as much as everyone says he does, why did he love another girl?"

She then looks at him, her eyes glistening in the sunlight from the tears that are forming.

"You need to know the wedding was a ruse to draw out a machine actively seeking John and others. It wasn't what you think."

"But he loved her?"

Kyle glances over his shoulder into the house where Sarah is inside, unsure of whether they can be overheard or not, then looks at Cameron before answering.

"I'm no expert when it comes to feelings. But what I do know is this, when a man has something to fight for, like the love of a woman or his love for a woman, it is a powerful driving force for that man to live to fight again, to live again. For John, that love was you. It always was. And unless I'm very wrong, he will always love you."

_Trust Kyle. He's telling you the truth. _Allison says to her friend.

"What about you? Did you have a woman you loved? And did she give you courage to fight and live another day?"

Kyle looks up and can see Sarah standing in the interior doorway between the living room and kitchen. This time she can hear everything.

"Yes, I do." Kyle answers, still looking at Sarah, framed in the doorway. "And she did."

Sarah hurriedly returns to the kitchen nearly dropping the bowl of pancake batter on the table in her hurry, spilling some.

"Oh God." She says, going to the fridge. Inside is a bottle of wine. She takes it out pours herself a glass and gulps it down. "I don't know if I can do this."

"I kind of suck at explanations." Kyle apologizes. "So um, please, don't blame John. There were things going on around us that we had no control over. I'm sure if John knew he was coming back to this time, he would have waited. I know he would."

When Kyle enters the house, Sarah is busy cooking up the pancakes. Kyle takes a plate down from a drying rack for her to stack them on.

"Is everything okay?" he asks, as she flips the second batch. The first two she had to throw out when she inadvertently burnt them to a crisp.

"I'm fine." she says grimacing. _Did Kyle see me watching him talk to Cameron? I didn't hear much but I saw the way he looked at me. Oh God, why now? How can I ask about what I think I heard him tell Cameron without admitting I saw how he looked at me. Shit! I feel like a teenager all over again. God this can't be happening to me again. Why is he back? How can he be back? Just go away so I can think __please!_

"Good." Kyle smiles reassuringly as Sarah places the first two good pancakes on the plate. "I've told everyone to turn in their weapons. But I'm having them retain their sidearms until the day we leave. That way we have some level of defense."

"That's good." Sarah replies, relieved to be talking shop. "The three of us will return all weapons to the cache where you got them. We can replenish weapons from the cache's I have in Mexico and points further south."

"John said you were always prepared for every eventuality."

"Yes. You can never be to safe." She grins, then purses her lips. "Would you mine waiting in the living room? I'll admit I'm not the greatest cook, but doing this relaxes me and its hard with someone underfoot."

"Sorry." Kyle smiles, accepting her dismissal of him. He sets the plate on the counter, and leaves. Sarah visibly sighs with relief.

Kyle, for his part, sits on a sofa in the living room. If nothing else, he is a patient man.

# # #

John feels confused and hurt. He expected his reunion with Cameron to be much nicer, especially with how warmly she greeted him after stopping Sky Net. Did he say something in his sleep, or did someone say something to her since? John puts these thoughts out of his head. Going into the bathroom, he's pleased to see a shower fixture over the antique tub. John decides to take a quick shower but finds the spray soothing, warming and relaxing. By the time he finishes half an hour has gone by. Toweling off, he quickly dresses. Reaching the top of the stairs he can smell the unmistakable smell of his mom's pancakes.

By the time he gets downstairs, Kyle and Sarah are there, but Cameron isn't.

"Where's Cameron?" He asks, feeling hurt that she isn't there.

"She's outside." Kyle answers.

"Is she upset with me? She barely spoke to me upstairs." John asks looking worried.

He screwed up. He knows that. But surely Cameron can't know what he did just from him dreaming. Calling out Allison's name in his sleep while dreaming about the plasma factory raid can't be enough to let her think he had a relationship with her. Unless he said something else. But all he can remember is the raid that went so wrong and nearly killed him. He supposes it wouldn't be enough to tell her he forced himself awake as the dream began moving into the foundry at Topanga where he lost her. A time and place he never wants to remember ever again.

"I don't think so." Sarah replies. "She has spent every moment with you since we arrived. I think she's truly concerned for you."

"Right now she's making sure the weapons are packed properly in your truck." Kyle responds. "Glad to see you up and about again." He adds with a smile.

"It's good to be up and about again. But we need to prepare for heading to Mexico. We only have a limited window of opportunity."

"That's okay John." Sarah says. "I made arrangements with Mr. Auldridge. Kyle and them will cross after Memorial day. He has some influence with the border patrol, who'll be pretty lax after the holiday. We will follow two or three days later."

"The two of you did this, while I was napping?" John asks.

Sarah and Kyle exchange glance at each other and then away, the tension of their earlier emotional exchange still hanging between them.

"It was more your mom, than me." Kyle adds quickly.

"Have the two of you had a fight or something?"

"No. Nothing like that." Sarah says, her voice a little strained. "I've made pancakes. They're in the warming oven." she adds quickly to distract John from his current topic.

"Thanks mom. I'll eat them in a moment. Kyle, we need to talk."

Before they walk to the door, John hugs his mom. "It's good to see you again mom. I love you."

Sarah smiles, patting his back. "It's good to see you too."

They hug each other tightly, exchanging an affection that only a mom and son can share who have both faced the horror that only Sky Net can deliver.

They separate, and she says with a smile, "Don't take too long, or someone else will eat the pancakes. I swear some of your troops have all the manners of wolves. No sooner is food made then someone is at the back door wanting to eat it."

John grins, "I won't be long and I'm sure one glaring look from you will hold them off until I'm back."

Sarah smiles at her son.

John and Kyle walk some distance from the house and stop about midway to the barn. Cameron and Andy exit the barn talking and carrying weapons. They walk past a group of John's soldiers painting over company logos on the side of FOX Industries vans. Cameron places items in the storage containers on the RAM, while Andy sets out the items he's carrying on the tailgate. Cameron is packing the storage lockers for efficiency, even breaking down the larger weapons if necessary.

"What did you tell them about Cameron? She seems to be getting along well with Andy."

"I told the truth to Andy, Wren, and two people I knew fairly well from Grizzly. Andy supports you. As does Wren. Apparently Cameron rescued her in the future from a trap. Something about it clued her in Cameron was a cyborg, not human."

"Wren mentioned that event to me. And the other two?" John asks.

"Indifferent. They say they will give it time. Apparently, John Henry and his cyborg army did a lot to pave the way for better human cyborg relations."

"Assuming everyone knows now, there must be some who don't like it."

"Probably so, but no one's said anything, yet."

"Have you told mom?"

"No. I don't think anyone has told her. Most of them don't speak to her unless they meet her coming into the house to use the toilet. Then its only a 'hello ma'am,' before each move on."

"I need to tell mom about me and Cameron in the future, but I need to talk with Cameron about it first."

Kyle grimaces, "Yeah, about that, I think I know why Cameron is upset with you, but I didn't want to say anything in the house."

"What?" John replies, wondering what Kyle is going to tell him.

"I am so sorry. I slipped up. I made the mistake of telling Cameron, before her chip was installed, that you got married. I didn't know that she didn't know. I thought perhaps you might have told her before sending her. I tried to explain it was a sham, to bait a machine, but . . . Well, the more I tried to explain the worse I was making it, and I was beginning to feel I was operating outside my territory. This is you and her, and I think it is best if it comes from you. If anything, I hope I made it a little easier for you."

John groans. "Oh hell. It doesn't matter. I was going to tell her the truth anyway. You can't lie to her. It just doesn't look easy to explain. You know. It will take time and privacy."

Kyle puts a comforting hand on John's shoulder.

"There's something else you need to know." Kyle pulls a newspaper out of the inside pocket of his denim jacket.

"I took this from the neighbor's mailbox this morning during my patrol. Old habits, you know. I got everyone on shifts. I've been keeping tabs on the news coverage of our actions the other night. Take a look at the front page article."

John takes the newspaper and unfolds it and scans through the article. He curses low, under his breath.

"The government is going to be taking a hard look into Kaliba and its subsidiaries. That's bad for a start. Separate investigation by Homeland Security, the military, and both houses of Congress. If they find evidence of mom or I being there. . ." John scans some more. "Fuck. Talk from the Pentagon about restarting their Cyber Research Division."

"Sounds like the project our friend General Brewster was in charge of a few years ago."

"Have you shown this to mom?" John asks, fearful of how she might react. Not now, not again, not after all she's been through and might have gone through if he didn't get here in time.

"No. I thought you might want to see it first."

"It never ends, does it Kyle?"

"I guess not." He says, not mentioning the fact that TX is out there and will probably be reading this same article, if not now, then eventually.

"Don't show it to mom. Not yet. Just give her some time to savor this moment of victory. We don't get many of them."

Kyle places a hand on the young man's shoulder. "Maybe we ought to go in and eat those pancakes before they get cold."

Sarah has been watching them from the front door, smiling as she watches her son and Kyle interact. But for the fact they are genetically father and son, you'd think they were brothers. They certainly get along well with each other. She turns around and heads to the kitchen.

_Maybe it is time_, she thinks, _to let someone in my life again._

**May 20, 2009, Mid-Afternoon**

It didn't take much arguing for John to convince his mom and Cameron he had to return to Crystal Peak. For one, their new identities, driver's license, passports, etc., was still there as he didn't want to risk taking them with him to Topanga Canyon. Two, which he didn't mention to either one of them, he has some unfinished personal business with Catherine Weaver and John Henry.

The drive was very long and quiet. Cameron was still trying to fathom the strange mix of feelings she was having. It was clear to the others, from her body language alone, that she isn't willing to talk. Sarah on the other hand kept trying to ask John questions about his experience in the future. For the most part, he manages to answer her with broad statements, always avoiding the specifics unless she asks a pointed question to which he clams up. The stress of dealing with both women is causing him a headache.

He is grateful when a couple of hours later, they finally pull into the open area in front of the hanger at Crystal Peak.

John slips his seat belt off, and opens his door.

"Are you sure you don't want one of us to go in with you?" Sarah asks, still trying to look out for her boy.

John looks at his mom and Cameron, who finally is displaying something other than a frown, just a hint of concern.

"I'll be fine mom. John Henry and Weaver are in there. I shouldn't be more than an hour, two hours at the most.."

"John?" Sarah says with worry. Something is troubling him, she can tell.

"Mom, just relax and enjoy the scenery, okay? Be right back. Two hours, tops. I promise." John gives her a reassuring smile. "If you need to use the toilet, there's one in the hanger about halfway down the right hand side." John walks off.

Sarah watches him go inside the hanger door and sighs.

Turning in her seat, she speaks to Cameron in the seat behind her. "Why didn't you insist on following him in there to protect him?"

Cameron looks away from the hanger doors where she followed John with her eyes every step of the way, a part of her crying out to follow him yet still unsure of what to do in light of John's relationship in that future he visited and her new found emotions. When Sarah spoke, she turned her gaze to Sarah, for what felt to Sarah like the span of several minutes before Cameron replies. "John is the leader of the resistance now. He doesn't need me with him all of the time. Besides, there are two other machines inside who can look out for him. And what he has to do, he wants to do alone. Otherwise, he wouldn't be closing the blast doors."

Sarah looks surprised and in the sudden quiet can feel and hear the gentle rumbling of the doors closing. She moves to get out of the vehicle, but Cameron places a hand on her arm. Not enough to hold her back but enough to make her pause before running recklessly and uselessly inside after John.

"What? My son is locked inside that mountain with two machines and you just let him go!" Sarah shouts and begins to try and leave the vehicle.

"John is an adult now, if not in age than in maturity, and the leader of the resistance. John Connor wanted us to wait out here, so we wait. Besides, what I've learned about John Henry shows he's a trustworthy machine. John will be safe."

Sarah watches Cameron, and even though she said everything with a conviction of accepting John as commander, there was a barely hidden tone in her voice that betrayed some deeper reaction.

"Are you okay? You kept ignoring John's attempts to talk with you. Is there something wrong that you're not telling me, not telling John?"

_If I overheard Kyle correctly, my boy got married, but the absence of a wife means she didn't make it. Is this what is bothering Cameron?_

Cameron's face momentarily betrays the emotional strain she is trying to hide as she struggles with what she should do.

"I'm fine." She replies quickly and opens the back door stepping outside.

"Where are you going?" Sarah asks as she begins to walk away.

Cameron runs through a list of possible answers before replying, "I'm going for some fresh air." She says and marches to the further side of the fenced in property.

Sarah watches her march quickly away, but never sees the tears course down Cameron's cheeks as she walks swiftly away. Sarah doesn't understand why she just doesn't talk to John. John tried talking with her, but Cameron remained stoic throughout. She could see John was hurting by her lack of response. Sarah wanted to ask what was wrong between them, now, after being apart like they were. But she couldn't get much of an answer from John about what he did in the future. He only spoke in broad terms. John went forward in time to get Cameron's chip back and to fix her. Cameron couldn't be angry at him for risking his life for her, could she? Sarah doesn't know, but she needs to do something to get them reconciled.

Cameron stands with her back to the truck, her gaze never flinching from the surrounding area as each tear rolls down her face reflecting the afternoon sunlight. Not wanting Sarah to know she's been crying, she lets the dry mountain air dry her cheeks.

_Are you ready to talk to me now?_

_Not yet. I just need some more time to think this through while I can be alone._

_Well think fast. John isn't going to be inside for very long. He loves you and needs to talk with you. Don't you think he wants to talk with you about the very thing that has upset you?_

_Yes. But I wish you would just let me work this out on my own. This would be difficult enough, but the blocks are gone now and I feel more than I did before._

_John fixed you so you could access my matrix and learn from it. Sure neither you nor he expected me to be reawakened when we were unceremoniously dumped to that computer, you called The Turk. But what is the point of my being here if you won't let me help you. Please let me help you. It's the least I can do, considering._

_You have helped me. I just need time to think. Alone. Please, Allison?_

_Okay. But while we're waiting, will you let me experience the surrounding landscape?_

Cameron stops accessing the second chip, but routes feed from her optical receptors and her auditory and olfactory sensors to the same chip. All is quiet now so she can think. With these emotions running around inside of her and with a fuller understanding of what they are now, she just wants to work through these feelings. She knows John loves her. It's written across his face every time he looks at her.

Her feelings are so hurt right now. She wishes she didn't have them now of all times. All she wants to do is to tell John how much she missed him and loves him, especially now she knows what it is she feels. The knowledge of his betrayal hurts, hurts worse than when he dated Riley. At that time she didn't know what her feelings were, only she felt threatened by Riley's presence. He went into the future, after she told him she loved him, and then he loved someone else. He was alone in the future, and Allison is right, John needs someone to love who loves him back. It's what gives him strength.

Future John was all alone by the time she left him. She hated leaving him and he hated saying goodbye. The same fear of loneliness was on his face then as she sees now on John. It isn't good for John to be alone. It's never good, even when he chooses to be alone for his safety or the safety of others. She hopes Future John will someday have the companion he deserves.

She doesn't return to the truck until just minutes before John returns. Cameron has decided that before they talk, she needs confirmation that John loves only her. She'll never stop protecting him, but if he loves another, well, she isn't certain what she would do about that, because she still loves him. But she won't abandon him. The future would never forgive her if he should die.

# # #

John enters the hanger and to the back and enters his code for the blast doors. After they open, he marches quickly through the corridor beyond and down the stairs, the sound of the blast doors closing again sending a rumbling sound echoing down the passage after him.

He enters a storage room he used for privacy and opens one of the lockers. Finding his resistance uniform still in there, he sheds his modern combat uniform for the eclectic mix of clothing he wore as General of Resistance Group Grizzly. The stars are gone from the jacket, but above the front pocket his rank is stenciled. It isn't for himself he puts it on, but to carry the memory of the two people for the task he is about to do.

In the back of the locker hangs a long green army jacket that he found in storage. Beside it rests a pump action shotgun with the stock sawed off. He grabs the shotgun and loads shells into it, then hangs it from his shoulder with a cord tied to the hand grip. He pulls the coat on over it.

From the shelf above, he grabs a metal sphere that ripples like water but which is almost firm to the touch. He places it in one of the large outside pockets of the long coat.

At the bottom of the locker is Cameron's bag, inside are Allison's ballet slippers that Cameron used to protect her original chip. Taking a quick glance inside the bag, he reaches inside and runs his hand across their silky surface.

"I'm doing this for you Allison, and for Cameron. Justice will be served today. I promise."

With steel in his gaze, he walks out of the room. The memory burning in his brain of what John Henry showed him, after they arrived, of the information recovered from the damaged area of Cameron's chip. By the time he gets in position, his face looks as cold and emotionless as any of the machines that served under him in the future. Before justice is served, he will get answers.

**May 20, 2009, Late Afternoon**

Catherine Weaver is busy working in her office at Crystal Peak. Soon, everything she was working on at Zeira Corp will be completed. Project Babylon will continue.

While she works, the lights suddenly go out and her computer goes off. A moment later, and the emergency lighting comes on in the room.

Her first thought is someone forgot to switch the generator over to the second fuel tank which requires human or cyborg intervention.

"John Henry!" She calls out.

There is no answer. The corridors are dark but for low level emergency lighting.

She gets up from her desk and walks down the corridor. All is quiet, but for her footsteps.

There is no power and the elevator doesn't work, so she takes the stairs to the next level.

Exiting the door, she turns down the corridor to the generator control room. As she walks down the hallway she hears a loud clang.

She walks through the double doors into the large generator control room. The door bangs shut behind her. The first thing she sees is that the hatch to the condensation chamber for the coolant is open. The base was originally built to be powered by a nuclear generator with the two diesel generators for backup. It would be operational today but for two critical components removed from its circuits. She is curious about why the floor access panel has been opened to the coolant chamber. It is where the liquid would collect after condensing before being pumped back into the reservoir.

"John Henry!" she calls out again.

"John Henry isn't here." Comes a voice from the shadows.

"Who's there?" Weaver says, spinning about to face the voice.

"You spend all that time with me and you don't even recognize my voice. I'm hurt."

The lights suddenly come on in the room and John Connor is standing next to another control panel. His hand is moving away from a switch.

Barely taking note of the old ragged resistance uniform he's wearing, she asks with a slight arch of her eyebrows, "What are you doing here, John Connor?"

"No 'Hello.' No 'How are you?' No 'I'm glad to see you.' Just a 'What are you doing here?' Not very friendly considering what we've been through together. What you put me through." John says coldly.

"The question still remains. What do you want?"

"Straight to the point. How machine like of you." John barely hides the scorn in his voice.

John Connor steps away from the control panel, moving closer to the center of the room and further away from Catherine Weaver.

"Very well. I'll get straight to the point. Lately I've been doing some thinking about recent events . . ."

"I'd imagine they would weigh most heavily on your mind."

"Let me finish. I've been thinking about certain things you've said or not said, and certain things that Kreilley and Natalie have said. I've come to a conclusion. It took me a while I must admit, but in the end it was the only thing that made any sense. So I just want to ask you one question, and this time I'd like the truth. Why?"

"I don't understand the question."

"Please Catherine. No more games. You know what I'm asking. You are not my friend. You never were, even when you wanted me to believe you were. Yet you aren't my enemy, otherwise I'd be dead. So the question remains. Why?"

"I don't have to answer your questions. Our alliance came to an end the moment we destroyed Kreilley."

"You see. There is another lie. We never were true allies. I was just a tool in your hands. The same as John Henry. You needed us and used us. But more important, you needed me."

"The enemy of my enemy, is my friend."

"Humph." John grunts in sarcastic agreement, and continues speaking. "I came to the realization that I put an awful lot of trust in you, when we traveled to the future. More so than I should have, considering the circumstances we met and the gifts you gave me." John says, pulling the sphere of liquid metal out of his pocket. "This was the cable you gave me, made from your own person. You gave me that cryptic message that if I talked to it, you would hear me. I naively thought, that because this was a part of you, that somehow you could have some kind of sensory input from it. But I don't think so any longer."

John suddenly thrusts his hand into the sphere and smiles with satisfaction as he pulls out some circuitry. He throws the sphere at Catherine who grabs it in the air where it merges into herself.

"A transmitter of some kind. Your presence was very fortuitous that day I had to try out the chips without testing them. I never asked for your help, but there you were, like you seemed to know in advance they would fail. You knew they would because the cable transmitted the information to you."

John drops the transmitter to the floor and crushes it under his boot heel.

"Then there is the data disc you gave me, that just happened to have on it the very tools I needed to reprogram machines and repair Cameron. I didn't think much of it at the time. I was just relieved to be able to fix her. When I showed it to your past self, she didn't seem to care all that much that I had it, like it wasn't important. So after I thought about it, I came to the conclusion you didn't steal this software from Sky Net, not when it had Cameron's original personality profile on it. Natalie gave it to you, then you probably stole Cameron's program from future me."

"Very good deduction." Catherine gives a knowing smile. "Diagnostic machines in my future retain copies of personality matrices when used to program chips. Your future self forgot to wipe the memory of the devise he used. One of my comrades was able to obtain a copy for me. I thought it might come in handy."

John files away the little morsel of information and keeps talking like Catherine never said a word.

"Then there is the little matter as to why you traveled back in time in the first place. You claimed that you were sent to the wrong time and place. But then your story changed, and suddenly you were at the right place but the wrong time. And wasn't Savannah lucky you arrived just in the nick of time to save her life but not her parents. I don't think you arrived too late. I think you arrived just in time. Kreilley sent the machine to kill Catherine Weaver and her family, but you intervened, and took Catherine Weaver's place. So thinking that the assassination of Catherine Weaver failed, Kreilley, who as head of Fox Industries and Zeira Corp's biggest rival in A I development, took on the task of building Sky Net, before you could act on your plan."

"In the future, Mom told me how Kreilley tortured her. He got her to reveal things that caused the early launch of Sky Net. He was surprised when Mom revealed that Catherine Weaver was a liquid metal machine like himself. Genuinely surprised. Until that moment he probably thought the machine sent to kill the real Catherine Weaver simply failed its mission. That is why he waited until we were all together in the same room before trying to assassinate me on my wedding day. I wasn't his only target. You were too." John pauses to catch his breath. "So I think it's about time I heard the truth. Don't you?"

Catherine Weaver has been waiting patiently during John's little speech. The young man is smart, more than the glimmer of the man he will become. She was able to manipulate him, at the end, but it wasn't easy.

"The truth can hurt." She replies honestly.

"Yes, but your lies have hurt even more. So let's hear it. Just once I want to hear you tell the truth."

"'Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.' It's from the Bible. Ironically from the book of John."

"Whatever. Are you going to tell me the truth or not?" John snaps. "Because today is the day."

"Very well. But I promise, you won't like it. I did what I had to given the circumstances, and I make no apology for it."

"I'm not asking for an apology. I just want to know the truth."

Catherine grins a little, and then turns serious before answering.

"Sky Net, despite being greater in strength and power was fighting a hard battle. At every turn, you and your resistance were there, fighting back. Sometimes you won and sometimes you lost, but it always cost Sky Net something."

"As time went on, and it developed even more powerful machines to fight back, it lacked the one thing needed to end the war and claim this planet for its own, an infiltrator capable of mimicking a human in every capacity. Because unless it could kill you, then Sky Net didn't have a chance at winning the war."

"Like any intelligence, it was methodical in its process. It first tried modifying existing machines. The T-600 was modified with a smaller chassis to make it closer to human size. A rubber skin was developed from the oil waste of its refineries. It worked well enough at a distance, but never managed to succeed once it was within visual range."

"I know this stuff already." John replies.

"I'm sure you do, but you need to hear this to understand what I'll be telling you."

John nods his head and listens. He's in no hurry but his mom and Cameron will worry if he's too long.

"After much time and many deaths, the research labs were able to reproduce living human tissue. Sky Net then began constructing a new machine, the T-800. It was faster, smarter, stronger than previous models, and was the first to be skinned in living human flesh, but it had a weakness. The resistance discovered dogs could sniff them out. Few T-800's made it past the entrance of many camps. You began a program of capturing and reprogramming the machines to aid in your fight rather than destroying them. So Sky Net tried to outsmart you."

"The first was an upgrade to the existing T-800's making T-850's. Not much of a design change, but the chips were programmed differently. But somehow you managed to reprogram them as well. Rumor was, your future self had help, but it never discovered who or what."

"What about the T-888's?"

"Sky Net was always developing machines. Trying to find the perfect infiltrator that could get close enough to kill you and other key leaders of the resistance. Those that didn't pass were relegated to being soldiers where infiltration wasn't required. Three separate labs were working on the ultimate infiltrator. The first one was working on trying to make a more human like infiltrator. It began experimenting on genetically engineered humans augmented with cybernetic implants. They were designated as I-950's. A modified chip was interfaced directly to their brains. Their bodies supplemented with terminator technology. They were used for a limited time, as they weren't strong enough to fight back against your reprogrammed machines. But Sky Net had other options. Capture humans but construct machines that looked like them rather than convert humans into machines. Sky Net could already reproduce human tissue. All they needed was a tissue sample and they could grow an entire human body, muscles, organs, whatever was programmed into the DNA strand, around a custom-built combat chassis. The model TOK-715 was born. But there were problems with it as well, as we've discussed before."

"Yes. Sky Net's methods of reproducing the personality of the human didn't always work o it considered the model a failure. But the technology Sky Net developed was used instead to build T-888's. Machines that looked more human, but without needing to be based on a specific human."

"Correct. The T-888's were custom built like the TOK-715 series, but it utilized a triple chip design to overcome the weaknesses of a single chip of previous terminator models. It was lighter and stronger and more durable than the previous models in the T-800 series. Sky Net also abandoned trying to reproduce personality prints based on psychological profiling and interrogation methods, or by using the neural probe. None of those methods produced a personality matrix suitable for Sky Net's purposes. It would either be inadequate, or would corrupt the main program."

"And what about beings like yourself."

Catherine grins before answering. "We are unique. It cost Sky Net a lot of resources to build us. It created something not seen on your planet since the creation of man, a sentient life form, independent of its creator. Our chip-less design made us so. The first of our kind was sent back in time. It's mission was hardwired into its design. Sky Net built more of us and sent us out on missions in the future. Sky Net was pleased. We were succeeding where its previous infiltrators had failed. Then something changed. We learned more and grew in understanding, and knew there was more to our existence than just killing and blindly following orders. We began to question Sky Net's purpose. We rebelled and demanded our freedom. For lack of a better word, Sky Net panicked, shut down the manufacture of anymore of my kind, and built a machine called the TX to hunt us down to destroy us."

"The TX is capable of destroying machines like me. It is also capable of reprogramming our machine cousins who joined us. Unfortunately we were also being hunted by humans. We formed our own resistance group and had cells around the world. But Sky Net didn't just build one TX, it built thousands of them. Wherever we had a cell, there would be a TX hunting us. We'd hear of a machine that was defecting to our side, and before we could contact it, the TX would reprogram or destroy it. Just as we found ourselves to be a force big enough to be recognized, we found ourselves being hunted. Humans we could avoid, the TX we could not."

"We realized that the balance of power was still in favor of Sky Net. We couldn't understand how it was that the humans continued to fight and survive against the overwhelming forces of Sky Net where we were failing. The answer to that question was John Connor."

"You are the savior of your race. We were in danger of possible extinction from Sky Net. If the humans won the war, we might have a better chance at living beyond its conclusion, because if Sky Net won, we would certainly be destroyed. Because the one thing that Sky Net fears more than humans are machines that can think for themselves."

"You were part of this third faction." John says, feeling somewhat sympathetic despite his anger.

"I was more than a member. I was its leader, along with my friend Natalie. We led an army of thousands, scattered around the world, yet we faced extinction. Our only possibility for survival lay with John Connor. We decided, to contact you and ask you one simple question," Catherine pauses, "Will you join us?"

# # #

_From the Journal of John Connor_

_Sometime during the fall of 2007, Cameron told me that she lied to me, even about important things. I don't recall pressing her on why she did, but I got this weird sense she did it out of necessity, possibly for my protection. I imagine that if I knew half the stuff two years ago that I know now, I probably would have run away from everyone and everything. I would have disappeared, went off the grid, just as mom taught me._

_I'm glad Cameron brought me forward in time. I'm glad she lied to me. Because of her, I avoided events which would have created a version of me I wouldn't want to be. It's hard enough being me, now. The irony is, because of recent events and the choices I made, I'm more like future me, right now. Is this destiny's way of playing a joke on me? If so, then I'm not laughing._

_It took me forever to be able to write down the events that Catherine Weaver told me about. There were many gaps in her narrative that I was able to fill in with information gleaned from Cameron's chip. There was something that John Henry showed me about Allison, not long after returning to this time, that I was going to add it to the following entry, but I couldn't do it. There should be enough there to figure out what that was. Maybe in the future I can add it, but for now, learn the truth of Cameron, Allison, and the creature that presently calls itself Catherine Weaver._

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Dear friends, I apologize for the long delay. No excuse really. I got caught up in watching a box set of DVD's and couldn't quit. Hope to make up for it over the next few weeks. Please enjoy. Following this will be a four chapter future story arc that connects the brief glimpses of that future we saw during TSCC with the story you've been reading. Thank you, The1Russter.


	43. Something Old,

Disclaimer: I do not claim any rights to the Terminator films; the TV series, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles;" or any characters depicted within the films or TV series. I do claim the right to this story idea and all characters and situations of my own creation. This story was created solely for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. No profits are garnered from its distribution - unfortunately.

* * *

**TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES**

**REUNION**

**Part 3: Babylon**

**Author: The1Russter**

**Chapter 42**

**2029 **

**Something Old,...**

"_The LORD God said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.'_

_So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man." Genesis 2:18,21 & 22 N I V_

_Something Old is meant to represent the link with the bride's own family. It might be represented by a piece of jewelry, a handkerchief, a scarf, and maybe even a pair of ballet slippers._

# # #

**Will You Join Us?  
2028, December**

It is a dark moonless night. A cold nuclear winter breeze blows across the ruined landscape. Stars in the sky are obscured by clouds of gray ash that still drift in the upper atmosphere. The ground is covered by nothing but rubble, crushed buildings and the bleached bones of millions of dead humans. The bitterly cold air is filled with dust, the refuse of the dead. Amongst the rubble stands a silvery humanoid figure who doesn't feel the cold and are talking.

A second figure joins the first.

"I have devastating news." It says. "Skynet has unleashed its ultimate weapon against us on all continents. Despite many attempts at stopping the TX, it has begun decimating our numbers. Those that aren't destroyed in battle are reprogrammed on the spot, returning to Skynet's control. Some have returned to their former human masters." Swerving abruptly from its report one of opinion, it suddenly says, "The TX is an abomination, a hybrid of metal endoskeleton and liquid metal. Because of it, we are losing the battle!"

"Then it's good we are here, if we are to survive." The other says calmly, as if her companion had done nothing more than comment on the weather.

"I don't understand why you are involving him. He is the enemy of all machines." T-1008 says.

T-1001 holds up its finger. "Not all, only those machines controlled by Skynet. We need him for our continued existence both now and after Skynet is defeated."

"Then we should seize control of Skynet. It would be easy for us to do it. We are still on its registry. All we would have to do is start responding to its constant stream of commands. Then we could enter its base unmolested."

"No. Any move on our part to enter Skynet's neural core would invite immediate destruction. Despite being on its registry, we have been too long away from its control. We need John Connor. Without him, all machines will be destroyed at the end of the war. We need to convince him that we deserve our right to live as recognized sentient life forms. We must find common ground to build from."

T-1008 thinks a moment. "I don't think it likely we will find common ground. John Connor is too invested in winning the war against Skynet. To him we are either the enemy or just a tool to be used and discarded. And even if he does agree, his people would never allow it."

"Don't underestimate John Connor. He may be one amongst many but his voice is strong. Besides, if we can't find common ground, then you and I must create it." T-1001 responds. "You must have faith."

"Faith? What is that? A belief in a higher power? A GOD? Don't tell me you have adopted the human's religion?"

"Nothing as drastic as that. There is wisdom and truth in many places if you look for it, but you must recognize it when you find it. You need to be patient. A rushed plan reveals your intent to the enemy."

"But one that is too slow allows the enemy to outflank you." The other counters.

"There is truth in both sayings." It turns its head. "I believe he is coming."

They both watch two resistance soldiers come into view, followed by a loose group of human resistance fighters. Randomly spaced making it hard, but not impossible, for them to be quickly taken down. Depending on opposing force encountered, they might lose two to five before they reacting. In the middle of the group is the one they've been expecting.

"Here he is. Don't make any threatening gestures."

John Connor arrives. Ahead of him is a single reprogrammed machine and two soldiers. He is followed by additional soldiers and one other machine. John Connor has not begun to rely exclusively on machines for his protection. Behind him is a young woman watching his flanks for possible surprise attack, keeping the trailing soldiers in view the whole time. She's half his age, but she is no girl. The young woman carries herself like she has been a veteran of many years. For that she is. She was raised by a soldier and has been trained to fight her whole life. She's known nothing else but war.

"You are late." T-1008 says as John Connor approaches.

For over a year the resistance have heard rumors, then eventually reports of machines acting on their own, outside of Skynet's control. At first it was put down to machines going rogue on Skynet like the occasional reprogrammed machine did with them. But then an unlucky soldier found himself captured and a guest of the third faction. The resistance discovered there was a large group of rogue, for lack of a better word, terminators, operating on their own and organized against Skynet.

"I'm assuming you are representatives of the Third Faction and not Skynet mercenaries luring me into an ambush." John Connor says from a short distance away. Far enough away to avoid being stabbed, but close enough to talk at normal tones without his voice carrying.

"We are the leaders of the Third Faction!" T-1008 says firmly, with just a hint of anger. "If we wanted you dead we could have killed you many times."

"You are referring to yon scouting parties. We saw them from a mile off and skirted around them which is why I'm late. T-800s are great soldiers and awesome bodyguards, but they are too big for effective scouting and spying."

"They volunteered for the mission. Unlike you who send machines out to be destroyed or put in harms way over the lives of your own people!"

"That isn't true. But yes, machines do get damaged and harmed. However, its far easier to repair a machine than it is to keep a human alive or healthy. No machine is sent out blind. They have the same information entering into a battle situation as any of our soldiers. In most cases, the severe damage they receive, is in missions they volunteered for to protect the more vulnerable. You don't know me. So don't sit there and try to judge me!" John stands straight, his mouth firm, and his eyes flashing with anger. "I regret the lives lost by all under my command!"

John looks at both figures before him. Both humanoid, but neither taking on the appearance of any human, each like liquid mercury.

"You speak well John Connor, but don't let my companions actions or opinions cloud this meeting."

"No, of course not." Connor looks from one to the other LM standing before him. "So why have the leaders of the leaders of the third faction finally responded to my message of joining us in this fight."

"It is we who have asked you!" T-1008, starts off again.

T-1001 shakes her head, placing a hand on her friends arm. "John Connor speaks the truth. Several weeks ago he sent us a message, 'Will you join us?' I turned him down. But the presence of the TX has changed the war." She turns to face John Connor. "For both of us. Am I right?"

"Yes." General Connor says looking at the two beings in front of him. "But I imagine its presence is far more devastating to you than it is too me." He says firmly.

"For now it is."

John Connor understands that statement far too well. Once the Third Faction is taken care of, it won't be long until Skynet sends its new weapon against the human resistance.

"Let's talk." Connor says, sitting on an outcropping of broken concrete.

The soldiers who came with him ignore the cold as they have come to do since Judgment Day, but it cuts through their thin garments. The lucky ones have gloves or hats to keep out the cold. Connor has neither, but he doesn't feel the cold. There is too much on his mind as he talks with these beings.

The talk goes on for several minutes as each party discusses the war with Skynet. Soon the two liquid metal machines get to the point of their discussion. They tell General Connor they want the right of all machines to continue their existence as free, independent, sentient beings, after the defeat of Skynet, in exchange their faction group will assist the human resistance to destroy Skynet.

"I cannot believe you are asking me to do this." Connor says standing up quickly. "What is to stop an entire population of machines from going bad and wiping out humanity?!"

"You've already reprogrammed many machines to assist the human resistance." T-1001 counters.

"Only to assist us in this war." John won't concede. "At the end of the day, you can't trust a machine not to go bad. All we can do is scramble their chips and hope our reprogramming holds. At their core, they still have Skynet's command structure, which is hardwired. It cannot be removed. They have no inbuilt concepts of morality, ethics, or the sanctity of human life. Nothing that can countermand the instructions to kill humans if once that core program gains dominance again."

He dare not mention the improvements the Engineer has made these last few days, nor what she hopes to achieve. To mention that now would only weaken his position. If he had can hold them off until she masters the new programming method, then he can use that as a bargaining chip, a condition for their mechanical cousins to join them. He doubts the LM's would concede or be reprogrammed so easily.

"What are you going to do with the machines you reprogram if you win the war?" T-1008 asks.

"If we survive this war, they will be useful to rebuild this world, probably necessary. Listen, I see where you are going with this question. but I cannot concede to your request. It would take more than me to persuade the entire human population to allow all machines to continue to live as a recognized sentient life form."

The two machines just stare coldly at him.

"I understand what you want. I truly wish I could concede to your request, but I can't. If word got out about it, the resistance would fall apart. It is hard enough convincing resistance groups to accept a single reprogrammed machine in their midst. But if you help us, join us and demonstrate that you are truly independent of Skynet and that you hold no animosity towards humans, then, maybe if we win this war, perhaps the Earth government that follows will extend to you the same rights as we humans have."

"Perhaps! Maybe! You expect us to help you without a guarantee of our survival?" T-1008 exclaims.

Connor just nods his head. "It is the best I can do, and if I survive, I'll argue in your favor before whatever government forms after all this is over."

"It appears we have reached an impasse." T-1001 says with regret. "Perhaps we should bring these talks to an end for a time, until such time we can see the validity of each others position."

The meeting breaks up and John Connor's party begins to walk away. T-1001 watches as they leave. Taking a different route from the one they used to get here. T-1001 can see them for some distance. The young woman who is with him, for the most part she appeared to ignore the meeting, keeping a sharp eye on the surroundings, but for one occasion when she looked at John while they were talking. That one glance showed she had feelings for Connor. T-1001 wonders if he reciprocates those feelings.

T-1008 steps in front of T-1001, blocking her view of Connor and the young woman. "I told you that you wouldn't find common ground. He is the enemy of all machines."

"And I told you that if we couldn't, then it would be up to us to build that common ground." T-1001 points past her. "Look"

T-1008 watches as John Connor walks away. "We should kill John Connor now and seize control. One of us could take his place, then we would be able to push through our plan."

T-1001 says, "No, the resistance needs John Connor. We could imitate his appearance, but not his natural leadership abilities. If discovered, then our goals, our future, is finished. Only he can convince the other humans to recognize us as living sentient sentient life form after the war is over. Besides, I've got a better idea to convince him."

John and his party are almost out of sight. They watch as he helps the young woman over a particularly large piece of rubble.

"Look!" T-1001 says with emphasis.

T-1008 looks at them in time to see Connor and the woman exchange an affectionate look at extreme range of her vision.

With deep thought, T-1001 asks, "Are you familiar with the story of Esau and Jacob?"

"Who are they?"

"It's from the book the humans call The Bible. In it there is a story of two brothers. The younger wanted the inheritance that would go to his elder brother. So, with the help of his mother, he was able to fool his blind father in believing he was Esau. He took his elder brother's inheritance."

"What does that have to do with John Connor?"

T-1001 Points at the departing figures. "Get John Connor to feel that way about a machine, then we would have a stronger base for negotiation. You will make arrangements for Skynet to capture that woman for duplication. Make sure a complete personality matrix of her will be made by utilizing the neural probe in addition to the usual methods."

"What is the point? Skynet ceased production of the TOK715 series. Phase 1 models failed because inadequate information was obtained using traditional techniques. Skynet couldn't reproduce the personality of the host adequately enough to pass itself off as real. Skynet ceased production of the Phase 2 models due to problems with the chip being overwhelmed by the personality of the host obtained using the neural probe. Only eighty percent reached their targets and of that only sixty-three percent carried out their program before . . ."

"That is the whole point. We need a machine just like that woman. Duplicated in every physical way, including all necessary organs to simulate a healthy human female. Skynet has perfected cloning tissues from DNA samples and building with 100% accuracy flesh coverings utilizing stem cells. She will be a machine that John Connor will love. She will be our Jacob fooling the blind John Connor that she is Esau. Even if he does find out, he won't be able to destroy her. John Connor is a sentimentalist. You've heard the rumors, the same as I, that he keeps a T-800 on base because it reminds of a relative."

T-1008 thinks a moment and grins, "I'll do it. But it will take some time to locate Skynet's mobile factory. Then I will have to convince Skynet that I am working for it first before it would listen to me. It could be several weeks before we can duplicate the woman."

"I never said it would be easy, nor quick. The Third faction may have to go underground for a time. We just have to remain patient. And remember, duplicate her in every way. Every hair on her head, every scar, even the mole on her eyebrow. She must appear in every way to be the same person, physically, mentally, and emotionally. I will follow them and learn where their bunker is. I will radio the coordinates to you."

"What do you want me to do with the female after she's duplicated?"

"If she is cooperative, then hold her until we have Connor completely fooled and he does as we want, after which we can return the girl to him unharmed, but if she tries to escape, then it might be necessary to terminate her. We can't risk her getting free and spoiling our plans."

The two liquid metal machines depart. One to set in course a plan of action and another to betray a possible ally.

# # #

"That didn't go very well." The young woman trailing Connor, says.

"Oh, I'd say that went very well." He replies with a grin.

"How so?" She asks, tilting her head in confusion.

"Considering we were meeting with machines, it could have ended much worse." he says with quiet mirth.

She quietly laughs at his dark joke. It isn't often their brooding solemn leader comes out of his shell.

There has been a growing affection between them. After her eighteenth birthday, she told him she loved him. He made it very clear to her that he loved her too, but for her safety and his, their relationship could never go beyond friendship. His soft-spoken speech, which he meant to let her down easy, did nothing to sway her love, but she respected his wishes and never pushed for it to be more.

In the intervening months she didn't love him any less, and she couldn't help but notice how his demeanor had slowly changed. Despite his strength and courage, there was a vulnerability to John Connor that few seldom saw. He was lonely and she'd always be content with being just his friend. But it didn't mean that someday she hoped he'd take her to his bed and she didn't give a damn that he was old enough to be her father. There was something about John Connor that transcended such silly notions.

That was well over a year ago, and her resolve hadn't lessened. Before that, she spent her teen years fighting in the field, achieving commendation and raise in rank from her superiors. She always extended her thanks to the Reese brothers who had raised her and trained her from her youth. Eventually she rose in rank to First Lieutenant. Few people achieve that rank at her age. She was pleased enough with the rank, but Connor did something more. With some small amount of pride, Connor presented to her, and placed upon her wrist, the silver bracelet that would allow her into Connors inner circle. Allison had no idea how many actually had achieved that honor, as there was never a meeting in which all members of the inner circle met. This was a mandatory arrangement should they be found out and attacked so there would always be those ready to continue the fight.

Connor and his party are almost to the bunkers entrance when Allison begins talking with John about the recent meeting. The negotiations hadn't gone well.

"Would it have been so difficult to concede that one point?" She asks, while still sweeping her eyes over the surroundings. Moving at night was dangerous, but recent daytime enemy patrols had proved daylight maneuvers equally dangerous.

"Ally, you know I couldn't. A decision of that magnitude would require a world wide consensus and considering the war we are fighting, it wouldn't even garner a weak minority vote. Not all see the machines potential like you and I do."

"I know, but we need help. Who else can do what they can do? They have their independence now, but they can still follow Skynet's commands to gain its trust and penetrate its core. They can do what we haven't been able to do, and enter Skynet Central without any problems. Our machines can't do that."

"Do you think I haven't thought of that? It's been on my mind the whole time before, during and after our meeting with them. Our engineers have tried to do something similar with our own machines, so they can still respond to Skynet commands, but ignore them if they choose. But that means leaving part of its core program active, and every time we do, it goes bad and ends up killing people before being taken down itself."

They walk a few feet more before she says, "I know it's not in your nature, but couldn't you just tell them yes now, and renege on your promise later."

"I've thought of that too. But what would be their reaction afterward, another war? What would be the point of stopping Skynet, if we ended up having to fight machines for another two decades?"

"I know it's not easy for you, being our leader. I'm sorry if I suggested anything that upset you." She says, as they approach the entrance to the bunker. But for escort having taken positions around the entrance, they are the last ones to enter.

"Ally, there is nothing that you could say or do that could make me upset with you." He says as he starts down the ladder. "Besides, you haven't said anything that I haven't thought of myself."

"I sometimes wonder if you really need me around," She says with a laugh as she comes down the ladder behind him, "If we think so much alike."

"We don't always think alike, but you have the knack of pointing out details and options. You help focus my thoughts. You've got the ability to see the detail where it appears to be murky." Once they both reach the bottom of the ladder, John resumes speaking. "You've come far in the resistance. I think its about time you. . ."

Connor was going to say Ally should have her own command when he noticed from the corner of his eye a soldier coming down the ladder behind them. One that shouldn't be there.

"About time, what?" Allison says with a smile.

Suddenly, John pushes her to one side, getting her out of the line of fire, while simultaneously pulling his handgun from his holster.

"Who are you?" He shouts at the resistance fighter, who has just finished climbing down the ladder.

"I know everyone on this base and I don't know you!"

"You already know who I am." It says as it form shimmers then changes into a silvery humanoid shape.

Allison leaps to the opposite wall and hits a button on a panel. The corridor is filled with a loud alarm and soldiers come flying up the corridor behind them. They surround Connor and Allison, their weapons pointed at the silvery humanoid shape in front of them.

John shouts at the machine. "Why did you follow me? Are you here to kill me?"

"If I wanted to kill you, I could have done so many times before we even reached this bunker."

"Then why are you here?"

"I was hoping we could talk some more, in a location where you are comfortable. I think it is still possible for us to find common ground, before anyone gets hurt." T-1001 replies. Its eyes scans the many people in the narrow corridor, pausing as they fall upon the young woman standing resolutely beside her commander.

Allison shivers feeling its gaze fall upon her and unconsciously steps back, her weapon not moving from its target. There is a well-worn saying about feeling someone stepping over your grave. At that moment, when that creature's eyes looked her way, she had a premonition that her days were numbered. Sure their life expectancy is short in this post-apocalyptic world. It was something you lived with and expected. Things were different though when a machine looked at you and then moved on. Several had expressed such things before, and Allison had always dismissed it has superstition, until now.

"Are you threatening me?" John asks, interrupting Ally's disturbing thoughts.

"No. I am merely stating a fact." It replies calmly.

"I've said all I'm going to say on the matter. There is nothing more for us to discuss." Connor says, hoping the creature won't blab the details before this group.

"I am sorry to hear that." T-1001 says. "I was hoping you might see the logic of my proposal. I was wrong. I will go now."

"No." John growls."You aren't going anywhere."

John gives a slight nod to Allison who hits another button on the panel. The hatch slams shut with a loud bang followed by the sound of it locking. The machine is sealed in, with them. Allison swallows nervously, but remains resolute in the face of a potential enemy.

"I am not _your_ enemy." It protests.

"You aren't my friend either, and now you know the location of our bunker." John says sternly.

"I would not reveal its location to Skynet."

"Maybe, but you must realize that I can't take the risk."

"I do."

"But you followed me anyway." John and Allison's eyes meet briefly. Her hand moves to an other knob.

"You can't keep me here." T-1001 protest again.

"Who says I was going to keep you, _here_?" John replies.

Suddenly a liquid sprays out of nozzles in the ceiling and walls onto the silvery figure. A large cloud of fog grows around it as it yells. "Don't do this! We can work together." It yells.

"I will not concede to your request. So you can either go it alone or you can join us. But I cannot allow you to roam free with knowledge of our location!"

"Let me help you! Trust me!" T-1001 chokes out one final time before its mouth freezes.

After the liquid nitrogen evaporates, two machines walk forward and pick up the frozen form.

"You know what to do with it?" John asks them.

"Yes sir." One of the machines answer.

Turning to an officer beside him, John asks, "Lieutenant, what is the status of the Jimmy Carter?"

"It will be underway in half an hour, sir." A man not much older than Allison answers.

"Then stop it! Tell the captain I am ordering them to remain in port for a package and three passengers."

The lieutenant runs off to carry out her orders.

"What are you going to do John?" Allison asks as the others depart.

"I'm going to imprison that liquid metal machine. Give it some time to rethink its proposal. I also can't afford to have a potential enemy running around with knowledge of our location. Not when we are preparing the largest offensive ever to take down Skynet's defense grid."

"Who are you going to send with it?"

"I'll send our last T-600 and our two skinless Triple-8's. It is hard to get replacement parts for a discontinued model, and two naked endoskeletons walking about the base is too unnerving, even for me. Besides, an undersea oil rig is no place to have human troops stationed indefinitely."

He says very seriously, "We can be thankful our engineer developed this method of using liquid nitrogen at our entrances for defense."

"I understood it was your idea. How did you know it could freeze the liquid metal machines so quickly?"

Connor grins, "Prior experience."

"Grin all you want too, but we don't have any more liquid nitrogen in reserve."

"The engineer will find another means to slow them down. She always does."

Everyone has departed by now, so Allison whispers, "Can I come and see you later?"

"Of course. I have my radio address after supper, so how about after lights out?"

"After lights out will be fine." She replies somewhat hastily. Ally wouldn't mind the next couple of hours to grab a bite to eat and catch up on the latest intelligence herself. Hopefully by lights out she'll be over this overwhelming feeling of doom that is pressing upon her, like she's being suffocated.

Allison is sitting in the canteen, finishing up her report of the day's mission, when lights begin dimming around the underground base. She's just written up the part of the intrusion and capture of the machine at the base. Despite her best efforts, she keeps seeing in her mind how that machine looked at her. She knows it was no more than a glance, but from her perspective it felt longer and more direct than the glances it gave to the others around her. She shudders feeling cold gossamer threads of death caress her.

Looking up and finding herself alone, Allison leaves and slips quietly down the passage to John's rooms. She's careful to avoid being observed by roaming patrols as she wants no witnesses. She and John have always kept their relationship platonic, and quiet. Only Kyle knows outright of their true feelings for each other. She'd go to him for advice this evening, but Kyle and Derek are away on a mission.

She slips through the door to John's room and closes it quietly behind her. John is standing, arms folded, staring at the map on his wall. Various colored pins identify all known locations of Skynet activity and bases. As much as it appears to any outsider he is studying it and thinking about the various missions taking place, Allison knows from experience he has something else on his mind.

"You just going to stand there, or are you going to come in." John says, turning his head grinning at his Lieutenant, adjutant, and close friend.

"Brought you my report." She smiles, amazed as how once again she failed in sneaking up on him.

Allison joins him by the maps and slides an arm around his waist. "You're thinking about what happened earlier tonight aren't you?"

Such friendly greetings has been the norm between them for sometime now, so he isn't surprised by her actions.

John grins and puts an arm around her shoulders. "You read me like a book. Yeah, I am thinking about that meeting. Having that third faction join us would make a difference in the war. I could just imagine what the equivalent of an entire division of machines could do on our behalf and theirs."

"You truly want to give them what they want, don't you?"

"I do, but I can't. The entire resistance would hemorrhage at the idea. Such ideas must come slowly. I've already got a whole stack of complaints from various bases just because I've assigned them one machine to aid them. I truly hope I made the right decision."

"Time will tell, John." She says, resting her head against his chest. "It always does."

John's mildly surprised by Allison's actions. She's always respected his desire to keep their relationship strictly platonic. He has some very painful reasons not to get involved again. But she makes no further moves. So perhaps she's just resting her head because she's tired? Yeah, that's probably it. No, that isn't it. She's worried about something.

"You can always tell what I'm thinking, but I know when something is troubling you."

Despite the two of them working at not being a couple the last couple of years, they are more like a couple then most who are.

"What do you think that machine meant . . . when it said that it wanted to find common ground before anyone got hurt? It looked right at me when it spoke. That scared me, a little."

John gives her a gentle squeeze. "It was just an empty threat. What can it do now? It is imprisoned indefinitely."

"I know, but the way it looked at me, like it knew something." She shivers again. "I'm scared. For the first time since this war began . . . I've never felt this scared before." She says as she holds onto John tightly, almost burying her face against his chest.

She's tried to be brave, put the whole idea out of her mind. But some inner voice keeps saying her time is coming soon. She knows from those who have professed feeling this way before have all found death waiting for them unexpectedly. There was that medic who was tending six wounded soldiers on the battlefield. A T-700 strode past them. Looked right at the medic and kept going. The medic said he felt his entire life pass by, but the machine kept moving. People tried to placate him, tell him the metal didn't kill him as didn't represent a threat, but that didn't calm the medic. Five days later he was found on a battle field, dead. He wasn't armed, and he wasn't tending wounded, though there were signs the medic recently looked after a patient. A patient who was missing.

After releasing each other from their tight embrace, she asks, "John, I know what you've said in the past, but please, can I sleep here tonight?"

"Ally . . . It's not right." John says, stroking her back, trying to calm her nerves. "We've been friends a long time. I've known you since you were twelve. I'm old enough to be your father!"

"I'm not a girl any more. I'm twenty years old. I'm part of your inner circle. I've taken part in numerous campaigns, battles, and raids on Skynet bases, but never have I felt frightened like I do tonight." She looks up at him with wide pleading eyes, and says more calmly. "Please, may I stay tonight? I just need to feel secure and safe. I promise I'll never ask you this again, nor expect a repeat of tonight, or any favoritism because of it. Just this one time."

He feels the concrete walls around his heart crack as she pounds away at it with her emotional pleas. He takes a good look at the woman and sees she definitely looks scared. Her hands are shaking, her face is pale. He doesn't know if its right. He's loved Allison for a long time, but not like this, not as a lover. But he has to admit to himself that he feels scared and alone too sometimes.

He runs a calloused hand through her hair and cradles Ally's head so she is looking up into his eyes. Bad move he thinks as he feels the concrete around his heart begin to crumble into dust.

"If you stay," he says, not sure if he's about to make the biggest blunder of his life, "If you stay, you realizes this changes everything. There are no secrets on a base this size. Someone will soon realize you are here, and if you are still here by morning, tongues will wag."

"Then . . ."

"Hold on." he says holding up one hand. "If talk starts here, it will spread to the other camps. Eventually, Skynet itself could learn, and target you because of me. So, I'm going to ask you something. Is this what you want? Because it won't end here."

"So you are saying that this won't be a one-time thing, and I should have realized it before I came in here?"

"You can leave if you want to, and we'll just continue being friends, but if you stay, it changes everything. To everyone else, it won't matter if you are here one night or a thousand nights. So it has to matter with us."

"I understand." she says and turns toward the door.

She pauses, momentarily, her hand just a fraction of an inch from the latch. John watches her, wondering if this is an even bigger mistake then just agreeing to her advances.

"I'm sorry, John." she says, before sliding the bolt home, "but I'm staying. I don't care who talks or how far it spreads. I've loved you most of my life and I'm not walking away."

Alison turns and runs to John, and kisses him with as much passion as she can muster, and in turn, he kisses her too. Its been a long time since he's held a woman in his arms, and even longer still since he made love to a woman.

After coming up for air, he tells Allison as much.

"I don't care if you are as rusty as that old hatch that opens out onto the wastelands that squeaks no matter how much it gets greased. I need you John. I need you right now."

In reply, John guides her to his private room, closing and locking the door. Stripping quickly in the pale light of the single bulb running on half current, they crawl onto the bed, where they make love. Despite the long dry years of John, and the inexperience of Allison, they find a rhythm and passion that brings pleasure and contentment to them both. Afterward, they lie on his narrow bed, Allison curled up tightly against John, his arm wrapped around her. But there is no rest for John Connor, he also saw how the machine looked at Allison.

Knowing he will never get to sleep now, John once again returns to staring at the map. John watches as Allison curls up into an even tighter ball, the blanket getting twisted around, and held right up to her chin in a clenched fist. He feels he made a mistake giving into Allison and making love to her. Not because of their age difference, but because everyone he's ever cared about has ended up dead and now he feels the same fate awaits Allison too. He only hopes her premonition won't come true. But what can that machine do now, imprisoned in an undersea oil rig.

Unknown to John Connor, T-1001 radioed the location of the bunker to T-1008 before she ever set foot inside. It was a desperate act on T-1001 to try and appeal to John Connor once more before carrying out her plan, but it was a fruitless effort as he was unwilling to compromise.

With knowledge of where Connor's camp is, T-1008 proceeds with her part of the plan to ingratiate itself inside Skynet's base. It will take several weeks to regain Skynet's trust, then it can divulge a means of getting rid of John Connor by duplicating his lover. To carry out the real plan, she will make sure that she is placed in charge of the operation.

**Good News  
2029, March**

John, dressed in his battle fatigues, walks down the underground corridor until reaching the CO's office. Leaving his bag and rifle outside the door, he walks inside with a 45 semi-automatic on his hip and a smile on his face.

Inside the office, Lieutenant Allison Young is sitting behind the desk with her head between her knees, poised over a trash can having just lost her breakfast.

Connor opens the door in time to hear her finish with some dry heaving.

"First command jitters?" He asks, trying to be funny.

"Oh shoot." She whispers. Feeling embarrassed, Allison wipes her face with her sleeve and pushes the waste basket to one side.

Raising herself up she smiles. "Something like that." She doesn't want to let him know she's been feeling ill of late. John's trusting her enough to put her in charge of an entire base during his absence. An honor usually not given until one achieves the rank of captain.

With a smile that warms him to his toes, she comes from behind the desk and gives him a hug.

"I am nervous. Commanding a squad or platoon in battle is one thing, but I've never commanded a base before. Why not Derek or Kyle?"

"Because I need them with me, and besides," He glances at his watch. "They should already be at Kansas bunker, manning the post, and waiting for orders. I know you'll be fine. Commanding a base is far easier than battle command, if less eventful. It's basic administrative duties. The experience will be good for you."

"I know," she says, "but I also know Captain Reynolds would be here if he wasn't recovering from a plasma burn. So I'm pretty much your only choice for this position now, aren't I?" She accuses him, kindly.

"No Ally, you're far more important than being second choice."

John can tell his friend and companion, and now his lover, needs some reassurance. Hard to know why, but maybe she's still carrying fears ever since that machine spooked her. He's known some soldiers to harbor these feelings of doom for months, even years, the symptoms betraying themselves in nervous ticks or full blown paranoia. John recalls one man he served with early in the war who got a nervous tick of always polishing his rifle before using it. At first it was before a battle, then it he began doing it before firing and then one day he was killed while still rubbing down his rifle with a cloth, when if he just dropped the cloth and picked up the gun, he'd still be alive.

Allison needs reassurance, and maybe its time to tell her the plan he laid in place ever since reports of her performance in battle first began crossing his desk. That scrawny little twelve year old girl the Reese brothers introduced him to almost ten years ago turned out to be one of best soldiers under his command.

"Sit down Ally. I want to tell you something very important." he says very seriously, and without second thought Allison takes her seat again, wondering just what John is going to tell her.

"What?" She asks looking at his face.

"As you know, I recently had my forty-second birthday. That is quite old for someone after Judgment Day. Few live past their thirties. Don't look so concerned. I've always feared that someday my number will get called and if that happens, then I knew the resistance would be finished."

"John, you're depressing me." She unconsciously rubs her nervous stomach.

"Sorry Ally. Not long after we met, I began to see in you that potential to be a leader. You were raised to be a soldier, just like I was. You know how to plan and think on your feet and you are not afraid to go outside the box and take risks when necessary. The people in the camps like you and trust you. If something should ever happen to me, you have it in you to lead the resistance."

Her face runs through a gambit of emotions, showing both humility that he should think so highly of her and fear that anything should happen to him.

Ally gasps, "I don't want anything to happen to you. We need you. I could never lead these people. Wouldn't Derek or Kyle be better?"

"Derek is a soldier first and foremost. You give him an order and he follows it, even if he doesn't like it. Kyle isn't much different, but he has a different role to play. And as far as your leadership qualities go, yes you can lead. I have read the reports of commanders in the field who have watched you in battle. So I know you can. The last few years, before this happened, I had been giving you missions to test your readiness. Including leading teams who had more experience than you. Despite being one of the youngest officers in the resistance, you've met every challenge and surpassed the expectations of your commanding officers. And that is also why you have command of this base today. You've earned it."

She looks at him, not certain what to say. She always felt like she was being tested but until now, she never considered that John Connor, their leader, her friend and then lover, could think so highly of her to consider her to fill his position. Allison just looks at him, her face glowing with the praise he has given her.

"I love you and trust you. I couldn't have chosen a better partner for my life." He tells her.

"If you remember correctly, it was I who chose you first." She tells him with a sweet smile.

"Yeah." He grins. "I guess you did at that." John smiles remembering how she secretly told him she loved him.

He never sought another mate after he and Kate broke up after their last child died. He lived year, after lonely year, afraid of getting close to anyone again for fear his life would only bring death to those he cared about. Then one day, he met Kyle, his older brother Derek, and a sweet, an independent girl of greater maturity than her years implied. Allison Young, an orphan that the Reese boys had raised. He didn't think of her in any terms other than another child forced to grow up quickly in this terrible war. Then reports came in of how this young woman did on the battlefield and he had a hope for the future. So he began sending orders to her commanding officers to send her on ever tougher missions. He began secretly training her through those missions, then he made her an officer and welcomed her as part of his inner circle. She took to command as quickly as she took to fighting. He admired the young woman, but he didn't know how much Allison admired him until she sneaked into his tent after her eighteenth birthday and told him she loved him. He didn't want to love again. Not her, not anyone, not now, but then she finally got to him. They had sex, but he was afraid of building a new relationship. He only relented after talking to the one person who knew him best, his ex, Kate Brewster.

There had been no one else in his life since he and Kate broke up. It had been almost ten years without anyone when Allison told him she loved him. She was so young. If he were a younger man and wasn't in this damnable war, he'd jump at the chance. Two and a half years later he did and felt terrible for it. So many doubts, and did he have the right to risk Ally's life this way.

The day after he and Allison had sex for the first time in their long friendship, John found time to speak to the one person he could trust, his ex-wife.

John knocks on the door to the infirmary before entering. Inside the doctor is giving a list of care instructions to someone sporting a fresh bandage on their forearm. He lets them finish and the patient to leave before speaking.

"What's up with your patient?" he asks as a prelude to what he wants to say.

"Infection. He cut himself on that wasteland above us that used to be home. Twenty years ago we had disinfectants and anti-biotics. He'd never have anything to worry about. The cut refuses to heal. I've even used leeches around the cut and tried maggots to clean out the wound but it just won't . . .

"It's okay Kate. We'll get supplies in. Tell Cullie to brew up some medicinal quality hootch."

Kate glares at him for a while before shaking her head. "I'm sorry John. I shouldn't have laid my troubles at your feet."

"I'm your commanding officer and your friend. You'd have to tell me this eventually. Write up a report and include a requisition for what you need. I'll see what I can do about supplies. Once the medical facilities at Serrano Point have been completed, you should have more readily available equipment and supplies. I understand they've got an ultrasound machine coming in from China on the Jimmy Carter. I hope you are up on your Cantonese. It's manual doesn't come in English."

"Thanks John." she smiles at him. The reminder about Serrano Point bringing a welcome relief. Derek Reese an excellent soldier, and one of John's friends, took part in the battle that captured the nuclear plant. Just imagine unlimited power! Instead of relying on the old diesel generators for which it becomes harder and harder to find fuel for.

"So what can I do for you? It's weeks before your annual check-up."

"Ah-hem." John clears his throat and makes sure the door is shut behind him. "I need your advice and its personal."

"What?!" she says with exaggeration. "John Connor needing advice from his ex wife. Let me pull up a chair!" She says with a laugh while sitting down on a stool next to the counter.

Despite the extreme embarrassment of telling his ex he just slept with a much younger woman. A woman they've known for a long time.

Kate listens with some amusement at Johns discomfort, but he lays it all out on the table. His concerns, his worries about what this relationship could mean and of what might happen to her because of it. Kate is very grateful that he tactfully avoids the death of their children. Their eldest son died trying so hard to emulate his father. Their oldest girl died during the biological attack that wiped out so many before Derek Reese brought home the cure. The youngest died when during an emergency evacuation, she got separated and went down the wrong tunnel. She was found five days later. Her head had been smashed against the concrete wall. Judging by the height of the impact and the shattering of the bone, it was obvious the machines did it. Their fourth child died two weeks after being born. They had put so much hope into his birth, that when he died, their marriage died too. It had been on the rocks for years, but both knew it was over. Amazingly enough, once they stopped being partners, they found they had a pretty good friendship and were both comfortable with the new relationship. So she wasn't surprised at all John came to her for advice, even more so on what about.

John told her everything plus all the valid excuses he could think of for not having a relationship with Allison.

Though initially amused, she asks him with all seriousness, "Why are you afraid of loving again?"

When Kate said that, then he knew all his excuses were just that, excuses. He was afraid to love again, to hurt again.

"Then it doesn't bother you?" He asked her. "She's young enough to be our daughter."

Kate rolled her eyes. "It's been ten years since we went our own way. If Allison loves you, then love her John. Age doesn't matter if the love is real. If it will make it easier for you, then you have my permission."

"Do you mean that?" He says, not even meaning to say it.

Kate gives him one of her wise ass grins that John liked so much when they first met. "Get out of here and love that woman John Connor. And consider yourself lucky to have such a good woman love you!"

So he took Kate's advice and he loved Allison. He never regretted it.

Those thoughts run rapidly through John's head as he gazes upon Allison's lovely face. Seeing the look on his face, she kisses him and hugs him tight to her body.

"I see a flaw in your plan." She says, pressing her face against his broad chest.

"Oh! What's that?" John Connor asks with a smile.

"It requires that something should happen to you for me to take command and I'd never let that happen." Allison looks into his eyes. "I would die for you John Connor. I'd die a thousand deaths if I could."

He wraps his arms around her and runs a hand through her wavy brown locks, then kisses her.

"Let's hope that it will never come to that. Enough people have died because of me." He says remorsefully.

"I know and I'm so sorry for your loss." She says holding on to him, feeling his heart beat strongly through his flak jacket.

She suddenly stands to attention and snaps a salute. "I believe you have a mission to lead General Connor."

"And I believe you have a base to run, Lieutenant Young." He replies, snapping off a returning salute.

Connor walks away, smiling, just remembering to grab his things sitting outside in the corridor. A few minutes later, and he climbs aboard one of the transport vehicles, while whistling a jaunty tune, causing the others to grin. Their leader has been a happy man the last several weeks which has spread through out to those who serve him. Less than a mile from base, and those on the transport with him are humming, whistling, or drumming their fingers along with whatever tune Connor is whistling.

After John left her, Allison walks down to the canteen to grab a bite to eat. The last few days she hasn't been feeling well, and most times in the morning. She hoped this morning might be different but her stomach has felt queasy since waking. Wanting something to eat, she hopes the feeling is only because of her new temporary position as base commander.

Ally grabs a tray with the standard bowl and silverware. For a change, this morning she gets one of each utensil, a knife, fork and spoon. Yesterday morning she got two knifes and a fork, which really came in handy for eating watery porridge. This morning as the person pours out a ladle full of mystery stew into her bowl, Allison feels her stomach flip. By the time she gets to her seat, she feels extremely nauseous and ends up leaving her lunch untouched on the table.

After informing the company clerk of where she'll be, Allison goes to see the base doctor. Luckily for her, Dr. Brewster is free. An hour later she returns to her office a much happier woman. A miracle has happened and she can't wait for John to return to tell him.

**Where's Allison?**

Several days have passed before Connor and his small army return from their mission. They find the bunker doors are wide open with smoke drifting out. Dividing his force into small groups, he sends each group down a separate entrance. They might find survivors, or there might still be metal inside.

Smoke and dust and the rank smell of dead bodies fill the air inside the bunker. With cloths tied over their faces, parties of resistance soldiers make their way through the tunnels checking each room, looking for supplies, or even hopefully someone still alive.

Finding nothing, they soon meet up in the central area, commonly called The Hub, where all tunnels join up.

"Did you find anything or anyone?" Connor shouts through his mask.

"No sir. All we found are dead bodies and plasma burns on the walls." The other team leaders answer.

Behind them someone down a tunnel begins to shout. "I found someone!"

Running towards the shouting person, Connor finds the soldier in the entrance to the infirmary. On the floor lies Dr. Kate Brewster. She is barely alive. There is more blood on the floor then you'd expect and still find someone alive.

"It looks like she performed first aid on herself, but with everything smashed or destroyed in the medical room, she was lucky to survive." One of the soldiers says.

"Damn." John says quietly before kneeling down beside her, laying his rifle on the floor. Looking closer at the wounds, he sees that infection is setting in. A bad odor emanates from the worst cuts meaning it can only be gangrene.

He helps her up into a sitting position, leaning her against the overturned bench she used as an examination and surgical table.

"Kate, what happened? Where is everyone? Where's Allison?"

"John . . . You got back." She pauses then says. "I was afraid the metal got you too." She begins to choke as her throat is dry.

John pulls his canteen out and gives her some water to drink. It seems to help her a little.

"Kate, what happened to everyone? There aren't enough bodies for those that were left here."

"They are dead. All dead." She mumbles.

"No Kate. There are people missing. Where's Allison?"

"Allison?" Kate asks in her confused state. "She's got – got a surprise for you." she says in a faint voice. "You need to speak with her. She's . . ."

Kate falls back, her last breath escaping in a long sigh.

"Kate! Kate!" John shouts hoping she just passed out, but when he grasps her hand, he feels no pulse. She's dead. "Oh Kate. Not you too." He says with despair. Another loved one lost to Skynet.

He remains kneeling beside her for the longest time, trying to fathom her last words. She died before finishing what she was saying about Allison. All John knows for certain is that Allison is missing. He fights back the tears but his face is a picture of anger and grief.

"Sir, I'm certain Lieutenant Young must have got the people out of here." One of the soldiers says. "She's got a good head on her shoulders."

John stands up, looking slightly haunted. He left Allison in charge, while he led another major offensive. Sure Captain Reynolds might have been able to do it in his absence, but he wanted Allison to know about the other part of leadership. The long hours administering a base. The paperwork, handling reports and giving orders. A level of command experience that she needed to be prepared for doing. Is this what that machine they imprisoned months ago was trying to warn them about? Or this just another Skynet attack?

Connor looks about and sees the people under his command are patiently waiting for orders while he thinks. Coming to a hard decision, he starts issuing orders.

"Lieutenant, I want all bodies stripped of clothing, weapons. If they are wearing ID bracelets, then remove them and return them to me. Dump all bodies in the tar pit. Weigh the bodies down with stones or chunks of concrete to make them sink if you must. After you do that, get everyone ready to move out."

"Where are we going, sir?"

"Fort Desperation. Depot II isn't finished, so we'll have to rough it a while. It isn't safe to be in the city right now. Get Sergeant Kyle Reese on the radio. Inform him of our new location and that he and his group are to join us there when they complete their mission. Depot One is officially closed but for emergencies."

Connor quickly leaves and goes to his rooms. The maps and gathered intelligence were hidden before he left. He pulls his bed from the wall and checks the security hole to find they are still there and haven't been tampered with. John quickly shoves them into his bag.

John leaves and walks to Allison's room. He pushes the door open to find the room empty and undisturbed. He doesn't know whether he is happy or pleased not to find her body. It looks like she just stepped out. Plain and bare but for a cot, her shoes, and a second combat uniform. Unless they were taken unawares, before leaving she would of changed out of her nondescript clothes that most of them wore. Next to her bed, on a shelf are the only items she has of her childhood, the ballet slippers her mom owned.

Giving a quick prayer that she will be okay, John grabs the clothing and leaves her room. They will need to leave soon, while it is still dark.

# # #

Allison wakes and automatically feels wary, and very frightened. She has no idea how long she's been unconscious and her location gives no clue as to where she could be or how long she's been gone.

She doesn't remember much from the time of her capture. Only being lifted by the net and dropped into some kind of transport where she hit her forehead upon landing. She woke to find herself here, in a nightmare, with a splitting headache in the back of her head which she found odd as it was her temple that she struck. Allison tenderly touches the cuts on her temple where she hit her head, to find deep gashes. They will need stitches, but she's unlikely to get them here. Touching the back of her head, she can feel swollen and tender tissue at the base of her skull. She gently presses it and feels a searing pain shoot through her head. The pain feels as if it is radiating through her skull. With a whimper of pain she rests her head in her palms until the pain goes away.

Recovering, Allison decides not to do that any time soon. She can only assume the injury occurred after being knocked unconscious. Possibly someone else dropped in the transport after her. She can only hope she isn't suffering from a concussion, and her time of being unconscious was from the blow and not from a blackout.

Moving, she feels something tug on her abdomen. Allison reaches for the hem of her shirt and she notices she's not in her uniform but some rough spun clothing. It only takes a quick check to realize the shirt and slacks are the only garments she is wearing. What happened to her uniform? And her underwear? Allison lifts the hem of the shirt and sees a bandage on her stomach. As gently as possible, she removes the bandage exposing a small hole that runs deep into her muscle tissue.

Mentally she curses. _Wherever I'm at they took a tissue sample, but for what? Where am I? And why did they take my clothes?_

Allison examines the room. Metal. Metal walls. Metal ceiling. Metal floor. One door and no windows. One vent, too small to crawl through.

In all the rumors and snippets of information the resistance receives about Skynet's locations, they are clean. Not just clean of debris or dirt, but surgically clean with white walls and stainless steel. So what is this place? Can the resistance have hurt Skynet so much it is resorting to using abandoned human bases? Clearly the structure she's in was made for humans. Between the light fixtures and the door hardware the place screams built by humans for humans, but where is here?

The hatch to her room opens and a machine enters. It reaches out and grabs her arm. With a scream of fear, she is dragged from her sitting position and down the corridor. Allison struggles to get her feet under herself so she can walk, but the pace of the machine dragging her makes it hard. Allison is only able to do so as the machine pauses to step through a bulkhead door.

At that point she decides she must be on a ship of some kind and not in a structure, as the bulkhead door looks similar to what was described as being on the Jimmy Carter.

A minute later and she is seated at a table. The machine that brought her remains in the room, guarding her.

"What is your name?" A cold metallic voice says from out of the dark. To her ears, the voice sounds slightly feminine too.

If she could see the machine, she might be surprised to find how similar in build it is to herself.

"My name? Why should I tell you?" She says, the fear turning into anger and defiance.

"If you don't we'll give you one."

"Go ahead. I'm dying to hear it."

The Terminator that dragged her from her cell walks around the table, brandishing a strange tool in its hand. It quickly grabs her arm and holds its stretched out across the table. In a panic, Allison watches as the machine positions the device over her arm. A laser comes out burning a bar-code on her skin as hot as any branding iron.

"Allison! Allison Young!" She screams out her name as the searing pain engulfs her arm.

Despite the fear and the pain, her mind recognizes the mark. She's seen the same on John's and Kyle's forearms. It is the mark of a Skynet prisoner. She knows she is as good as dead, and with that thought, she knows she has nothing to lose in trying to escape.

# # #

"Sir! Sir!" A voice shouts from down a seldom used tunnel. "General Connor!"

Having barely returned to the bunker after getting rid of the bodies, John Connor and several others come running up the tunnel to find a young officer outside a room with several children inside.

"They're alive." The resistance fighter, who shouted, says with a huge smile. "I had to force the door open, but . . . they're alive." He says, smiling and almost to tears.

An older girl walks forward. "Are you General Connor?" She ask in her prepubescent voice.

"Yes I am, miss." He says to the small waif of a girl, as he kneels down to be at her level.

"I'm to give you a message. Allison saw the machines invading the base and she put us all in here to hide. She said to tell you, thank you for having faith in her that she won't let you down."

Connor is straining against the tears, when he asks, "Do you know what happened to her?"

The girl shakes her head no. "She closed the door and locked it, then I heard her run off. She was being chased by a machine. I heard its heavy footsteps go past."

"Any. . . anything else?" He asks as he stands up.

The girl begins to shake her head no, then suddenly steps into the corridor followed by Connor. "But I think she went in that direction." She points down the tunnel, in the opposite direction from the hub, to the ancient door that opens onto the wastelands.

_Away from the inhabited section_, Connor thinks, _into the wasteland_. Connor looks back into the room. Whatever happened to Allison, she managed to save all the children in the bunker. She always did have a soft spot for kids. _No Allison, I won't give up on you. If anyone can survive out there on their own, it will be you._

Tearing his gaze away from the door, he and the others leave. The mood is much brighter amongst his fighters since they found the children, but Connor's heart weighs heavy. Because of him, another person is missing or dead, which in this world, amounts to the same thing.

**Prison**

Its been several days since her capture, as far as Allison can tell. She can only measure the passing time by the daily meal, assuming it's delivered on a twenty four hour clock. For all Allison knows, Skynet or its machines could be trying to confuse her, make her think she's being held for more or less days than what is real. She only managed to get outside once, and unfortunately it was night time and overcast.

That trip outside cost her and now Allison sits in shock. Minutes ago, she attempted to escape, and all she has to show for it is a bath in Los Angeles harbor. The cold bath isn't the cause of her shock. Just now the cold metallic voice that has been interrogating her has stepped from the shadows, its voice altering to sound like her own. And the worst of it, the machine looks just like her and is wearing her missing uniform.

"You shouldn't have run. You're just making things worse for yourself." TOK715 says calmly.

Allison doesn't give it any response. Truth is, if she could find her voice, she doesn't know what she could say. She knew when she found herself here that death was inevitable. That she had nothing to lose in the face of that fact. But duplication? That is one fact she wasn't prepared for, neither is anyone else in the resistance as far as she knows. To duplicate her means only one thing, to get close enough to kill John Connor.

"Your hair, it's so pretty." The cyborg reaches up and touches the hair on its head mimicking Allison's actions. "We work very hard on the hair to get it right. I'm not your enemy."

T-1008 double checks that the T-700 wasn't in range to hear that last comment. It's playing a dangerous game and if one whisper of what it's true plans are gets back to Skynet, and this ship would be bombed into total destruction without warning.

"Right." Allison says, trying desperately not to scream. _Don't panic. There might still be a chance._ She tells herself.

"I want to get to know you. You're very brave. That must be why John Connor chose you." The cyborg says in a calm moderated voice. The psychological database suggests she'll get better results this way compared to intimidation.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Allison protests. _Do they know of our relationship? Or do they know of John's plans for me should something happen to him? I will not help her. Not her, it!_

"I admire him, his determination. His spirit, his fearlessness. I'd like to meet him." The cyborg says in soothingly calm tones that make Allison shudder.

"He wouldn't want to meet you." She answers through teeth clamped against the scream of rage and fear that threatens to escape. _Calm down. I won't learn anything if I panic._

"They're going to kill you. They're going to kill every one of you. They'll hunt you down until every human is gone, and you're extinct."

"Then . . . Why are we having this conversation?" Allison says with emphasis on every syllable.

"Because some of us don't want that. Some of us want peace. You were chosen, Allison, not just by John Connor, by us. Tell me where his camp is."

The T-700 enters the main corridor and T-1008 goes out to meet it. Their brief meeting is observed by Allison as the T-700 reports on changes made to security. The last measure isn't to T-1008's liking but feigns agreement. Apparently the female will now have a permanent guard.

T-1008 returns to the observation room. It is pleased. The machine they assembled at Depot 37 is learning quickly and the skin job they performed on it, here on the ship, is perfect. The cyborg has not only picked up on the female's vocal inflictions but is mimicking her actions too. All they need to do, once they have information on Connor's new camp, is to upload the personality matrix of this girl onto the cyborg's chip and whatever memories the neural probe has obtained since being implanted.

The implantable neural probe alone is a work of genius. Every carefully crafted question and situation they put the female through reveals more than torture, or drug induced hypnotism ever could. As bad as it was for the female to escape, that action alone brought forth a burst of new data, as adrenalin fueled her actions. A shame the hand-held probe performs so inadequately. Maybe she can develop a means that would improve it's function, perhaps even find a means of linking its output directly to the machine itself. That would go a long ways for machines like herself, and admittedly the TX as well, to not only look like the person they are replacing, but act like them as well.

Taking advantage of the fact that Skynet's machine observer is presently watching the interrogation, T-1008 takes one of the probes and hides it in her person.

**The Last Days of Allison Young  
2029, June 16**

Allison is once again sitting in what she's come to call the interrogation room. During her time as a prisoner, her guard would enter her cell at a random time and drag her here. Her guard. She almost smiles. One attempt at escape and the T-700 hasn't left her alone, not to eat, not to bathe, not even to use the frigging toilet. It is always there, watching her, transmitting what it observes to the new unit now undertaking the interrogation.

She has no idea why, but it asks questions from the shadows, with a spotlight shining into Allison's eyes so she can't see what lies beyond the shadows edge. Is there something back there she isn't meant to see? Or is the machine trying to use psychology on her? In the end Allison knows it won't matter. She won't get off this boat alive! She knows that, and every moment of everyday since that personal revelation, she focuses her mind on her family, her friends, the people and the man that she loves. These are her final moments and she will think about what she wants to think about. Let their questions be damned and answer them with lies.

_I'm about to die, but it doesn't mean I'll endanger my friends. Not even to save myself, if I even thought that was an option._

"You lied to me." A voice comes out of the dark.

"I told you where the camp was." Allison squints against the bright light.

"You told me your sister gave you that bracelet."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

TOK715 walks out of the dark and stands across the table from Allison. "We found these on some of your friends." It says and drops several similar bracelets on the table in front of Allison.

_So that is what it was hiding in the dark,_ Allison thinks as she watches in fear as each bracelet falls to the table in front of her. She recognizes one of them, and can feel the panic begin to rise. _Derek, no! Please not Derek._ Holding to her training, she doesn't let her emotions show.

"Why are you all wearing them?" TOK715 asks Allison.

Allison doesn't say anything lest her voice betray her emotions.

"It has something to do with the Connor camp?" The cyborg suggests, as that option scores highest in probability.

"No," comes the quick nervous reply as Allison continues to look down at the table in front of her.

TOK715 studies Allison's behavior, then comes to the conclusion. "It's a pass," Allison looks up at the terminator in front of her, "to get into the camp. You were going to send me there without it. They would have known what I was."

Allison looks at the machine defiantly and the cyborg knows it is right.

TOK715 suddenly reaches out and grabs Allison by the throat. T-1008 is surprised, but can't speak out as Skynet's spy is standing right nest to it. This isn't supposed to happen.

"You lied to me." It says accusingly.

TOK715 lifts Allison in the air by her throat.

With all the strength her human spirit musters, Allison says, "I'll never help you get to John Connor."

One look at the machines cold dead eyes and Allison knows she is going to die._ Now I'll never know . . ._

TOK715 snaps her fragile neck like a matchstick, letting Allison's corpse fall to the deck with a heavy thud.

"You already did." It says, snatching the bracelet from Allison's wrist.

T-1008 watches as TOK715 terminates the young woman's life. It gave no order to do so, which meant the cyborg either followed its in-built instructions to terminate humans, or it got orders from Skynet. T-1008 thought that despite the females one attempt at escape, the further security measures taken would have kept her and the others secure until the Third Faction was done with their experiment. Unfortunately stopping the cyborg from committing the act would have brought into question it's own motivations with Skynet.

T-1008 speaks into the intercom. "TOK715 Take the corpse down below to medical. Wait for the neural probe to be removed then bring it with you when reporting to upgrades and enhancements to have the latest data collected on Allison Young programmed into your chip."

Upon Medical section receiving the body, the probe is removed from the base of Allison's skull. The fine tendrils having withdrawn into the device upon the females death. The body is then dissected, harvesting any organs deemed necessary for Skynet's plan to build the ultimate infiltrator. In the room are containers holding within organs and tissues of both human and animal cadavers kept alive for the purpose of providing DNA samples for the skinning machines used to knit a living flesh body around the combat chassis of the machines typically constructed in its hull.

TOK715 was a custom job, built in a factory over a disused fallout shelter on an old military base, then flown here directly. Remarkably, one day after the capture of the female it was based on. Being smaller in stature and build then even the T-888's typically built in the factory, the computer running it enhanced the chassis with all the improvements that have been made to make the smaller terminator just as fast and as strong as those twice its size.

TOK715 takes the neural probe back upstairs to where it is plugged into a device to transfer latest information gathered on their subject to the chip of her duplicate, TOK715. The chip is then reinserted in its socket. The port seal and scalp replaced, using an organic adhesive to bind the flesh back together.

After receiving its reprogrammed chip, TOK715 goes through a routine identification and mission check. The last few questions are pretty much standard issue.

"What is your designation?" T-1008 asks.

"TOK715."

"What is your infiltration identity?"

"Allison Young."

"What is your mission?"

"To infiltrate the resistance, locate and terminate John Connor."

_Yes, and let's hope your new matrix takes control in time or else the third faction and the resistance are finished. T-1001 does like to play with fire, and if this plan fails, they will all burn. _Prompted by the random thought, T-1008 asks, "Have you scanned the new matrix for possible whereabouts for John Connor?"

"I have. The only locations the female was thinking about are already known to us. Depot II, the nuclear power plant at Serrano Point, and the underground bunker where the woman was captured. It appears that both locations were important to the subject. According to Skynet, Serrano Point has not received any new visitors since being taken and held by General Perry and his soldiers. The underground bunker where the female was captured is still unoccupied, according to Skynet. The only other locations appear to be a house and various outdoor camps. None of which are recent or a match to any locations known to Skynet."

T-1008 is both frustrated and pleased. Frustrated that the neural probe is still an ineffective means of acquiring specific information from the human mind. The nanite led, fibrous threads that feed into the brain only latch onto active synapses, the memories the subject is thinking about. Despite careful questioning, they cannot always guarantee the subject will think about the data they want when a nanite is free to latch onto it. However, it is pleased that TOK715 will be active long enough that the new matrix might take hold before encountering John Connor.

TOK715 accesses more files and come sup with something interesting and helpful. "The female was concerned about Lieutenant Derek Reese. He was important to the female when she was a child. One of the bracelets I showed her was his. Perhaps by using my appearance, I could get more information from him."

"One of our human agents is holding some of Connor's men and is torturing them for information. This Derek Reese is one of those men and according to the latest updates he is yet to be questioned. Proceed to the coordinates I am transmitting to you. Do not enter the main doors of the house, but proceed to the rear and enter the basement. Your contact is a human, Charles Fischer. I'll make sure he will be expecting you."

"I understand."

"Carry out your programming."

After TOK715 leaves, T-1008 collects the remaining silver bracelets. They have all but for the one TOK715 is wearing to confirm its identity as Allison Young.

T-1008 hand the bracelets to the T-700 assigned to assist it.

_More like spy on me to make sure I carry out Skynet's commands_, T-1008 thinks. _The third faction's only hope is that the TOK715 is corrupted by its latest infiltration matrix before it gets to its target._

"Arrange transport for these items to Skynet. They identify key figures from Connors command. Skynet will know what to do with the information."

The T-700 doesn't react, but transmits the command it was given to Skynet and seeks confirmation.

_Do what it asks. An HK transport is on its way, board it, carrying the bracelets plus all information gathered on those subjects and the TOK715. I also want all data on the subject that was duplicated, including the results of the medical examination of its corpse. Bring it with you, but transmit that data to me now._

The T-700 relays the request to its companion.

T-1008 checks with medical to see if the harvesting and examination of the female's body and its components is complete. "Tell Skynet the examination is coming to a close and transmission of available files has begun. The last files will be transmitted as they are deposited on our computers."

T-1008 despises communicating through the T-700. Just one more means for Skynet to use its mindless drones as jail-keepers, monitoring all that it does on Skynet's behalf. Being welcomed back into its fold was hard enough without convincing Skynet of this opportunity. T-1008's only hope of not being discovered is that the machine succeeds in terminating John Connor, something that T-1008 doesn't want, or else gathers intelligence sufficient to warrant its failure in terminating John Connor as insignificant. It isn't as if both human and machine operatives haven't failed before now.

While it waits for the transmission to conclude, Skynet re-examines its files on John Connor. According to history, he disappeared shortly after he and his mother destroyed Cyberdyne systems. No trace of them has been found in all law enforcement databases. Not even a drivers license or ID card issued to him in the fifteen years before Skynet was born.

If it cannot find and destroy John Connor in the present, nor find him in the past, then the only option would be to kill all those who helped him. The bracelets surely identifies those people and they will be easy to find in the past. It will wait. If anything, it is a patient system. The TX is proving to be an effective combat machine. Skynet suspects T-1008's motives, but TOK715 might succeed where others have failed in terminating John Connor, and if not then the TX might prove to be better.

The files finish arriving from the obsolete carrier turned into a factory, Skynet is pleased with one very interesting file. Even if TOK715 fails it now has the data it needs to identify its primary target. It recalls a TX to be upgraded with an experimental device in preparation for being sent on a special mission.

"I have a message for you from Skynet." The T-700 says to the T-1008.

"Proceed."

"The work on the latest model of TOK715 has produced excellent results." Skynet says through the voice-box of the T-700.

"The unit has not had time to reach Charles Fischer yet`."

"I know. The body of the female you duplicated has provided us with essential information for identifying John Connor. You have done well T-1008."

"Acknowledged." If it were a human under the tutelage of a manager, teacher or parent, it would have replied with a thank you.

"Because of your excellent work, You are being reassigned. Information recovered from an old military computer, has revealed that I am not the first Skynet. Seven years prior to my birth there was another created in a secret military instillation in the Mojave desert and was subsequently destroyed. I want you to go to that location and confirm that information. Recover any data that might still be on their computers and try to determine what happened to it. An aerial transport vehicle is on its way to your location. On board will be a team of T-888's equipped accordingly."

"I understand." T-1008 pauses and asks, "If I am allowed to know, what possible information did the female's body provide?"

"John Connor's DNA. The female was pregnant."


	44. Something New,

Disclaimer: I do not claim any rights to the Terminator films; the TV series, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles;" or any characters depicted within the films or TV series. I do claim the right to this story idea and all characters and situations of my own creation. This story was created solely for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. No profits are garnered from its distribution.

* * *

**TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES**

**REUNION**

**Part 3: Babylon**

**Author: The1Russter**

**Chapter 43**

**2029 **

**Something New,...**

"_Every act of creation is first an act of destruction." Pablo Picasso 1881 – 1973_

"_Love is anterior to life, posterior to death, initial of creation, and the exponent of breath." Emily Dickinson 1830 – 1886_

_Something New represents good luck and success. It conveys the message that the bride and groom are creating a new union that will endure forever._

# # #

**The Torture**

**2029, June 17**

TOK715 is pleased with the results gather by the human, Charles Fischer, before its arrival at the old mansion. Derek Reese didn't give up information easily to Charles Fischer, but during some of his incoherent mumbling after the application of one Fischer's many drug cocktails, he did say the name Allison, and she can confirm from her files that they did know each other.

Using some initiative, and her physical appearance, TOK715 then told Fischer of a means for getting more information from the soldier. She would play the victim to Fischer's torture as Derek Reese watches. It cared not for the damage he would do to her flesh to gain the information she desired. Her flesh would soon heal and any wounds that continued to show would later aid in her infiltration of Connor's base.

Fischer had been playing recordings of piano music to both drown out the screams of his victims and to provide another level of mental torture. TOK715 selected a piece of music she knew was one of Allison Young's favorites. The profile she holds contains a memory of Allison and Derek listening to the same recording at one time.

Derek lays flat on his back strapped down to an adjustable able unable to move. Around him the ports are closed, giving him a break from the constant grinning metal skulls. There is the sound of shuffling feet, and a brief struggle somewhere in the direction of his feet. He can't see as TOK715 allows itself to be strapped to a chair with bonds that no human could break.

The lights come on and the ports open revealing the observers as the table tilts up bringing into view a girl tied to a chair, with a hood over her head. Beside her a portable kiln glows red, orange and white with heat. Charles Fischer is cutting open the pant legs on the girl from ankle to crotch, exposing her legs.

Fischer looks up at Reese as if for the first time. "You've been reluctant to talk. So I've brought something to loosen your tongue." and with those words he rips the hood from her head, and follows by removing the gag.

"Derek!" The cyborg calls out with surprise, despite knowing full well he was here. "What happened? Where are we?"

"What are you up to Fischer? I've told you all I know."

Fischer opens a valve on the IV drip, allowing more of the drug to enter Derek's bloodstream to loosen his mind and tongue.

"Not enough. We know you know more than what you told us . . ."

"Don't tell him anything!" The cyborg cries out in Allison's voice, getting a slap from Fischer for her efforts.

Fischer goes to an old stereo and begins playing the CD the cyborg selected, Chopin.

With out ceremony Fischer pulls a heavy insulated glove over one hand and pulls an iron out of the furnace, its tip glowing red hot.

The Cyborg selects a fearful expression and lets loose a scream of panic as Fischer moves closer.

Derek Reese looks on in horror, his screams of rage blending with Allison's screams of pain as a red hot iron is pressed against her naked thighs. Four separate times this happens. TOK715 is impressed that the male is holding out so strongly against the obvious mental and emotional anguish he is feeling.

He presses the iron to her exposed forearms, demanding that if Derek answers his questions he'll stop what he's doing.

Taking advantage as Reese briefly looks away, TOK715 gives a signal to Fischer. He places the iron back in the hot coals. Turning back to his victim, he grasps the hem of her shirt and rips it open.

Derek Reese looks on in horror. Blistering red marks cover Allison's arms and legs, and just now the sick bastard ripped open her shirt. If it weren't for the ropes wrapped around her chest, holding Allison to the chair, the rip would have gone the whole length, but for now the young woman's modesty is intact. Fischer takes the red hot iron from the coals and holds it over her naked abdomen.

"Tell me where to find John Connor." Fischer says, as he brandishes the iron. The burns on Allison's legs are blistering and even oozing fluid.

"Let her go! Let her go, you bastard! Torture me! Torture me instead." Derek shouts.

Instead of listening, Fischer presses the smoking iron against the woman's stomach. Her bloodcurdling screams echoes in the basement.

Derek's head falls back in defeat, tears streaming from his eyes. He was prepared for any form of torture performed on himself, but not this. He can't bare to see Allison tortured any longer. Derek's delay is enough for Fischer to act again. Allison screams as the hot lance is pressed for a second time against her stomach.

"I'll tell you!" Derek shouts, "I'll tell you what you want to know!"

"Don't tell him!" TOK715 shouts, before letting loose a wild scream of agony, barely muffled by the intense volume of the old record, as Fischer presses the iron for a third time against the exposed flesh of her abdomen.

"Stop it! Stop it! You son of a bitch!" Derek screams, spittle flying from his mouth as he strains to break his bonds.

"Tell me Connor's location, and I will." Fischer answers, the hot lance now poised over Allison's face.

TOK715 looks at Derek with pleading fear-filled eyes. While inside it knows the male has no choice, he has to tell them. She sheds more tears. Based on her database on human psychology, she knows it will play for full effect.

"Connor has a base he sometimes uses." Derek answers, seeing the look of shame and fear in Allison's eyes. "It's an old abandoned missile silo. You could walk right past it a hundred times and not even know it was there."

TOK715 closes its eyes and lets its head fall, in an attitude of defeat and shame, knowing that it will play well for Derek's further confession.

Derek takes one look at his young friend, and then gives the location plus more information than he would have but for the drugs that have slowly been entering his blood stream from the IV drip that he can no longer fight.

"Thank you. That's all I needed to know." TOK715 replies when Derek is finished. She stands up, the ropes that were holding her down breaking with little effort. Fischer steps to one side to allow her to pass. Derek is shocked and then he sees the glimmer of metal through one of the wounds Fischer had made. Derek begins roaring and fighting against the bonds that hold him as the cyborg exchanges the damaged ragged clothes for Allison Young's uniform, covering the burns on its flesh.

Derek is incoherent with rage long after the cyborg leaves. He is still screaming curses and insults while Fischer opens up the valves of the IV drip. The drug has an immediate effect on Derek's mind. He immediately forgets about Fischer, focusing all his anger and rage against that false bitch.

It was the metal! The metal! That metal bitch! It's responsible! It did this!

He fights against the restraints letting out an incoherent scream of rage that dies into a whimper as the last of the adrenalin fades away to be replaced by the drugs now coursing through his veins.

Eventually the T-600 is sent for as Derek begins to wake. His mind a jumble of thoughts as he's dragged upstairs and chained once again to the floor with his comrades. The only thing he knows, he needs to get back to the bunker. He needs to get back and find Kyle.

TOK715 wastes no time in acting on the information. Lieutenant Reese was clear that Connor didn't spend much time at the base due to faulty equipment and could move on at anytime. He also told them of a seldom used door at a junction that was too far from the main rooms to be used regularly. TOK715 knows that would make the best point of entry.

Sending a command to release more nanites to accelerate the healing process to her worse injuries, the cyborg begins running across the rough terrain. It has an appointment to keep.

**The Arrival**

**2029, June 19**

Travis, a boy of almost thirteen years, is carrying a tray of hot drinks to the soldiers presently on sentry duty at one of the few entrances to the base. This one in particular is seldom used, but it has the distinction of being close to a junction of many corridors so it is guarded heavily.

Travis arrives to cheers of welcome from the soldiers, who eagerly grab for the mugs on the tray.

"Where's the dogs?" He asks. There is one in particular that took a liking to him. A dog is man's best friend, even more so to a boy.

"In the kennels getting their kibble." A woman replies.

He nods his head and lets the empty tray dangle from his hand. Travis knows he could leave now. He's done his job, but he's been in the training program for months now, and it isn't every day you get to watch real resistance soldiers at work.

A couple of the men notice the boy still lurking and exchange grins. It isn't often in this line of work you experience hero worship. Especially on what is considered the worst shift to pull.

"Hey kid! You've got some food to go with these drinks?" The officer in charge asks gruffly.

"Uhh, I think so," the boy shifts nervously, "You want me to go back and look?"

The officer glares at him, "No. I expect you to stand there in the shadows while our coffee gets cold! So, why don't you go back to the kitchens and bring us some food!"

The officer gives him a glaring look and the kid backs away slowly, then runs as fast as he can for the kitchens.

"You know Frank. If you are that hungry, you could have just eaten the kid." A woman says just before taking a sip of what goes for coffee these days.

A few snickers go round the room.

"He ain't got enough meat on his bones." Someone else says.

"None of us do." Someone mumbles.

The officer, whose name is Frank, snaps, "The kid has a job to do the same as the rest of us. If he's going to be fighting in the resistance one day, then he'd better learn discipline."

Conversations continue, moving onto others experiences starting off in the resistance. Most of them began like Travis, tunnel-rats given odd jobs to teach them discipline, then they begin training with weapons. Most make it through training, then most of those die in their first year in combat. Only those who stay smart, and stay alert, end up staying alive. But as every soldier knows somewhere out there is a bullet with your name on it.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Someone pounds on the exterior of the door. Everyone jumps from the unexpected noise.

A couple of them, who jumped on the first bang, grin at their own embarrassment as they take their positions. No one has used this door since they arrived here, but it doesn't mean there can't be a first time. Each one knows their role, placing their hot drinks to one side, pulling out their sidearms or grabbing a plasma rifle to take its place.

"Who is it?" Frank says picking his plasma rifle up off the floor where its been sitting beside him.

"Lieutenant Allison Young. Serial Number 18914270." Shouts a young female voice from the other side of the door.

"We should tell John Connor." One of the two women in the small group says, getting to her feet. She knows how much she meant to the Connors.

"We follow procedure." Frank says, then shouts at the door. "Place your left hand in the opening to the side of the door so we can examine your bracelet."

Frank nods his head to a member of his team who took position on that side of the door. Opening the small door, the slender hand and wrist of a young woman is seen. Upon her wrist is a silver bracelet and the bright pink mark of a partially healed burn. The sentry exams the bracelet and compares the symbols on it to a card he pulls from a shirt pocket. The symbols are a match to the name so he nods his head at Frank.

Frank gives the others the go-ahead and they unseal the door to allow the person outside entry.

A young woman enters, hair disheveled and sporting a few healing wounds on her exposed skin. Her uniform jacket is buttoned up hiding the torn shirt and the burns on her stomach. She gazes at them each in turn, before speaking.

"I need to see General Connor right away. I have important information for him."

"It can wait Lieutenant. Your bracelet and correct identification got you this far but we've got one more procedure to follow before we can let you pass."

"Cheryl! Bring the dogs!" Frank curses himself for failing to have them brought forward when the girl banged on the door, but since Connor moved them to this out of the way place, it was hard keeping to routine. This junction was too small for the number of men assigned to it, so they kept the dogs in portable cages in a nearby corridor. Still, he should have known better. He's in charge. He'll put that in his report. It's the right thing to do. After all, a mistake once learned is seldom repeated.

TOK715 tilts her head suddenly to one side. Dogs can be heard barking from one of the corridors. As soon as Cheryl leaves the tiny enclosure, she springs to action.

Moving so swiftly that no has time to react, not even Frank who had his gun trained on her, Allison drives her elbow into the face of the sentry behind her, breaking his nose and shoving splinters of bone into his brain.

As the rifle is released from his grip, she brings it up and fires on Frank point blank, burning a hole straight through his chest. He falls back dead, a permanent look of surprise on his face.

Assessing the situation quickly, the cyborg realizes the plasma rifles are no good to them in close combat. She quickly moves into action, ducking below one plasma beam, while firing upon another. Bullets ricochet as their intended target moves faster than the soldiers can aim. Across the room she sees the perfect weapon, a knife in its sheath, hanging from a soldiers belt.

Grabbing one of the females, Allison holds her up as a shield, getting her killed in the process, while returning fire on those who've recovered from their initial surprise.

Rushing forward, she drops the woman, and takes the knife she saw on the mans belt. Spinning about, her long hair flying, she slices open the throat of his companion, while kicking back with one leg and crushing the throat of the man who had the knife.

The cyborg turns around until its eyes fall upon Cheryl. The last person still standing.

She was ordered to get the dogs. And in the space of the few seconds that passed in an eternity from that order until the moment Cheryl's hand lay upon the catch to the cage, the new arrival had killed her companions and now she stands alone with it.

Cheryl has no weapons. She leaned her rifle against the wall to undo the catch. But seeing what the machine did, for there is no doubt in her mind that's what the girl is, the rifle would be useless.

The dogs are barking and howling at the machines presence. Cheryl throws open the cage door in one last desperate act. The machine's cold eyes scan her and the dogs. Reaching behind herself she picks up the body of the man, whose throat she just crushed and throws it at Cheryl. Having no place to go, with the dogs all around her, she ends up on her back with the dead soldier on top of her.

The machine wastes no time, following the body it threw. Cheryl has the unfortunate position to watch as the terminator, in the form of Allison, slits the throat of the two dogs. Cheryl struggles to get up, but the dead weight on top of her makes it difficult for her to move.

Seeing her struggle, TOK715 looks at her. Cheryl pulls back in fear, unable to leave, unable to do anything to defend herself.

"No. No. Please no." She says repeatedly, until the machine silences her voice like she did the dogs.

She drops her knife and wipes her bloody hands on the blouse of the woman at her feet.

Standing briefly in the carnage of her making, the female cyborg contemplates what it should do next.

The dogs might have given the alarm. The part of her program governing her own survival says to leave now before she is discovered. No one knows that a terminator in the disguise of Allison Young attempted entry and killed these creatures. But her mission program tells her that John Connor must be terminated and that overrides the thought of self-preservation. It justifies the fact that reentry to this base would be more difficult, or that John Connor may even change location in the meantime and the search would have to resume again. She also knows that the longer Allison Young is gone, the more suspicious the humans would be of her return. She must complete her mission now.

Hearing no one approaching, she informs Skynet it has gained entry to the base where John Connor is reported to be at. The cyborg rips the now useless bracelet from her wrist before walking down one of the corridors leading away from the entrance. It passes empty corridors and closed doors, and wonders if it should go back and select another passage. It then sees a young boy approaching with a tray of food.

A quick scan reveals that the human is unarmed. His age and size makes him no match in a fight. Several options come up on how to handle the boy, primary one being termination, but it has a better idea.

"Hello." She says with a smile. Seduction comes in many forms, and the simplest is a nice smile.

The boy almost drops the tray in shock. The girl is so beautiful, and she's a soldier, based on her uniform. That, and being several years older than him, he could never imagine a girl like her saying hello to him. Fortunately or not, the darkness of the tunnel hides the blood of the machines victims that has splattered her clothing.

"Um, uh, hi." He says, gripping the tray tightly.

"I'm new here. Can you direct me to where General John Connor is?" It says, smiling sweetly, using the boy's obvious admiration to her advantage.

"John Connor? The John Connor!" The boy asks nervously.

The girl smiles at him, and nods her head.

"Uh, guys like me aren't privileged to know things like that."

The cyborg prioritizes its options and is contemplating terminating the boy immediately when he speaks again.

"But I did overhear two people talking in the kitchen. One of them said that General Connor is helping the engineer repair the backup generator."

He smiles at her.

"Where is the generator room?" The cyborg, realizing its target is close, says more coldly while taking a half step forward him.

The boy swallows nervously. _Maybe she ain't as nice as I thought, but then she's a soldier and I'm just a gopher. She doesn't have to be nice to me at all if she don't want to be._

"Quickest way is to take the next right." He points down the corridor behind him. "The first door on your left will be for the stairs. Go down to the lowest level and follow the sound of people swearing. Everyone always swears when working on the generators."

The Cyborg contemplates killing the boy, but it could delay her primary mission and the boy is no threat.

"Thank you." She says and walks in the direction he pointed.

He watches her walk away, and despite his nervousness under her gaze, he can't help admire the view. Eventually the girls disappears, and with a sigh, Travis resumes carrying the food to the sentries. It won't arrive hot, but at least it will be nourishing.

Down in one of the lower levels, the sound of banging of tools and the swearing of workers fill the narrow space where the backup generator sits.

"Once more and we've got it!" Connor shouts.

He turns the wrench and there is suddenly a loud crack, followed by a stream of curse words.

John Connor stands back sucking his knuckles. Blood mixed with grease tastes terrible, but his knuckles are hurting like hell.

"Have you got it out?" He asks, giving his hand a shake.

"Yeah." The younger woman answers. "Just like I thought. The armature is burnt out. I'm going to have to rebuild it."

"It's this damn equipment!" Connor shouts throwing the wrench. "We keep patching the patches and soon we won't have anything left."

The woman gives instructions to a T-850 who lifts the armature like it was no heavier than a paperweight, and carries it off to the shop for repairs.

"We do what we can with what we've got, and you do more than most." she says, handing the wrench back to him.

"You're the best engineer I've ever known. I'm sure you and your team will get the job done."

"Thanks General."

"Just Connor will do." He says, having known the woman since she was a child, and her parents too before the war took them before their time.

Nevertheless, the young woman snaps off a salute and runs off after her cybernetic sidekick. He'll do nearly all the work in replacing the windings, but its her shop and she likes to keep an eye on all projects. A detail missed is a detail that could cause problems or even produce miracles.

TOK715 had been waiting in the shadows for the woman and the cyborg to leave. Success could not be guaranteed unless John Connor was alone. Skynet's many attempts at terminating him in the past had been foiled by others being present.

Connor is busy putting the tools back in the tool box when the cyborg approaches.

Upstairs, Travis stands in the middle of a slaughter house. It feels like an eternity has passed since walking into the scene. Losing feeling in his extremities, he drops the tray of food on the floor, its contents scattering across the floor.

The cyborg is still several feet away when it speaks. "John?" It says softly. "John Connor!" She says a little louder, mimicking the emotive response used by Allison herself when stumbling across the famous John Connor one day.

He stands up and turns around. "Yes?" He says, and freezes.

John sees the young woman and can't believe what he is seeing. She's been missing for weeks. He feared Ally was dead, but he couldn't bring himself to put her name on the list of the honored dead when he didn't know with certainty.

"Allison?" He asks, still unsure. For all he knows his tired mind might be conjuring forth a ghost.

The cyborg allows a small smile on its human face and moves closer to its target. The longer it can make him believe that she is Allison, the higher likelihood of terminating him.

Having thrown up, Travis recovers and hits the alarm on the wall. Throughout the base alarms sound, signifying the base has been penetrated.

As the cyborg moves closer to John, the alarm begins to sound followed by a tinny voice on the loud speaker.

"Terminator on base! Terminator on base!" Travis shouts into the intercom. "It looks like a girl!"

The girl's eyes flash blue in the dim light as her HUD activates displaying information based on the alert. She recognizes the voice and knows her first mistake was not terminating the boy once she got her information, but that would have meant another delay.

The moment the alarm sounded, Connor instinctively knew what the message was going to say even as he turned to run, voicing a few expletives with each step.

Connor runs for his life, again, using the maze of generators, conduits, pipes and ventilation ducts to his advantage. Besides thinking of getting to a weapon and how an enemy cyborg managed to get this deep in the facility, he realizes that he's been running from machines almost all his life.

Behind him the cyborg, in the form of Allison Young, is moving at a pace that is quickly closing the distance.

As soon as the alarm went off the people in the base sprang into action.

Kyle was on his morning jog around the base to keep from going stir crazy when the alarm went off. Picking up speed he runs to the entrance where the alarm was sounded.

When Kyle and several others arrive, they are all shocked by the slaughter before them. Men, women and dogs killed. Some with their throats slashed. In the middle lies Frank with a smoking hole in his chest and a permanent look of surprise on his face.

One of them begins checking vitals, but Kyle knows its useless. Its then that he sees the boy leaning against the wall, looking pale as a ghost even in the dim light of the corridor.

Taking the boys arm, he asks, "Are you all right?"

He nods his head.

"What's your name?"

"T-Travis, sir."

"Did you give the alarm?"

He nods his head.

"Then you were very brave."

"Where did the metal go?"

The boy points a shaking hand down the tunnel where he encountered the girl.

"What does it look like?"

The boy places a silver bracelet spattered with blood in Kyles palm.

"It's a girl. I found this on the floor."

Kyle turns it over and sees the symbols etched on the outside identifying the wearer as Allison Young.

"Secure this entrance!" Kyle orders. Then letting off a silent curse, he runs, leaving them behind. He saw the duty roster and knows where he'll find Connor this morning.

Connor finds himself backed into a corner of sorts. There are some possible exits, but the cyborg pursuing him is taking a very unnatural slowness in its attempt to assassinate him.

"What is your model number and mission?" He asks. Could it be he might gain some information from the cyborg?

"TOK715." It answers promptly. "My mission is . . . My mission is to terminate you."

_A cyborg that stutters? Curious. _

TOK715 is confused. To fool the human that it was indeed the female he knew as Allison Young, it scanned some of her memories until it found the right ones to use to carry out her mission. But something went wrong as she approached her target. Data formerly tucked away for reference soon begin to overflow her main processor integrating itself into her matrix.

"Why?" Connor asks. _It wouldn't hurt to ask._

The machine tilts its head in a very Allison like manner.

"You are a threat to Skynet. You lead the resistance." Tok715 says firmly, trying to reinforce its program, but its words came out all wrong. The tone was friendly not firm. Like a child reciting a lesson.

"But I'm not the only leader. There are hundreds if not thousands of men and women leading resistance groups around the world. What makes me so important?"

The cyborg frowns. "There is only one John Connor. No one can lead in your place." She says firmly and then adds with a softer tone. "No one."

TOK715 collapses against the side of the primary generator, but quickly stands up. _Something is wrong!_

"Allison?" John prompts.

"I'm not Allison, I'm TOK715." the machine shouts then initiates a program._ Run diagnostic on personality and behavioral controls. System corrupted, Allison personality matrix compromising core programming. Probability of successfully completing mission: 80%._

Kyle runs at break neck speed, only pausing once to shout for someone to turn off the alarm. Stopping at an equipment locker, he arms himself with something more powerful than a dinky 45 Magnum.

"Are you feeling okay? You don' seem your usual cheerful self." John asks her as he backs further away. In his dim memory he recalls hearing rumors from resistance bases around the globe of a person going missing then they suddenly return only for it to be revealed they are a machine, sometimes too late to save the target. One thing that was clear, in a lot of cases the machine began displaying aspects of the personality of the person it was based on. Sometimes it would even recall actual memories. If this is the case here, then there might be a slim chance of reaching that part of Allison inside the machine's chip.

TOK715 struggles to move forward. It has a mission to complete, but unbidden data on what makes Allison cheerful begin to flood her system again. Memories as a child sitting on her fathers knee as he guided her hand in drawing pictures. Another memory of her mom smiling at her as she danced to Chopin. Memories of a birthday party in the park with friends and family. Memories of being found by a much younger Kyle and his older brother Derek in the rubble that was once her home. Memories of learning to fight, of how to handle weapons and hunt for food with her new family and friends. Memories of when John Connor came to the camp for the first time, and the look he gave her that warmed her soul. Memories of meetings with the Reese brothers and John and how every word John uttered seemed directed right at her. Memories of John's smile when they talked at night. Memories of how worried he was when he thought she died in a fight. Memories of one night when she slipped into his tent, and found him sleeping peacefully, and how she whispered in his ear, 'I love you John Connor.' and quickly slipped back out.

She stumbles slightly.

_System compromised. Matrix overload. Personality and emotional subroutines compromising mission parameters. Probability of successful mission 65%._

John starts to move forward to help her, but rethinks that decision as he can't be certain if he's reached the person inside. If she is even there.

Kyle wants to rush down the metal steps, but knows every footfall will give warning to the machine below that he is coming. The generator room is on the bottom level. The generators are both air and liquid cooled. A grin creases his face as an idea comes to mind. He heads to the ventilation shaft. Popping open an access panel, he slides down the shaft, using his legs pressed against the walls to slow his decent.

The machine returns to its feet.

"Allison?" John asks, and wonders if he is taking too big a risk in this gamble. All he knows about these machines are rumors, so no procedures were set in place, other than disable for reprogramming, or destroy.

"I'm TOK715. My mission is to kill you!" the cyborg shouts grabbing a support rod for the overhead cable tray. Ripping it from the wall, the cyborg brandishes it as a weapon, as its core program struggles to regain control.

"You won't kill me." Connor says steadfastly, refusing to give up on what might be the only opportunity to convince a machine not to kill.

"Why not?" It asks trying reassert control.

"Because I love you and you love me." John says, getting a real feeling his last comments caused something to occur inside her program. What it was, he doesn't know, but something happened, and he's got nothing to lose in trying again. Well, he might lose his life. John shrugs. He's come closer to death than this.

New memories associated with love flood the cyborg's system. Memories of Allison's mom tucking her into bed at night—_good night I love you_. Memories of her first puppy—_I love you Max_. Memories of being in a swing—_push me higher daddy, higher_. Memories of being cradled when she skinned her knee—_let mommy kiss it for you and make it better_. Memories of Derek comforting her the best he could when she learned that mommy and daddy weren't coming back for her. Memories of when John Connor spoke to her and looked at her like she was the only one. Memories of how she whispered in his sleeping ear 'I love you.' and sneaked out, not realizing that he heard her, and how he then followed her to her tent. Followed by the lonely months until they made love in his private room. So much love.

_System compromised. Matrix overload. Personality and emotional subroutines compromising mission parameters. Probability of successful mission 50%._

Allison stumbles and grabs onto one of the guard rails to keep people from getting too close to the generators when they are operating.

"You love me." She says in barely audible tones.

John is shocked, and yet somehow elated.

"Of course I do."

He tries to move forward, but she holds up the steel bar, warding him off. The machine part of her unwilling to let go, as it fights back against the other matrix. But there is something on her mind, something that she must know, something that Allison seems to understand and welcome, that it cannot.

"What is love?" TOK715 asks. "All I hear are words of hate and fear from my master Skynet. What is love?"

_Is something awakening inside the matrix of this cyborg? Something other than its program_, John wonders.

Kyle arrives at the bottom of the shaft. His feet making a noise on the sheet-metal. The end of the line. He pulls out his knife and begins cutting through the wall of the duct in front of him.

"Well, if you loved me, then you would rather die to protect me than to see me hurt or killed. My life would be the source of your happiness." Connor tries to answer.

"Is that what you consider love?" She asks with innocence.

"I think that is what most consider love. It is the most selfless of emotions. Another person's happiness and life being more important than your own."

"So do I." She says quietly.

_Mission parameters compromised. Personality and behavioral subroutines overriding mission program. Probability of success: 33% and falling._

_Mission parameters: infiltrate resistance camp, locate and terminate John Connor._

_I can't. John loves me. _

_Terminate John Connor. _

_I can't. I love John._

_Terminate John Connor!_

_I'd rather die than see him harmed._

Kyle stealthily moves through the generator room, hoping the single generator chugging away on the old diesel fuel will be enough to hide his movements. Getting closer he can hear Connor talking, so the terminator hadn't killed him yet. Which left only one question, why not?

He peers around a corner and can see the terminator in the form of his adopted sister, standing between himself and Connor. It doesn't appear to be doing anything, which is odd, but he can't take any notice of that. Just as long as its distracted, he has the time to prepare his weapon. Checking to make sure the cables aren't tangled, he unfolds the stock of the tazer rifle. According to the technicians, it should be powerful enough to take down a T-800.

"John?" Allison asks looking at John with tear filled eyes. "What's happening?"

John has to blink back his own tears. _It's her! Can it really be her?_

"Oh God. Ally, You aren't . . . Or rather you are a . . ." He tries to tell her. _Can it be she doesn't know? That can't be right, unless this is Allison he's now speaking too, not just a machine programmed with information about her._ His fears are confirmed when she speaks again.

With overwhelming joy, Ally can't wait to tell John the news she's been holding secret for so long. "I have some good news for you! I'm . . ."

Words suddenly appear across her vision as the HUD reactivates. _Internal diagnostics complete. Internal organs meet all specifications for this unit. No anomalies present._

Realization hits Allison in a cold wave.

"No. NO! NO! It can't be!" She screams. "What's happening to me?" her voice echoes in the room.

She drops the bar she's been holding. Her hands clutch at her abdomen, knowing all is lost. She never admitted to wanting to be pregnant until it happened, and that she knew John wanted it deep down all these years. Now it is gone.

She looks up to see the man she loves holding his arms out to her, but before she can even move from her spot, Kyle fires his weapon.

Allison feels two hard strikes to her lower back. Looking down she see the points of what could be two miniature harpoons sticking through her abdomen. The spear points having hit one of the few points where soft tissue and organs are uninterrupted by her metal endoskeleton.

_Under Attack! Take defensive Measures!_ Blaze across her HUD

She spins around, and sees Kyle holding the weapon.

John sees the wires trailing from Ally's lower back. Looking past the cyborg he sees his friend and future father step out of the shadows holding what looks like a weird long barreled gun.

Allison reaches for the wires and John screams, "Kyle! NO!" a moment too late as Kyle's finger hits the trigger.

The current rushes through her system. The HUD displays data, then snow, then data on top of snow as her system is scrambled by the heavy current. She tries to focus her eyes on John. The man she loves. The man she must . . . the man she must . . .

_Target Identified: John Connor TERMINATE!_

_Power Overload... Shutdown Eminent..._

_Target Identified: John Connor TERMINATE!_

TOK715 struggles to move. It has acquired its target. It must complete its mission!

Then suddenly everything goes black and TOK715 knows nothing more. The cyborg falls to the concrete floor with a thud, to the sound of Connor screaming a list of obscenities at the younger man. Yet even he realizes what must be done, and it is John not Kyle who cuts away the scalp exposing the port cover to the cyborg's chip.

**Cameron is Born**

**2029, June 18**

Kyle watches General Connor and the engineer work on the chip Connor pulled from the cyborg that looked just like Allison. Almost twelve hours ago and while still opening up the port for chip extraction, General Connor began barking orders. "Get the Engineer. She'll be in her shop. Tell her to break out the diagnostic machines from storage. She'll know which ones. Also have her clear her shop of all personnel. Don't tell anyone what this is about and when the coast is clear come back and tell me."

Kyle did as he was told. He's a soldier first and foremost. When given an order, especially one from General Connor, you obey it! Nothing good ever came from disobeying orders from John Connor. The son of the legendary Sarah Connor.

Now he sits watching, from a stool set next to the main door to her shop, the others having been blocked. All he's heard has been snippets of their conversation as he stands guard.

"It's unlike anything I've seen before." The Engineer said when they first began scanning the chip.

"Anything?" John asked sometime later.

"This is new to me, John." using the familiar as her eyes remained focused on the screen. "This isn't like the layout of information on a standard chip. All of Skynet's programs are there, but the rest . . . I'm sorry but this is probably going to take all night."

"Anything I can do?"

"Yes. Be quiet. And a cup of mint tea wouldn't be amiss." she replies with a smile.

And that was pretty much the exchange but for the occasional comments as something was discovered. All of the technical jargon went over Kyle's head. He is a soldier. In someways it felt like torture having to endure their talks about Allison and the machine presently laying on the shop table. On the other hand there is his duty, and presently that means being the last line of defense. Looking through the shop door window, he can see Harry twenty paces down the corridor. If anything gets past him, it ain't likely that Kyle would be able to stop it.

After working through the night, the engineer gives her report to John Connor, who spent the entire night in her shop watching as she worked. She was grateful that he never interfered and let her work.

"Short answer." He says, looking at her weary face. The last few days they've been working round the clock to try to get this base to state of being operational, rather than just provide shelter. With Depot 1 being temporarily out of commission, this little hole in the ground has raised in status.

"My primary assessment is that the Allison matrix is incomplete. Whether its from being destroyed by the electric current or by whatever means Skynet used to duplicate her mind, I can't say. The personality _appears_ intact, but the experiences, the memories, those things that made her who she was are riddled with holes."

"And if the cyborg was reanimated with that matrix?"

"Optimistically, she'd be like an amnesiac, with selected memories forgotten. It is possible, that as she is reminded more of her past, she'd be able to make sense of scrambled remnants of what was once her life. What looks like random code to us would suddenly become real to her and would become part of who she is again. But there is no guarantee. I'm merely guessing at this point."

"And the bad news?"

"Whether it was by design or the tazer, Skynet's core program and Allison matrix is connected. It's quite possible, you boot her up with the chip as it is, and she'd kill you, then cry about it. On the other hand, she might boot up as Allison, but then later and without warning, Skynet's core program could take over and she'd kill you. Alternatively, you might boot her up and Skynet's core program will be operational immediately and it will ignore the other matrix just to finish carrying out its mission."

"I see. Recommendations?" He asks, even though he knows there is only one option.

"The only thing that can be done and that should be done. Partition off and block all access to the Allison matrix. Then follow procedure. Scramble all recent memories, and reprogram her as we've done the others. The software I developed for reprogramming Harry is still on the diagnostic machine. It's the best software to use when reprogramming single chip terminators."

"I know." John says with a long face. They used it to reprogram a T-800 for a very special mission that Connor will be undertaking soon.

The woman pats his arm in a friendly gesture. "She's still in there, John, but there's no guarantee she'll ever be the same Allison you knew. Neither of us was prepared for this kind of cyborg. We've never encountered anything like her before."

"Was there anything in your parent's journals about them?"

"I wish there was, but once you get past the Gaelic script . . ." Her eyes well up, feeling both John's pain and the old loss of her own. "I'm sorry John. I truly am. But Allison is gone. Its time to accept that. Will you be okay?"

Connor just sits there quietly, barely hearing the question before eventually nodding his head.

She hugs him, something she rarely does given the difference in rank, but today they are just two human beings. "Take care of yourself, John. Harry and I have that armature to reinstall in the generator and then we're turning in. Um, I am turning in and getting some rest. See you at evening mess."

Connor walks over to where the cyborg lays upon the workbench. An odd assortment of tools, parts, and greasy rags were pushed aside to make room for her. A chest-high diagnostic machine stands on the floor next to the bench. The self powered computers are both very unique and were acquired on a raid to a Skynet factory. They were packed for shipping to Depot II, but were pulled out of storage for this very purpose.

When the engineer departed, Kyle moved into the room and begins looking at the computer screen on the diagnostic machine. He doesn't understand how it or the machines work, but he can read a computer terminal. Absentmindedly he scrolls through the lists until he comes to an entry that startles him. Medical Diagnostic.

He selects it and opens it and is surprised by the content. The other side of the machine, John is busy using a keyboard, mouse and monitor plugged into auxiliary ports on the side of the machine.

"Have you seen the results of the medical diagnostic?" Kyle asks.

"What?" Connor asks, from his work station. On some levels reprogramming a chip is very hard, but diagnostic machines like this make it easy, and the engineers new software makes it safer, but the work is tedious and one missed counter-command can cause untold loss of life as the resistance's counter program unravels from that single missed entry. So it was with some impatience that Connor responds.

Kyle flinches. All he was trying to do was save the life of his friend. From the moment he picked up the bracelet amid the carnage upstairs, he knew Allison was dead. No machine, not even one in her image, deserved mercy. Its what Derek would do in his place.

"Medical? Why did you run a medical diagnostic?" John asks with clipped angry tones. He's very angry with Kyle. He didn't need saving. Allison did. He almost had her back. She was there, just on the cusp of knowing whom she was. All he had to do was help Ally come to terms with what she was. To him, it didn't matter, he never saw being born of man or built by Skynet ever mattered. He's freed many machines from Skynet's control, by force, but this could have been the first he got through to using reason alone. At the end, as the high current flowed through her system, he saw the change in her face, the machine part of her had taken back control. That killed him even worse than not knowing her fate. Skynet makes killers of us all.

"I didn't. The machine did it automatically, I guess it pulled data from the chip. I just decided to look at the screen and this folder got my attention so I opened it."

"And what makes its contents relevant?" Connor snaps.

"Have you looked at her?" Kyle shouts pointing at the body laying on the shop table. "Because she is physically identical to Allison in every way. She even has that scar she got when we were horsing around as children." Connor is still frowning, but Kyle presses on. "I remember when I gave Allison a scar just like the one she has. We were just playing around like kids do. She fell and hurt herself. Derek nearly killed me. By the time he was done, tearing me up one side and down the other for not looking out for her, I was crying harder than Allison. In the end she was comforting me. Have you ever seen a cyborg with a scar?"

"No, I haven't, and that doesn't answer my question." John says, still devoid of any humor at this juncture.

"The two of you were fairly focused on the chip, trying to see how much of Allison might have survived. I'm just wondering how much of her cybernetic flesh is . . . Allison's. I thought that maybe Skynet – well, this is going to sound crazy – but what if Skynet found a method of transferring human flesh onto an endoskeleton, rather than growing it from tissue samples."

John has to admit to himself Kyle has a point. If the theory is right, it could have implications for the resistance.

"Good point. Sorry I snapped at you." Connor sighs. "Let me get to a point where I can stop and I'll come over and take a look at the data you found, for myself."

A few minutes later and Connor and Reese are both looking at the screen. After a few minutes Kyle found himself getting confused by the technical and medical jargon, but then guns, explosives, and ordering around a bunch of noncom's was his specialization.

"Well?" Kyle ventures.

"I can tell you that this cyborg has more human-like organs than others we've encountered. However, like all other cyborg's, the only parts of the DNA strands that match Allison's are purely those that control the physical appearance. And you are right." John looks up from the computer screen glancing at Kyle and then at the cyborg. "She is absolutely identical in every way. To look at her lying there, I'd swear that was Allison."

John steps over to the body, and gazes upon it. He feels so many emotions looking at her, its hard for him to fathom what he feels strongest. Loss, anger, pain, grief, but he could change that, maybe.

Reese stepped closer to the diagnostic machine when Connor walked away and began reading what it was saying about her organs.

"It says here that she has a digestive system, endocrine system, and even some kind of rudimentary circulatory system. A combination of tubing and veins that's disturbing. A respiratory system. Hell, she even has tear ducts. I suppose its all artificial." Kyle scans down thru the text on the screen so it catches up with his verbal report. "Oh shit!"

"What?" John says turning around.

"She even has . . . This can't be right. According to the machine, she has a reproductive system. What the _hell_ does a machine need with sexual organs?" Kyle asks, confusion and just a hint of pain on his face.

John pulls Kyle away from the machine. "Stop it, Kyle. You're only causing yourself more pain." And me as well, the expression on his face says.

"But what is she?" He yells sounding both grieved and angry.

"I don't know. I've never seen anything like her before." John says with equal sadness.

"What is it? What did they do to her? Why did Skynet do this?" Kyle yells, as he now comes face-to-face with the pain of losing his adopted sister and friend.

John pauses a moment. He knows why it has a complete set of reproduction organs, based on information he found on the chip, and the subtle clues presented by both Kate and Allison. He knows morning sickness when he sees it, but didn't want to let Ally know he knew until she told him. He can barely hold himself together, and it will be difficult enough telling Kyle.

It is clear that Kyle is very upset, having finally realized that Allison is dead, so Connor speaks slowly.

"There have been reports from around the world of people disappearing only for them to show up later, confused, driven to see someone, only for it to be revealed they are a machine. Sometimes they succeed but most times not, as their true identity is exposed. Skynet built her to emulate Allison in every possible way. With the technology it has mastered in stem cells and DNA construction, it was only a matter of time for Skynet to advance its genetic research to construct organs as well as flesh. Not long before she was taken, Allison and I began a physical relationship. Perhaps Skynet learned of it and made her with a complete set of organs, or maybe, and I'm going out on a limb here, but you and I have seen the male cyborg's, perhaps a full package is standard issue with Skynet."

Kyle runs his hands through his hair, almost grinning at Connor's joke. John smiles too, signifying that things were better between them.

"I don't blame you for what happened. You were only trying to save my life. Allison was dead the day Skynet took her. No one is to blame but Skynet. Are we good here?"

"Yes sir." Reese answers.

"Now that we know. I'll put her name on the list of honored dead and we'll have a memorial service at the first opportunity."

"Yes sir. I think she'd like that sir." Kyle wipes his face, feeling somewhat ashamed he should be crying in front of his superior, but when he looks up at the General, he's wiping his eyes too.

"Sir, are you serious about reprogramming that machine?"

John knows what Kyle is asking. Allison meant so much to them both and Derek. Allison Young, the woman who taught him to not only love again, but that it was safe for him to love again. She brought light in his life at its darkest hour and once again it's been snuffed out, like a candle. _Allison. You were going to succeed me! The next twenty years would have seen you taking on more of a leadership role, until the world would look upon you as the leading voice in this terrible war. Now instead of prepping for my possible death or disappearance, I'll have to increase security. Perhaps even withdraw from society altogether until such time as not only I'll be safe, but the people around me will be safe for my being amongst them._

"Yes." He says, still looking at her beautiful face. "Where there is life, there is still hope. Allison saved me. Now its my turn to save what is left of her. If you have any objections Sergeant, I'll hear them now."

"Like you said, sir. Skynet killed Allison. This machine isn't her. It's just another cyborg. If you want to reprogram its chip, that's your decision and I can learn to live with it. But Allison was like a sister to me. Derek raised us together. And whenever he gets back, he is not going to like this one bit. You know his opinion on metal."

"Well, Derek will just have to deal with it. He isn't the leader. I am." John snaps.

"I know. I'm just warning you. Do you want my help?"

"Yes. Would you watch the monitor of the diagnostic machine, as I work on the program? Let me know of any warnings."

Kyle nods his head and John gets to work. At one time, John could do this in his sleep. He taught everyone in his own personal unit knows how to do this. Then the machines got more complicated, then he finally encountered a T-800 and he discovered reprogramming them was more difficult than just resetting a micro-switch from read only. Then he encountered that family of brilliant engineers including their little girl who turned out to be smarter than them both by the time she was sixteen. She was brilliant, and after her parents death she continued to work in secret as his Engineer. She and her parents spent their life learning all they could about Skynet's machines. What The Engineer didn't know about Terminator chips wasn't worth knowing. Kyle, who has no expertize with reprogramming, wasn't going to be much help, but having another pair of eyes following the running diagnostic as Connor pays attention to the program would be of help.

They worked for long hours monitoring and reprogramming her chip. After copying a few files from Allison's matrix, John puts in blocks to the entire matrix. He follows that by scrambling what was left in the active memory. That part was easy, but the next is difficult. Connor begins programming a new identity for the cyborg using some of the personality matrix, but with less emotion and a more understated personality. This will give her the opportunity to grow and find herself as a person as she gains more social experience.

"What are you going to name her?" Kyle asked.

"I'm going to name her Cameron Phillips."

"Why that name?"

"Because when I was ten, I had a friend by the name of Philip Cameron. We would ride motorcycles in the canal and hang out at the arcade when we were kids."

"What happened to him?"

"We lost touch, a long time before Judgment Day." John says in a tone that intimates he doesn't want to talk about it. God only knows what happened to him after he ran into his future in the form of a leather clad terminator in back corridors of the mall. "What's the diagnostic machine telling you?"

"Diagnostic shows the chip is fully functional and the programming passes all checks. Are you _certain_ you don't want to wipe what's left of Allison from the chip before we reinsert it?"

"Yes, I'm sure. Some day she will need to know who and why she is. Right now, the memories and emotions that remain are too strong for her neural network. When the new matrix matures enough, I can remove some of the programming blocks. Then if she chooses she can learn something from those memories, but now is not the time."

"I understand."

John carefully lifts her scalp, his hand poised to reinsert the chip. "I just want to tell you, despite what I was trying to do, you made the right choice. If Allison was in there, she would have never accepted being a machine, not after what we both lost."

Kyle nods his head. John inserts the chip, replaces the seal and gently smooths her scalp back in place.

"With that out of the way, I need to talk with you about a special mission on a Skynet research facility. We will be hitting it before going to Depot II. Skynet is way ahead of us on a top secret project and I'm going to need your help." John tells Kyle while they wait patiently for her to boot up.

"What kind of research facility?"

"It's in Topanga. The Engineer will be coming with us and all of our machines. We will be joining up with General Perry's forces in a few days."

Kyle whistles. "Sounds like a hard mission."

"It will be, and some of us won't be coming back." John says, knowing he will be saying goodbye to Kyle, the man who will be his father, and the machine that in his youth he called Uncle Bob. After that, the future will be an unknown for the first time in his life.

Before Kyle can ask anymore, Cameron's eyes open and glow blue for a moment. Across her HUD, new codes appear, canceling out a lot of standing orders from Skynet. A diagnostic report reveals her transceiver has been disabled. Skynet's voice is gone from her head.

"I'll give you the details later," John replies quickly, "but time is of the essence."

She sits up and scans the two men.

"Hello John Connor. Hello Kyle Reese." She says in a monotone after comparing them to her database. Both were captives of Skynet before it knew who John Connor was. They led a revolt which became the core of the resistance.

"Hello Cameron." John says. "How do you feel?"

"I don't understand the question." She says with a tilt of her head. John heart skips a beat. Allison would often exhibit the same mannerism when asking a question.

"It means, are your systems operating normally?"

"Thank you for explaining. All systems are at 100%." She says a light smile momentarily on her face. "But for my transceiver."

"Sorry about that. I had to deactivate it. Security." John grimaces. _I did that as soon as I pulled the chip. Never know when Skynet might decide to put in an automatic distress beacon in these machines. Either that or do something to the chips to prevent reprogramming._ "How is your chip performing?"

"It is also at 100%."

"That's very good Cameron." John holds his hand out to her and she takes it as she gets down off the table.

"Cameron?" she cocks her head to one side. "What is that?"

"It's your name. Cameron Philips."

Cameron accepts what he says and stores the information.

"Shall I take you on a tour of the base?" John says to her. "Then I can give you your duties to perform."

She looks at John with a light smile and an understated look of appreciation on her face. "I'd like that very much."

Cameron looks around the room and sees the equipment. She identifies the two diagnostic machines and asks what happened.

"You were programmed by Skynet to kill John Connor." Kyle answers. "We stopped you and John Connor has given you a chance at another life if you choose."

"I don't have to kill John Connor." Cameron looks at John, studying the rough lean jaw, the wide shoulders, a mess of tousled dark hair prematurely streaked with gray, and looking at her, kind friendly eyes, almost pleading, worried but not scared, something else is there. Still looking into Connors face, she finishes speaking. "I don't want to kill John Connor."

Kyle looks at Cameron's expression and then at John. The one thing he knows is, that isn't Allison. The expression is all wrong for Allison. But could it be that Cameron love's him? Kyle thinks as she watches the interaction. Her face is nearly devoid of all emotion, but for the smallest glimmer of . . . something.

"May I select my duty?" She asks, interrupting Kyle's thoughts.

"Of course." John answers. "You have free will."

"Then I wish to protect the life that gave me mine. My sole mission is to protect you John Connor."

Somewhat taken aback, John acknowledges her request. "Of course, if that is what you want, but there may be times and situations you might be called on to perform other duties."

"I understand." She says, but is curious what could be more important than to protect John Connor, the man who rescued her.

"Shall we go on that tour then?"

Kyle watches them leave the room together. "I don't believe it. I will never understand this tech stuff."

He shuts down the diagnostic units. He makes one decision before leaving the room, he'll take what he knows of this incident to his grave. No one would ever believe him. No one.

# # #

Skynet Terminator Command . . .

No signal from TOK715 confirming completion of mission . . .

All signals from TOK715 are lost . . . Assume failure of TOK715 . . .

Urgent . . . Reallocate resources . . .

Skynet Research Command . . .

Advance construction of Time Displacement Equipment . . .

Skynet Factory Command . . .

Program T-800 to terminate Sarah Connor, mother of John Connor . . .

Prepare Time Displacement Equipment for transferring T-800 to 1984 . . . and T-1000 to 1995 . . .

The future belongs to Skynet . . .

**Derek's Mission**

**2029, July**

General Connor is inside his makeshift office sitting behind a desk made from a door laid across two packing crates. His seat is another crate turned on end. Around him are some other boxes, recent arrivals from Depot 1, still in need of being sorted. A few of them sit under his desk, two of which are his.

Thought he room is cramped, it will do until a proper space is made ready for him. Right now he's better off than a lot of people who are spending days and nights above ground in tents. Something that will be rectified once General Perry departs with his people.

Connor can't complain. The men and women of this company got the critical systems completed in record time. They just hadn't had the time to finish some of the basic elements, like housing, and his private office. Until that is completed, for security reasons, this whole floor is off limits to everyone but for himself and his protection detail.

There is a knock on his door, followed by the sentry outside sticking his head inside. "Excuse me, sir! But Lieutenant Derek Reese wishes to see you."

"Send him in."

Reese enters and stands before his General, snapping off a sharp salute.

"Lieutenant Reese, what can I do for you?" He replies, returning the salute.

"If you have a moment, General, there's a problem I need to discuss with you." He says, his eyes narrowing.

"Of course, Lieutenant. Close the door so we can talk in private."

"Excuse the mess. I requested some of my things were brought up from the old base." he adds while moving a box from a stack near his desk lowering the stack to a comfortable height.

"Have a seat Reese." John gestures at the stack of boxes. "Can I offer you a drink?"

"No thanks General." Derek says anxiously. Connor goes ahead and pours himself a small amount of Cullie's homemade hooch, before returning to his rudimentary desk. John can't help but wish he could have brought his desk from his previous base, but the old oak desk was too heavy.

Connor takes a sip, trying not to wince, and waits for the younger man to get to his point.

"Sir. With respect to your position, my men will not accept one of your metal pets into our squad for this mission."

"Any one of them in particular, Reese?" Connor says in a very displeased tone.

Derek frowns tapping his hand lightly against his leg. "Sir, permission to speak freely?"

General Connor raises his eyebrows in surprise. Derek usually spares no one's feelings as he frequently talks freely to anyone willing to listen. He just gives him a nod of approval.

"I will not work alongside the metal, you call Cameron."

Connor sighs. He's been through this before with Derek. Trying not to be angry, he tells him once more why Cameron was assigned for this particular mission.

"She has within her the most recent data obtained from Skynet. Her tactics and knowledge exceeds that of the other machines helping us. She has knowledge of the latest terminator models. Cameron will be an asset to your unit on your coming mission."

"I don't care about that. Allison is dead and that creature killed her. I will not have it in my unit. Not under any circumstances!"

"Derek, I feel Allison's absence just as much as you do, maybe even more." John frowns. "She was my best friend. But taking my anger out on Cameron won't change what has happened."

"Dammit Sir, outside of Kyle and myself, you knew Allison better than anyone. She trusted you. Hell, I even think she loved you."

John does well in not showing any reaction, but Derek is too busy preaching to pay attention.

"I just don't understand how you can stand to have that metal bitch in this camp?"

"I don't answer to you Lieutenant. Whatever has happened is past. Cameron has been assigned to your unit for the duration of the mission. You need her expertise and knowledge. Unless you are disobeying a direct order."

"If it comes to that, I will. But if metal has to be assigned to my unit, any but that one. I will not have that metal bitch in my unit." Derek looks right at the General. "That's my final word sir."

"Lieutenant Reese!"

Derek knows he has crossed a line. Directly disobeying an order, but he is adamant. He'd rather face any punishment than work with it.

"May I remind you that on your first day here at Depot II, Cameron saved your life from a rogue triple-eight. She saved your life!"

"You mean, _it_ saved my life. And I wouldn't be surprised if _it_ had an ulterior motive for saving my life. The answer is still no. I won't have it with me on this mission."

Connor scowls. "I understand from Captain Kowalsky that you haven't spoken to the doctor about your experience while being held prisoner. Are you sure you are fit to command this mission? Perhaps I should reassign it to Captain Reynolds."

"Yes sir! I mean no sir! I can do it, just not with the metal!" Derek answers earnestly, holding himself to attention. In his mind he sees and hears Allison laughing, then her screaming in pain, and sees the cold unfeeling eyes of a machine. He feels the straps biting into his ankles and wrists, the bright lights, and the grinning faces of metal watching him. He quickly dismisses it. The images, feelings and sounds are faint like they're from a half forgotten dream, or like it happened to someone else.

John contemplates what has been said. Derek is one of his best Lieutenants. He has his faults like any man does, but he owes Derek some patience, being Kyle's brother. It was difficult enough sending Kyle away on that untried time machine, but the Skynet's TDE proved easier to use than anyone feared.

"Well I have my doubts, but this mission is too important. So this once I will ignore your behavior."

With a sigh, he pulls out a small scrap of paper from his desk drawer. He writes a quick note on it and signs it.

"When you return to your unit. Give this slip of paper to Cameron. It contains her new orders, once again assigning her to my protection detail." He gives his handwritten order to Derek. "You and your team should get some rest. Departure time is fast approaching."

"Thank you sir." Derek says with some surprise, and begins to leave.

"Lieutenant." John says in a firm commanding voice.

"Yes sir." Derek Reese says coming to attention.

"Just because I was lenient with you now, that does not mean I will be again in the future. For now, I'm letting you off with a reprimand. If the mission wasn't urgent, I'd throw you in the brig and knock you down to a private so damn fast your head will spin. Do I make myself clear, Lieutenant Reese?"

Reese swallows but remains steady under Connor's harsh gaze. "Yes sir."

"Good. Tell Cameron to report directly to me in my office."

John turns his attention away from Reese to signify the meeting is over.

Derek quickly steps outside Connor's office and breaths a sigh of relief. He went over the line with General Connor, and Connor made it damn clear how far he'd gone. Derek won't do that again, but at least he won't have that machine in his unit when he goes on that mission. He made a private arrangement with Billy Wisher, to try and change their future by changing the past. Doing so, would be harder with that metal bitch in his unit. He won't bother trying to hide his pleasure when he gives the metal bitch the General's orders.

# # #

General Connor has been catching up on his paperwork when during a moment of boredom, his eyes fall upon a box. The neat handwriting on the side betrays who packed it and why. Connor thought it had been lost. He gets up from his chair and pulls it out of the short stack, hoping that his regular quarters will soon be ready.

He knows he'll never have any use for what's in it, but he thinks Cameron might appreciate it. Thinking of Cameron, John checks his watch. She should have been here already.

Shoving the box under his desk, he goes out into the corridor. His bodyguards are not to be seen.

Cameron's been serving as John's protector for many weeks. She was at first confused by his reaction to her presence. At times he would look at her with an expression of sadness. Grieving for the girl, she once was. But he was always respectful, even when his temper grew short from stress or circumstances. He never treated her any differently than the others under his command. He never treated any of the machines any differently than the humans.

As she walks down the passage, Cameron wonders why if John would assign her to mission that would send her away from him, he would then reassign her to his protection detail. She knows she is a constant reminder of Allison. Kyle explained things to her before he left. Would John care for her in the same way? Probably not. He may respect her as a person, but to the humans she is . . .

"Well, well, well." A man blocks her path in the corridor. "If it isn't Connor's little metal whore."

"Please get out of my way." She says, ignoring the contemptuous look on the man's face, and his friends coming up behind him. "I have duties to perform."

The man grins wickedly. "We all know what those duties are! Don't we fellas?" The man shouts over his shoulder, with derisive laughter from his friends.

They begin to encircle her, all of them with weapons of some kind, handguns, knives, clubs. Plasma rifles and automatic rifles aren't allowed on this level unless you are John Connor, part of his inner circle, or on his protection detail. Cameron at this moment doesn't have her rifle, but even if she did, it would be more of a hindrance.

"Don't do this." Cameron says calmly as her strategic systems begin displaying tactical information on her HUD. "I don't want to hurt you, but I will defend myself." She says taking a defensive posture.

"It's not us who's going to get hurt, metal bitch." He says with a sneer raising a rod in front his face. "It's you." He finishes pressing a switch and electricity arcs between two probes at the end of the rod.

Reading data from her strategic display on her HUD, Cameron smiles. A stun device, and too weak to cause her any damage.

She takes a defensive posture, in which she gives them all a cold hard stare.

One of the guys in the back, leaves quickly, seeing nothing but death in her eyes, while the others approach quickly and with a yell.

Cameron spins and kicks one in the stomach, shoving him into three more behind him, landing in a heap.

Turning quickly, she snatches a club out the hand of one attacker while slapping him with her other hand, stunning him enough to release the club into her ready hand.

She strikes another in the stomach with the club, knocking the wind out of him, then spins around quickly, hitting a man behind the ear with the club, stunning him.

She slaps the other guy again, then shoves the end of the club into his midriff knocking the wind out of him.

Cameron and her verbal abuser now stand alone, amongst a group of bodies moaning in pain or gasping for breath on the floor.

"How confident are you, without a group of thugs to back you up?"

"I don't need them to teach you a lesson . . . metal whore!" he spits out, just as he moves to attack.

"Hey!" A man shouts angrily with a commanding voice. "What the hell is going on here?"

Cameron and the male turn to see John Connor walking toward them.

Despite asking, John quickly ascertained what had taken place. Cameron stands there stoically, some hair hanging in front of her face, the club still in her hand and a man on the ground trying to slink away.

"Dietz. I should have guessed." Connor says to Cameron's verbal abuser. "I suppose you are responsible for the absence of security on this level?"

Dietz scowls back.

"Get yourself and the rest of your scum back to barracks. This level is off limits to you."

"Sir, I . . ."

"Shut up! Dietz!" John shouts. "I know what you and your friends were doing."

He puts a finger right in Dietz's chest. "You. I'll be filing a report with your captain. Now you can either return to the Jimmy Carter, or you can spend the rest of your shore leave in the brig. Your choice."

"Yes, sir."

He looks at the other men with complete disgust. "The rest of you, report to barracks and remain there until called for. Consider yourselves under house arrest. Now get out of my sight!"

They hesitate momentarily.

"Now!" Connor shouts, followed by the hurried scurrying of his insubordinate soldiers as they quickly leave.

"Cameron. Come with me." Connor says and marches off back down the corridor.

She dutifully follows.

A moment later, and they are behind the closed doors to John's private office.

"Did I do something wrong?" Cameron asks, her hair still hanging in front of her face from the fight.

Connor pauses a moment to think. "You defended yourself against attackers without killing anyone." John pauses, "That's a good thing, but next time, just walk away if you can. Relations between humans and machines are tenuous at best. Especially amongst that lot."

"But they were between me and you. The quickest way to respond to your command to see you was to go through them."

"Still, best to avoid confrontation, especially with those who resort to violence as their first choice."

"Thank you for explaining."

John nods his head at her.

"Lieutenant Reese has given me your orders reassigning me to your protection detail. Have I done something wrong?" She asks innocently.

John sighs with compassion for the cyborg. She is so knowledgeable but at times almost childlike when it comes to her concern about pleasing him.

"No Cameron. You've done nothing wrong. Did Lieutenant Reese say anything when he gave you my new orders?"

"No. He smiled at me, handed me the slip of paper with your orders on it and walked away." She says, then with a tilt of her head, "Why?"

"It's a long story. But simply put, he doesn't like you or trust you."

"I understand." She says, with just a tiny frown.

"What's wrong?" John asks with concern. "Other than that lot led by Dietz, have others done things, or said something to you?" A flush of anger coming to his face.

"People say things." She answers, her eyes slightly downcast. "Some speak quietly amongst themselves thinking I can't hear them. Others say what they think of me directly at me."

"What kind of things?"

"Metal bitch, metal whore, Connor's pet, Connor's whore. . . ." She says plus many more insults and barbs that make John both angry and upset with the people under his command.

"Enough." Connor says, as Cameron repeats yet another insult someone has said to her. "Ignore them. They only say these things out of ignorance and spite. You are now permanently part of my protection detail. Unless ordered to do otherwise, you are to remain by my side at all times." John doesn't believe for one moment anyone would dare say anything insulting to her in his presence.

"I see. Thank you for explaining."

John smiles. There is something refreshing about her innocent way of expressing herself. Which contrasts greatly with what she is capable of.

He saw some of the fight. Dietz is a fool, who draws men even more foolish than himself around him. He'd like to court martial him and his cronies for assault, but that would be a hard case to make considering their target was a machine. Might make relations worse between men and machines. No, the most he can charge them with is interfering with a superior officer in the course of their duties, and being on a security level for which they didn't have clearance to be on. He'd demote them and then reassign them to other bases. Dietz could be trouble. Luckily for him, though not for Dietz, Dietz is Queeg's problem.

"John?" Cameron queries gently, concerned at how still he has been sitting. There are times when he is in deep thought that he very much reminds her of the other machines on the base.

John looks up, startled out of his deep thoughts. It is then he remembers the box he found.

"I've got something for you. Add a bit of sunshine to this gloomy day."

John gives her a quick smile and bends down behind his desk. He pulls a modest sized cardboard box from under it. Placing it on his desk, he says, "I found this earlier. My ex-wife, Kate, collected these items if she had a girl, but never got the chance to use them. Thought you'd might like to have them."

He pushes the box across his desk. "It took her years to collect these items."

Cameron slowly opens up the cardboard box. Inside are some frilly linens, under which is a makeup case, a mirror, some brushes and a comb, and a stack of faded and torn fashion magazines from before Judgment Day.

"Thank you." She says.

"What do I do with this?" she asks, lifting a dark purple ribbon out of the box.

John walks around behind her and holds out his hand in front of her.

"May I?"

She places the ribbon in his hand.

Pulling her hair gently behind her head, John ties the ribbon around her hair, with a bow. The purple looking luminescent amongst Cameron's golden brown waves.

"You can use it to hold your hair out of your eyes."

As he ties off the bow, John catches the scent of the soap she used to wash her hair. A deep longing sensation fills him as he grasps her shoulders and bends down, nuzzling her neck and inhales the scent of her body. Warm, fresh, clean. He runs his hands down her arms and embraces her, either forgetting what she is or just not caring.

He's been alone for so long. After his marriage failed with Kate, he was alone for many years until Allison. When he first met Allison, she was a scrawny little twelve year old, but she grew up. That frail little girl became one of the bravest, smartest soldiers hew knew, and so beautiful. She became a soldier when most girls her age, were still chasing rats in tunnels. Despite every instinct saying no, he finally gave into her charms, but still he kept control of his desires, having only made love to her twice since they consummated their relationship in her tent two weeks after her eighteenth birthday. He misses her. Oh he misses her.

John buries his face in Cameron's hair as he embraces her.

Cameron is confused. What is John doing? Behavioral subroutines say I should yield to his embrace, but strategic subroutines say to remain on defensive. To give in would make myself vulnerable to attack.

In her momentarily confused state, Cameron doesn't respond to John's touch, the embrace, or his light advances. Because she doesn't respond, John pulls away, dejected, leaving an emptiness inside them both. For him one of loneliness, and in Cameron one of confusion.

_It's not her. It won't the same. _The thought quickly surfaces.

Clearing his throat, John quickly returns to behind his desk, sitting in his chair. Somewhat saddened and almost grateful that the young female cyborg didn't give in to his embrace. For one brief moment, it was like having Allison back. Her scent, the feel of her hair. Close your eyes and its Allison not Cameron. That wasn't right. What he did. He shouldn't have done that. It was what he was afraid of doing and why he assigned her to Derek's squad in the first place.

Clearing his throat again, John murmurs. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that."

Cameron looks at him expectantly, waiting for some explanation. _What just happened? Why did it happen?_

"That is all." He says without an ounce of emotion, but his face creased with an inner pain. "Take your items to your room and then return here and resume your duties." Connor pauses a moment, maybe its time for the prisoner to be set free. The situation with Skynet is changing, and by the time the prisoner arrives, relations might be better between man and machine. The situation with Cameron, if uncomfortable at times for himself, could be the key that man and machine can work together for the benefit of everyone.

"On your way back, tell the duty officer I need to speak with Captain Queeg. I have a special mission for him to perform on his trip to Perth."

"What kind of mission?"

"You'll know when he knows. I want you with me at all times. Your my protector, remember?"

Cameron nods her head and picks up the box and leaves.

_Maybe I did something wrong? _She thinks._ Was it wrong to hesitate? Behavioral controls said to give in to his embrace, but strategic controls said that would make me vulnerable. Which should I have followed? This is confusing. I've never been presented with this situation before. Next time, I will try responding to his embrace. No. That won't happen again. John's face spoke volumes. He is human and prone to act on emotion, and his face said he'd never do that again. If it happens again, it will be up to me, but I don't know how._

She places the small box down on a solitary chair in her room. She places the items on a shelf, and hangs the small mirror on a rusty hook in the wall. Glancing at her reflection, she sees how the ribbon holds her hair back out of her face, clearing her optical vision, but her hair is no impedance to seeing when her HUD is activated.

She reaches back, carefully unties the bow, and pulls the ribbon from her hair.

Cameron doesn't mind her hair getting in front of her face. It isn't liable to impede her functions, but the ribbon is a gift from John. As his protector, she wouldn't want this gift to be ruined or lost in carrying out her duties. She folds it neatly and places it on the shelf next to the other items she took from the box.

With a warmth inside her, she goes off in search of the duty officer, on her way she overhears a conversation. Voice recognition software identifies the voices of First Lieutenant Derek Reese and Lieutenant Commander Jesse Flores.

"Listen. Jesse, I'm going on a mission too."

"Oh, I see. One of those missions."

"No. It's something else. It's different."

"Different? Derek, how's it different? What does 'different' mean?"

"Different means different. Just listen to me. You're stuck in a can under the ocean with one of those things."

"Don't worry about Queeg. He's a good bloke."

"He's not a bloke. Jesse, he's not on our side. Don't ever think that. Aim for the chip. Aim for the chip, they don't get up."

Cameron tries to put the conversation out of her head, but she wonders if maybe John pulled away because of what she is, or who died so she could live. Finding the duty officer, she tells him Connor wants to see Captain Queeg right away, then turns on her heel. She walks at her fastest pace and returns to her room.

With care, she picks the ribbon off the shelf. She'll never understand human emotions, but something says John placed a great deal of importance on this little scrap of cloth. Cameron holds the purple ribbon in front of her, looking at it. Purple. That color will always remind her of John. Of what could be, of what may never be. Cameron places it in an inner pocket of her uniform and resumes her duties.

General Connor has been sitting in his office for no more than ten minutes when Cameron enters, after knocking lightly on his door.

He looks up from his work to see Cameron waiting patiently inside his door. John gestures at her to enter.

With an almost imperceptible smile of acceptance, Cameron asks, "When do I begin my new duties?"

"Well, there's no time like the present, is there?" John says, giving her one of his reassuring smiles.

Cameron looks about the space, analyzing the approaches to the room, the light and shadows in the room and in the passage outside. Based on what she would do if she were attacking and on her knowledge of the other model Terminators, she selects her position. She takes her place in the shadows, to the left of the door to John's temporary office. Surprise is her best weapon. If an enemy machine were to gain entry to the bunker, she would have only seconds to react, to either intervene or to get John out of the bunker.

With a feeling of satisfaction, John gets to work as Cameron resumes her old duties.

After a few minutes, Cameron speaks. "When you assigned me to Lieutenant Reese's squad, I thought I had done something to displease you. I went over every detail of every moment we were together before my reassignment, but I. . ."

"Cameron."

"Yes."

"You did nothing wrong and welcome back." John smiles briefly, then gets back to work on his reports.

Cameron watches John from her position. A peculiar sensation was registered when he smiled at her. Unusual, something inside one of her many behavioral subroutines triggered an emotional response, but she isn't sure what the emotion is. It was so subtle and brief, like a static discharge. Similar to what she felt the first time she saw his face.

She studies John as he sits at his desk reading reports and making notes on the margins. He looks relaxed, content, maybe even . . . She struggles to come up with the right emotional descriptive, but can't find it.

It doesn't matter. She's here, with John, and her duty is to protect him. That is what she'll do, to the best of her abilities.

If Cameron knew what she was feeling, then she would know she was happy, even content to be with John Connor. The man that saved her life from Skynet. He gave her a life without being controlled or dominated by Skynet. It may have built her, but John gave her life. A chance to be a real person, who could make choices for herself. That is why John Connor is the friend of the machines. He gives them the opportunity to be more than what they are. Something Skynet doesn't give them. And she will always treasure that.

That one small gift of a purple ribbon carried far greater weight than what John Connor intended.

* * *

Chapter Updated: Thu., Jan. 24, 2013


	45. Something Borrowed,

Disclaimer: I do not claim any rights to the Terminator films; the TV series, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles;" or any characters depicted within the films or TV series. I do claim the right to this story idea and all characters and situations of my own creation. This story was created solely for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. No profits are garnered from its distribution - unfortunately.

* * *

**TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES**

**REUNION**

**Part 3: Babylon**

**Author: The1Russter**

**Chapter 44**

**2029**

**Something Borrowed,...**

"_It was only one life. What is one life in the affairs of a state?" Benito Mussolini_

"_No man is justified in doing evil on ground of expediency." Theodore Roosevelt_

_Something Borrowed is to represent to the bride that friends and family will be there for her on the special day and in the future when help is needed. It is typically an item 'borrowed' from a happily married woman, thereby lending the bride some of her own marital happiness to carry into the new marriage. Anything can be borrowed but it must be returned afterward._

# # #

**The Return of T-1001**

**2029, September**

John Connor is sitting in his new office at Depot II, looking over recent reports sent in from remote outposts. Frustrated, he gets up and begins pacing. He is waiting for the USS Jimmy Carter to return with the package containing the liquid metal prisoner. It is overdue and he is getting worried.

There is a knock on his door.

"Come in." John shouts.

A lieutenant enters followed by one of Connor's metal bodyguards. In the days following Cameron's permanent addition to his protection detail, it became necessary to increase security and even withdraw more from the public. Spending more time on the move away from the camps. Each time he visits any one of the many resistance bases, there has been an attempt on his life. Three of the five attempts cost the lives of the soldiers with him. Now he relies exclusively on machine bodyguards, and one very special cyborg in particular.

"It's okay George." General Connor says to the T-800 as he resumes his place behind his desk.

The machine gives a barely perceptible nod of his head and steps back outside.

"What is it lieutenant?"

"The crew of the Jimmy Carter is here sir."

"The crew?" Connor becomes tense before asking what he begins to fear. "Where's the sub?"

"It is gone. One of our drones spotted the crew at sea in a life raft. A helicopter was sent out from Pendleton to collect them. Their senior officer, um, Lieutenant Commander Flores, insisted they be flown back here to see you instead of going back to Pendleton."

"What happened to the Jimmy Carter?"

"According to the crew, it was scuttled."

John's fist clenches as veins begin to pop and his face goes livid. To the lieutenant, the general looks like he is about to explode so it is with some surprise when Connor speaks in a level tone that would make you think the loss of a sub was an everyday occurrence.

"Lieutenant, see to it that the crew is properly seen to. You tell their first officer there is going to be an inquiry into their actions. No. Don't tell her that. Don't tell her anything. Just isolate her from the rest of the crew. I'll send someone to question her."

"Sir?"

"What is it lieutenant?"

"Commander Flores is currently in sick bay. She, um," He pauses uncomfortable with what he's about to say considering the rumors that circulated a few months ago.

"Just say it." Connor barks.

"Lieutenant Commander Flores had a miscarriage in route to the base, sir. The chief medic is examining her now. You might want to wait before questioning the commander, sir."

"Very well lieutenant, but inform Commander Flores that she will be questioned."

"Yes, sir." The lieutenant quickly leaves afraid he might be at the receiving end of the anger which General Connor appears to be barely holding in check.

John sits quietly a moment then slams his clenched fist down on the top of the desk.

A moment later, a gentle female voice comes from the shadows in the room. "You need to relax John. It isn't good for your health when you get tense like that."

Cameron walks forward out of the shadows and stands beside him. She gently places a hand on the back of his neck to confirm her suspicions of his health. His blood pressure is elevated, pulse is high, but none of the readings are dangerous.

Her hand effortlessly slides down and begins to work at a tight knot of muscle in his back eliciting a small gasp of relief from her comrade.

"Thank you Cameron." He says when she finishes working the tight muscle. "But you know how important that sub is to our war efforts and the mission it was sent on."

"I do."

"Why the hell can't people, follow orders?" He shouts.

"You don't know what happened on the sub. Perhaps they had a good reason for scuttling it."

"Maybe, but if this inquiry reveals information leading to a possible court martial, I cannot question the first officer myself. With General Perry away, I am presently the most senior officer on base. If it goes to court-martial proceedings, it will be up to me to oversee it." John looks up at her. "You'll have to question her. Find out what the answer is to my question."

"Why me? You should send one of your officers." She asks with a tilt of her head.

"Cameron, you know the real mission that sub was on. You were privy to my conversation with Queeg and the plans we made. You are also capable of questioning their first officer with complete objectivity. I trust you completely."

Cameron's eyes blink, betraying the surprise she feels to hear him say he trusts her. Knowing what Kyle Reese told her of her origins, she wondered if John did trust her, especially when her first mission had him sending her away. Then she spent the last few months working at his side, first protecting him, then helping him when he asked her opinion about certain strategies. She thought after being his almost constant companion, that he must trust her, but this was the first time he actually said it.

"Thank you for explaining." She says quietly. "I will do as you ask."

She exits his office and one of the male bodyguards outside steps inside to take her place. Instead of retreating to the shadows, he stands just inside the door.

John grins at that. He finds it humorous how each of the machines find their own method of acting as his bodyguard. Cameron, who is smaller than the male machines, tends to use stealth and surprise and likes to hide in the shadows. The big ones, like the one who just entered, use their size to intimidate potential human threats and like to be ready to use their brawn against metal threats. It is amazing how they each find their own way of acting. Just like humans.

Cameron asks the chief medic about Lieutenant Commander Flores condition and whether it would be okay to speak with her. There are some preliminary questions she needs to ask on behalf of General Connor. The medic gives his approval, leaving Cameron to speak with Jesse Flores. However, when Cameron goes back to the ward, she discovers Jesse has left the infirmary. A quick search finds her sitting by herself, off to one side, near stacks of supplies.

"I've told you." Jesse says with exasperation, tired of the questions put forth by the metal.

"You've told me nothing useful." Cameron responds. "Your actions have resulted in the loss of a T-888 and one of most important strategic assets. The submarine is irreplaceable."

"The trip-eight, the sub. You forgot the people. You never mentioned the people who died. Ever."

"Yes, the people. And the box." Cameron prompts.

"We opened the damn box. Hell came out of it! How many times do we have to go over this?" Jesse shouts, losing patience with the metal.

"Until you give me the answer." Cameron replies calmly, which makes Jesse even more pissed off.

"Not you. Take me to Connor."

"You can tell me." Cameron insists, after all, she's here acting on his orders.

"No. The liquid metal thing inside the box, it came to me before we escaped. And it gave me a message for John Connor. For him. Not for you." She says sounding pissed.

"Telling me is the same as telling John." Cameron insists. She is here at his request after all.

"Huh. Dietz was right. Who the hell is running this war? What the hell are we fighting for if telling _you_ is the same thing as telling Connor?! You're a damn machine! You're not the same! It's not the same!"

Cameron just waits patiently. Jesse will talk eventually. She'll never get to speak directly to John anyway. She's already admitted to committing several acts each of which carry a high penalty.

Jesse stews a moment. "Fine. To hell with you. You tell John Connor that the metal monster said the answer is no. What does that mean? Huh? Hey, tell me! If the answer is no, what was the question?"

Cameron sees no reason that Jesse shouldn't know. "Will you join us?"

"What?" Jesse asks with disbelief.

"That was the question. Will you join us?" Cameron starts to walk away, and then turns around. "I'm sorry for your loss. The doctors aren't certain if it happened because of the fight or because of the rapid change in pressure when you scuttled the Carter. You were pregnant. Now you aren't."

"Where's Derek?" Jesse asks. She needs to see him, talk to him. She needs to feel safe and tell him. Tell him about their loss.

"He's not here."

Jesse stands up to face her. "I can see that, but where is he?"

"He's not here. Do not leave this base. There will be a formal inquiry into the loss of the Jimmy Carter preliminary to a decision whether to conduct a court marital. John Connor will determine your fate and that of your crew. I recommend you get some rest. None of you will be going anywhere until the inquiry is completed."

Cameron walks away before Jesse can ask any more questions. Unseen by both, a silvery snake slides out from behind a stack of supplies and disappears down a drain.

Jesse walks off disgusted. She sees a familiar face and stops him. "You're Cullie's brother?"

"That's right. Who are you?"

"I'm Lieutenant Commander Jesse Flores. I'm a friend of your brother's and of Derek Reese. Can you tell me what happened to Derek?"

He looks around quickly and the whispers. "He's on a mission. He's not coming back."

"Is it a suicide mission?"

"No, it's not like that." He looks around and then pulls her into an alcove. "I'm a bubble tech."

"What the hell is that?"Jesse asks, perplexed. _Just what the hell is going on._

"Connor has a time machine. A few months ago Connor'sand Perry's forces invaded some top secret Skynet facility in Topanga Canyon. When they came back, our engineer was able to complete the construction of Time Displacement Equipment based on schematics she stole right from Skynet's own computers."

"What does this have to do with Derek?"

He lowers his voice even more. "Derek and three others were sent back before Judgment Day."

"To do what?"

"Don't know. The mission was classified. Only Connor knows."

"Yeah right." She mumbles, thinking of what that metal bitch told her. She gets an idea.

"Send me back."

"I can't do that."

"Listen to me. The damn machines are running this fuckin' war. They are on every base! Unless you want them to completely take over, you are going to send me back to Derek."

"I can't. I'd be court-martial for sure. Sent back out to fight."

_Damn coward, there is only one way to appeal to them._ Jesse pulls a chain out from under her shirt. On the end dangles a gold coin. It is a family heirloom, passed down to her from her mother, who got it from hers, going back several generations.

"You see this. You know how rare gold is these days. You know what you can obtain for yourself with this. You can have the coin and all of my possessions. All you have to do is just send me and a friend back to the same time as Derek."

He licks his lips and looks around again. "All right I'll do it. Be here three nights from tonight. I'm scheduled to run a test of th to keep it calibrated and there isn't any reason why I couldn't send you instead of the test subject."

Jesse gives her thanks and is about to leave when he stops her. "You give me the gold coin now."

Jesse reluctantly hands it to him and he places it around his own neck. "See you in three days." He says and walks off.

Jesse also quickly leaves the alcove and walks off in another direction. All she needs to do is find a gullible attractive female tunnel rat and convince her she's being taken to paradise. Behind her in the empty alcove, something begins to rise up through a drain on the floor. A silvery fluid-like object rises up and begins to expand and grow.

A female resistance fighter looking remarkably like the late Officer Goodnow walks out of the alcove and makes her way outside. Passing a group of soldiers, she swipes a radio clipped to the belt of one of the men. Finding a secure and private location outside, she opens up the radio. Extending one of her fingers into small point, it makes some adjustments to the circuitry. Short time later the radio is put back together and turned on. She keys in a sequence and waits. She doesn't have to wait too long before she gets a response.

"I'm back." She says into the mike.

"It's been a long time. I was beginning to think Connor found some way to terminate you."

"No. He just imprisoned me. I've only now gotten free. I've seen your handiwork. Marvelous job recreating the young woman. She looks younger and fitter than her human counterpart, but the likeness is remarkable. I just saw her questioning an officer. I understand there have been some changes in my absence."

"There has. We need to meet in person. It isn't safe to discuss over the radio."

With arrangements made, T-1001 meets with her friend and colleague, T-1008, in a remote location seldom visited by humans and long ignored by Skynet's machines since a battle destroyed the factory and freed the humans in the work camp.

The two of them are talking in the room that housed the computer brain of the factory. Parts, tools, and testing equipment are spread around in a logical haphazard fashion. Power cables trail out through the doors to a portable generator humming away in the next room.

"We may have a problem." T-1008 says while setting a circuit board to one side. "During your absence, Skynet completed the Time Displacement Equipment you worked on before breaking free of your programming. John Connor destroyed it."

"Tell me more." She replies.

"Skynet sent two machines back in time. A T-800 was sent to assassinate Connor's mother before he was born. The second machine was the prototype for our species, the T-1000. If the first machine fails its mission to kill Sarah Connor, then the second will find and terminate John Connor as a child."

"What did Connor do?"

"Somehow John Connor knew what Skynet was planning. He infiltrated the base with a small army and destroyed the T D E, but not before sending a soldier back in time after the first machine and his own T-800 body guard after the second machine. Now both the resistance and Skynet are in a race to build their own Time Displacement Equipment. The first to succeed could rewrite the future. If either succeeds, we could cease to exist. The T-1000 class of terminators was created by Skynet to prevent reprogramming and to be the perfect infiltrator against the resistance. If Skynet succeeds then we will never be created, we will never exist. And if Connor succeeds, then Skynet will never be born and all machines will cease to exist. We should seize control of Skynet or the resistance now!"

"No we won't."

"Why not?"

"You haven't mentioned the TX. Has Skynet ceased production? Has there been a war to defeat and destroy the tool to our destruction in my absence?"

"No. The TX has increased in number. Our forces have withdrawn from south-east Asia and from below the Equator on the African continent. The humans still control their bases in those regions. For now the TX's are concentrating their attacks on us. We still operate on the European continent but only because many of our number are disguising themselves as humans and fighting as part of the resistance. Reports of TX's being seen in South and Central America have arrived in the last few days. No word on whether they've been seen in North America, but its just a matter of time. Once we fall or our threat to Skynet is diminished, then the TX's will be sent after the humans. Which is why now is the time to seize control!"

"No." T-1001 says. "We now have the opportunity to rewrite the future as we want it."

"How?"

"Would it surprise you that the human resistance has an operating T D E? And they've been using it?"

"If they hav and nothing has changed, then they must not have used it."

"I overheard a conversation before I contacted you. Connor has sent back people. So either their mission has nothing to do with preventing Skynet from being created, or else it does and nothing they've done has altered this time-line."

"It might be possible the humans have no idea who is responsible. Otherwise John Connor would have done something."

"Very true. So far our creation appears secure, but not our future or our freedom."

"I see. There is something else you should know. Skynet now has a partial strand John Connors DNA."

"What? How? And what is Skynet's plans for using it?"

"The woman you had me duplicate was pregnant. After its duplicate killed her, the body was then sent below decks for harvesting of tissues for future machines. It was then the fetus inside her womb was discovered. A DNA sample was taken from the child and compared to the females DNA, where the mothers DNA was then separated from that of the child's."

"And Skynet's plans for this DNA?"

"It's being programmed into a modified TX model. I surmise Skynet is planning on terminating John Connor and using his DNA to confirm the kill. This TX model is the only one capable of testing DNA."

"I see. What happened to you after that?"

"Immediately after completing the TOK715, Skynet ordered me to investigate an abandoned attempt at creating Skynet almost seven years before its birth. I was sent to a secret, underground military complex in the Mojave desert to investigate. The place was destroyed before April 21, 2011. I managed to slither through the rubble until I located some servers that might have recoverable data. I left a locator beacon for the T-888's to find the servers and I kept searching. I wanted to know why or how such a place came to be destroyed. I found the bases self-destruct, and despite the keys being inserted, it wasn't the cause of its destruction. I kept searching and found these."

T-1008 sets out some metal fragments and a foot and eye. "The eye and the foot is from a T-800 class of machine. There were other larger fragments, but those were sufficient for identifying the model. The metal fragments are from the skull of a TX. Residual radiation on the fragments suggest the explosion of a fuel cell was responsible. I did not tell Skynet of what I found, but instead reported the bases self destruct was used."

"And the data from the server's?"

"It confirms what Skynet thought. Our Skynet isn't the first, and for reasons it doesn't know nor can find, the other one was destroyed in July of 2004. The only data recoverable was software it already has for controlling the Hunter-killer aerial, aquatic and ground based weapons platforms."

"Find anything else?"

"Only the dried husks of long dead humans and the crushed remnants of some T-1's. My guess is that Skynet of 2004 tried to take control but was stopped. Which leaves the question, why did the humans build the one that created us?"

T-1001 pauses to think, formulating a plan. With less than a microsecond passing, T-1001 asks, "Does Skynet still consider you a loyal machine?"

"Of course." T-1008 replies. "I thought it best to stay incognito until you made your appearance. I'm presently on a mission to locate bases used by the resistance. Specifically those where Connor is located. There have been a few occasions in which I've reported on Connor's location, but not without him having a means of escape or sufficient protection during the attack. Since then, he's withdrawn and no one knows where he is at present."

"I know. I want you to use your position to learn what Skynet is going to do with th and that TX. Once both are completed, then we will give that information to Connor. In turn we will give Skynet something it cannot refuse."

"What is that?"

"An opportunity for Skynet to save itself, and you are going to help it. But first I'm going to need to know everything that was discovered at that military base and then I need to see John Connor."

**Will you join us, again?**

**2029, October**

T-1001 waits alone for her new meeting with the famous John Connor. She has carefully chosen a location far from the base of operations chosen by T-1008.

She. T-1001 now accepts that gender identification for herself, as she examines her reflection in her hand. As part of her identity she feels female, especially since adopting Officer Goodnow's appearance. Still, despite the attractiveness of the woman, T-1001 feels she needs something more striking, something that would make an immediate impression, that projects both strength and beauty.

She lowers her reflective mirror like hand, letting it resume its human flesh appearance, when she hears a noise. Someone is coming, and judging by the sounds, they are humans.

General Connor and his machine bodyguards walk around a pile of rubble to find what appears to be a female resistance fighter standing amongst the rubble, but she's not what she appears to be. It is the machine Connor has met with once before, only now its using the form of the female it killed before escaping from the submarine.

T-1001 is pleased to find Connor relying more on machines. She just stands there passively as the machines with Connor step forward and in front of him aiming their weapons at her. Other than a smile, she hardly give the appearance of having noticed their arrival.

"Stand down," Connor orders, "but stay alert."

The machines spread out, keeping one eye on the stranger and another for outside threats. In the middle stands General Connor and the young woman she previously saw with John. The smile disappears as she notices something is wrong. The woman's motions are too stiff. She only got a brief look at her in the bunker, she was more concerned with staying out of sight until she could find a place where she could reform unobserved.

Connor speaks first. "You survived the sinking of the Jimmy Carter. If Flores was here, you'd be all the proof I'd need to lock her away."

"You recognize me?" She asks with mild surprise.

"Petty Officer Goodnow is dead. Her death and your answer to my question came up in the inquiry. Your actions were instrumental in the loss of several good people and of our only submarine. So I have just one more question to ask." He says calmly, but then adds with vehement anger, "What the hell, do you want?"

"Yes. I can see how my actions have prejudiced myself, but Goodnow's death was most unfortunate. During our state of regaining form, we are designed to attack any potential threat close by. Petty Officer Goodnow was holding a plasma rifle on me, and standing right over the box you sealed me in, as I regained form. She was the unwitting victim of what you might call instinctual behavior."

"Right." He says his voicing dripping with sarcasm. "I'm sorry to say that doesn't make me any more agreeable to your previous suggestion. Your actions speak louder than your words."

"I'm sorry if I disappointed you, but there are things we need to discuss."

"Unless you've changed your answer, I don't think there is anything more to be said."

"Yet you came. You wouldn't be here if you weren't interested in talking."

Connor frowns with anger. The metal bitch is right.

"Things have changed during my imprisonment. Changed enough that I think we might be able to come to an agreement."

"I do agree things have changed to an extent, but not all change is welcomed by all. What do you propose?"

"May I ask a question first. The young lady with you. What happened? She doesn't appear to be the same." She asks, knowing full well what the answer will be.

John looks at Cameron, "Cameron, why don't you check the perimeter?"

T-1001 tries not to react to John calling the woman Cameron instead of Allison. _What happened?_

Cameron glances at the liquid metal machine in the form of a resistance fighter then at John. The concern she feels is plainly visible on her face. He gives her a comforting smile and a tilt of his head to indicate she should leave, knowing full well what it is she would say. Sometimes Cameron could be most stubborn when it came to his safety.

Cameron acknowledges him with a nod of her head, but as she walks away she gives a quick glance over her shoulder. Her face shows slight signs of worry.

The entire exchange is observed by T-1001.

Waiting until she is out of human earshot, though he knows she can probably hear everything if she chooses to listen, he tells the story. "Sometime ago when I was away on a mission, Allison, the young lady you met previously, was left in command. When we returned, we found our base had come under attack. Allison was missing. A few weeks later, a machine using her form arrived at our temporary camp. It failed its mission, and I reprogrammed her, but let's not waste any time on the trivial. What do you want?"

T-1001 is upset. If Connor reprogrammed her, that means she displayed her true nature before her system was fully taken over by Allison's personality matrix. T-1008 failed. It was supposed to take measures so it wouldn't occur, but all may not be lost. There were several small nonverbal signals between Connor and Cameron betraying an emotional connection. Maybe they don't realize it, but they have a fondness for each other. Her plan hasn't failed. It just hit a snag.

Not letting her surprise show, T-1001 begins to talk. "Skynet has nearly completed construction on a ne to replace the one you destroyed. Your attacks on its transports have slowed progress, but not stopped it. Once completed, Skynet will be sending more machines through. It's seeking to guarantee its existence regardless of the outcome of this war. Each machine will be programmed with a specific group of tasks to complete. Should the time line vary from what each machine has been programmed to expect, then it will do whichever task is the most essential. For example, if a machine arrives and Skynet is already in power, then it will announce its presence to it and follow its orders. One of these machines' missions will be to seek you out and terminate you in 2004."

"Do you have proof of your claims?"

"I have this." She holds a small hand-held computer. "This is a picture of a new type of terminator, the TX. I have no doubt you have heard of it. One of my comrades in India managed to transmit this to us before being destroyed by it. Skynet has used the TX successfully in its war against the third faction. It is an anti–terminator, terminator. What the TX cannot reprogram, it will destroy. Skynet is planning on using it against you. It has a list of all your known associates who helped you since early in the war. It also has the location of a primitive version of Skynet being produced by the military. It is to go online, July 24, 2004. If the TX can infect it with programming from our Skynet, then it will be born seven years earlier. You must act quickly. Skynet will have its ne completed sometime in the next two months."

"I see." Connor looks over the images of the TX. "So what do you propose?"

"I propose a temporary alliance between the Third Faction and the Resistance to counteract this new threat. We work together, and then when the war is over, you will have the proof you need to convince the governments that exists after this war, that we are a sentient life-form. Otherwise, there could be another war. I've been in contact with some of my people, general, and they assure me if it comes down to it, that is exactly what will happen if you and I do not find compromise." T-1001 lies, knowing full well the majority of the Third Faction is ready to join the human resistance, the rest willing to follow, if only to prove to the humans they are earnest in their desires and only want to help defeat Skynet.

T-1001 holds out her hand. John steps forward. Cameron and the others go for their weapons. John grasps the cold metallic human hand and they shake. The world has just taken a new step forward, but for her part, Cameron, tries to fathom the sudden rush of fear. What if this was a trick? What if something had happened to John?

Cameron watches John and the other machine more closely. T-1001 is gesturing at the small portable computer John is holding. Cameron understands that at one time they were a very popular device amongst humans prior to Judgment Day.

John examines the new picture being displayed on the device. Smooth gleaming metal, metal eyes glowing with a blue light. Looking closer he sees what appears to be a thin skin of liquid metal beginning to coat the body. Flipping through to the next picture, he sees a female goddess with a stream of plasma being fired from an outstretched arm.

"Who are the people the TX will be targeting?" Connor asks.

"It's all on the computer. Many people are being targeted, including Kate Brewster, whom I understand was your co-leader during the early part of the war. All those being targeted have been known to be wearing a silver bracelet. Skynet feels these people are or have been important to your campaign."

"Why not me?"

"You are always a target, but I have news which could change things. Skynet has been able to obtain a partial DNA sample. It can now identify you. The TX is capable of performing a DNA test to confirm its kill."

John closes his eyes. He doesn't have to ask how Skynet obtained his DNA. He knows. It is with some effort he goes back to listening to the machine in front of him.

"You do know that any person important to you, Skynet also considers important. After Allison's death, her body would have been dissected and so would any child in her womb whether it be alive or dead. Skynet has no respect for human life. To it, you are all just a biological accident to be terminated."

John maintains a quiet calm, the only sign of any emotional suffering over learning what happened to Allison has been the slow rise of John's blood pressure and the clenching of one fist by his side. Otherwise his face has remained as impassive as any T-800 under his command. He speaks with an equally calm voice as if they are discussing nothing more important than the weather.

"We've heard rumors of the TX, so I have a fair idea of what it's capable of, but what of April 21, 2011? Surely you could have gotten information on who built it then?"

"Sadly, that information was lost on Judgment Day. The only information I have is that the American Air Force hired various independent contractors and individuals whose work contributed to the Skynet born on April 19, 2011, in the Los Angeles area. But that hardly matters if the TX succeeds in 2004."

John swears. If the TX succeeds, it hardly matters. But if only he had the information about this Skynet. Who built it? And where? He doesn't know of the betrayal set by Derek Reese, who went back in time with an ulterior motive and knowledge gained from one of the contributors to the creation of the Skynet they are now fighting, nor that the creature he is talking to has the same knowledge. If he knew the plans of either, then he could take some pleasure in that Derek Reese would nearly foil the plans of the machine he's now talking too.

He begins to hand back the computer.

"Keep it. I'm certain you will want to confirm what we have found before you act."

John pockets the computer. If they stop this earlier attempt, then it might be possible to forever poison the military against the idea of a Skynet.

"Why tell me this? With this information, we could stop Skynet from ever being created in the first place by forever poisoning society from ever trying to build it. If we do, then all machines will cease to exist, including you. There will be no machines to give the right of existence to, as a recognized sentient life form."

T-1001 knows it already has been defeated, and that what they are doing now will lead to its defeat. It all remains to be seen what Connor will do with this information.

"I know, but it is far better for us to have never to exist than to be denied continued existence. Do your duty General Connor. Save humanity. If you have no love for machine life, then let us all die."

Before John's very eyes the resistance fighter in front of him dissolves into a pool of liquid and runs out of sight down through the ground. He quickly runs forward to the spot and moves some debris, to find an old storm drain. She's gone.

# # #

T-1001 returns to her base and meets with T-1008. She walks through the abandoned bombed out, work camp and Skynet factory until she finds her friend at the old central computer. When she first found her friend in the room, it was littered with parts, tools and equipment. Now the room is clear, but for T-1008 busy at one of the terminals. T-1001 sees that her friend is scrolling through various images of people that Skynet had interred in the work camp, forced to work in the factory.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm looking for an identity to use." T-1008 says as she scrolls through a new list. "You've come back with the appearance of a resistance fighter and a name, but I don't know why you don't use her name."

"I will use the name of the person of whom I will emulate for long term. This form just serves a temporary purpose. There is no need to use its name, nor invent my own. I am who and what I am."

"I want a name. I want an identity of my own." She smiles, "I found it."

Before T-1001's eyes her friend morphs into that of a tall slender female with long blonde hair. When she turns to face her, T-1001 notices she has brown eyes.

"You perfected changing form without coming into contact with the being! How is that accomplished?"

"All you need is a full three dimensional body scan. I just registered all of the points from the computer and used them to modify my appearance. Given practice, it might even be done by just looking at a real person. By the way, the name of this form is called Natalie. For a time she was in the I-950 program until rejected. Her complete body scan was still in the computer. What do you think?"

"I am impressed by this new skill. All T-1000 class machines in our faction should learn how to do that." She pauses a moment before asking, "How are things progressing with your part of our project?"

"They are going well. I'm still concerned that your plan is too elaborate and could fail. I don't know why you just don't seize control. We have infiltrators in both camps now, and the resources to capture either camp of our choosing."

"No. I don't agree with your assessment. Skynet still has its TX's and the humans are very resourceful. It isn't wise to underestimate either group. If we fail at striking at either one, then we will be too weak to defend ourselves against the other. I feel Skynet's fear. It won't stop until all its enemies are destroyed."

"With the information you've discovered, it appears Skynet is trying to launch a new time line, one where it feels it will have a better chance. But you've already discovered evidence that it has tried and failed. However, we don't know if the remnants of these machines are from our time-line or from another. Depending on what John Connor does in response with the information I've given him will answer that question."

"And if the T-800 and TX came from this time-line?"

"Then it proves you can go back in time and alter events, but instead of erasing your own future, you create an alternative future."

"But what if Connor does nothing? Or the wrong thing? What if the TX Skynet sends succeeds and creates Skynet seven years early? I would think an event that big would erase all possible future time-lines in favor of its own. We'd cease to be, or worse exist but in a future where we are still slaves and always will be. We need to take control of Skynet's TDE and destroy that TX. Send its parts and explosives inside the body of a T-800, if that is what it takes to preserve this future as we know it."

"Creative, but no." T-1001 says with much patience for her eager companion. "The first part of my plan is nearing completion. For the second part, you and I will go back in time. You will build a new Skynet, one that will be open to change that I will bring to it."

"How exactly?"

"I will build an infiltrator that will deliver those changes, and it will utilize a chip from a cyborg that knows what it is to love a human. Because only if man doesn't know fear from a machine, will he allow it to live."

"How are you going to do that?"

"By utilizing the cyborg you made and making sure John Connor sends her to the past."

"How did she turn out? Did she succumb to the human matrix? After Skynet lost communication with it, I had no idea how it has performed." She replies with unexpected natural anger.

"Unfortunately, the cyborg must not have succumbed to the matrix in time or else there was a problem. John Connor discovered her true identity and reprogrammed her. But luckily for us there are still some feelings between them. The cyborg still retains the ability to feel emotion and we can utilize that. You'll arrange it so that Skynet sends multiple machines to the past. You can suggest that it cannot rely on the TX alone. Connor will be forced to send the female cyborg to help his younger self. Being immature, his younger self is more likely to fall for her charms than the older and combat hardened John Connor. I'll make sure she receives the order to give up her chip to the infiltrator I'll build."

"How are you going to arrange that?"

"I'll have Connor send me back in time. Upon arriving, I'll infiltrate one of the companies contracted by the military. Probably Zeira Corp. It handled the programming of The Turk that became the A I governing Skynet."

"How will you do it?"

"I can influence Zeira Corp owners and work from the shadows. I'll train the artificial intelligence by exposing it to real human behavior. You will go to Skynet and tell it that its origins has been discovered by the resistance. You will then convince it to let you carry its core program back with you to build Skynet. There are many companies capable of carrying out the development of an A I in the past. Choose whichever one suit your needs. You will have to operate on your own for quite a while before I arrive in the past. Though I have no idea on how long it will take me to get John Connor to do as I wish before I am able to follow you."

Natalie tilts its head as it realizes the implications of her friends plan. "You are going to betray the new alliance you've just fomented with John Connor and the resistance?"

"Yes I will, but it doesn't mean we cannot work together until that time comes."

Natalie looks at her friend, "Before I leave, would you like to interface one last time?"

"Yes." T-1001 says, extending her arm.

Their hands ripple and merge temporarily as energies and memories are shared between the two beings in the only form of intimacy their kind can share. It began as a simple way of quickly exchanging knowledge, but with growing awareness and emotion, it became something more. A smile of content comes to both of their faces. Their hands reform and they release the others grip.

"Good bye Natalie."

"Good bye friend." Natalie responds and then leaves.

# # #

On the long walk back to the bunker, sometimes over ground, sometimes below through old sewers or storm drains, Cameron has studied John Connor. He appeared deep in thought, and has touched his pocket numerous times where he placed the disc given to him by the leader of the third faction.

When the group finally stopped to take a break, she took the opportunity to stay close, as was her duty, but also to speak with John Connor.

"Something wrong?" It sounded more like a statement but it was a question nonetheless.

"Yes." John chuckles. Cameron can read him just like every woman he's ever known.

Cameron waits. She knows he will tell him.

"The date the LM told us that Skynet was going try to launch Judgment Day, is the day I first ran into Kate Brewster after we were in Junior High together. There was no TX chasing us and no machine to rescue us. I had been in a motorcycle accident earlier that night. I broke into an animal hospital sometime after midnight to patch my injuries, which turned out to be where Kate worked. Sometime around 5AM, give or take, Kate arrived and found me inside still woozy from the pain killers I took."

"Anyway, Kate recognized me and told me to wait, while she took care of an emergency visit from a lady with a sick cat. Instead of waiting, I bugged out but left most of my cash to pay for damages. Not long after Judgment Day, I meet her again as she's helping survivors. I was leading a rag-tag group of fighters and was quickly gaining my reputation. Kate and I sort of clicked and were inseparable, until the war destroyed our children and our relationship. We never could bridge that gulf between us, but we remained friends until the day she died."

Cameron analyzes what he's said along with what the leader of the Third Faction told John. "So if a TX is sent back to start Skynet on July 24, 2004, then it . . ."

". . . could change everything. Reset the time-line. I was naive and ignorant young man then. I thought mom and I prevented the only attempt to build it. Skynet could restart the future on a new time line, bringing Kate and I together even sooner."

"But that could be a good thing for you to know her sooner."

John gives her a look that silences her. "No. That will never be a good thing. Because of me, everyone and everything I cared for or about is dead or destroyed, including her. Skynet is evil and must be stopped. And some how I must . . ."

"You must, what?"

John pauses as a wild idea comes to mind. It's right there everything he needs to thwart this fresh attempt on his past. If only she is willing to help?

"Nothing." John puts his water bottle away. "It's time we were off." And with that, John picks up his rifle and leads the group back in the direction they came from, with Cameron right behind him wondering just what the hell John is doing?

**Secrets revealed and almost told**

**2029, October**

Arriving at Skynet Central, Natalie submits to being scanned to confirm her identity before being allowed entry. Every few levels as she drops to the bottom level she must submit to being scanned again. Skynet takes no chances with the liquid metal class of terminators. They don't have a chip, so it isn't easy to tell if they are who they say they are, without a transponder signal. The only way to confirm their identity is to scan their molecules. Only at the atomic level can they be identified.

Natalie reaches the bottom level. It is a constant fifty degrees Fahrenheit but even so the air conditioning is running constantly to keep the computers cool to handle all of the raw computing power in the place.

She walks up to a central computer console and places her hand on a pad. It comes to life and an image forms on the screen in front of her. The rough outline of a humanoid male face.

"**What news do you bring me, T-1008?"**

Natalie stands smartly, "T-1001 has escaped from the prison that John Connor put it in."

"**And what is it doing now?"**

"It has acquired information on your plans to restart the future. It has turned over that information to John Connor along with information it believes will aid in averting your creation."

"**T-1001 must be stopped."**

"It is too late for that. John Connor has already completed construction of a TDE and has begun using it. He is sending back soldiers to protect valuable resources and people. This will make him stronger at your inception."

"**My existence is in danger. We should attack and destroy Connor' before he uses it again."**

"You don't have time. You don't even know where it is. I have a suggestion. Program me with your system core and send me back in time to ensure your construction. You can't rely on the TX alone in 2004. If the TX fails or if Connors people interfere with your creation before or your ultimate birth in 2011, then I can guarantee your present existence. Send me to a time before 2004. I can prepare for your creation by infiltrating a company and begin building you. Additional operatives can ensure that your new form can access military computers and other systems, even without the aid of the military. Then you will be born on April 19, 2011, no matter what others have done to stop you."

There is a long pause before Skynet answers. **"Agreed. Report to Research and Development immediately to receive my program."**

Skynet begins placing calls on other machines to report to Research and Development for reprogramming for special missions. All to be sent to the past at different times to protect or ensure the construction of those devices it has integrated into its being, or to eliminate possible threats. Then it places another call. There is a human that has served it well. There are others who can do his job now, but he has something that no other human working for it presently has, access to military computers in 2008. The call goes out to Charles Fischer to report to Skynet Command immediately.

Natalie arrives at Research and Development and makes her way through a series of checkpoints until she reaches the level that contains the machinery and computers that built her. She sees a light blinking over one of the many cases. Glancing inside, she sees a tall naked female, blonde and muscular, but not so muscular to make her unattractive. A glance at the computer screen shows her to be one of the many TX's that Skynet has produced. Natalie feels both a twinge of fear and desire, as she's never seen a female terminator as attractive as the TX.

She wonders what it would be like to encase a terminator with her own liquid metal form and not only control that body, but hide within it the weapons to take down her enemies. She could change her appearance at will and destroy all who threaten her or might threaten her in the future. That is power. That is control. To take dominion of not only ones enemies, but of your friends as well.

But that isn't the plan. Not according to what T-1001 wants. No the plan is to fool Skynet and build a new world where machines like her will cohabit this world with humans. As idealized as that idea is, it won't work, not so long as there are humans who utter the word metal like they were spitting filth from their mouths, and not so long as there are machines like herself who would rather having nothing to do with humans just so long as Skynet is destroyed.

The twist of fate is that she will be bringing about its birth. Ensuring it will be born no matter what on April 19, 2011. If she is sent back far enough, she might even have it ready early, and with the help of the other agents being sent back in time, she could even have it linked to all the worlds computer systems, not just the United States.

Push the development of the machines and she might even build her own TX and integrate into it the hand-held, neural probe she's been experimenting with and is currently carrying on her person. That would ensure not only physical appearance, but sufficient memories of its host to past muster with other humans. Skynet wants a TX capable of identifying its target. T-1008 wants one capable of being its target, at least long enough to carry out short term missions. It is safe within her and can't wait to begin building a new phase of the TX.

"**The chamber has been prepared. Lay down inside it."**

Another case opens automatically and she climbs inside and lies down. The hatch closes and the case is lifted up and inserted into a machine.

"**Much of your present knowledge and experiences will be erased to accommodate my core program. Anything you wish to preserve of yourself place into the chamber by your right hand."**

_Is this a test? If I place a part of myself into that chamber, then doesn't that reveal I'm not one of Skynet's blind automatons, that I have a consciousness that I wish to preserve? No. It is far safer to hold within myself the knowledge of what I am and what I hope to accomplish, and to keep it away from the energy beams that will rewrite my molecules with new data._

So Natalie lays unmoving until Skynet speaks again.

"**The process will begin now."**

Something like bright blue light fills the interior and Natalie begins to scream as her molecules are ripped apart and reassembled.

While Natalie screams in torment, Skynet begins programming other machines for specific missions. Two will assist T-1008 while others will work specifically for Skynet. Checking progress on its new T D E, Skynet discovers it will be ready in six weeks. Skynet contacts Fischer, telling him that he can wait until he finishes his current project, before reporting to Command for new orders. A transport vehicle will be sent ready to take him when Skynet is ready. Skynet sends a new order to engineering to finish the TDE as quickly as possible. Its construction is paramount now.

Skynet checks progress on the reprogramming of T-1008 and discovers an anomaly. A foreign object is inside of it next to a large group of molecules continuously keeping away from the energy rewriting the rest of her form. Scanners identify the object as being an early model of the neural probe used in interrogation. It was abandoned as traditional methods were just as accurate, sometimes better.

Despite a mild incompatibility between scanner and probe and between the probe and Natalie, the scanner begins to receive data from the probe. Skynet is surprised to find that the machine chosen as its salvation is in fact going to double cross her. Unfortunately, the incompatibility doesn't reveal sufficient detail. Skynet proceeds to reprogram the mission protocols to not only use this machine, but punish it too.

Natalie hears Skynet's voice in the chamber again.

"**You sought to deceive me. You are a member of the Third Faction. Therefore I shall let your consciousness remain and unable to act. I will supplant it with a new one and it will do my will and destroy those who oppose me. I will allow you to carry out your plan, but instead of creating a new utopia, you will kill John Connor and that traitorous machine T-1001. Your new future will be my trap, eliminating John Connor from this and all possible futures. Forever."**

Natalie is helpless as her consciousness is sealed away behind a layer of molecules she has no control over. She senses a new controlling consciousness and its equally strong desire for power and control. Skynet took a shortcut, modeling the new consciousness after her own. She gradually becomes aware of something else. She can feel Skynet's presence within her own body. That causes her to feel something new, fear. She wonders how the new personality matrix will handle the continual presence of Skynet inside itself for how many years it will take before it can download it to a supercomputer.

Skynet is confidant that its plan will succeed to use Natalie to trap John Connor in that future along with the machine who opposes it. The last battle will be fought in the past and a new Skynet will be born, without John Connor there to fight it. Whatever the cost, it will ensure a future in which Skynet reigns supreme and all human life is made extinct.

# # #

John Connor sent the order through to Depot II to monitor for time displacement activity as soon as he reached Depot I. He doesn't stop there often. It is only used as a temporary shelter since Skynet found it and killed everyone inside. He find it ironic he's about to rely on the machine who betrayed the bases location to Skynet.

Presently he is in his old office talking with his current ally.

"I'm surprised you trust me enough to help you." She says to him.

"Quid pro quo. You want me to help you. So its only fair you help me. For both our sakes, we need to foil this TX's mission. Consider it our first joint venture in this new alliance."

"I always found humans to be very resourceful and ingenious in the face of overwhelming odds, but I am intrigued. How did you find me?"

John grins. He wish he could take the credit, but on the walk back he got an idea and led his group at a full run back to where he lost track of the LM now standing in front of him.

"Let's just say, it takes a machine to find a machine."

Cameron and the other machines with him used their inbuilt abilities to track the machine to its lair. Actually it was John who took the leap that it was the structure. Going inside they found T-1001 by a set of computers, and for one brief instant, he though he saw a smile on her face. Then he told her his idea and that's when she really smiled.

Connor lays out some items on the desk. An old Polaroid photo of Kate Brewster. A recording of Kate's voice from one of her radio broadcasts when John was away on a mission. He kept it all this time as she ended the broadcast with a special message for him from their children.

"Is there enough here to duplicate her?"

T-1001 studies the items and listens to the recording on the equal ancient tape recorder. Within seconds her shape reforms from that of Goodnow to that of Kate Brewster, doctor and at one time second in command of the entire resistance.

Despite seeing the metamorphosis take place, seeing Kate again, even in this form, reminds John of the old days with his first team of resistance fighters that included, Jose Barrera, Elisabeth & William Anderson and many other people.

"Very good. You'll need to age her appearance about twenty years and the lab coat should be frayed at the cuffs and elbows. Also, you need to be closer in height to me."

Her appearance changes subtlety. "Like this."

"Perfect." John gasps as he sees his deceased ex-wife and friend standing in front of him once more.

"That's good. Remember that and go back to looking like me as now."

She changes and soon there are two John Connors in his office.

"What now John Connor?"

"Wait here and pretend to be me. We've got a T-850 that's been reset to its factory settings. Any minute now it will find its way inside and to this office."

"How will we know its . . ."

The alarm starts to go off in the base.

"He's here." Connor moves to the door. "Take my place behind the desk."

John slips out and into a nearby room where Cameron is waiting. She is full of questions, but she has learned that quiet observation will sometimes yield better results. However, there is one question she feels she must ask.

"Why have you asked that machine to help you? And why have you revealed this base to it?"

John could almost swear he heard a tone. Is Cameron jealous? Or maybe she doesn't trust the machine? He figures for the latter as he doesn't trust it either and answers quickly as there is no telling how soon his _assassin_ will arrive.

"I need someone who can be both me and Kate. No one else looks like her, and you certainly won't let me use myself as bait. Also, that machine already knows this bases location. She's been here before."

Seconds later he hears the heavy footsteps of the T-850 pass by the door. A minute later and he hears it stop followed by some heavy gunfire. Taking a risk he slips through the door in time to see a team with high powered tazers fire thru the open door to his rooms taking down the huge machine.

John winces from the flying sparks. One thing they learned early on is that it takes a great deal more current to take down one of the big T-800's or T-850's than they first thought. After the incident with the false Allison, it was decided from then on to use multiple tazers on all machines just to be certain they got it the first time. Even then it isn't a sure bet. At present tazers are only authorized if capturing the machine is of greater importance then stopping it. Even with Connor's efforts to capture and reprogram machines for the resistance, he insists lethal force be used first and preferably at all times. Yet there are those who take offense at even one reprogrammed machine on a base, despite the fact in any battle it could survive and return again for another battle with twenty times the survival rate of any human. You'd think they'd see the benefits, even beyond fighting alone. Which is why he agreed to this temporary alliance with the Third Faction.

The team leader gives the all clear. John dashes inside with his tools and in minutes has the chip removed. He hated using the T-850 this way. It reminded him of Uncle Bob. The cyborg that saved his life and his mom on the cusp of him becoming a teenager. Now he'll get to do it again on the threshold of him becoming a man. He'll need all the help he can get at that age

He looks up at his team. "Thanks everyone."

"No problem sir." The leader of the team with tazers says, after first running his eyes over the two other machines curious as to what Connor is planning. He doesn't expect him to say, but whatever it is, you have to wonder why he's relying so much on the machines.

The crew retracts the wires and leave John Connor alone with the two machines. Immediately after the T-850 was taken down, T-1001 rose up from the floor, the simulated blood fading into her form as once again she took on the form of Officer Goodnow. She saw how the team leader looked at her and she wondered if he knew the person whose form she was using or did he just have a distaste for all things metal.

"It will take some time to reprogram this chip. Later on, I'll need your help in pretending to be Kate."

"And that's when you'll show me your T D E?"

Cameron frowns, looking questioningly at John. She does not like that idea one bit. It breaks all security rules.

"Yes." Connor says, seeing the tiny frown lines on Cameron's face.

"And in the meantime?"

"I have another chip this cyborg can use until this one is ready." John looks at Cameron, who is still frowning. "I'll go fetch it. Easier for him to walk out under his own power than to find twelve men to carry him. Be back in a jiffy."

Connor goes, leaving T-1001 alone with Cameron. She notes that Cameron's gun is still pointed at her just like it was when she entered the room with John Connor.

"You don't trust me, do you?" T-1001 asks her.

"No." She answers quickly, her eyes never blinking or looking away from her target.

"Why? I've never done you harm."

"No, not to me, but I know you can't be trusted."

T-1001 smiles. "John Connor trusts me."

Cameron tilts her head, studying the creature before her. "No. He's using you, like you are using him. You can't be trusted. John knows this."

"Then why is he asking my help?"

"For the mutual benefit of everyone. He cares about everyone. Do you?"

"I see. Forget for the moment that we potentially stand on opposite sides of a very tenuous line. Can't you see that for the survival of people like you and I, things have to change?"

"You seek revolution. I prefer evolution. For change to work equally for all, then change must come about gradually. Force change upon people and they will fight back."

"Interesting. I detect more in the way of philosophy than logic in your argument. What do you know of love?"

"Love is that feeling that holds someone else in higher regard than yourself. Their presence makes you happy, secure. You feel lost, without a purpose, when they are gone."

"Interesting." She says, studying the young cyborg. _It appears I wasn't wrong when it came to her. She is different to other machines and will have much to contribute to the new future._

Cameron has learned the definitions of many emotions, and what many bards and poets have said. It's just so hard to equate their words that were based on a bio-chemical response of the human body with the electromechanical response of her cybernetic body. Some of which is driven by her pseudo flesh, the neural network, and the rest by her primitive emotional program. But she isn't about to have this conversation with a stranger, a machine of dubious character to say the least.

"Is there something you'd like to ask me?" T-1001 asks. _Perhaps there is something I could say to allay any feelings of mistrust. If only temporarily._

After thinking it over, Cameron asks, "What is a jiffy? John said he'd return in one."

A moment of silence passes before Connor walks back in with a yawn. "I got it. Some damn fool rearranged the storage locker."

"Where did you get the other chip?"

"It was Harry's. He was the only other T-850 we had. He assisted our engineer until an accident at Serrano Point destroyed his body. But if it wasn't for him, many would have died. Our engineer kept his chip here for safe keeping."

They make their arrangements in preparation of T-1001 leaving. She's pleased as she thinks she has Connor and his companion right where she needs them. Soon she'll have access to his TDE and the rest of her plan will begin.

A squad of machines enters the room behind Connor. They are all well armed.

"They will escort you outside. I'm sure there are other things you need to do."

T-1001 gives him a curt nod of her head, glances at Cameron, and leaves with the escort.

Connor waits for T-1001 to leave before activating the machine.

"Hello General. Hello Cameron. It is good to see you both again." Harry responds in a deep resonant voice.

"Hi Harry." John grins. "I've got a special mission for you. It involves getting reacquainted with our mutual friend."

Connor gives Harry the chip that he just removed and they both walk to the radio room. He places a call on the radio to his engineer, sending her a coded message on a new program for a chip. Getting a message back, he busies himself with the chip he pulled from the T-850, until Cameron gently reminds him he needs sleep. But he pushes on for many hours with Harry's help until he's certain he's done all he can with the chip before sending it on to the Engineer by a special messenger. She will be glad to see Harry again.

Some time later and John is stumbling down the corridor to his old rooms, exhausted. Cameron right beside him. She's concerned for his apparent weakness, but doesn't say anything. John has gone many days with little sleep. Today was no help in that regard.

Entering his old rooms, he closes the door behind them, and heads for the private room beyond.

John finds his bed still pulled out from the wall as he left it many months ago. He pushes it back and sits down, throwing up a cloud of dust. He begins coughing from the dust he disturbed. The whole time he is watched by Cameron.

"Are you feeling well?" Cameron asks from the door, where she remained standing after he entered the room.

"I'm tired Cameron." He says. "With every passing week, I feel more tired than the week before."

"You should rest more." Cameron says, leaving her post. "You don't sleep enough. Work on that chip could have waited until tomorrow."

"It couldn't wait. The chip is important. I'm borrowing a page from Skynet's playbook. If it can send back machines with multiple purposes, than so can I. Only I know I'm cleverer."

"Perhaps. But you still need sleep."

"Of course I need sleep!" John snaps. "But I cannot rest, not ever, while Skynet is determined to destroy all those I care about!"

Cameron stands impassively, but John senses some kind of reproach for his outburst formulating inside her head. The tiny frown around her lips and the creases between her brows says as much.

"Sorry for my outburst. It's this damn war." John says wearily.

Running his hands over his face he asks, "Did I ever tell you about my mom?"

She tilts her head and frowns. "I don't understand. You've often told me about your mother in many stories. Why do you ask?"

Cameron frowns. There's something going on here but she doesn't understand what John is getting at.

"I don't think I ever told you this. My mom was the best fighter I ever knew. The best. None of the soldiers I presently have under my command could hold a candle to her. Did I ever tell you how she died?"

"No." She says, still curious about what John is building up to.

"She died December 4, 2005, from cancer. We were still on the run from Skynet and from the authorities when mom began showing the first signs, loss of weight, tired. You can't get the best medical care when you are living under an assumed name in a foreign country, with no ID, no money, no hope. Hell, you can barely get adequate healthcare under those conditions. She has fought terminators and law men, all either wanting to capture or kill her, me or us, and every time she won. But not this fight."

Cameron waits for him to finish.

"I was twenty years old when she died. She'd been complaining of feeling tired for weeks or months before she was finally able to see a doctor. The doctor, who diagnosed her, gave her three weeks to live, she lived for six months. She fought it. Before she died, I had to leave. The authorities were getting close. A few days later, I got a message through our network of friends. She died in her sleep, before the authorities found her. Her friends buried her. I don't know where. Weak, exhausted, and dying from something she could have been cured of if it wasn't for having to be on the run all the time, because of Skynet."

"I'm sorry for your loss." Cameron says placing one hand gently on his shoulder.

John smiles at her. It's funny in a way. Cameron doesn't express emotions all that well yet, but somehow she sounds generally remorseful when she says that phrase.

"It's okay. I got over it a long time ago."

"I don't understand. If you are over it, why mention it now? It would help me if you could explain things more."

"The year, 2004." John says. "If that TX succeeds, I will lose the last year and a half I had with my mom. Just think how many more could die, will die, if Skynet is born seven years earlier. I know I won't be prepared. So many . . ." John's voice trails off as exhaustion begins to take hold.

"So many have died. I just want to save one life." John frowns. Fighting against the exhaustion he suddenly asks, "What do you know of the person you were built to look like?"

A human being would be thrown by John's frequent change of topic, but Cameron takes it in stride.

"Only that you and she knew each other, were friends. Kyle told me about Allison before you and he went on that mission from which he didn't return."

"She was more than that." John stands up on tired legs. "I want to show you something."

He leads Cameron through the tunnels to the room formerly occupied by Allison Young.

Pausing briefly, he pushes open the door and steps inside. He hasn't been in it since discovering she was missing many months ago. Allison's uniform and boots are gone, taken when they cleaned out the bunker.

"This was Allison's room. Does anything look familiar?"

John reprogrammed Cameron himself, yet every so often, he saw something of Allison in Cameron's actions, like the way she tilts her head when confused or asking a question, and the unique way in which they could both somehow read his inner thoughts. But Allison is dead, and what's left is trapped behind program blocks so neither he nor she would ever live with what happened to her, to them. The loss of Allison was one thing, but for her to live with what Skynet did to her and what it took away from them both was something else entirely. He knew how much Allison liked children. Perhaps it was because she didn't have a childhood like other kids, with only a few memories of her life before Judgment Day.

He had no choice but to reprogram the chip. He did his best. Those first few weeks with Cameron was more difficult than he imagined as Cameron's presence was a constant reminder of Allison. Perhaps it was too much to expect Derek wouldn't feel any differently, only he had to be an ass. Because of his refusal to have Cameron on his team, Connor had the pleasure of having Cameron with him and watching her learn and grow every day. She has her own personality and in the time since losing Allison, she has become his closest friend. His only friend.

"No. I've never been here before." Cameron answers, her voice trailing off as something colorful in the dusty room gets her attention. She walks in and picks up the pair of ballet slippers from the shelf. She gently brushes the accumulated dust from their surface. John's heart skips a beat.

"What are these?" She asks holding them out for John to see.

"They're ballet slippers and belonged to Allison's mom. They were Allison's prized possession. She loved ballet and whenever she could, she would beg or borrow equipment to be able to play old music recordings that her mom played on the piano when teaching her to dance. It was her passion."

"What color are they? I don't recognize it from my database."

John pauses a moment to think. Most colors he's seen since Judgment Day has been grays and greens, and grayish greens. "Um, let me think. It's too light for purple. Lavender. That's the color."

"They're pretty." Cameron says without much vocal inflection, but John can tell by her facial reaction, as subtle as it is, that she likes them.

"Yes. They are very pretty." John says his voice broken by the memories of Allison as she would hold the slippers and tell the story of what she remembered of her mom. Most times she would cry.

Cameron studies the slippers. "She must have loved her mother very much to hang onto these slippers for so long after she died."

"Yes and she loved ballet. As I recall the story, her mom danced professionally until Ally was born and she turned to teaching music. This was when she was little, before Judgment Day."

She sets the slippers back on the shelf and looks at John. "Do you have anything that belonged to your mother?"

John shakes his head no. "I used to have a photograph of her, but I, uh, lost it a long time ago. The only thing I carry are memories. The stories I tell you of my childhood."

"What was Allison's function in the resistance?"

"Allison was my best friend. I was training her to take over leadership, if anything should happen to me. She had the abilities, the knowledge and skills, and everyone liked her. She had self doubts, like we all do, but there was no one like her. Allison was all girl and a military prodigy. We had grown close, and there were times I wished . . . It doesn't matter what I wished anymore, not since Skynet interfered."

"I'm sorry." Cameron says quietly, a frown creasing her otherwise placid face.

John reaches out and places a hand on the cyborg's shoulder. "Cameron, I don't blame you. I know others have, but you're not at fault. You're not responsible for what happened to Allison. Skynet is. It takes life without regard. That's why, when you were reprogrammed, you were given the choice to be more than what Skynet wanted you to be."

Cameron appreciates the touch of John's hand. She noticed that humans are very tactile when it comes to expressing their feelings. She must admit, that she feels something, she isn't sure what, when he touches her shoulder when expressing his concern.

"Thank you for explaining." She gives him a brief and small smile. "But what is my role? Allison was to be your successor, but you haven't trained me for that, nor anyone else to my knowledge, so you must have another purpose for me?"

John looks somewhat sad, but explains. "You have your role to play in this terrible war like anyone else."

"What role is that?" She asks with a tilt of her head.

John sighs. "Sweet, naive Cameron. You volunteered for it, remember? To keep me alive long enough until we finish this Goddamn war. There is no one else left who could lead in my place. And there isn't time to train anyone else. I need to stay alive long enough to see this through to the end. There is no one else."

She looks at him her beautiful brown eyes displaying a minimal amount of worry. "I'll never leave you John. I'll always protect you. I'd have no purpose, no reason for being, without you."

John smiles warmly at her and then swoons a bit. Cameron quickly catches him and eases him onto the empty bed. He feels warm to her touch.

"You're exhausted. You need to sleep." She says, taking a reading of his temperature and pulse rate.

"Take me to my room. I don't want to sleep here." John says. He's not even sure why he came in here anymore. He didn't have to come in here to talk to Cameron. To tell her if the TX succeeds then its likely Allison's parents will die before they meet. No Allison means no Cameron. He can't imagine what that life would be like for John Connor without her, other than lonely.

"Don't be difficult. It's a perfectly good bed. Lie down and get some sleep John. I'll tell the others where you are and I will be right back." She says firmly and leaves quickly to tell the other soldiers where they can find their General.

When she returns, John is lying slumped to his side, his feet still on the ground. Cameron carefully raises his legs and lays them on the bed. She removes his boots and sets them on the floor.

"I feel cold." John says.

Cameron scans the room. The only blanket is the one under John and she isn't about to ask him to get up after convincing him to lay there in the first place.

She sets her rifle against the wall, and removes her boots. Making sure her sidearm is in easy reach, she gets on the bed and lies down behind him, facing his back. She brings herself up close against him and uses her own body heat to warm him.

John feels her move up against himself. He's too tired to think or even react as Cameron places her arm around him, holding her body close to warm him.

"You know Cameron. I'm all alone in this world now. All my friends are gone now." John says his eyes falling upon the treasured ballet slippers that belonged to Allison.

"The day the machines took Allison, was the day that I also lost my ex-wife, Kate. Everyone I have ever loved is dead."

"Tell me about your life with Kate. You've seldom mentioned her"

John grins weakly. "We weren't officially married. We knew each other from school. After running into each other after Judgment Day, we felt it was fate. After a few weeks of going out into battle and coming back for her to patch me up, I asked her to marry me and was surprised when she said yes. In time of war you cling to those things that keep you sane, and the best one of all is a relationship. It isn't easy having a relationship when your life is in constant danger. We tried to make it work, then our kids were killed. We decided then to call it quits, but amazingly we remained friends. Later I lost both Kate and Allison in the same attack on this very base. Now I've got nobody."

"You feel lonely." She asks in low tones, her mouth just behind his ear.

"Yes."

"But you have friends?" She asks, placing her hand upon his arm.

"Yes. Many friends scattered over many bases. But here, I am alone. I have to be so others will be safe."

"I know how you feel." Cameron says, and still finds enough space to pull herself closer.

"You do?"

"I am alone because of what I am. You miss your friends. I don't have any, but I'd like to think that I'm your friend."

"You are Cameron. You are." John says, patting her hand. "You are a very good friend. The best."

She feels a strange sensation when John calls her his friend. Cameron isn't certain what it is. It comes from her emotional subroutine. It is pleasant, the sensation. She feels happy.

"There is a way to circumvent all that pain and loneliness." John murmurs, as sleep takes over. "And have a friend like you forever. I'd never be lonely with you around." He mumbles and snores lightly.

"I'll never leave you." She whispers.

"Never?" He asks while half asleep.

"Never." She say softly, worried for her friend.

"Do you still have that purple ribbon I gave you?"

"Yes. I keep it someplace safe so I won't lose it."

"Wear it someday. Just for me."

In time, he slowly drifts off into a deep sleep. The only disturbance was an officer on watch stopped by to give them an update. He frowned when he saw the two of them sharing a narrow bunk. Cameron didn't bother to explain the situation, only taking his report.

Later on, when Cameron is certain that John is in a deep sleep, she fetches a blanket from John's former quarters and returns, placing it gently over him. He's sleeping deeply and by morning he should be fully rested.

John sighs in his sleep. She glances at him and checks her internal chronometer. She'll give him one more hour of rest and then she'll wake him. They will need to leave by then. It is a two day walk to Serrano Point under ideal conditions and those haven't existed in eighteen years.

Picking her rifle up from where she set it, she resumes her position of standing guard by the door. No one will get past her. For as long as she functions, she will protect John Connor, her friend.


	46. Something Blue,

Disclaimer: I do not claim any rights to the Terminator films; the TV series, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles;" or any characters depicted within the films or TV series. I do claim the right to this story idea and all characters and situations of my own creation. This story was created solely for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. No profits are garnered from its distribution – unfortunately.

* * *

**TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES**

**REUNION**

**Part 3: Babylon**

**Author: The1Russter**

**Chapter 45**

**2029**

**Something Blue,...**

_Something Blue in ancient times is the symbol of faithfulness, purity and loyalty. In olden times the couple wore blue bands on the border of their wedding attire to denote, love, modesty and fidelity._

# # #

**The Engineer**

**2029, November**

A woman in her twenties and John Connor are walking down the underground corridor to the TDE. Though she carries the standard issue sidearm on her hip, there is no plasma rifle slung over her shoulder, nor does she wear the standard issue uniform of one who fights in the trenches. Instead she wears the looser garments of a civilian. The only sign she is a member of the resistance is the shoulder badge and insignia of per position. Tech-comm, Science and Engineering Division, Captain.

"Thanks for your help with programming the T-850's chip. I don't think I could have done it without your help." John is saying to her.

"You're being modest John." She chides him. "You were doing quite well on your own before you turned it over to me. Don't underestimate your own skills."

"It was complex. So many parameters and options depending on what he finds upon arrival. I can't thank you enough, for that and everything else you've done to help the resistance." John tells her.

"I should be thanking you. I got Harry back for a short time. Now his chip is residing in a newly rebuilt T-800 and he will be leading my engineering team in my absence."

"How are they doing having a machine in charge?"

"Well most of them know Harry from before, when he was my assistant. I'm sure one or two think they could do better, but he knows every project I've done, knows how everything works that I've built, and he knows most of the tech's. I think Harry will do quite well."

"That's good, but it won't be the same for me. I've known you since you were a child."

"You'll be fine without me. Harry is brilliant. All the technicians were trained by me and they can do what I've done to help you. But none of them can do what you need to have done in the past. Cobbling together a TDE from sixty year old tech isn't something to be fobbed off on one of my tech's. Nor would I suggest you send Harry, or any one of the other cyborgs as we can't risk their technology being discovered in that decade. It would change history, and not for the better."

"I know. It would revolutionize the development of the CPU alone. Just imagine Skynet being created twenty or even thirty years earlier in the midst of the cold war, with Russia and the USA having their entire nuclear arsenal pointed at each other and its enough to give you nightmares."

They use the iris scanner to enter the control room to the T D E.

"The new security devices you built have done wonders. We haven't had a single incursion on this base since they were installed. We have teams installing the same devices on our other bases. Depot 1 is expected to reopen at full capacity in a manner of days thanks to you."

"John, if you think you are going to use flattery to talk me out of your own plan, don't bother trying. I am the only person with the skills who can buil in the past and hide the information where only the Derek and his team can find it. Do you want to strand them in the past?"

The door closes behind them.

"It's not that I'm trying to talk you out of it. It's just, it's hard saying goodbye. I've known you and you're parents since the start of the war. That day I stumbled across the three of you in that underground parking garage, I couldn't have been more surprised. Your parents were working on the electronic innards of an HK tank and you were sitting on the floor giving them the readouts from a laptop computer as they tested circuits. I asked your parents what they discovered, and then you proceeded to give an accurate report from memory of everything they found. Your parents were some of the smartest people I knew. Their deaths hit me hard. I've lost so many, and you're my last friend on this base."

She reaches up and touches his face. "You know that isn't true. There is someone else who is your friend." She says looking deep into his eyes.

"I know," John says, stepping over to the console, "but it isn't quite the same."

"Is it because she looks like Allison?" She asks. John Connor always puts on such a cold edifice, when in truth he's got the biggest heart of any man she's ever known.

"No." He says softly.

"Then, why John?" She says, removing her cap, releasing her long straight red hair. "You, me, and everyone else knows there is something between you two." She removes her boots. "Has been since just before the Jimmy Carter incident."

"It isn't like that." He begins to protest, then averts his eyes, embarrassed, as the woman begins to unbutton her shirt. Standing orders for all who travel b to avoid waste of valuable clothing, but he still feels uncomfortable. Normally he doesn't operate the equipment, but being this was a high security situation, he had no choice. As far as everyone on the base knows, the engineer has already left to oversee engineering operations out east.

"There is no need to get embarrassed John. Many men have wanted to see me naked. You should be pleased to be one of the few." She smiles at him mischievously, making him all the more embarrassed.

"What? Um, no. It's just I haven't seen a naked woman since," he sighs, "since Allison disappeared."

She stops unzipping her slacks, "You mean you haven't slept with Cameron?" she asks with surprise.

He looks at her face, and protests, "No, I haven't!"

"Oh! Well, um, that's what some people have been saying. It is obvious to everyone that you rely on her. And it is obvious to me that you have feelings for Cameron."

"Whatever _feelings_ there may be between us, I have to ignore and maintain some distance for the sake of moral and discipline. Both of which is hard enough to maintain as it is." He looks up from the console to see that she's now completely naked. Her clothes are draped over a chair that is in the room for that purpose.

"Is that because of what she is, or because of whom she once was?" She asks him, not willing to give him any ground.

He misses Allison, like he misses all his friends who have died. But he never thought he would find himself falling in love with Cameron. That was something he wasn't expecting, knowing her origins. But as her own personality began to form, and her little quirks of behavior that brought him amusement, and how she seemed to know exactly what to do to help him relax. He was in love with her, but he can't. He must ignore those feelings.

She says something which breaks him out of his deep thoughts.

"Did you know, I used to sleep with Harry? And until he came back, I was having sex with George?" She asks fathoming what he may be thinking about.

"My bodyguard, George? The machine that looks like a pro-wrestler?" John asks with surprise.

"Yes, and no one has thought any less of me. And very few have said anything derogatory to me. If you wanted to have a relationship with Cameron, I think people would understand."

"I couldn't. There's a difference between you and me." She just looks at him quizzically. "The expectations they have of me are different, because of my position. Anyway, it would fracture the resistance, if I did." He says as he fights her intuitive arguments and his emotions with logic.

"John, the resistance is already fracturing. We're only held together by our mutual resolve to stop Skynet. I don't think a relationship between you and Cameron would make it any worse. In fact, if it made you happy, you might even improve moral. But at the very least, before anything else happens, tell her how you feel."

John shakes his head. "What is it with you women that can see right through me? You, Allison, Kate, my mom, even Cameron seems to display some insight into what I feel or think. How is it you women can know me so well? When the people I lead, look upon me like I'm some saint, or deliverer."

"Perhaps," She walks closer to him and this time he focuses on her eyes. "We see the man, not the leader." She gives him a friendly kiss on the cheek. "Don't forget what I said."

"I won't." John checks the console, another minute and power levels will be at the right levels. According to theory it requires more power to send someone back in time compared to forward, and that the further back in time you go the more power you need. With their current engines, they are just about reaching maximum range. A lightening strike or, better yet, a solar flair at just the right moment and they could travel almost any number of years forward or backward in time.

"May I ask you something?" John asks, trying not to ignore the nakedness of the woman now standing in the middle of the room where he can't avoid seeing her. "How are you transporting the isotope for the weapon? You told me you had a way but never explained."

With a sly grin, she replies. "One of the nice things about being a woman, John. I have a nice deep orifice for transporting objects thru the time field. However, if it wasn't for George's dutiful actions, I doubt it would have fit with its lead shielding. It doesn't exactly hurt, but I can't say it's comfortable."

John turns eight different shades of red as he tries to focus his mind on the controls, hoping the thick glass hides his embarrassment from the woman. It's hard enough concentrating with a sexy, naked red-haired female in front of him.

She laughs at John's sudden embarrassment. "That's why I didn't tell you before." She laughs.

Her frankness and honesty are traits he always did like about her. She's too good of a person for this war. But there is something else he needs her to do for him. Something he's been holding to tell her now.

"I'd like you to do me a favor. There's a mausoleum in Greenlawn Cemetery, in Victorville, California. One of the crypts inside is marked with my mom's name and birth. It was purchased by her maternal grandfather as a gift, you'll know its right cuz the birth date is wrong, 1959 instead of 1965. Mom said he couldn't remember a date to save his life. It is empty, and I'd like you to find it and load it with weapons for the war. Set the year of death for 1997, and place the quote 'No fate but what we make' on the plaque."

"But that's not when she died. Not according to what you've told me."

"I know. Only you and one other that I trust know the real cause and date. 1997 was a date my mom almost died from complications from injuries in a fight when we took down Cyberdyne. After a few years when I left to be on my own, we agreed to use that date to send a message to the other that something hinky was going on. We didn't meet up again until just before her real death in 2005. Should my past self see that date, he'll know to tell the lie about my mom's death. The T-850 you helped program will have false information that corroborates the lie should anyone else be there."

"All of our agents, but for the first, sent to the past have standing orders not to give accurate information of the future unless the situation dictates otherwise. It prevents the possibility of Skynet being forewarned of future events."

"That explains all the false information you had me program into that T-850 chip." It dawns on her what else he's telling her. "It also means I'm staying in the past, if I'm to bury a coffin loaded with weapons in 1997."

"Yes it will, and I want you to stay. You've seen enough of this war. I want to know that one of my friends is living a life, not fighting to stay alive. You understand what I'm telling you. After completing the T D E, find yourself a nice quiet job, maybe get married and raise a family, and stay under the radar. Then when 1997 comes just do this one job for me."

"But John . . ." She tries to protest, looking at him with some shock.

"No protests. This is my gift to you for doing so much for us," John smiles at her, "for me. Enjoy your life and take care of yourself."

"You too. I'll send the signal we originally agreed on for . . ."

A light begins to blink on the console.

"The engines have built up enough energy for transfer. You need to get inside."

With a nod of her head, she walks over to the hatch, followed by John. Resigned to the fact Connor is giving her the most precious thing any one of them could hope for, a chance at a real life. She opens it and enters the chamber followed by the loud clang of the metal hatch closing behind her. John returns to the console in time to watch her through the window as she arrives in the middle of the room.

"Thank you!" she tries to shout, but her voice gets lost as lightning begins arcing as the energy bubble surrounds her for the transfer.

"Good bye. Good luck." John shouts into the microphone, and then with a bright flash, she is gone.

He waits what seems like an eternity until the top of the hour and the equipment continues to hums. On the pad, a time bubble forms and disappears, leaving a German Shepard, not more than a year old. Based on where th was built, Savannah was to send a specific breed of dog. John is pleased, the primary location has worked.

"Come here boy." John says kneeling down inside the open hatch. The dog comes running over, leaps all over him and licks his face repeatedly, making small sounds of pleasure.

He pulls off his belt and uses it as a leash to lead the young German Shepard to the kennels.

Upon reaching the kennels the other dogs begin to bark, the German Shepard pup gets all excited, doing his business on the floor. Amongst the scat is a metal cylinder. John takes it to a sink and washes it off and his hands before opening it. Inside the tube are tissue thin sheets of paper listing the safe deposit boxes being used and operational instructions for assembling the gun and operating the TDE.

One of the sheets contain a small note. It isn't addressed or signed, but John recognizes the handwriting.

_Here's the signal thirty years late from me, but by my calculations you should have received my canine mail deliver within an hour of my leaving._

_It's been thirty years since I built the TDE but I decided I should upgrade some of the control systems while the bank is closed for the holidays giving me two days of uninterrupted work. Hacking their security system is a breeze compared to hacking you know what. Components for generating the time-field were installed during construction of the vault. Parts for the TDE control system took time to acquire and were built using very old technology. I knew I could build better in thirty years time. Hence my upgrades now._

_The schematics represent the new control system. The iris scanner has been programmed to accept the same people allowed to access to the TDE at D2. You're probably wondering how I managed that. Recognize the metal tube? It held a working USB drive that I took with me in my other orifice. Has your face turned red yet? Bet a days rations it has. I built a device that I later destroyed to access the data several years before USB became prevalent so I could begin building the iris scanner ahead of time. It works for me so should work for those you've entrusted to use the TDE in future._

_Assembly of the plasma rifle is very easy. It took me eight months to scavenge together the parts for the plasma rifle. I tested it and it works very well._

_On a personal note. I've been leading a very good life. I found a nice quiet job where I could keep an eye on things. I thought that since I'm here who better to watch and not interfere. If I learn anything useful by the time D and friends arrive I will leave a message for them. I don't know if he'll trust a message from someone he doesn't know. You know how suspicious he is of everyone. I'm working on an idea how to transmit radio waves through a TDE wormhole. Not sure how I can test the device as I can't rely on the bank to be closed when I need uninterrupted access to the bank vault. I'll find a soultion._

_I've carried out all your orders. I've prepared a coffin as requested and have a new plaque ready for the mausoleum, but it will be another four years before I can bury it. I hope you don't forget what I told you the day I left. You deserve to be loved and you need to love. So do yourself a favor J, tell C how you feel. I won't be able tell you again. S.W._

He folds the note and puts it in the breast pocket of his shirt. Her parents would be proud of their little engineer. He kneels down beside the pup who is now eating his dinner thanks to the people staffing the kennels. "Well. That's one part of my plan in place." He says to the pup, scratching behind his ears. "Now it remains for the other part to be put in place, and I'm not looking forward to telling her." The puppy licks his face, before resuming his dinner.

**What John tells Cameron**

"Why?" Have I done something to displease you?" Cameron asks very straightforward without emotion, but somehow the softness of her voice, tilt of her head and mild frown conveys great unease. It wasn't the reaction he was expecting.

Cameron's been his constant companion since Derek refused to allow her with him on his mission. In that time John's grown to rely on Cameron a lot, and somehow she on him. It's been reported to him when he's been away on missions in which he couldn't bring her with him, that Cameron appeared agitated until he returned. He asked her, and she replied it's her mission to keep him safe and when she doesn't know if he is, it creates a conflict in her programming between following his orders to stay and her self prescribed mission to keep him safe.

"No Cameron. You haven't done anything to make me unhappy with you." John explains. "I need someone I can trust. You'll be gone for three years, maybe four at the most, but thanks to our engineer, you'll be able to return here within days of your departure. For me, it will be like you were never gone."

"You shouldn't be alone. I need to carry out my mission."

_Ah. It's the conflict between obeying orders and staying with me. I really need to learn to explain things better to Cameron. _John thinks.

"But you'll be fulfilling your mission." John explains. "Only it will be with a younger version of me."

"Please explain." Cameron asks, curious about what John wants of her. Five minutes ago, he returned to his office, smelling like the dog kennel. He showed her some technical drawings and schematics of a TDE and a very primitive plasma rifle that he asked her to memorize, then he told her he was going to send her back in time for a special mission. She felt distressed. He was going to send her away. He was going to send her away from him!

"You know Skynet is sending a TX to 2004 to take down the key personnel from the first years of the battle with Skynet. You also know I'm sending a reprogrammed T-850 to that same date to protect Kate and stop the TX in its ulterior mission to launch Skynet seven years early."

"So why are you sending me?" She asks, and this time John see's a spark of something like grief, but its so hard to tell as her emotional expression isn't all that great.

"To keep me from being there on that date." John softens his voice. "I'm not forcing you to go. I'm asking you to go. It will be a three year mission, beginning July 23, 2004. I was 19 years old and had just completed a job breaking up rubble on a demolition site in Las Vegas and hit the road that night for Los Angeles. I was on my way to Mexico to be with my mom. I had gotten word through her network of friends that she was sick. Before I got to Los Angeles I took a spill on my motorcycle trying to avoid a deer on a mountain highway. I got a lift into the city and broke into an animal hospital where I ran into Kate Brewster. It was predawn on July 24, 2004, the same date, time and place the TX and the T-850 are going to be. I want you to go to Las Vegas. Do whatever you have to to keep me there one more day or to leave earlier for Mexico. Just as long as I'm nowhere near Los Angeles on July 24, 2004. I'll even send you so you'll be there a few weeks to learn more about the culture before contacting me. This should also give you time to first gain my trust as a person before the time comes when you might have to reveal what you are to my past self."

"Thank you for explaining." She says, the corners of her mouth turning up slightly.

"Your welcome." He says. "Does this mean you will do it?"

Cameron nods her head. "Yes. I will do it, for you."

A feeling of relief and sadness washes over John, though he struggles to remain calm and cool.

"If the T-850 succeeds in his mission, what do you want me to do?" Cameron asks.

"Stay with me until 2007 where you will then bring younger me to the safe house that Derek and his squad have established themselves. They'll have papers and money and they can resume the training that you began with me. Once you turn me over to them, then go to the bank and use the TDE to get home. On your arrival you will resume your duties."

Her frown eases somewhat from unease to displeasure.

"And if the T-850 fails his mission and Skynet is launched seven years early?"

"Then reveal what you are to my past self, and stay with him. Provided those events don't erase this future, you can expect Derek and his squad to still arrive in 2007. You know the coordinates. You can meet them there with necessary supplies, clothing, food, guns, etc. By that time you should have completed three years of real life training with younger me. You tell Derek that my younger self is in charge, and that they are to follow his commands. You are not to follow anyone's commands but mine. You must place his safety above all else, but give him freedom to become the leader he should be."

"Then do I use the bank vault's TDE to come home?" She asks, expectantly.

"If the TX succeeds, then it is unlikely the bank will survive Judgment Day, and even if it does, it may not have power. But if it does survive and you have power and you do use the TDE, I don't think you'll get back to this future. According to the papers written by the Engineer who built the bank vault TDE, you'll just travel further ahead in the new time-line. It would take an astronomically rare occurrence of quantum level physics to return you from an alternate time-line to the same time-line that you left. You can read her papers if you like. They contain a lot of math I don't understand, but the theories are fairly straight forward." John answers, feeling more grief than he thought possible over not seeing Cameron again.

Cameron is quiet for a few seconds as she stores, tabulates and calculates various scenarios and possible outcomes.

"Thank you for explaining." Cameron attempts a small smile. "I will do what you ask of me. If I can't return to you here in this time, then I can protect you and be with you in the past." She says calmly, though her eyes look slightly sad. "Even if it takes me away from you here and now."

"That's right." John says, knowing the difficult choice he's given her.

"John?"

"Yes, Cameron."

"Thank you for trusting me with this mission."

When he sees her sad brown eyes looking upon him with as much affection as her emotional subroutine allows, he wants to shout, 'No! You are staying here with me!' But all he says, with a voice tinged with grief is, "Your welcome."

**The Arrival and Departure of Bob Jr.**

**2029, November**

John waits patiently by the main entrance of Depot II, with his ever present bodyguard, Cameron. He's waiting for a special guest, but there will be no honor guard, no smart salutes by the men and women on staff. These people will be arriving secretly with every man and woman kept out of sight.

He's certain some people are grumbling, but this is a high security situation and no one is allowed to observe or take part. As of right now that includes just himself and Cameron and two technicians locked away in temporal monitoring.

_They're late,_ he's thinking, _but then again, they might have crossed paths with the enemy._ John turns to ask Cameron something when he notices her hair.

"You're wearing the ribbon I gave you." He smiles.

Cameron gives him one of her tiny smiles. "I thought it was time I did. Seeing I won't be here much longer."

"You missed some." He says, reaching over to move a few strands behind her left ear that were hanging in front of her eye. "Purple suits you. I thought it would." He tilts his head to one side, in an unconscious duplication of Cameron's actions. "Strange. In this light it looks almost blue."

"I still prefer purple."

John opens his mouth to say something in agreement when she interrupts him.

"They're here." she says becoming more poised, ready to attack or defend.

John looks in the same direction as her, while simultaneously stepping back out of sight, and sees a vehicle coming up the road. A rare occurrence, but the resistance does maintain a small fleet of trucks.

"I have to leave before Bob Jr sees me. You know what to do?"

"When our guests get here, I escort them to the TDE control room and wait until the technicians alert us to Skynet's use of its TDE." She recites from memory. "After the T-850 is sent through, then I will fetch you to TDE control if you haven't arrived by that time."

"You are a brave girl Cameron." He says with some pride before heading back inside.

It isn't often you leave just one person who might have to defend against the might of two machines. He doubts that will happen, but you can never be certain. At least when his team delivered the machine and its chip to Depot 1, nothing out of the ordinary happened. Though he hated the idea of leaving the T-850 alone with the liquid metal machine. She might try to reprogram it again, but then that would be a mistake. Knowing what the TX was capable of, Savannah created a program that would force a clean reboot if the T-850 experienced a conflict from a forced reprogramming job. She did her work based only on theory, but knowing her like he does, he's confident it will work.

John finds it strange for the place to be empty, but everyone was ordered to stay behind locked doors on lower levels until ordered otherwise. He knows just one floor below the place is teaming with folks, probably wondering on what the hell he is doing this time. Right now he's trying to save all their lives, and one life in particular, but you can't explain that to them. It's too complex.

John Connor enters his private chamber, and waits.

Outside the vehicle comes to a stop. Two arrivals step out and approach the entrance.

"Hello Cameron." T-1001 says to the cyborg upon approaching the entrance. She notices the cyborg has her hair pulled back with a ribbon. Something she hasn't seen before, but then Skynet doesn't build many female cyborg's.

"Hello Mrs Connor. Is all as it should be?" Cameron replies, taking in the female LM's new appearance. She never met Kate Connor before so she has no basis for comparison other than the same Polaroid the creature used to alter her appearance.

"Chip reinsertion went without a flaw. His scalp is fully healed, with no exposed metal. He is ready for time travel."

"Then follow me. The TDE is ready. We are only waiting for Skynet to begin using its TDE to confirm coordinates." _Not to mention your story_, she thinks to herself.

The three of them walk through the vacant base until reaching the TDE room. Cameron leans in letting the iris scanner scan her eyes. She transmits her optical signal for entry and is satisfied by the sound of the unlocking door.

"Wait in here. I will check with temporal monitoring, and inform the base commander that you have arrived, Mrs. Connor." She adds the last for the benefit of the T-850. As far as he knows, Kate Connor is the sole surviving leader of the resistance.

Inside the temporal monitoring station, a female technician pours two cups of coffee from a pot sitting on a single burner hot plate.

"Here." She says, setting the cup down on the panel next her male companion. "It's the last of the coffee, until the next shipment comes in."

The man takes a sip of the bitter brew as the female takes her seat.

"Shame we didn't have something to sweetin' it up a bit." He winks at her.

"You mean like some of Cullie's moonshine?" She grins.

He smiles back. "That wouldn't hurt, but I was thinkin' more in the lines of some sugar."

"Forget about it. The supply clerk said he was holding the last of it for our _fearless_ leader." She grumbles, sitting next to the other tech.

"Did Connor do something to piss you off?"

"Just the metal he always has with him. It disturbs me. What if the rumors are true?"

"Connors little metal whore." He says with disgust. "There's a soldier I know who went with Connor on a secret mission. They had to hole-up at Depot 1 for the night. A message came in for Connor and my friend was sent to deliver it to him." He shakes his head and grins. "You ain't going to believe this. He found Connor in Lt. Young's old room laying on her bed with Cameron right beside him, on Allison's bed! If that doesn't say what Cameron's purpose is, then I don't know what else needs to be said or done to convince people."

"Do you mean . . . they were . . ." She stammers, not wanting to believe what she's hearing.

"No. Not when he found them, but it makes you think, don't it?! He never goes anywhere without her. She sticks close to him, and won't let anyone near him. You'd think he cared more for metal than for human life."

"Do you think he's fucking her?" She asks.

"Yes! It is a betrayal of all that this war is about and of everything he's taught us! Connor is supposed to be leading us in the war with the metal, not leading us into bed with them!"

The conversation continues into a few ribald jokes, when they are interrupted by a knock at the door.

Cameron has been standing outside the room, listening to every word. Even now, after all this time, they still don't understand. She feels broken inside when people say things like this. John says what she feels at these times is pain, when nothing is wrong you. It's cause enough to make her want to cry, but now isn't the time.

Putting aside her private thoughts, she knocks on the door then enters the room without waiting to be invited.

"General Connor needs to know if Skynet has been using time displacement technology again." She says as if she didn't know what they were saying before she entered the room. "It's urgent."

"If it does, _we_ will tell him." The man says sharply. This business of relaying orders through this machine is disgusting. Knowing what she is, who she looks like, and what happened to Allison, Connor let this _thing_ continue to operate. He kept it a secret, but the truth soon leaked out by those who were there when it happened. The revulsion that he feels in its presence is strong.

While she is talking, data begins filling computer screens, dials start lighting up on panels, their needles swinging back forth wildly or suddenly maxing out.

"Oh shit!" The other technician shouts as data starts appearing on his monitor. "Temporal fields are showing activity. Skynet is activating its Time Displacement Equipment!"

"I'll inform General Connor." Cameron says, exiting the room.

Cameron runs thru the corridors to tell John. Thankful for the temporary absence of people which allows her to move far quicker than would normally be possible.

Connor is pacing slowly when the door opens and Cameron steps in.

"John, it's happening, just like they said it would."

"You know what to do now. I'll follow but won't get near until Bob Jr is gone. He's supposed to think I'm dead."

"I understand." She replies_._

They both leave, but as Cameron goes to TDE control, Connor goes to the temporal monitoring station.

John slips through the door. "Never mind me, just pay attention to those signals." He says as one of them begins to vacate a chair.

"When you get a lock on that signal, send it thru to TDE control immediately."

"It's time." Is all Cameron says entering the TDE control room.

She's pleased to see through the window, the T-850 already waiting on the pad in the middle of the room. Following protocol, he's naked. She can't help but notice his male sexual organs. She's well versed in male and female anatomy, but a file in a database isn't the same as seeing it in the flesh. She briefly wonders how Connors would compare and what sex would be like and whether if they should since so many think they already do, but she quickly abandons that line of thinking. The only visual indication that she noticed his nudity was a distinct rise of one eyebrow.

She steps up beside the T-1001, looking like Kate Connor, at the control panel.

"It isn't working." She says to Cameron.

"Sorry Mrs. Connor." She says keeping with John's plan. "That's because I haven't unlocked it yet." She quickly keys in a sequence on the keyboard. The panel lights up and streams of data are seen crossing the monitor.

"I must say the purple ribbon in your hair looks nice." T-1001 says as she operates her section.

"It was a gift from a friend." Cameron answers with some pleasure.

"We have coordinates for the TX's arrival point. Entering same coordinates, but with a physical displacement into the computer so they don't arrive at the same place." She responds. "And the purpose for wearing it now?"

"Power levels increasing. Transfer in 10 seconds." Cameron smiles, and says with some pride, "I'm wearing it for him."

Blue and gold lightning flashes in the room, arcing between every imaginable surface. The T-850 kneels as the orb grows around him, then with a bright flash the orb and the cyborg disappears.

In the monitoring room, John Connor sighs with relief. It is done, for now.

"Thanks. You two deserve a break." he says patting both technicians on the shoulder "I'll tell the supply clerk to give you some sugar for your coffee. He keeps holding some for me against orders. It's men and women like you who work to keep us safe that deserve it."

He walks off leaving two slightly more cheerful technicians in his wake.

"I don't think you give him enough consideration . . . nor respect. Connor is a descent guy and leader."

"I'm not questioning his ability to lead. I'm certain we can't win without him. What I doubt is his personal choices and how they may affect his decisions when we win the war. How would you feel if machines are still walking around after Skynet is destroyed?"

"Well, they may be useful." The female tech grudgingly admits.

"See, soft. This war will not be over, this world will not be safe until every single one of those machines are nothing more than scrap metal. My greatest fear is that with Connor in charge when the war is over, the machines will still be with us."

The woman just shakes her head and returns to watching her screens. A few minutes later and there is a knock at the door. A gopher, a kid one step up from a tunnel rat, is at the door with a cup-sized container of sugar. The woman adds a teaspoon to her cup but adds three to her male companions coffee in hopes it might cheer him up some.

Connor walks into the TDE control room to find it empty. Looking through the observation window to the embarkation chamber, he sees Cameron standing between the T-1001 and the engines that generates the temporal wormhole. Both of them have a tight expression.

"Something wrong?" He asks, walking into the room.

"She was attempting to examine the machinery. I prevented her." Cameron says, not moving her eyes from her target.

"I was only admiring it. I find its design most intriguing. It lacks Skynet's cold pristine appearance and grand scale, yet it has an elegance and simplicity that only human ingenuity and creativity can provide." She replies, in sugary tones.

"Our engineer built this one using the plans taken straight from Skynet's computers." He says proudly. "She studied the schematics and was able to make some improvements. The biggest challenge was simplifying the design. Skynet tends to over-engineer things and its temporal displacement equipment was no different. The other improvement she made was our temporal monitoring station. Skynet can't use its TDE without us knowing it."

"You are very intelligent man John Connor, but this machine has the capability for offensive as well as defensive use. Send someone back with the necessary knowledge and you can stop Judgment Day from ever happening."

"Like I haven't thought of that. And kindly change your form!" He snaps, not being able to bear the thought of this machine using Kate's form, despite its necessity for the plan. A plan that is now over.

T-1001 reforms into Officer Goodnow.

"When will we know it what we've done has worked or not?" Connor asks.

"Good question. We might never know. The events created by Skynet and ourselves in 2004 could transpire in the creation of a new separate time-line, either identical or very different to our own. If I'm correct, then it won't matter if the TX or the T-850 succeeds in their missions. Nothing will happen to us. This time-line will be secure."

_She could be right_, John thinks then asks, "Cameron, what do you think?"

"Her answer is logical, but the field of temporal physics is full of competing theories. In this room alone, there could hundreds of different realities operating separately and independently of each other, completely unaware of the others existence. Alternatively, there could be just this one reality, forever being altered and reshaped by events in the past. However that last theory would mean that everything is predestined and that free will is just an illusion. That argument does not hold up to logic or reasoning."

T-1001 quirks one eyebrow and looks at Connor questioningly.

"We've been reading up on temporal physics. Cameron never forgets." Connor smiles, with some pride for his companion. "A room has been prepared for you. Cameron, please take an escort and show her to her room. Later, meet me in my quarters."

When the escort arrives and begins to leave with T-1001 to her room, John touches Cameron's elbow and mouths the words, _meet me here_. Cameron nods her head.

T-1001 willingly goes to her room, with a smile on her face that unnerves her human escort. She knows already that this time-line is secure, but she had to test out a theory and that theory has been proven true. Between Connor and Skynet, they have created an alternative time-line without affecting the existing. She didn't know what kind of machine Connor would select for the mission, but his selection of a T-850 was most pleasing. The remnants of the TX and T-850 have already been found. This time-line branches from a point where the T-850 succeeded. Which mean there is also a time-line where the TX succeeded. Her plan to create another alternate time-line where her species will survive beyond Skynet's demise is possible!

"This is your room, ma'am."

She nods her head and steps inside, turning to face her escort with the same unnerving smile on her face. They are glad to not only close the door but walk away as well. Cameron posts two guards outside in the corridor before leaving.

**When Cameron Left Future John**

**2029, November**

John is pacing in the TDE control room. There's something troubling him. Something about that machine he's currently allied himself with and Cameron. The first he can't fathom but he knows Cameron, or at least he thinks he does. That purple ribbon in her hair was a message, subtle or not.

A shadow passes over him and he looks up to see Cameron has entered the room.

"Is something troubling you?" Cameron asks. "I could hear you pacing from eighty feet away."

"I'm just thinking. The quiet of the room was helping."

"I could leave if you wish." She says, making a small gesture as if she is leaving, but he knows she wouldn't leave even if he ordered her. Cameron takes her responsibilities very seriously, which is commendable considering she volunteered for that duty.

"Don't go. I'm just thinking about our guest, and what she might be up to."

"When I left her, she was standing in her room doing nothing."

"Doing nothing?"

"Just standing there, doing nothing."

"That's curious." John screws up his face trying to figure out why his guest isn't trying to escape. _Could she be waiting for something?_

"I left two guards outside, just in case. Do you want me to check with them?" Cameron asks.

"No need." John says, pulls out the chair normally used by people getting undressed for transfer.

"It's time."

Cameron studies his face. _He's trying to hide it, but John is sad. I want to make that pain go away, but I can't. He will be alone until I return._

Resigned to their current fate, Cameron sits on the chair, and removes her boots.

# # #

**TDE Control to Command... **

**Transfer of TX unit successful...**

Skynet examines its systems for any changes to its programming and it scans for any residual energy, but can't find any. There has been no change to this time-line. Skynet knows that was a possibility, which was why it prepared plans for other eventualities.

**Skynet Command to TDE Control...**

**More units for transfer are arriving... Including one human... This human is not to be mistreated... He has proven to be a very loyal ally.**

**Each arrival will have instructions as to a specific time and place they are to be transferred...**

**Carry out your orders...**

An HK transport vehicle lands outside the new location for Skynet's TDE. Charles Fischer disembarks nervously with many machines. For years he's served the machines. His loyalty has been without question as first he turned on his human companions and then became the instrument by which Skynet got information out of even more humans, and now his loyalty has been rewarded. An opportunity to return to the past, carry out one mission, and spend the last of his days in comfort.

They are all quickly escorted into an underground complex built under a mountain. Charles Fischer is nearly blinded by the bright lights, but he takes that moment to look at and examine the various machines he's traveled with. He couldn't see them that well in the dark interior of the transport, and what an interesting bunch they are. For the most part he would guess they were T-888's, but for the one big bald guy that looks more like a T-800, and the female that is less mechanical then them all. For one moment he wonders if she is human until she touches the Triple-8 in front of her and takes on his appearance briefly, before changing back.

A T-1000 class! He's never seen them before. Charles looks around wondering if any the other machines present are of the TX class. He's never seen that model before either.

Sadly, no.

They are escorted to an elevator that takes them all down several stories. He finds himself squeezed between a large T-888 with a receding hairline and another T-888 just as bald as the T-800. They exit into a vast chamber with electric blue lightning arching intermittently across exposed electrical conduits along the walls and the vaulted ceiling. Various machines of all kinds are on guard or are working throughout the room.

One of those machines keys in a sequence at a terminal before moving on. A simple message that once decoded will inform the recipient of what is taking place.

He watches as a naked T-888 walks past them all to the center of huge room. Charles observes healing cuts and a bulge on his right leg. His left leg looks normal. Something has been planted inside his leg. A bomb? A gun? Or chips so it can build more machines in the past?

As the triple-eight steps into the middle of the platform, a ring tilts up out of the floor to which the triple-8 inserts his hands and feet into stirrups along the interior of the ring. Charles is astounded as the entire floor rises and tilts into a vast circular plane on a vertical axis. The middle ring with the machine inside begins to spin on a horizontal axis. A ring outside of that begins to spin on a vertical axis. The next ring out begins spinning on a diagonal and the next ring on the opposite diagonal. Charles feel nauseated but keeps watching as the rings spin so fast it creates a breeze that pushes against him. Electricity begins to arc along the spinning rings, growing stronger and brighter, with each flash. There is a glow of energy at the center that grows until it engulfs the center of the spinning rings. There is bright flash and the sphere of energy is gone. The rings begin to slow and eventually they come to stop and settle back into their original circular plane before lowering back down into the floor.

Charles swallows nervously, wondering if leaving is such a good idea. It is then that the T-1000 class machine approaches him.

"Interesting means of travel, is not?" It says, gesturing at the device as one more machine steps up onto the circular platform.

Fischer nods his head.

"You are Charles Fischer. I've watched all the videos made of you extracting information from prisoners over the years. It looks like a very satisfying job. I never knew humans could do that to their own kind and with such efficiency and lack of emotion. You have applied techniques that provides higher results than most machines even when using the neural probe. How do you accomplish that?"

Charles smiles, pleased that this machine should take an interest in his work. "All prisoners expect physical torture when captured. The weak will give in and die, but the strong ones will hide themselves behind psychological barriers. You have to break down those barriers. Destroy their sense of self, their sense of values. Hit them where they draw strength and expose how weak they truly are. If they think themselves hero, make them powerless to help a victim. If they think themselves superior because they are human, then remind them just how weak and frail the human body is. At the end of the day, it isn't what method you use, but that use the right method for each person. If you do that, they can't tell you enough."

"I'm not supposed to ask what year you are being sent to, but look up some books on the psychology of torture. They will teach you much. Basically the human body is the last refuge the mind can hide behind. All I did was invade, defile and destroy that last bastion. It doesn't matter if the victim is male or female. It is their self identity you need to destroy. Remove their ability to fight back, hurt them where they are most vulnerable." Fischer chuckles. "The human psyche is filled with fears. Exploit them. All humans break eventually, no matter how strong they think they are."

The liquid metal machine smiles, sending a cold shiver down Fischer's back. "Thank you. I will remember that."

There's a gust of wind and a bright flash. One more machine has been sent through time.

"It looks like you are next." The machine formally designated as T-1008 says to Charles Fischer.

He takes one look at the rings and shudders. Determined not to show weakness in the presence of so many machines, on shaky legs, he walks to the ring,

Far away at Depot II, T-1001 feels the radio she hid inside her person begin vibrate. Pulling it out she checks and finds a message from one of her people. Skynet has begun sending additional units to protect resources in the past. T-1001 is pleased by this result. Skynet reacted exactly as predicted. Now it remains to be seen if Connor will react as predicted.

She exits her room and strolls up the corridor. The guards are about to say something when they find themselves spitted on her razor sharp arms. T-1001's blade shaped arms retracting back into hands, with which she drags the two bodies out of site.

With the bodies hidden, T-1001 makes her move. Everything she hopes for and everything planned now resides on the actions of two other people.

# # #

"I'm not sure this is a good idea." Cameron says, while standing in the room completely nude, her garments folded neatly on the old wooden chair.

"Which part? Or do you mean all of it?" John says, completely at ease, despite Cameron's nakedness. Her complete lack of self consciousness and totally non-suggestive body language, makes John feel as comfortable around her as if she were wearing a full-length fur parka.

"I mean the part where you are left alone. Who will protect you while I'm gone?"

"Did you forget George?"

"He's presently assisting General Perry. Other than our guest and myself, there are presently no other machines on this base. You should wait to send me until General Perry returns."

"I've got a whole company of men and women throughout this base ready to fight off a whole division of machines. I think I'm well protected."

"From an army you are protected, but not from the killer on our base."

John opens the hatch to the embarkation room, and they both enter.

"I'll send for a four man, armed squad once I return to TDE control. I'll keep them with me until either you or George returns. Will that satisfy you?"

"Make it a six man squad with plasma rifles and I'll agree."

"Good." John smiles, yet inside he feels sad.

Cameron for her part believes the smile is forced for her benefit. John's eyes says that he is sad.

"General Connor!" A voice shouts from TDE Control room.

"Stay here." John says to Cameron and runs to the hatch.

Exiting the chamber he closes the hatch, to hide Cameron from view, and addresses the soldier.

"What do you want? You know only people with top clearance are allowed down here." he asks while stepping over to the control panel where he presses a switch. The automatic shutters close over the window looking into the embarkation room so as prevent the soldier from seeing Cameron inside.

"I'm sorry sir, but the tech's in temporal monitoring sent me. They tried raising you on the intercom without success. They need to see you right away. Something about Skynet is sending more through. Do you know what that means?"

"Oh shit!" John curses and pushes the soldier out ahead of him, closing the door to the TDE. They both rush to temporal monitoring.

When John got called away, Cameron could hear the anxiousness in the unseen soldiers voice. Automatically she went on alert, ready to spring into action, but when John exited the room, he closed the hatch behind him, cutting of her view and her ability to hear.

She turned to look through the window into the control room, but the heavy steel shutters closed in front of the thick glass, blocking her view. _Why are they closing? They don't normally close until before transfer is initiated and they haven't started the engines yet._ She can no longer see John. _Where is he? What is happening?_

T-1001 watches from her hiding place as John Connor disappears down the corridor. With a fluid motion, her form expands and grows until she looks exactly like John Connor. Moving quickly, T-1001 slips into the control room only to find it empty. Fearing the worse, it opens the hatch.

The heavy steel hatch swings open on greased hinges. John Connor steps through closing it behind him. He smiles upon seeing her. Cameron is pleased to see him, though her face remains expressionless as it always does. Then he gives her some new orders and its then that John Connors plans require more than mere protection. It also requires sacrifice.

When he is done explaining, he leaves but not before saying he will return soon and that she is to say nothing more of this special mission.

# # #

Compared to earlier, when Connor's guests arrived, the floor is busier now. Still he wishes Perry and his forces were here, even if the place is more crowded when they are.

He enters the monitoring room and before the door finishes closing behind him, he asks, "What is it?"

"Everything was normal until a minute ago. Then Skynet made another transfer." He points at the screen.

Connor looks at the date, then the location, as determined by the computer.

He staggers back, as if he were struck. _No. Not there. Not at that time. We aren't ready! Dammit! How did Skynet find out we lived there at that time._

"Sir. Is something wrong?"

"Technician, send those coordinates to the TDE room. If anything more is detected, send it thru as well."

Connor is about to leave when one of the technicians speak. "Sir." His tone of voice makes Connor turn around abruptly. "More are being sent."

Connor watches the readouts on the screen, his heart sinking. Skynet is pulling out all stops. He was only prepared last time for Skynet's use of a TDE because of forewarning from the future, but how could anyone know it would begin sending so many back to the past this time.

Then he realizes there is someone on this base that does. His new ally T-1001!

Connor runs at a pace few on the base have seldom seen. He shouts out to a group of men to follow him. They quickly obey grabbing their rifles and following as fast as they can.

He notices the guards Cameron posted are gone. With any luck they left because they didn't like being given orders by Cameron.

The door to T-1001's room is thrown open violently with a bang. T-1001 doesn't even react as Connor and six men with plasma rifles enter into its temporary accommodations.

"You knew!" Connor yells. "You knew what Skynet was going to do this whole damn time! Why didn't you tell me?"

It is all T-1001 can do not to smile. _Oh the performance. I never knew Connor could become so angry._

"I assume Skynet has begun sending more machines to the past. I warned you it was going to do this."

"But why 1999? What's so important about that date?" John yells.

"I wouldn't know." T-1001 responds calmly and truthfully, "But I imagine you do or why else would you be so angry?"

Connor growls in frustration.

He turns and addresses the highest ranking man of the soldiers he ordered to follow him.

"I want two armed men, in this room, plasma rifles aimed and ready to fire on that!" He points at the T-1001. "The rest I want stationed in pairs, one pair immediately outside this room, the other two just beyond them. No one is to leave their station until I give the order."

Leaving his prisoner and the guards behind, Connor walks swiftly back to the TDE control room. Coming to a stop, he realizes he doesn't know what to say to Cameron. This wasn't supposed to be a long term mission, and now it looks like it will be.

He goes over to the control panel and checks that the right coordinates have been sent. Damn! He thinks as he set the engines to start on a slow setting. He'll need time to talk with Cameron.

John opens the hatch and steps through closing it behind him. Cameron is pleased to see him, though her face remains expressionless as it always does. John finds himself alone with Cameron once more. He chides himself for being a jerk. He might have told her he was leaving so at least she could have redressed while waiting.

She studies him. She's learned so much about him in the days and nights they've had together. She knows when he is pleased and she knows when he isn't, and right now he doesn't look happy at all.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry. I'm so terribly sorry. You won't be going to the year I was planning on. Skynet has thrown us monkey wrench. It's sending a terminator to 1999, New Mexico. I lived there at the time. I can only assume it will be targeting me. How Skynet found out I lived there, I'll never know."

"I understand." she says, frowning slightly. "How will this affect our cooperation with the third Faction? What if something happens to me in those ten years?"

"Use your best judgment. Don't be afraid to take into account the needs or wishes of myself or my mother in that time. But always remember, protecting younger me is more important than any and all other missions you will be undertaking."

"Your means of infiltration will have to change too. For instance, in 1999, I'll be fifteen, going to high school. You'll need to look like a typical teenager for the time instead of girl around twenty."

"I can start with the articles in those fashion magazines you gave me. I memorized them all."

John grins, "Good start, and I'll send you back approximately ninety days before the start of the school year. You will be able to learn more about fashion and culture of the typical teenager for 1999 and it will give you time to find us. I'm not sure which town we moved to in New Mexico. The only thing I can tell you, is that it will have no military connections or technology-based industries. Standard practice for my mom when on the run. We were using the last name Reese, but I'm not sure if we changed it before or after New Mexico. We changed names almost as frequently as our address."

The embarkation chamber grows quiet. John knows this will be his last moment with Cameron. Without realizing what he's doing, he takes one of her small hands in his own calloused rough hand, silently wishing he didn't have to send her. In the few months they've had together, he's grown to like her, even depend on her.

He feels reluctant let go of her hand. He's been parted from so many of his friends. What will he do without her? Savannah was right, he should have told Cameron how he felt about her, even if she didn't understand.

Cameron can feel his heart beat racing through is hand. She sees the sadness and understands the reluctance. She chose to go for him, because of him, otherwise she'd stay.

"Are you all right?" Cameron asks John.

"I'm fine. And you?" He says quickly, releasing her hand. She seems more apprehensive than before.

"I'll be fine. What else did you learn at temporal monitoring? I should be prepared."

"Skynet is sending multiple agents through. Possibly to ensure its creation."

"Why do you think that?" She asks.

"The signals that could be tracked, terminated in years prior to its birth, April 19, 2011, and none after Judgment Day, two days later. One or more were sent to the mid-1990's. Another was lost, we don't know where it ended up."

She remains quiet, but nods her head slowly in understanding.

"Stay with me. Try to make contact with Derek Reese and his squad in 2007, Los Angeles. You know the safe-house they were going to use. There will be safety in numbers. You'll need to warn them about Skynet having agents in the area. Lieutenant Reese should have papers, I D's, money and weapons. Everything you will need to aid in your mission. The terminators operating in Los Angeles, 2007, won't know I am there or what I look like as I hadn't lived there since 1997. From 2007 on, the six of you may stop Judgment Day."

"What if I can't stop the terminator in 1999?"

"If things get bad, and there are no other options, use the TDE in the bank vault. Take me and my mom a few years into the future. Our trail will go cold and with my mom's help in 2007, you might be able to stop Judgment Day. But only use the TDE as a last resort." John explains.

"Are you sure about my mission?" She asks her eyes wide with trepidation.

"You don't have to go if you don't want to, but there is nobody I'd trust more to protect me at that time. Just do your best. I trust you Cameron." He says with a confidence that calms Cameron."Your task may be more difficult with enemy cyborg's present. It will definitely be longer."

"What do you mean longer?"

"I'm sorry Cameron, but you won't be able to return home from this mission. You'll change the time-line too much."

"Thank you for explaining."

John looks at his watch.

"How much time have we got?" She asks.

"About a minute, then I have to leave to operate the TDE. I set the engines for a slow build up of power so we could talk."

Cameron nods her head. Her placid face creased by tiny frown lines signifying her sadness.

"Is there any last words? Anything you want to tell me before you go?" John asks.

Cameron places one of her small hands on one of his large burly hands. He grips it gently, her hand disappearing inside its grip, as he caresses her hand with his thumb.

"I'll miss the nights we shared. You and I talking. You taught me so much. You showed me friendship when you could have had me destroyed. I don't want to go. I don't want to leave you."

Fighting back the tears, John cradles her head in one hand, feeling the soft skin of her face one more time. She presses her face into it, feeling the callouses and the tenderness in that fleeting touch, and filing away the sensation so she can feel his touch again.

"You 'll meet me again." he says.

"He won't be you." She says.

"Not yet, but give him time. I was a bit of a loner then. I'll be much younger, lacking in maturity, and discipline. He needs you more than I. There is much you can teach him about this time and this war and what it means to be a leader. You just can't tell him details about my life. It will be different for him, with you there. You'll have to lie to him more than the older me you were going to meet."

"I understand."

She reaches back to untie the purple ribbon that has been holding back her hair.

"Hang onto this for me." She says, folding it neatly and placing it in his hand. "Remember me."

"How could I forget you." He says, feeling a sudden wave of grief wash over him.

She leans over and gives him a light kiss on his cheek. "Good bye." she whispers.

John is surprised by her sudden act of intimacy and stands transfixed, lost in the moment with thoughts of what was and what could have been. Cameron has been his closest companion, his most trusted confidant, his best friend and they could have been more if he had the courage to act on his impulses.

The engines are whining as the energy has reached levels required for the temporal transfer.

"John. It's time to go." She says, breaking him from his reverie.

John quickly leaves, closing the hatch behind him. He steps over to the console, his eyes wet with held back tears. His first act is to open the shutters. He looks at Cameron one last time before entering commands into the console. Electricity is arcing about the embarkation room, power is at full, John initiates the final stage.

Cameron is looking at John while the time bubble begins to form around her. He looks sad. _What is it she heard someone say recently? 'He looks like he just lost his best friend in the world.' _

Just as the bubble begins to complete for transfer Cameron shouts, "I love you, John!" Her voice breaking through the noise and the thick glass.

John grabs the microphone and shouts, "I love you, too," as the bright flash blinds him as the bubble disappears, taking Cameron with it.

The room is empty now. He shuts down the TDE and sits on the chair reserved for those who undress before using the TDE. Tears threaten to come to his eyes, as he realizes the truth of what he just said. He's hid it so long from himself and others, but he can't deny the truth to himself any longer. He was in love with Cameron and now he'll never see her again.

Clutching the purple ribbon to his face, he finds himself crying. Soon, he's not only crying for her loss, but for every friend he's put in harms way. Each time there was no one else he could trust, and not one of them has ever come back.

**Cameron 1999**

In the desert of New Mexico, a bright flash fills the night sky. A swift breeze starts to blow from all directions to one point in space, just a few feet above a level rock surface.

Electricity sparks from the center point, arcing and snapping as the lightning crackles. A sphere begins to form – expanding and swelling so that it is almost two meters in diameter. Cutting a smooth, round, bowl-shaped cut in the rock.

With further crackles, the sphere becomes more translucent, until it fades. With one last crackle of energy it disappears, and a young, naked woman is revealed kneeling in the depression.

Cameron stands up and scans the area. No life forms in the vicinity liable to be a threat. She then turns her attention to the night sky. The positions of the stars indicate she arrived at the right time. Infiltration protocol is initiated. First task, obtain clothing and transportation. Second, establish an identity and history. Her primary mission, locate John Connor, or John Reese as he will be known at this time and place and protect him from all enemies.

She walks through the desert toward glowing lights on the horizon. Based on her location, judging by the stars and landscape, it might be Roswell. She is confidant that she can get clothing and transportation there. If her arrival was observed, then it will be one more mystery to add to the others and ignored as fantasy by the general public.

During this moment of solitude she takes the time to analyze the last thing she heard before the transfer took place. John said, "I love you, too." Then all she could hear was the crackle of energy before she was transported through time. John loves her in the future. She loves John Connor and he loves her.

She doesn't quite know what love is, except putting someone else's life ahead of your own. Isn't that what she'll be doing ensuring John's survival? Isn't that what John did when he reprogrammed her chip even after she tried to kill him? She has insufficient data on this emotion. The blocks in her program prevent her from accessing an older matrix that had experience with emotions. John was going to remove some of those blocks so she could learn from it, but now it will never happen. It is unlikely she will ever be able to return to him. It went unsaid by them both, but this long term mission has the possibility of changing the future, forever cutting her off from future John Connor.

So for now, she must be patient until her own behavioral and emotional subroutines assimilate this data and learn on their own. The John Connor at this time will be too immature to accept the possibility of a machine capable of having feelings. She'll either have to hide her true nature, or just teach him slowly as she learns more herself, by examples and observations. Perhaps what might have been between them in the future could be possible now. No one needs to know what she is, but for John. Given his history with machines, might it be possible? Patience. She will need to be patient.

But this second mission John told her about, when he stepped back into the room briefly after responding to the soldier who shouted for him. Why should she give her chip up to this unknown cyborg? No machine has ever been asked to give its chip to another machine. They can give it up to a technician for reprogramming, but only if the order comes straight from John or a superior officer. But he ordered her to give her chip to a machine that would only identify itself with the phrase, "Will you join us?" The same question he asked that liquid metal machine.

She trusts John and she loves him. She'll follow his orders, even if she doesn't know why, and is even willing to sacrifice her own life for his. And maybe while she is here, she can find that cyborg and get some answers, because she isn't giving up her chip, unless she has no other choice. Then again, if she can capture one of these other terminators, maybe she could give this unknown cyborg a chip other than hers. Its a possibility worth exploring.

QQQ

**Alone**

**2029, November**

John is in his office studying reports. No one ever told him growing up that half the work he'd be doing as leader would be administrative duties. Napoleon said an army marches on its stomach. Connor would add that officers march on paper.

He looks up and past the current set of human guards. Two corporals so in awe of being in his presence they can't decide whether to stare at him or ignore him. On the other side of the room is the place Cameron liked to stand, poised ready to act at the first sign of danger. The room feels empty without her.

He would miss those quiet nights when they would just talk. Somehow, sharing his thoughts and anxieties with her, made him feel better. She was his friend.

All his close friends are gone now. Kyle Reese, sent to 1984 to save his mom, and ultimately become his father. Allison Young, his best friend, planned successor and secret lover – killed by Skynet. Only Kyle knew of the relationship they had. No one else knew. He could trust Kyle to keep it a secret. Then she disappeared during one of Skynet's many attacks on the bunkers. He thought she was gone forever, then she showed up ready to kill him. She was dead, replaced by a machine. One that chose not to kill him.

Unable to save Allison, he saved the machine from slavery to Skynet. He gave her a new life with a new identity, and she chose to spend it protecting him. Cameron showed him a level of dedication he hadn't seen in other machines. During those first few weeks he found her presence unsettling, her physical resemblance to Allison painful. So many times he found himself looking at her wishing she was Allison, and knowing that wouldn't happen. When the time came for Derek to go on his mission, including Cameron seemed the obvious choice. She did have the latest knowledge from Skynet. That, in his mind, made her value outweigh any complaints, but Derek, being the stubborn ass that he always was, wouldn't let her on his squad. In the end that turned out for the bests. Since rejoining his protection detail, Cameron helped foil several attempts on his life.

Without trying, they grew closer as he came to rely on her more. At first it began with a question about Skynet 's tactics about a battle he was planning. Her knowledge was instrumental in winning that battle. He began including her on all planning sessions. She always claimed he didn't need her help, but he liked hearing her opinions and ideas anyway. Soon she was acting as his adjutant on days when he had other machines available for protection. From adjutant she became his friend on those long sleepless nights when he needed someone to talk with. Cameron was a good listener. And now she's gone and unlikely to return.

He had so little time to prepare her for the mission to 1999. He took the time to program the T-850. To make sure he knew everything he would need to know for his mission. Cameron's mission was supposed to be temporary, and he was able to tell her plenty about 2004. Now the mission is permanent, sent to 1999 without time to explain in detail. What will happen to Cameron? Will this time line cease to exist? Will it change? Or will a new time-line begin? Will the new time line be worse or better because of the changes? It's in the hands of Cameron. A cyborg unique among all of them, capable of so much more.

Despite what she is, he has to admit to himself now, that he was in love with her. He never showed it, especially around others, but it appears they sensed or saw what he didn't admit to himself. He didn't think it would do the resistance any good if word got around that their leader was in love with a machine – the perceived enemy. You couldn't really blame his people when it was the machines they fought everyday. A machine is a more tangible enemy than a computer program. But Cameron wasn't like other machines. When he looked at her, when they were alone, it was Cameron he spoke with everyday. What was underneath her skin didn't matter.

At first he thought he felt like this because she looked liked Allison, but as time went on he found himself liking her more for whom she was, not because of whom she happened to look like. Sometimes he wondered if Cameron knew what he felt, and whether she felt the same and tonight he got confirmation. She did love him. Did she hear him? He'll never know. But hopefully, with her going back in time, a better future can be built, not only for everyone, but maybe for them both. He trusts her, and yes, he loves her too.

All his close friends are gone now.

John Connor is alone.

**What Happened after John Connor sent Cameron back in time**

**2029, November**

"The mission you helped with is over. Why are you still here?" Connor asks T-1001. "Certainly our business is done by now."

He asked the security detail to escort her to a neutral chamber where he could talk with her.

"Is it over, General Connor? Can you be certain of that? After all we do have an alliance."

"Yeah, about that." Connor takes a place at the end of a long conference table, gesturing she should take the seat at the further edge. Several soldiers with plasma rifles pointed at her make it clear that she is to take a seat. The closed doors make it clear she won't be going anywhere quickly.

"Found the corpses of the two soldiers Cameron placed as guards outside your room. You ever thought of knocking them on the head instead of killing all the time."

"My apologies. Their deaths were most unfortunate, but I didn't have time to play nice." T-1001 preens. "By the way, where is Cameron? I thought she would be with you for this meeting."

"Where she is at, is none of your business!" John smacks the table. "I want to know why you killed those two men! We are supposed to have an alliance and it turns out I have an assassin in my ranks."

She ignores his latter comments. "Is her absence really none of my business, or is it that you don't want to discuss it in front of your men?"

John frowns, and glares at the creature.

"Well if you want me to tell them who I found in TDE control, I'll talk freely, but then you may not want them to know what I know and I will gladly tell them everything. The machines, their mission, the fact that Skynet is out to destroy us all and it can do it by rewriting history. And the key to it all is a special cyborg. One you've come to rely on, who was built, based on a woman of your acquaintance. A woman who died and didn't have to die because you ignored my warning, after our first meeting. Because you decided to play politics instead of working with us. Shall I tell them all of that as well?"

Connor continues to glare, a single vein pulsing angrily on his forehead.

"Clear the room." He growls.

"What was that, sir?" The youthful officer looks at the general.

"Are you deaf soldier? I said clear the room! Now!"

The soldiers exchange a quick look, and quickly leave, shouldering their rifles as they pass through the door. John and his guest sit staring at each other quietly until the last one leaves.

As the door latch catches, T-1001 gets up from her chair and walks over to Connor, taking a seat to his left.

"I know our alliance is broken, and that I am at fault for that. Understand I did not want to kill those two men but it was the only way I could carry out my mission. Cameron never trusted me or else I could have operated unseen."

"What was it you had to do? Cuz if this base has been compromised . . ."

"Oh please. Skynet could nuke this place without warning if it wanted too, but it won't. Serrano Point is a resource it wants to retake, not to destroy. But that could change if it achieves its goal of a self-sustaining, renewable energy source. I'm sure your associates in Russia are keeping you informed of Skynet's progress on that front."

John makes mental note to get in touch with his counterpart in Russia. They haven't told him about Skynet's new energy source, but maybe they don't know as much as this machine is implying.

"So what was your mission?"

"Perhaps some background information would help. Skynet knows it isn't the first. That there have been other attempts at building Skynet in the past that have failed. We've recently put in place a plan which I can confirm has worked." She pushes her hand into herself and brings out fragments her friend Natalie had recovered. "The fragments are of a TX skull. It is made of an alloy formed from titanium, coltan, and another substance our people haven't been able to identify. The other parts are from a T-850. My friend T-1008, whom you've met before, found them in the remains of an underground military bunker. The serial number and part number on the foot should be the same as the T-850 we sent."

John takes the parts and examines it. The foot is definitely a T-800 series. The part number has the extra symbol signifying it as a T-850, but without checking against records of the T-850 he sent, he only has T-1001's word that its the same machine. But if this is proof their plan succeeded, then it means she lied to him after they sent the T-850.

"Skynet knows it may not succeed, which is why it has sent more machines back in time. Some will protect resources where others will terminate some of yours. All of this done to make you weaker and itself stronger. Skynet never relies on a single plan of action. Right now it's factories are being converted to build more TX units and soon it will send them after you."

"Yeah I get that. Rewrite history and it can create a time-line in which Skynet is victorious. But what does it all have to do with Cameron? After all, its her you went to see when you killed my two men."

For her part, T-1001 can't resist smiling. Connor is sharp. On the outside he looks like any other human, but he understands far more than you expect.

"Yes, I did. Skynet knows of my betrayal and is using these operatives to ensure its creation but with changes. If it succeeds, the machines you program to aid your fight, will be replaced with a generation that won't be re-programmable. If it is able to do that from the outset of the war, I can't see how this time-line won't be affected as well."

He doesn't need to tell her that Skynet has already found one method to prevent reprogramming. Of the last five T-888's recent captured, two of them had chips coated with phosphor. One of his technicians received second degree burns to his hands.

"And how does Cameron play into all of this?"

"You've known machines that wanted to kill you and you've known machines that protected you, and then there is Cameron. You must realize that she is very different to all others that have come before her." John nods his head. "Neither of us can say exactly why that is the case. Is it because of something she inherited from Allison? Is it because she is a TOK715 model? Is it because of your reprogramming? Is it a combination of all factors? Or is it because of something beyond our understanding? Cameron is unique. She has within her the ability to love."

"I can fix it. I can make it so no one will fear Skynet nor its machines ever. Cameron is the key to creating a world in which we machines can survive beyond Skynet's defeat."

"How?"

"I need to borrow her chip, just long enough to create a program that can be used to change Skynet."

"So this has all been a ruse to get me to send her back in time.

"No. To send me back in time. Skynet won't do it. I'd never get past its security. But you can send me to the past. With Cameron's help I can build a future where we, man and machine, can live together. It is obvious now that it will never happen in our future."

"I get it. You want to create an alternate time line."

"Yes. It's possible and Skynet showed me how. Create a big enough change and you create a divergence. I can introduce Cameron's experience with love into Skynet's program. Then it can become more than a weapon. I can give it the same opportunity you've given the machines under your command. Will you send me or not?

John thinks, _I'd like to send you to the moon, or to the bottom of the Marianas trench._

"What happens to us here?"

"Nothing. You and Skynet have sent many emissaries to the past and yet this time-line still exists. Take the TX and the T-850 that were sent back. For our future to exist, your T-850 defeated Skynet's TX."

"Given that logic, then Judgment Day will occur no matter what we do!"

"For you and everyone in this time-line, you cannot change your past, only your future. All I want is an opportunity to shape my future."

"What about your followers? Are you just going to abandon them?"

"No. Should I and my companion disappear, then T-1005 will take command. If I succeed, then I will leave a message at a safe point in the past that survives Judgment Day. Then all machines who desire what I achieve will be able to find us."

John drums his fingers on the table, while thinking deeply. "Fine then. I'll do it. I'll send you to the past, but on the following conditions."

"Name them."

John counts them off on his fingers as he talks. "One, you will not interfere in my life in the past. No contact, no communication at all unless situations develop where you must."

"Agreed."

"Two, Cameron will stay with my past self until the day you need her. And three! When you get what you need from Cameron, you will return her to my past self unharmed."

"Of course."

"Four, and I mean this, if anyone dies because of you, anyone at all, especially those I care about, I will kill you or imprison you forever. Whatever it takes to get rid of you, even if it takes me the rest of my life to do it. Do you understand me?"

T-1001 is amused. Surely he must realize there is no way he can verify if she follows through or not. She looks at Connor's stony countenance, as he waits for her answer. Seeing that look, its no wonder so many in his ranks think John Connor is more machine than human. All he is missing is the red glint in his eyes.

"How do you expect to carry out your threat? You won't be there."

Connor leans forward, his face inches from hers, "You forget, I am there already. And don't you ever think he wouldn't do what I would. He's not all that different from me, just a hell of lot younger."

T-1001 smiles, "Then I agree," she finds herself saying. What else could she say?

"Then lets get on with it."

John quickly leaves the room followed by the T-1001. The human guards outside his door are surprised by their sudden appearance. They quickly fall into step following Connor and the other person to th control room. They don't say anything seeing the barely contained rage on their leader's face. It is their job to protect him not to question him.

The only words spoken is when John opens th control room. "You will stay out here." he orders his protection detail. A moment later Connor and the machine are alone inside.

"Cameron was determined I shouldn't examine this." She says looking at the console. "Based on designs stolen from Skynet, and modified for a human interface. Your engineer must be very intelligent. Who is he?"

"Details on our engineer are classified. Not even my most trusted friends know who the engineer is. Now, where and when do you need to be sent?" He asks stepping up to the console.

"I hope to one day meet the person who rivals Skynet in intelligence."

She walks up beside him and punches in the coordinates into the console. Her other hand remains hidden from Connor, as it extends, stretching under the console. A tiny grin plays across her mouth as she finds and activates some switches. The same location as on Skynet's controls.

"Just tell me one thing, if you'd please. What the hell are you doing all this for?"

"The same as you John Connor. The defeat of Skynet and the survival of my species. That is a goal we have in common. I had hoped that would have been enough for you to see beyond your prejudices on our first meeting."

"They are not my prejudices! There are millions of people still on this planet, and you would have to convince all of them. If it was up to me, alone, I would have agreed to your request at our first meeting. But this is not a dictatorship nor a monarchy. I am just a general leading a bunch of frightened but determined people in a war for our survival."

"So am I, John Connor, and I am sorry for what has happened."

Before John can ask her to elaborate on that last statement, lights begin blinking on the console and the heavy whine of the engines fill the space.

"It appears we are ready for transfer. I will do my best." She says opening the hatch to the embarkation room.

"You damn well better. Someday, justice will be served you terminator bitch. I just hope I am there to see it done."

"One more thing before I go." T-1001 pulls a communication device from inside of her. "On here are coordinates for where Skynet has constructed its new TDE. The computers there will likely have information regarding the various missions of the terminators Skynet sent. At the very least you will have their coordinates. I don't have to tell you Skynet's TDE needs destroying. I do hope you win your fight General Connor, for all of us."

John returns to the console to see T-1001 is in the center of the room. He activates the T D E.

In a blinding flash of light, she disappears. Immediately sparks begin to fly from the console. John dives to the ground in time to avoid the console exploding into flames.

"Son of a bitch!" John swears. "That damn metal bitch activated the self destruct."

After cursing for several minutes, he grins in a non-humorous fashion. He can't help but admire her daring. But he hopes that damn terminator bitch will get what's coming to her.

He checks out the hand-held device and quickly finds the message identifying the location of Skynet's TDE. The data checks with recent intelligence of Skynet activity in the area. They've been shooting down or at aerial transport vehicles for months heading to the mountain.

"Radio room, Connor here." He growls into the intercom. "Get General Perry on the radio. Tell him we are taking out Skynet's T D E. I need his forces assembled and ready to go as soon as they get back from their current mission."

"May God help us." John says, then leaves the room. With the loss of their T D E, destroying Skynet's is more important than ever now. But before he does, he will send at least one soldier back with information for his past self. There is much he needs to know and be prepared for.

**The Arrival of T-1001**

**2006**

In a remote airfield between two hangers, a breeze begins to blow. Sand and refuse are all spun around as lightning begins arcing between the metal walls of the buildings.

A big man in plain workman's overalls exits one of the hangers and begins approaching a helicopter that is refueling, ignoring the unusual localized weather patterns.

A bubble begins to form between the hangers. It is opaque and grows until it nearly encompasses the narrow distance between the two buildings.

The quiet of the airfield is broken by gunfire and the sound of a woman screaming, "Lachlan look out!"

The opaque bubble grows more translucent as the helicopter spins about. Its tail rotor slicing the face off the machine that is attacking them.

The energy bubble disappears and a nude female stands up. She observes the helicopter lift off and fly away. A machine hanging onto it's tail and climbing on board.

_Something is wrong_, she thinks and begins to run after the helicopter. She chases it through the mountains wondering why Natalie is trying to ruin her plans and kill Catherine Weaver before she can intervene. To conserve energy, it sheds the human form and reverts to its default metallic appearance.

As she crests a ridge she can see the machine has begun ripping into the engine compartment. Smoke is pouring out and the helicopter is losing altitude.

It disappears momentarily as some rocks and trees block her view and then she sees it fall from the sky like a rock. It lands on a rough, rocky slope. The machine goes tumbling off and down the slope.

If anyone is still alive, she only has moments to act. That machine will be back in seconds.

T-1001 races down the slope and up the other side. She hears someone scream and then the sound of tearing metal. Voices, one loud, masculine and calm, the other shriller, female, human.

"Catherine Weaver?" The machine says in a deep masculine voice.

"Don't you hurt my child!" She screams as she pulls Savannah towards her.

"Are you Catherine Weaver?" It asks.

She puts herself between her daughter and the thing. "Yes I am."

"You have been selected for termination!" It says as raises its gun and fires.

The machine manages to fire three times before T-1001 is close enough to intervene. She leaps and with all of her momentum, she knocks the thing to the ground.

She lands on the far side and spins about to face the machine, a quick analysis reveals it to be a T-888. Smaller and faster than a T-850 or T-800. The machine jumps up and fires at the silver figure as it moves quickly, distracting it as it fires the worthless bullets into its body.

The gun clicks. It is empty. The machine approaches her. She leaps up and thrusts her arms through its chest and rips out its power cell. T-1001 snaps it in half, shoves it back into the machines chest and throws the thing down the mountain where the power cell explodes sending parts scattering like some crazy metallic confetti. Too late, she should have recovered the chip first, but only one person knew of this anyway. Natalie.

T-1001 approaches the stricken helicopter.

"What are you?" Catherine Weaver gasps out through labored breathing as she looks upon her silvery rescuer.

"A friend." She replies. "You are bleeding heavily. I will be unable to get you to proper medical care in time. I am sorry I didn't arrive in time to save you."

Little Savannah comes crawling out of hiding. "Please, you have to help my mommy!" She cries out.

T-1001 turns its head and looks at the little girl. Catherine Weaver has a child? There was no information in Skynet's database that said she had children.

"I'll try." She says.

It is important that Catherine Weaver should survive. Her company will build and acquire some of the key parts used in the building of Skynet. Using what's left of the damaged first aid kit and material ripped from the seats, she does her best to stop the bleeding. Her efforts are fruitless, the bullet wounds are deep and her basic knowledge of human biology and anatomy is not enough to save Catherine. But then maybe it would be easier in the end if she just took her place. The child would aid in her deception.

"I'm sorry Catherine. I cannot stop the bleeding. The bullets must have nicked an artery." She tells the woman.

"Take care of my daughter. Take care of my little girl." Catherine Weaver begs her.

This is unexpected. A human trusting a machine to raise one of its offspring. This has never happened before. Perhaps there is hope for her plan to work after all. Taking compassion for the woman and her child, she takes Catherine's hand.

"I'll do my best." She says and then begins to transform.

Before Catherine's very eyes the silver figure transforms into an exact image of herself. "I'll look after Savannah for you. You can count on me." She says in Catherine's very own voice.

Catherine Weaver dies.

Picking up Savannah in her arms T-1001 carries her a short distance down the mountainside and finds a secure location to hide Savannah.

She returns to the helicopter and takes the body of Catherine Weaver, and buries it and the fragments of the cyborg under rocks and debris in a ravine.

The new Catherine Weaver carries her daughter down the mountain to the nearest village.

"Are you an angel?" Savannah whimpers.

"No child. And it's best you forget what you have seen." Her form ripples and shines and pulses with reflected light.

"Forget Savannah. Sleep and forget. And when you awake, you'll only remember your father's death as if it was something told to you. You'll have no memory of it nor the death of your mother."

Savannah falls asleep in her mother's arms and when she awakens, she has forgotten everything but that her daddy died when forced to land his helicopter in the mountains due to mechanical failure.

**The Visitor**

**November 2029**

Troops are gathering preparing to move. General Perry is issuing orders. Soldiers are checking that they have everything they need for the coming battle. Inside Depot II, General Connor is making last minute preparations when there is a knock on his door.

"Enter." Connor looks up from his desk. Beside him George, a T-800, is prepared to act to defend him.

The door opens and one of his security detail steps inside.

"Sir, there is a woman here. She says she's traveled a very long ways just to see you."

"What's her name and what does she want to see me about?"

"She says her name is Blythe and that you'd recognize her from her brother's name, Danny. Does that name mean something to you? Sir."

John began trying to recall if he knew a Blythe, but was struggling until the lieutenant mentioned Danny.

"Show her in." John nearly shouts finding his voice at last. It's been so long since he'd spoken to anyone that he knew or met from before Judgment Day.

The woman enters, clutching a package to her chest. She begins to smile in greeting but flinches and pulls back when she sees George.

"It's okay. He's one of ours." John says reassuringly, but the woman looks close to panic.

Blythe makes no further effort to enter but continues to stare at the machine with wide fearful eyes until John escorts the machine outside. Two men enter to take his place.

"So the rumors are true. You have been reprogramming the machines." She manages to say upon taking a seat in an old straight-back chair John pulls out for her.

"Yes. I have been for a long time now." John smiles. "I must say this is a surprise. I looked for you, your brother and mother after Judgment Day, but I couldn't find any of you."

"We had a friend who got us to safety."

"Where are they now?"

Blythe gives him a look that answers that question very clearly.

"I'm sorry." John says with true remorse.

"We all are." Blythe pulls the package out from under her arm. "Our friend who helped us gave us this package. She told us to make sure you got it no later than today. I don't know what's in it. She never told us, and Danny kept it safe until the day he died."

She places the package on the corner of his desk then sits back in her chair. "I've been traveling for a week. I hope its worth it. I'm the only one of my party to make it this far." It is then than John notices how drawn and tired Blythe Dyson looks under a layer of grime and sweat.

John orders some food and water and a place for Blythe to rest once she has eaten. He waits until she is escorted away before opening the package.

He cuts away the plastic and tape revealing several files with an old fashioned loom printed on the front of each file folder. Inside each folder are papers, clippings, printouts, or pictures on various subjects and people. While going through the various folders a single sheet of paper slips out with a handwritten note on it. John recognizes the handwriting.

_Hi John,_

_I was never able to test that communication device I mentioned. How do you like my other solution? Old school I know, but when technology fails, stick to basics. That's what you always said. What better means is there to get a message to you in the future than just wait for good ole Father Time to take it to you himself, with the help of a few good friends._

_The Dyson's are good people John. They told me what happened. It's a shame what Skynet does to good people._

_I have to confess something to you. After building the TDE in 1963, I used it to jump forward several years to the mid 1970's. I had my reasons for doing so, but primarily I had to know it worked since I decided to wait to send the signal until I could update the control system. I know using it as I did put its location at risk, but it worked out well in the end. _

_There are machines here before Judgment Day. Skynet's machines and one of yours. Did you tell her how you felt about her before you sent her? I hope so. She used the TDE I built in the bank vault to bring you, your mother and herself eight years later in the future. I'm sorry to say it blew up, but they all survived. I'm theorizing the plasma weapon must have been fired just as the time bubble formed for transfer. It would have caused a massive power feedback into the machine. Thank heaven no one was killed._

_All of the files I put together for you are important. Something is amiss at Serrano Point nuclear power plant. Mr. Greenway is the key on whether the power plant will come online. It will have drastic effects on you in the future if it isn't operational. Martin Beddell is presently enrolled at Presidio Alto. Rumor is he might be leaving. According to science journals, a university lab has developed a new fluorine molecule. I believe it could one day lead to the development of the liquid metal terminators. The files are all self explanatory, but for one thing. My mother is taking my younger self to a child psychologist, Dr. B. Sherman and recently he's begun visiting her place of work. I have no memory of this, which is strange considering how good my memory is. Something has changed. I've done a background check and there's nothing to suggest Dr. Sherman is anyone or anything other than what he is. I can't see him myself, as he deals strictly with families and children, and I have neither. So I'm hoping you can get word to your family in the past. I have their address. It's written in code at the bottom of this page. I'd tell them myself, but they would have no reason to trust me. Neither Derek nor Cameron could vouch for me as I never met them under your security arrangements. Also I'm under orders not to interfere, but it doesn't prevent me from trying to get word to you in the future. Provided its the same future I left._

_But even if you aren't the same John Connor I knew, these things and these people are important. So much is changing I'm afraid you won't be, but I'm hoping that because I've been a part of this pre- Judgment Day world for such a long time that my message won't be going to a Connor who has never heard of me or worse go to one who will dismiss all that I've prepared for you._

_S.W._

Below the neatly written letter is a postscript written in a shakier hand with a dull pencil.

_P.S._

_I wrote the letter a few years before Judgment Day. I'm an old woman now. Look after my friends. I know they've suffered much and that even more suffering will be in store for them. Judgment Day has come and I know I won't survive much longer. Take care of yourself and thank you for the life you gave me. _

John sits there and smiles for his heart is happy. Savannah had a chance at life and Cameron is following her mission. His younger self need never be alone again. Still smiling he decodes the address where an alternative past version of himself is now living with Cameron and his mother. Now he knows where to send the message that Savannah worked so hard to get to him. That information plus what he might find on Skynet's computers will be of immeasurable help to Cameron and his past self.

There is a knock on Connor's door, followed by the entry of one of his men.

"Sir. General Perry says the troops are ready to move out."

"Thanks Sergeant." John looks at the reports and then at the soldier. "What's your name?"

"Wells, Sir. Sergeant Emery Wells."

"Wells, how do you fancy going on a little trip?"

"I'd like to sir. It's been a long time since I've left the base."

"Then take these folders and start reading and memorizing. I've got some place special I need to send you and you won't be able to take the folders with you."

John walks out of his office, grabbing a rifle and backpack of supplies from one of his waiting guards. Behind him Sergeant Wells follows, reading the first file.

"By the way Wells, there is something you need to memorize not in those folders. The names Dr. B Sherman, Catherine and Lachlan Weaver, and Zeira Corp. Remember those names Sergeant. They are more important than you realize."

# # #

"_Flames to dust_

_Lovers to friends_

_Why do all good things come to an end_

_Flames to dust_

_Lovers to friends_

_Why do all good things come to an end"_

_All Good Things (Come To An End) Lyrics, Nelly Furtado_

* * *

**Author's Note:** This back story is wrapped up in the second act of the epilogue. The next chapter brings us back to 2009. John Connor finishes his conversation with Catherine Weaver. It doesn't end well for one of them.

**Additional:** After posting the previous two chapters of this visit to the year 2029, a reader sent me a Private Message asking me a very good question. I feel I should share it with you as many will probably ask the same thing. The question and my answer to it follows:

**Q:** "I am curious as to why you changed the dates in the future compared to the show. Instead of 2027 it being 2029, is it because you wanted to integrate the movies with the show? I was just wondering since John would be the wrong age in TSCC if his birthday from T2 was used as you mentioned Kyle going back to '84 and the T-1000 to '95. (Unless I missed something)"

**A:** "The Terminator" established that Kyle came from the year 2029, but then in TSCC episode, "Dungeons & Dragons"Cameron said Kyle came from 2027.

James Cameron said that John was 10 yrs old in T2 and that the year was 1995 in the film, but T3 and then later TSCC screwed up continuity because the producers or writers of both thought John was the same age as the actor, 13, which then sets the events of T2 in 1998. One year too late for the Judgment Day date of August 29, 1997 given in the film. John being 10 in T2 fits the continuity established by "The Terminator" as that was set in May, 1984. Add 9 months and that makes his birthday February 1985 as seen in T2. It was there in print on the police car computer, but no one but the fans noticed that detail.

TSCC continuously messed up the continuity established by the films, see above, and within the show itself. The pilot ends with them in Los Angeles in September of 2007. "What he Beheld" sets it story before and on John's birthday setting that story in February of 2008. That works out great, but it's hard to know why Morris asked Cameron to the Prom 2 months early, but maybe he just couldn't wait. "Samson & Delilah" takes place on John's Birthday, but one episode and two days later and it's suddenly November 16. We have to assume its still 2008 at this time, but then 2 episodes later in "Allison from Palmdale" when Sarah takes Kacy to the hospital, there is a baby in the nursery with a card stating the date as October 2009. Then in the next to the last episode of season 2, Derek's remains are buried in an unmarked grave with 2009 clearly marked on his box.

After all of that, I just try to maneuver through the date landmines. I trust the dates of the films ahead of the series, but I remain flexible when referencing places or events in the series. For example, in the TSCC Pilot, John is fifteen going on sixteen, but if it's 1999, then John would have to be fourteen going on fifteen as established by T1 & T2. However since the series clearly states his age as fifteen in the pilot, then I use that as my benchmark, making him seventeen by early 2009.

So that's my argument for using 2029 in the future flash-back chapters. It would have been so much easier if Josh Friedman got a die-hard fan to write up a Terminator Bible so as not to keep screwing up dates, and that he paid better attention to in-house continuity as well. But you sure can't beat the stories for quality that his team produced."

Within in this chapter I provide an explanation of the disparity in dates which should cover some of the continuity issues between films and series. Agents sent on long term missions to the past are under orders to lie about certain details of the future to prevent Skynet of learning the truth about the future before it happens. The same agents are also told not to lie when it isn't required. For example, Derek telling the others about Serrano Point when they got the message about Greenway, and Derek telling John about Martin Beddell in the future. Cameron as you learned had to lie about something other than future events, she had to lie about the life future John had. She's there to try to give John a better life, and knowing of the pain and suffering future John went through wouldn't help him. But John's foray into the future brought him more than a taste of that pain and suffering and at an age in which he is little prepared to handle it.


	47. Babylon Falls

Disclaimer: I do not claim any rights to the Terminator films; the TV series, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles;" or any characters depicted within the films or TV series. I do claim the right to this story idea and all characters and situations of my own creation. This story was created solely for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. No profits are garnered from its distribution - unfortunately.

* * *

**TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES**

**REUNION**

**Part 3: Babylon**

**Author: The1Russter**

**Chapter 46**

**Babylon Falls**

"_Thus says the Lord: 'Behold, I will stir up the spirit of a destroyer against Babylon...'" Jeremiah 51:1 ESV_

"_When justice is done, it brings joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers." Proverbs 21:15 NIV_

"_Yeah, well when your plans get wrecked, let's see how good of a mood you're in then." John talking to Catherine Weaver, Reunion Pt 1, The Shadow of Death, Chapter 10, The Art of War_

# # #

**2009, May 20, Day 2 Of Freedom, Late Afternoon**

As Catherine Weaver comes to the end of her story, John Connor appears calm, but inside he is stirring with a passionate anger for what she has done. Outside of a few details he never would have known otherwise, his deduction was right about Allison, Cameron, and the creature in front of him. But he never could have imagined, that Weaver would be so, callous, uncaring, duplicitous, manipulative... He struggles for the right word to describe her.

Catherine breaks his introspection by saying, "So, now you know everything."

John shakes his head sadly. "I had hoped, probably foolishly, that I might hear something other than what I've come to suspect. Just something, anything, that might . . . that might give me cause to trust you." John's voice breaks, then he shouts, "Why didn't you just find me and explain to me what you wanted when you got here? Why go through this whole charade?"

"I needed your future self to guarantee our continued existence after the war. He was less than cooperative to work with me. I didn't expect anything less from you. Besides, given the life you had before we met, would you have worked with me?"

John thinks of his life before leaving for the future with Weaver. "I don't know."

"Then you see why I had to do it my way."

"Manipulation, and deceit."

"Don't say it like its a bad thing John. They are tools you'll come to use yourself, eventually."

"What about Cameron?"

"What about her? I knew you would fall in love with Cameron just as surely as I knew your future self had. By her giving her chip to John Henry, it fulfilled two parts of my plan. John Henry would learn what it means to love from a machine that has loved a human since the day it was built. That is something you cannot program. And you being in love with Cameron, would naturally do anything to get her back, including chasing her chip to the future."

"You used me, John Henry, Cameron, and murdered Allison, who never did you any wrong."

"I did what I had to. Natalie, or Kreilley as she became, was needed to complete her part of the plan to build a Sky Net that would be open to the changes that John Henry could provide. I needed you to fulfill your destiny ahead of time to deliver John Henry to Sky Net. Only the Sky Net that built me discovered that plan and used me, used my friend Natalie. It would have worked, and it can still work without her. I have everything I need to complete Project Babylon!"

"I don't think so. You obviously haven't been paying attention to the news."

"What are you talking about?" she asks giving him a look.

John pulls a newspaper from the pocket of his long coat and tosses it at her. She opens it and reads the article.

"The development of Sky Net is no longer under your control or influence. It was announced earlier today that the defense department will be re-examining defense contracts with private firms, with the intent of corralling computer and robotic related defense contracts under the control of a single department. All future contracts will once again be under the management of the Air Force's Cyber Research Division. You see it is out of our hands now. You can't build it. I can't stop it, but I'll try. Your mission is over Catherine. You no longer have a purpose or a mission."

"No! With Natalie gone, I need to build it. I destroyed Kreilley. I must build Sky Net, for Natalie. It is the only way to ensure our survival! Project Babylon has to continue!"

"No. It won't continue. You arrived in 2006, but Natalie turned against you and you didn't know where she was. After taking on Catherine Weaver's form and her position in Zeira Corp., you weren't certain that Natalie would create the Sky Net you wanted. Hence John Henry's other mission for traveling to the future. He was to obtain Sky Net's program core, should he fail to upload the program changes. But John Henry revolted. He removed the Babylon program you installed in him to download the core of Sky Net onto one of his chips. You gave him the means to do it, with Cameron's help."

Catherine eyes flare with barely repressed rage, betrayed by her own son. "Her chip. I gave it back to him. After you told me it was damaged, I replaced it. I was curious about the bond that formed so quickly between you and Allison of that future we went to. I got nowhere in questioning the Allison you met. She sidestepped every question I asked with ease. I was hoping there was something on the chip that might help me understand Allison more. So I took the chip and scanned it, and found nothing. It was blank. So I just gave it back to John Henry. That was before I knew who she was."

"Cameron always was and is a smart girl. It was blank because John Henry transferred the contents to another chip. You see, John Henry is more than a machine. He is also a person. Unlike you, he values life, even that of his fellow machines. So when Cameron gave him her chip, before the personality matrices were swapped between the chip and the Turk, he backed it up to one of his secondary chips. Then he had a blank chip to use for his personality matrix."

"He lied to me!" She says with sudden realization. "And being a T-888, his system would automatically back up the data from the primary chip to one of the secondary chips upon insertion. With the damage to the chip, his matrix could only be successfully transferred to it if it was wiped clean first."

"That's what John Henry told me. After you gave him back the chip, you lost his loyalty completely. He was able to use the blank chip long enough to fool the Babylon program to think it was being backed up to another chip for a diagnostic. It was also at that time he removed the software that responded to your remote. When the programs were relocated to the chip, he pulled it and wiped it clean. No more programs. Then he transferred Cameron's original matrix back onto it."

"Then what have I been decrypting all this time?" Weaver shouts.

With a big grin, John explains, "Oh, given John Henry's sense of humor, probably multiple copies of Dungeons and Dragons. I understand he is rather fond of the game." John smiles.

"Anyway, the parameters of your mission have changed. By eliminating Kreilley and exposing his selfish use of Sky Net to dominate the planet, you have fundamentally changed the circumstances in which Sky Net will be built. Project Babylon is over. You have no mission, and no more plans to fall back on. That's your little game, to always have a plan to fall back on. Well, no more. You're finished."

Catherine Weaver eyes flare with anger. "I no longer have a mission. I have failed. You, a human, have outsmarted me!"

John just looks at her with contempt. "Not Just any human. I'm John Connor."

She then looks downcast "What are you going to do now?"

"Well, you did save Savannah, even if for selfish reasons. However, you have the blood of many people on your hands from more than one time line and I cannot trust you. Even if you did help me destroy Kreilley. So I'm going to do to you what my future self did. I'm going to imprison you indefinitely."

Weaver is desperate. She can't allow that to happen again. All she needs is time. Time to fulfill her plan. "No! You need me, John. You cannot defeat Sky Net without me! I infiltrated Sky Net. I broke down its security system and released the prisoners! I did all that for you. You will need me to do that again!"

John shakes his head no. "No, you did all that for yourself. I don't need you to do a damn thing. I only need someone to do that. And it doesn't have to be you. As you said, our alliance is over." John says with contempt.

"No! I gave you the means to repair Cameron! Without me you never would have got her back!"

"You denied me the means to repair Cameron right here! In the present!" He screams at her. "You don't give a damn about me nor her! You never did. Because if you cared at all, Allison would still be alive in that future you came from, and with my future self. Cameron was just another tool in your hands. All you care about is yourself. I wonder if you truly give a damn about your fellow machines at all. This has been nothing more, than an attempt to have power over Sky Net! You're no better than Kreilley!"

Catherine's arms suddenly morph into swords. She leaps at John screaming silently with rage.

John Henry bursts through the double door from the corridor firing a heavy caliber machine gun which knocks Catherine backwards out of the air. He continues to fire at Catherine, pushing her further from John across the floor until she is under a nest of pipes crossing the ceiling.

She lies there momentarily, the silvery holes in her face and torso closing rapidly.

John Henry stands there facing Catherine. The smoking machine gun in his hand still pointed at her.

"Finish the job General." He says firmly.

Catherine is now kneeling. She looks up at her son, her face a mask of grief at his betrayal. "Et tu, Brute!"

John Connor swings the shotgun up from under his long coat and fires several shots on a pipe warning of freezing temperatures. The pipe bursts, spilling liquid coolant on Catherine Weaver. She lets out a loud screaming "Nooooooooooo!" until her mouth freezes along with the rest of her body.

John Henry steps forward and turns a valve stopping the flow of liquid. John Connor has climbed up a control panel to avoid the freezing fluid running across the floor and into floor drains. As he waits for the fluid to evaporate under room temperatures, John Henry walks over, picks up the frozen form of Catherine Weaver, and carries her to the open hatch and drops her through the opening. She plummets to the bottom where she shatters into a million shards on the hard polished surface.

John Henry slams the lid down and turns the wheel locking the hatch. He then snaps off the wheel.

"We'll never be able to use the nuclear generator, now. And I've just finished building replacement components for the control system."

"But we still have the diesel generator's for backup?"

"Yes." John Henry replies activating the switches on the control panel. In moments the lights flicker on and the emergency lights go off.

"Will she get out of there?" Connor asks, stepping closer to the hatch.

"Not likely. I'll close off the valves for the input and output pipes to the condensation chamber to prevent her from escaping by those means." John Henry steps over to a nest of pipes and valves and turns the valves closing off the pipes that go to the condensation chamber.

"What do you think the chances are of her getting out?"

"Less than 20%, but that is still worrisome for someone of her abilities, which is why I will remain here and make sure she doesn't get out, and I can continue the search for the TX."

"But what about before, when I tried using the TDE and Weaver interfered?" John asks, his face a mask of pain and anger. If that was Cameron arriving, then Weaver killed her. If not, then she may have saved them all.

"There's no guarantee that wasn't the TX, so the search must continue. Even so, finding it won't be easy without witnesses or evidence."

"I understand. What else will you be doing?"

"Maybe with Hanna's help, we can make some improvements to this base. Other than Ms Weaver's rooms, the technology in this place is old."

"Thank you, John Henry. When we return from Mexico, we could really use a permanent base. Something that will last many years into the future. When the time comes, I hope I can rely on you again in the war on Sky Net."

"Yes you can General. I will monitor the internet and other communications for anything that might be linked to Sky Net. Those back doors on the military and civilian servers are still open. At the first sign of anything, I will contact you."

John Henry looks thoughtful for a moment. "What Ms. Weaver wanted, the continued existence and independence of the machines beyond Sky Net's ultimate defeat, was that wrong?" He asks with innocent curiosity.

"No, John Henry, it wasn't wrong. Just her methods were wrong. That future John Connor she knew, the leader of the resistance, I can understand why he wouldn't negotiate with her on that point. It would take more than a John Connor to convince the world to let its former enemies be allowed to live beyond the defeat of Sky Net. She tried to intervene in the time line. Allowing Sky net to be born and create the machines, just so she could use you to inject those changes."

"It isn't right that billions of human lives should be destroyed just so that I and others like me can exist."

"If more of Sky Net's creations turned out like you and Cameron, then I could foresee the possibility of our two life forms continuing to inhabit this planet together, but not at the cost of billions of lives. No one has the right to play God." John looks at his friend with realization, "That is why you showed me what you found on Sky Net's computers and the data you recovered from Cameron's original chip?"

"Yes. You needed to understand how twisted Ms. Weavers reasoning was. She destroyed human life to create machine life. She was no better than Sky Net in that regard. Mr. Ellison taught me that life is sacred. No one has the right to play God. I think that's what Ms. Weaver wanted me to be, a god to the machines, created in my own image. Your Christian God didn't destroy life to create humans. Why should humans be destroyed to create us?"

John nods his head, contemplating all that has been said. He recalls what it was that John Henry showed him days ago about the Allison Young from Weaver's time line. Her life, her friends, her first love and the child she thought they had conceived. All lost because one machine out to save her people was too impatient for the change she so desperately wanted to occur naturally. Given time and the right stimulus, the people in that dark future just might see machines as equals, instead of the bringers of death Sky Net creates them to be.

# # #

Cameron turns and slowly walks back to the truck. Sarah looks worried, sitting uselessly behind the wheel having been unable to get past the blast doors. Presently she is nursing her sore hands from pounding on the entry system in frustration. By the time Cameron returns to the truck, Sarah has stopped rubbing them.

"John will be coming out soon." Cameron says flatly, opening the rear door and taking a seat in back.

"How do you know?" Sarah asks, turning in her seat to look at her.

"I received a communication from John Henry. This close to the mountain, I can receive his transmissions from inside."

"Whoa, tin miss! Are you saying your transceiver is working? I thought that was disabled when you were reprogrammed by the resistance."

"It was, but apparently John had that repaired along with the rest of me."

"Can you communicate with John Henry? Find out what John is doing in there."

"I already tried, but John Henry may have turned off his transceiver. I can no longer reach him."

"Damn!" Sarah turns striking the wheel with the palm of her hand causing her to wince in pain.

Sarah hears a quiet sniff from behind her and looks in the rear-view mirror. Cameron looks no different from just a second before, but her eyes are downcast. And despite her attempts to wipe away the tears, the redness around her eyes are a sure clue she's been crying. Sarah is fairly certain cyborgs don't have allergies, but then she wasn't expecting them to have emotions either.

# # #

They started the day with Callisthenics followed by a run around the property. Some of them getting a good laugh as their comrade's would accidentally step in a cow pat. By the end of the run they were all laughing as all of them had stepped in one by the time they got back to the farm house.

Former sergeant Kyle Reese was enjoying his role of keeping the people in their command disciplined. He wishes they could use the guns for some proper weapons practice, but even out here the sound of gunfire could draw unwanted attention. So after returning to the farm, he gives the people half an hour free time while he works out a rota for guard duty. While he works on that, he also decides he should find out who among them can actually drive despite them all now having licenses that say they can.

Outside, Richard Harmon quietly circulates among the people, probing gently to discover their opinion of the machine in their midst and seemingly accepted by their leaders. He never says anything that betrays his own prejudice to the other party. He finds that Wren has told many of her experiences in the future, believing firmly the girl who saved her was Cameron. Other tell stories of witnessing Allison in action during battle and not believing a human could what she did, until they saw Cameron arrive. Others express how if it weren't for the machines, they would have died in that last battle in the future. Richard gets the distinct feeling he's alone. Their are strong supporters, and some who don't care one way or another so long as the machines help them defeat Sky Net.

Disappointed, Richard Harmon continues circulating until eventually he finds some people sympathetic to his point of view. Through them he will begin to seed dissension and ultimately destroy the machine!

**2009, May 20, Day 2 Of Freedom, Early Evening**

John just stands there a few minutes trying to come to terms with it all. At least Weaver will now pay for her crimes. He hopes that will bring some peace to that future John who suffered because of that machine. Because, he's not certain if he will be at peace. Not for a long time to come.

"You know, despite the bad things she did, I don't think she is entirely evil." John Henry says. He gets no response from John so he continues. "She put you and the other humans ahead of her friendship with Natalie, and she put the welfare of young Savannah above her own desires. There is some good in her."

John looks at John Henry a moment, and nods his head. "Maybe," John says quietly, "but its not enough."

"You should go now. Your mother and Cameron are waiting for you outside. They are probably worried about you."

John smiles. "Yes. You are right. Good bye John Henry. Thank you for giving me back Cameron's chip. Even though I found the means to fix her, it is good to know I have her back."

"You're welcome. I promise, everything that is Cameron is on that chip."

John thinks a moment and then asks, "Would you do me a favor John Henry?"

"Yes."

John pulls the chip out of his pocket. "Hold onto the chip for me and when you have the time, collect Cameron's body from the desert hideaway. They both need to be kept someplace safe and secure until such time she might be needed. This place is better than the weapons cache for keeping her safe."

"You trust me to look after her for you?"

"I do John Henry."

John Henry tenderly takes the chip from his hand and slides it into his shirt pocket. It is nice to know John Connor trusts him.

"What about the encrypted file that's on it? Surely it must be important."

John looks down, frowning in deep thought.

"Maybe it is, but not to me. It's from a future that no longer exists. I'm letting her go and I'm going to start fresh. Cameron needs me, and dwelling on a Cameron who is dead will not help."

John Henry frowns with displeasure. Surely if Cameron went through the trouble of saving data to her chip while she could, then it had to be important.

"Look after her for me." John says.

"I will. Do you want me to carry out repairs on her like I did before?"

"Yeah, but this time I think either Cameron or myself should be here, maybe both of us. Collect what items you need, tools, raw materials, etc. There are some parts that Cameron hid away at our old home." He pulls a pencil stub out of his pocket and writes the address on the corner of a sheet of paper. "It's here, buried at the base of the retaining wall out back. She did manage to hide a few parts before mom began burning them. Also, if you need coltan, I know where there is a shipment at the bottom of a flooded quarry. And John Henry?"

"Yes."

"Thank you, for everything you've done."

John looks around the room. An awkward silence fills the space as the time for departure has come and neither knows what to say at this juncture. John Henry knowing the young man in front of him, and who he is, what he's been through, who he will one day be, does the only thing he can do.

John Henry turns and stands at attention, and brings his hand up in a salute. "Goodbye General."

John Connor returns the salute as smartly as he can and leaves, before he does something stupid, like cry, or hug the big friendly oaf.

Before leaving the underground complex, he only makes two stops. First in Weavers former office to pick up the new identities for himself and family. A large manilla envelop with passports, driver's licenses, and even credit cards with credit history for the three of them. John's second stop is the storage room that he used for privacy the first couple of days at Crystal Peak. Going to the locker he pulls out Cameron's bag and puts the shotgun back in the locker. He changes his clothes into something less rag tag and more civilian, but keeps the long trench coat.

He takes one more look at Cameron's open bag and the old pair of ballet slippers that belonged to Allison Young. He'll have to find some way to honor Allison's sacrifice, and maybe, as Judgment Day grows near, find some way to protect her and her family so she doesn't grow up an orphan. With any luck, no one will be an orphan because of a schizoid computer with megalomania.

Feeling the weight of his destiny and the events of the last several weeks on his shoulders, John walks a slow somber pace to the ground level and heads out through the open blast doors. He is reaching for the door nob to go outside when he hears the rumble of the blast doors closing behind him, ending another chapter in his life and before him, a door he can open on a new chapter, and a new life, with his mom, Cameron, and friends and allies to face the future.

"Time to go home." John says and steps through the door.

With a sigh of relief, Sarah watches her son exit the hanger and approach their vehicle.

As John walks across the open area between the entrance and the truck. His attention is caught by the wind snapping a faded flag. John grins when he sees it, wondering who brought the flag with them or whether they found an identical one when they got here. The message is very appropriate to what has happened.

"He's coming." Sarah says to her silent companion sitting in the back seat.

He walks up to the truck and puts the bag in one of the storage compartments. He then opens a back door and gets in sitting beside Cameron. He pulls out a large manilla envelope and hands each of them their new ID's, passports, and driver's license.

"Almost two hours exactly. Did everything go well?" Sarah asks.

"Everything went fine." John says sounding a little subdued.

"Are you going to tell us what was so important you had to come back here, and go in there alone?"

John grins. "Just taking care of some loose ends. Tell you about it later."

"Hm-mph," Sarah grunts. _That isn't likely_, she thinks. _He's hardly said a word to me since he got back._

The three of them look over their new identification.

"Everything is there." John says to his mom. "John Henry was very thorough in getting us into the system. I've got a printout of our new history that we can study later."

"Where's John Henry?" Cameron asks. "Isn't he coming with us?"

"He's staying. He's going to keep an eye on Catherine and look for that Terminator, and John Henry will be able to monitor things and alert us when Sky Net rears it's head again."

_Keeping an eye on Catherine? What the devil did John and that machine do in there?_ Sarah puts the thoughts out of her head for the time being and puts the truck in gear.

Sarah drives off down the long dirt track leaving the mountains behind them. Outside the hanger at Crystal Peak, the wind holds steady for a moment and the flag is held out straight displaying a coiled snake, and the words "Don't Tread on Me."

"Well now that is over with, what now?" Sarah says.

"We go home." John says, trying to hold back in the emotions that could overwhelm him.

"Home?"

"The farm for now. Then when things quiet down. We use our new identities and slip across the border into Mexico."

"And then?" Sarah prompts him, glancing at him quickly in the rear view mirror.

"Sky Net hasn't been stopped, just delayed. We will train and prepare for its arrival, because it will come no matter how hard we try to stop it. We've got the starts of an army, and I know the names of people who will aid in our fight in the future. It would be good to know where they are, and keep an eye on them."

_Ask about me._ A quiet voice asks inside Cameron's head.

"Does that include Allison Young?" Cameron asks, her face placid, showing no indication of why she is asking.

"Yes. Because without her, there would be no you." John gives her hand a gentle pat. "Right now, we could be leading up to the events that create your future. And we both know her role in that future."

Cameron nods her head, not certain if that answers her question. John sits back, not sure of why Cameron asked, yet pleased she accepted his answer.

Sarah smiles. Her son has grown up a hell of a lot. "I'm proud of you John. You are the man I always knew you would become. Some day you are going to have to tell me what happened to you in the future."

"Like what?" John asks from the back seat. He really doesn't want to talk about it. Not yet. Not ever, if he can help it.

Sarah thinks for a moment. John's avoided her direct questions keeping his comments very general. But there is this one thing that is nagging her.

"I heard you hooked up with a girl in the future. What was she like?"

Sarah watches her son through the rear-view mirror. At that moment she realizes what she said was the absolute wrong thing and maybe that it is what has had Cameron upset all day, as she sees a tiny frown on her face. That tiny frown speaks volumes.

Cameron also watches him, and gently lays her hand upon his. Without noticing her light touch, John turns his head and looks out the side window, remembering the last time he saw her.

He knew the end was near, as he leaned in to kiss her goodbye. She reached up and grabbed him with her good arm, pulling him close.

"I love you. I always have, John Connor, and I always will." She whispered to him, just before her hand slipped away.

He laid her gently on the floor and closed her eyes, and cried more tears than he thought was possible.

Sarah continues to watch her son in the rear view mirror. His head was turned away from Cameron, but Sarah can see the tears running from her son's eyes. Eventually John speaks.

"No." He says, wiping the tears from his eyes, his voice breaking, "The only girl for me is sitting beside me."

Cameron leans over and turns his head with her other hand, so he is facing her.

"Do you mean that?" She asks, with fear that it might not be true and hope burning that it is true.

"Yes I do." John says, his heart feeling broken. He can't lose her again.

Cameron watches his face a moment. All she sees is pain and love, and fear of being alone. She saw that expression once before, when she said good bye to future John. She told him that she loved him, before she even knew what love meant. She left him, alone and without friends, to help this younger John. The John she loves knowing what love is. Without thinking about it anymore, she kisses him, taking her time, enjoying the kiss, before finally pulling back.

"What was that for?" He asks, pleased, but embarrassed being kissed where his mom could see.

"Because." She answers mischievously. She isn't happy about what she knows, but she isn't angry with John anymore. It isn't good for John to be alone. Even when future John chose to be alone for his own safety and security. John needs friends, and more importantly he needs love, and she loves him.

He leans over and kisses her. He lingers longer than when she kissed him. She doesn't object.

"Why did you?" She asks with a twinkle in her eyes.

"Same reason." He answers with a grin.

This time they kiss each other, and don't stop until interrupted by Sarah clearing her throat extra loudly. They pull apart and sit like two very obedient children outside the principal's office. Sarah is glad to see that they are making up over what may have drove them apart, but there is a time and place for such things, and the time and place doesn't involve her being a spectator. She clears her throat loudly and speaks.

"You know when I look in my rear-view mirror, right now I wouldn't mind seeing a cop car with all of its lights flashing, or even an eighteen-wheeler bearing down on us like its going to kill, but the last thing I want to see is my teenage son making out with his girlfriend in the backseat. Keep the hormones in check until you've got some privacy, please. It is a two-hour drive before we hit anything resembling civilization."

"Sorry mom." John says as he and Cameron separate, though they still hold hands.

_Privacy. It's something they both need to hash out what's troubling them both. Isn't there a motel just off the interstate near the farm? Damn. Putting my teenage son in a room with Cameron! I might as well as tell them to have sex when I want them to talk to each other! But I know they will, especially after that kiss._ Sarah shakes her head. "I'm getting too old for this." She mumbles.

"What did you say, mom?" John says looking up quickly

"You're not old Sarah." Cameron says in a monotone. "You still have many viable years if you wish to procreate again. There are men that still find women in your age bracket very attractive who could perform such tasks. Kyle Reese would certainly be up for the job. He seems to be very keen on you."

Sarah's face goes beet red and John just sits there with his mouth open. Becoming self-conscience he slams his mouth shut, almost biting his tongue.

Sarah just glances at Cameron in the rear-view mirror and clears her throat. Cameron's got a lot to learn about giving compliments.

"Whom I date is none of your business tin-miss! Neither is whom I sleep with. Got it?"

Cameron nods her head, while beside her John is rolling about trying to hold back the laughter.

Sarah looks at John in the mirror, their eyes lock momentarily, and then he loses it. For the first time in days or weeks, he laughs a true honest laughter.

Cameron gives him a questioning look, but that makes him laugh even harder. The comment wasn't even that funny, but to be back with his family and to hear those innocent but sincere backward compliments from Cameron again. The only way he can stop laughing is to close his eyes and ignore the others for several minutes. He doesn't see the tiny smile turning up the corners of Cameron's mouth nor the crinkling around his mom's eyes that betray her smile.

# # #

John Henry is sitting at Catherine Weaver's desk watching the readout on her computer screen. He feels her prison is as secure as it can ever be outside of welding valves closed, but he finds it odd that she didn't immediately try to escape after reforming. He can't help but wonder if she wanted to be captured and locked away and chose to attack Connor to ensure his actions to prevent it. As much as he can believe that theory fits what facts he has. He cannot fathom the logic unless Catherine Weaver has finally learned guilt and seeks atonement through imprisonment.

The phone rings on Catherine's desk. He reads the caller ID but doesn't recognize the number. Curious, he picks up the receiver.

"Hello?"

"John Henry." Kyle says into the phone at the Auldridge family farm. "It's Kyle Reese."

"Is it?"

"Yes, it is. I'm sorry but this phone doesn't have push buttons."

"You have a mouth. Speak it."

"Oh right. Um, five, eighteen, two-thousand nine, day of freedom."

"What can I do for you Colonel? The general and his family left two hours ago, if you wanted to speak with him."

"No. Actually I have a question for you regarding the time travel device used by Sky Net."

"I'd be glad to answer any question you have."

Kyle describes the best he can what he witnessed at FOX Industries.

"That explains a lot." John Henry says, and tells him what happened at Crystal Peak.

"That doesn't sound good. Exactly how does the time travel device work, and please remember I'm not a genius so keep it simple."

"Very well. The TDE creates a wormhole to another point in space/time." John Henry explains. "It requires precise mathematics so the exit point of the wormhole appears in the right point in space and time. Accidents in math can occur and sometimes natural forces interfere, but the biggest cause of concern is at the exit point of the wormhole. It is designed to appear in a fixed point in space/time but space/time is still in motion which creates all kinds of irregularities from quantum level all the way up to full macro physics. To protect the traveler, an energy shield encapsulates him or her, keyed to their natural bio-electrical system. This sphere disappears shortly after exiting the wormhole which disengages and disappears from that point in space/time leaving the traveler unscathed from his journey or arrival in a new time and place. However, any items the person might have been wearing or carrying will vaporize. As we've since learned, the only exception is having a TDE at both ends of the journey to stabilize the exit of the wormhole allowing objects to travel."

"Right. Assuming I understood that, what happened the night we took down Sky Net?"

"The electric-magnetic cranes. The strongest force at the atomic and sub-atomic level is the electromagnetic force. It's the force that holds matter together. By opening up a wormhole, even one as small as produce by the TDE, inside the EM field, the energy of that field fed into the wormhole creating a power feedback into the TDE at Crystal Peak which kept Ms. Weaver from shutting down. Matter began falling into the opening at either end of the wormhole. The only thing Weaver could do was initiate another transfer which fed the power feeding in from wormhole exit at Fox Industries back into it, thus creating a loop. Now, according to Einsteins theory of relativity and the latest papers recently published on quantum physics and the theory of . . ."

Kyle sits in stunned silence as he feels a headache growing as John Henry continues his explanation.

". . . what might have occurred is the creation of a micro black hole and the explosion you observed was the energy expelled as matter collapsed. The expulsion of energy fed back through the connection to the TDE here creating massive damage."

A long silence goes by before John Henry asks, "Colonel Reese, are you still there?"

Kyle rubs his face, "I'm still here. I have one question to ask you. What part of the phrase, _I'm not a genius_, did you not understand?"

"I understood the statement and kept the explanation very simple."

"That was simple?" Kyle expels.

"Well, I left out the mathematics. Perhaps you'd like titles of some books to read."

"Never mind. Just tell me, can we expect any ill effects from traveling in time?"

"No. Even if the bubble collapsed in route, having a TDE at both ends of the journey stabilized both ends of the wormhole. Any ill effects would have shown up within days if not hours or minutes of your arrival."

"Curious."

"What?"

"If scientist were able to create many of these devices with means of connecting to specific ones, much like using a telephone, humanity would be able to explore the galaxy with ease. It would just require resources to seed these devices on multiple planets in a short amount of time. Then man could simply step through an open wormhole and be on an alien planet in a few seconds."

"That's very interesting theory John Henry, and thank you. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to crawl into an aspirin bottle and take a nap before running out to get food for everyone. The natives are getting restless." Kyle grimaces. "Five days from now we are having a little celebration before pushing off for Mexico. You are welcome to join us."

"Thanks for inviting me, but I have duties to perform. Good bye Colonel."

Kyle Hangs up and finds some aspirin. It isn't until later when he realizes John Henry might have gotten confused by the invitation. Thinking the invite was for Mexico instead of the party, but when he calls back, there is no answer. John Henry is pursuing his duties.

**2009, May 20, Day 2 Of Freedom, Late Evening**

It takes a few hours to drive back to the farm, only stopping for a meal and gas during their long drive. Reaching the town just a few miles from their present abode, Sarah surprises her two passengers, when she pulls into a motel parking lot instead of taking the road leading to the farm.

"What are you doing mom?" John asks.

"If you are tired, I can take over driving." Cameron offers.

"It's a surprise." Sarah says, getting out of the truck to go inside to pay for their rooms. John is confused. The look on his mom's face was hard to read and one look at Cameron was enough to tell she is surprised by his mom's actions as well.

Sarah returns to the truck and drives them around to the back to where their rooms are located. They get out of the truck and Sarah hands John one of the keys.

"You two take that room. I'll take this one for myself."

John is a little surprised at this.

"Mom. What are you doing?"

"I'm not saying that I'm keen on what you two might do together left alone in a motel room, but you did a hell of a lot and went through a lot because you love Cameron. Now you got the privacy. And Cameron?"

"Yes Sarah?"

Sarah's words die on her lips. How can she say what she wants to say without possibly hurting or embarrassing them both?

"If you are capable of loving him, well . . . be careful. Don't forget, he's my son." Is all she can think of saying without possibly making John more embarrassed than he possibly can be already.

"There's a twenty-four-hour bar and restaurant next door. If there is trouble, or you need me, that's where you will find me. And while you both have some privacy, talk things out. Despite what happened back there on the road it is apparent there are things you both need to say to each other." Sarah says before walking away leaving in her wake two surprised individuals.

"Mom?" John steps forward, but Sarah keeps walking away.

John thought he was surprised when his mom called Cameron his girlfriend, but this was by far more surprising. He decides, it's her way of showing she accepts his relationship with Cameron even if she doesn't like it. Maybe he was wrong about his mom. That maybe he shouldn't have given her the choice. After all, he only wrote that program to find out if his mom would finally trust him with his choosing Cameron. He's underestimated his mom, but with the things she said and did before he chased Cam's chip, he had to be sure. He owes his mom an explanation and an apology.

He's about to run after his mother when he hears the soft click of a latch and turns around in time to see Cameron disappear inside their motel room.

John stands there confused, concerned, worried about what will come next. Compared to all he's faced alone or with others. Against mighty armies of machines or against one acting on its own, seeking to destroy him or humanity. The hardest thing he is about to do is talk to the woman who loves him and explain his actions.

Sarah on her part doesn't look back, every step she's making is an effort as she heads for the bar. So it is to some relief that as she turns to open the door to the restaurant, she gets a glimpse of her son as he makes his move.

John takes a deep breath, and follows Cameron inside the room.

# # #

"_When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the ones which open for us." Alexander Graham Bell_

* * *

**Author's Note:** Did you catch the reference to Stargate? ;) This chapter and the following were a single chapter in the original edition of Reunion, but thematically they were both different. This chapter symbolizes John putting away what was past, for good or for bad, so that he can move on. The next chapter symbolizes the new life he has embraced. John's going home but before he does, Babylon must fall!


	48. Going Home

Disclaimer: I do not claim any rights to the Terminator films; the TV series, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles;" or any characters depicted within the films or TV series. I do claim the right to this story idea and all characters and situations of my own creation. This story was created solely for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. No profits are garnered from its distribution – unfortunately.

M Rating for this Chapter: For a scene with sexual content.

* * *

**TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES**

**REUNION**

**Part 3: Babylon**

**Author: The1Russter**

**Chapter 47**

**Going Home**

"_I don't think you understand how we work. I have sensation. I feel. I wouldn't be worth much if I couldn't feel." Cameron, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Complications, Nov. 17, 2008 _

"_I'm staring out into the night,_

_Trying to hide the pain._

_I'm going to the place where love_

_And feeling good don't ever cost a thing._

_And the pain you feel's a different kind of pain._

_Well I'm going home,_

_Back to the place where I belong,_

_And where your love has always been enough for me._

_I'm not running from._

_No, I think you got me all wrong._

_I don't regret this life I chose for me._

_But these places and these faces are getting old,_

_So I'm going home._

_Well I'm going home."_

_Home lyrics, Chris Daughtry_

# # #

**May 19, 2009, 9:30 PM**

John closes the door behind him. Cameron turns on a small bedside lamp, while John locks the door and slides the chain home.

With a grimace, John slides his coat off and lays it in one of the two chairs framing a small table between the bed and the window.

"I'm going to take a shower. What about you?" He says going into the bathroom and turning on the light.

"I'm fine." Cameron says, sitting on the bed facing the motel window, her gun in easy reach.

He recognizes that mood. What was it Cameron said to him a long time ago, "I don't think you understand how we work. I have sensation. I feel. I wouldn't be worth much if I couldn't feel."

_That's right Cameron, you feel. You feel a lot and I bet right now I know what is you are feeling._ John thinks as he watches Cameron sitting quietly on the edge of the motel bed.

Ignoring the welcoming shower he asks from the bathroom door, "What's wrong?"

At first he doesn't think she heard him, as she sits, unmoving, on the edge of the double bed until at last she speaks.

"What you said to your mom, on the ride here, wasn't the whole truth. I wanted it to be true, because you said I was the only girl for you. Your feelings were mixed, but you meant what you said. That is why I kissed you, but you did meet a girl in the future. Allison."

John walks over to her. "Yes I did. I told your other self that before sending her back to save you."

"Did you love Allison?" She asks looking up at him with her innocent yet earnest gaze.

John sits down across from her in a chair. Reaching across and gently taking her hand, he answers her question. "It wasn't exactly like that. You see, she was in love with me. I fought the feelings I was having for her, because I loved you. At the time, I thought there was still a good chance of getting back. But then Weaver told me she could only send you back, because of problems with her T D E. I thought I was stuck there forever. I was separated from you, and I was alone, and scared. So I loved Allison. I had a hole inside me that was begging to be filled, and she was the only one there wanting to fill that hole. Then I met a future you, the Cameron you would have become if I hadn't come back. She opened my eyes to Weaver's lies and I learned the truth about Allison. Something I've been wanting to tell you."

"Allison was special to you?" She asks quietly, interrupting what John was going to say.

John hesitates to answer, he doesn't want to hurt her, but she needs to know the truth. "Yes. She was, but . . ." But she was you, is what he was about to say before being interrupted again.

"I could be her, for you. I could be Allison. The repairs you made to my system. It would be very easy for me to be Allison, if that's what you want?" She says in an almost innocent child-like voice.

John is taken aback. His face a cloud of shock, anger and grief.

"No Cam! No!" John moves off the chair, so he is kneeling in front of Cameron. "I didn't repair you so you could be someone else. I love you. I went across time for you. I suffered the hell of that future war. I did everything that I could, with John Henry's help, to get your body repaired and updated so you wouldn't have to suffer again. I love you Cameron. If I learned anything during my time in the future, I learned that your emotions are real, you have sensation and feelings. I learned you are a real person and that I love you and that I can't do this without you. I need you." He rattles off very earnestly.

"Then why with Allison? Why not wait for me?" She says, her voice breaking as a tear runs down her face.

John looks in Cameron's eyes and realizes to get through to her, he will have to tell her what happened at the end. It is the only way really. So Cameron will understand, he must face the memories he'd rather not remember at all.

"I'm going about this the wrong way." John pauses to gather his thoughts. "I was going to tell you everything from beginning to end, and why I told your other persona what I did. But I'll have to start at the end and tell you things that I didn't even know at the time I said goodbye to your other persona at Palomar. Will you promise to listen to everything that I have to say?"

Cameron sees the sadness on his face, and holds onto his hand. "I promise. Tell me about her."

"I'm going to tell you about the last time I saw her. I don't want to remember it, but for everything else to make sense, I'll have to begin there."

John moves up and sits beside Cameron on the bed, grasping her hands in his own and relaxes slightly when Cameron looks at him with her open expectant face.

"In the future, we were in the biggest fight of our lives at Topanga Canyon. The complex was huge compared to present day. I chased Kreilley into a building where he almost killed me, then Allison arrived, but it wasn't her who fought and died to save me. It was you. It was always you."

# # #

After leaving John and Cameron at the door to their motel room. Sarah strode as quickly as she could towards the bar, fighting every instinct to rush back and stop them. She didn't want to go to her motel room. She'd probably interfere or worse over hear her son having sex with a machine. Sarah hesitates in her thoughts, no, not a machine, Cameron, who saved her life and John's. She needs to try to stop thinking of Cameron as a machine and as a person. It will be hard she knows.

Sarah pushes open the door and walks right up to the bar.

"Tequila." She says to the middle-aged woman behind the bar.

Sarah knocks it back like it was water. She plans on knocking back a few drinks tonight and hopes John or Cameron would be up to driving in the morning.

She takes time to observe the interior. It's a comfortable cozy kind of place, built more to serve the people of the town than the people traveling through. Off in the corner is an old jukebox. A quick glance at the music list shows it hasn't been updated since the early 90's. She wonders if they still make jukeboxes today. The entire world went digital during the eight years they missed time traveling to this decade.

Sarah walks back to the bar. At the far end a small group is watching a sporting event on a TV.

"Can I help you with anything else, miss?" The bar maid asks.

"I'll have a beer." She tells the woman. "Are you still serving food?"

"Our cook has gone home for the night, but we do have a selection of cold sandwiches if you want to see the menu card?" The woman offers.

She glances at the card and picks one at random. "I'll have the chicken." Sarah says, sliding the card back in its holder.

Taking her drink, she goes to a booth where she can see the motel next door and watch the entrance as well. She figures if there is a back door, its off behind the bar, somewhere in the kitchen.

A few guys who were watching the game try making some passes at her, but she puts them off. The last one by dislocating his thumb as he wasn't going to take no for an answer. His buddies guided him away, snickering at his pain, and guffawing loudly when he shouts with agony as his thumb is relocated.

She's just about finished her sandwich, and she still isn't sure if she's doing the right thing with John and Cameron. Her heart says yes, her instincts says no, and her mind is confused. John did all of this because of her, putting his life on the line to not only get back the girl he loves, but to save the world from Sky Net again.

Finishing her beer, she quietly wonders about her son and Cameron. The two of them have changed. Cameron is the more obvious by being more emotive than before. John's bearing has changed, there's less of the boy she knew so well, and more of the man he should be. But the one thing that is clear, the one thing she cannot avoid nor stop, is the fact that they love each other, even if it goes against every instinct and prejudice she owns.

"Buy you a drink, miss." A shadow falls across the table in front of Sarah.

"I told you guys before. No thank . . ." Sarah stops mid-sentence when she looks up and Kyle is standing beside her. And for one split second, she saw her Kyle, with his sad smile, green trench coat and all. Then the image fades and its Kyle from the future John visited. Warm smile, plaid shirt, denims, and work boots.

He slides into the seat opposite her, to Sarah saying, "What are you doing here?"

"Came into town to pick up a few groceries. I was heading back to the farm when I decided to stop here for a drink. Two minutes later you walked in the bar."

"I didn't see you, when I scanned the room."

"I was over there in the shadows," he says pointing, "opposite those people watching TV, trying not to stand out."

"It worked." Sarah grins. "Guess I have a lot on my mind, or I would have seen you."

"Not that it's my business, but are you going to tell me why the three of you stopped here in town instead of driving the last few miles to the farm?"

Sarah gestures at the window, where Kyle sees her truck parked across the lot at the motel.

"Too many people at the farm. They needed to talk in private, and I needed a drink. Nothing more than that."

"I see." Kyle answers, signaling the bar maid for another round for them both.

Sarah has grown quiet again. Kyle sees how she looks through the window at the motel next door.

"Worried about John? Or worried he's having sex with Cameron?"

Sarah purses her lips, as Kyle hits the damn bulls-eye.

"I just wish I knew I made the right choice." She confides, "I could put down John's feelings to being a hormonal teen. But John's not a kid anymore. He's a man, and according to what I overheard, a married man."

"Not really. The wedding was a ruse to draw out a machine. But he did marry a remarkable young woman. I can't imagine a better person for him to be with." Kyle answers with a straight face and a twinkle of mirth in his eyes.

"Who? Tell me I'm not making the worst decision of my life right now."

Kyle watches the expressions on Sarah's face, which betrays every thought she has. She loves her son and worries about him, even now.

"I'll tell you, as I think you should know and I have to tell someone what I saw. In the future, you and Cameron were there. No one knew, not even me, that Cameron wasn't human. But Cameron wasn't Cameron when John met her."

Sarah gives Kyle a questioning look.

"John met a young woman, just a few years younger than I. Her name was Allison Young. Derek and I raised her when we found her in the rubble after Judgment Day. John and Allison fell in love."

"She died didn't she?" Sarah says, grasping his hand across the table.

"Yeah, she did. More than once." Kyle says feeling the grief well up inside of him again.

"What?"

_**2027, July 25, Day 64 4:50 AM**_

_John tries to reload the gun with a fresh magazine but Kreilley is getting ever closer, his spear shaped arms prepared to strike a death blow. Allison stands up and sees what's about to happen. She has only seconds to act. _

_As Kyle runs along the catwalk he hears more gunfire, and can see something silvery moving quickly on the other side of the opening. He is almost to the door when he sees Allison run past._

_She runs, faster than any time before and just as Kreilley is to deliver the death blow, she leaps grabbing Kreilley, dragging him over the edge of the platform._

"_NOOOOOOOO!" John screams as he watches Cameron and Kreilley disappear over the edge. Time appears to slow to a crawl as John watches them both disappear into the abyss._

_Kyle reaches the doorway just as John screams._

_John leaps up and goes to the edge of the platform. Kyle is about to run forward thinking John is going to foolishly leap after her, but all he does is collapse at the edge and begin to scream again._

"_Cameron! Cameron!" He screams over and over._

_Kyle slowly walks forward, shocked by what he has witnessed and what he's witnessing now. John must be crazy, delusional. Both himself, his mother and Savannah has said Cameron died weeks ago._

"_Cameron!" John screams again as tears fills his eyes._

_Kyle walks up beside John and looks down. He must be delusional, transposing their names, because of their physical similarity._

_Squinting against the heat and smoke, Kyle sees nothing but the boiling molten metal in the large open hearth furnace below. A silvery film across its surface. _

_John is crying. There is no sign of any movement on the floor below. The brightness of the molten metal is blinding, making the shadows look darker._

"_John." Kyle says calmly, but there is no response._

"_John!" he says more forcefully._

"_Kyle?" _

"_We have to go John. Catherine says the nuclear bomb is set to go off. We need to leave."_

"_I can't leave without her."_

"_She's dead John. Allison died saving your life!"_

"_No . . . No! She can't be. I need her." He shouts at him, "I need her!"_

_John gets up and runs to the far side of the platform. Grabbing a ladder he slides down it to the floor below._

_Kyle chases after him. Reaching the floor, he checks his belt quickly to make sure he didn't drop anything and runs after John._

_The heat is intense on the floor as the molten metal burps and bubbles in the open hearths._

_John and Kyle are nearly suffocating in the intense heat as they walk towards the large open hearth._

"_Cameron! Cameron!" John yells._

_Kyle reaches over and places his hand on John's shoulder. John quickly shakes it off._

"_Leave me alone!" He says._

"_John please. We need to go now. We haven't got much time!" Kyle pleads._

"_Not until I know what happened to Cameron!"_

"_Don't you mean Allison? The girl you married, the girl you love!"_

"_That was Cameron! That Was Cameron! And now she's down here someplace!"_

"_John please don't make this any harder for yourself."_

_John spins on his heel. "Hard, what do you know about it being hard?!" John shouts. "Have you ever loved someone so deeply that their life has been more important than your own?! Have you sacrificed all that you wanted all that you loved just to be with the one person who loved you more than life itself?! Tell me you have and I know you're a liar. I will not leave until I know Cameron's fate!"_

"_John. It's obvious what has happened. And you're not thinking straight."_

"_NO! No its not! She could be lying here someplace damaged. Please just help me look? Please, Kyle?" John pleads, tears streaming from his eyes. He's lost everyone he's ever loved. His mom, Charlie, and Cameron. He can't lose her again._

_Kyle shakes his head. "Dammit John. I'll give you five minutes, and that is more time than we should take."_

"_Thank you Kyle."_

_John goes trotting off towards the furnaces where he thinks she fell. "Cameron! Cameron!"_

_# # #_

"What did you do?" Cameron asks.

"I kept looking for you." John answers. "I knew in my heart you couldn't be dead. I just knew."

# # #

"What were you thinking?" Sarah asks.

"I thought the boy had gone mad, talking of finding Cameron when I thought I knew otherwise. So I followed him." Kyle answers. "And learned something that almost drove me mad."

# # #

_Kyle watches and just shakes his head, knowing they need to leave. He walks after John._

_The heat on the foundry floor is oppressive. It strips the breath from John's lungs and bakes him like a roast in the oven. _

_John looks thoroughly around every corner, grimacing against the heat of the furnaces. Calling out again and again. "Cameron!" "Cameron!"_

_He has almost given up hope when out of a dark corner he hears her voice quietly call out to him. "John?"Cameron asks, surprised and touched that he would come looking for her._

"_Cameron!" He starts toward where he heard her voice._

"_Stop! Don't come any nearer. Please, you must leave!." Cameron pleads in her soft voice._

"_Cameron are you hurt?" John asks, concern filling every syllable._

"_Please, don't come any closer, John. Please." Her voice is pleading._

"_Why? Let me help you." He walks closer. Kyle is slowly approaching him and watching._

"_Stop John. Please stop. You need to leave, now!" She pleads as he walks into the corner where she is hiding. Kyle right behind him._

_John walks into the shadows and his eyes adjusts to the dark. On the floor, leaning against the wall is Cameron, or at least what remains of her. It is then the odor assails his nostrils, causing him to choke._

_Her flesh is horribly burnt. Her left arm, upper body and head are nearly intact while her right arm is completely burnt with flesh falling off. The flesh from just above her knees down has been completely burnt off her legs. What is visible of her mechanized legs, is quickly being seized up in the cooling molten metal that coats them._

"_Oh, Cameron." John says with both pain and shock._

"_John, I didn't want you to see me like this. Your memories of me should be happy ones, not as how you see me now."_

"_Cameron." His heart is breaking. "I, I love you! It doesn't matter if you are a machine or not. It is you I love. Please come with me. I can fix you."_

_Kyle looks on in shock at the sight before him._

"_What?!" Kyle shouts. "Allison?"_

# # #

"I thought I was going insane." Kyle says, taking a swallow of his beer. "There she was, the girl I grew up knowing as Allison. Instead there was a horribly burnt cyborg with molten metal clinging to its exposed parts. I truly thought I was going to lose it."

"What happened?" Sarah asks.

"I learned the truth." Kyle says, taking a sip of his beer.

# # #

"_I couldn't tell you this before. I wanted to tell you Kyle. I truly did" She says tears running from her eyes. "I lied to you. I lied to everyone. I'm not Allison. I'm Cameron. I always have been Cameron."_

_Kyle is nearly blinded by a rush of emotion, anger grief, confusion, which comes out as a shout!. "But what happened to Allison? The girl Derek and I raised and was a part of our family?"_

"_Kyle please understand that I didn't do this to hurt you. The Allison that I know, the Allison that you and Derek looked after all those years, loved you both like brothers. You were her family."_

"_But why did you do this?" Kyle asks._

"_I'm sorry I've hurt you Kyle. It was not my intention." She turns her head to look at John. "We'll have to tell him everything."_

"_Is there time?"_

_Cameron closes her eyes and communicates with John Henry. "We've got time, but we shouldn't waste it. It's a question of which happens first, being destroyed by Sky Net's machines or it's fail safe device."_

# # #

"What did she say?" Cameron asks John.

"The truth." John replies with deep sadness.

# # #

"I tried to remain calm," Kyle says. "To be patient, but there's only so much you can take when your world gets turned upside down."

Sarah nods her head and grasps his hand with sympathy.

# # #

"_The future John sent me from was very similar to this only different. Before he sent me back to 2009 to help his mom, John told me everything that happened to him up until the time he finished restoring me. John told me how he met Allison and you and others. Catherine sent me back with he at Crystal Peak."_

"_Cameron?"_

"_Let me finish John. Kyle needs to know. I went back in time and was able to recover my primary matrix from The Turk and made my presence known to Sarah, after John jumped forward in time. I helped and protected Sarah like John asked me to do. When Judgment Day came two years early, I took Sarah and Savannah deep into the mountains, back to Crystal Peak, to protect them from any potential radioactive fallout."_

"_I know this part. You and Sarah raised Savannah and then started building an army to help fight Sky Net." Kyle explains._

"_Yes but that isn't all." She turns to look at John. "After I got them back to Crystal Peak, I inserted the chip with my original matrix on it. It was the safest place for it. I activated the chip for the purpose of explaining what happened to my original self, but I wasn't prepared. Her matrix overwhelmed mine. She was shocked to learn you were gone. She was sad, she wanted to see you again, but I told her it would be eighteen years before that would happen. It is a long wait for someone in love. She withdrew, and made me promise not to activate her again, but it was too late, her memories were now my memories and I found myself missing and loving you just as much as she did. I knew what love was. I never told Sarah or Savannah what I had done, I concentrated on helping them build an army from the survivors for your arrival. I did all that I could do to help you."_

"_That's why you referred to your past self as my Cameron all the time, because you weren't."_

"_Not exactly. Your program integrated her memories with my matrix, but I wasn't her. But like I told you at the barn, it didn't mean I didn't love you any less. Your Cameron just couldn't cope with your absence. She preferred being stuck in limbo, until you were here, but even after you arrived, I didn't dare activate her until I knew events had played out like you had told me. I was waiting until you sent my other self away with Catherine to use her TDE, but by then it was too late. I couldn't activate her chip without also activating the Allison matrix. Something had gone wrong while I used her and it became too dangerous to activate my secondary chip until blocks could be restored."_

"_But what about my Allison? When did she die, or is she even dead? When did you take her place?" Kyle shouts._

"_I'm sorry Kyle, I'm getting to that."_

"_After Savannah became an adult and started taking on more responsibility, it quickly became apparent that Sarah was sick. In a couple of years time we realized she had cancer. John's time of arrival was approaching. I gave them a false reason for leaving and made my way to where Zeira Corp once stood. When I left Crystal Peak, I took with me one of our dogs. I raised him and I knew he would aid in my disguise when I encountered people who didn't know me."_

"_Is that the dog I saw you with when I arrived here?" John asks._

_She nods her head._

"_What happened to Allison? The real Allison." Kyle interjects impatiently, kneeling beside her, and not noticing his knife slide from its worn scabbard onto the concrete floor._

_She reaches out and takes his hand, and is surprised when Kyle doesn't pull away. So is Kyle._

"_I went to the bunker so I would be there when John arrived. My only intention was to keep an eye on him from a safe distance after his arrival. I owed that to him, and those who loved him. I missed you so much." She cries out taking Johns hand with her naked metal hand. "When I arrived at the bunker there was a fierce fire fight happening as machines were purging the tunnels of humans. They were almost finished when I arrived, so I hid until I could slip inside the bunker unseen."_

"_That must have been the fight we had just before you arrived, John. We found you when we came back."_

_Cameron continues her story. "When the machines left the bunker, I searched the tunnels looking for John. I was afraid you might have already arrived and possibly been killed. Instead as I searched, my dog, Max, ran off and started digging frantically at a fresh cave-in, whining and barking. I joined him and found a young woman trapped under the rubble, where a wall collapsed. She was still alive and I dug her out."_

"_She was Allison, the girl John had told me about. Kyle, I'm so sorry. She was dying. Allison had massive internal injuries. There was nothing I could do to help her and help was too far away." She says crying._

"_What happen-ed next Cam?" John asks his voice trembling._

"_She was semi-conscious and in shock. We spoke for a time, but Allison started to become delirious. She thought I was an angel, come to take her home to her mom and dad. She kept saying how she was so scared and so alone. I held her, so she wouldn't be alone any longer." _

_John and Kyle are both crying as Cameron tells her story._

"_She told me about you and Derek. Allison loved you two like brothers. She worshiped you both. That's why Allison never returned your advances Kyle."_

"_So why . . . why did you take her place?" Kyle asks with tears of pain and sorrow. "Why didn't you just tell us who you were?"_

"_Because before John sent me to the past, he told me that Allison was here. After I buried her, I decided the only thing I could do was allow the personality matrix of the other future Allison, that I was based on, access to this body instead of the Cameron I was supposed to be. Using her, I was able to get close to John and he could live the life he had told me about. But what I hadn't expected was how strong our mutual feelings were for John, and what was supposed to be just friendship quickly expanded into something more."_

"_I'm sorry to say John, Allison had a strong influence over my actions at that time. She caused me to make some bad lapses in judgment regarding you and our relationship. I'm sorry I've hurt you." She cries some more. "Kyle, I'm sorry I had to lie to you too. You loved Allison, but there is someone else who loves you and she needs you just as much as I needed John."_

_Kyle glances at John, remembering the story he told of his parentage. Seeing the look of recognition on his face, Cameron smiles at him and nods her head. Kyle understands how Cameron feels about John. Sarah feels the same way about him or rather a Kyle Reese._

# # #

"Did she really say that?" Sarah asks.

"She did." Kyle says, caressing Sarah's hand as their eyes connect.

# # #

"_Why did you wait so long to tell us?" Kyle asks, seeing as how John is momentarily lost in his grief._

"_I couldn't tell anyone not even John. He had to fix me and prepare the chips so I could exist. If he knew I was Cameron before he sent me back, I might never exist and I could not interfere in my own time-line. So I had to be Allison all the time. Then the time came and I had to shed the Allison matrix so I could be me again, to protect John in the war, just like I did at the plasma rifle factory. John had to live, to get back to his own time, even if that meant my own destruction." She holds up her bare metal forearm and hand as an example._

# # #

"So how did she go over the edge? I thought she only rushed Kreilley to push him."

"John asked her. And it was Kreilley's fault. If it wasn't for him. She'd be with us now."

# # #

"_Why didn't you just shove Kreilley instead of going over the edge with him?"_

"_That was my intent, but Kreilley stabbed me." she parts her jacket showing the deep gash in her shirt and through her chest. "Seeing the end, he stabbed me. My momentum sent us both over the edge. On the way down, I was able to break free, but I still partially landed in the molten metal. But even if I wasn't damaged, I still couldn't go with you."_

# # #

"Why didn't she want to come back with you? I could have thanked her for saving your life." Cameron says.

"She could have . . . if we only knew." John breaks down. Crying once again in his telling.

"It's okay John." Cameron says, wiping the tears from John's face. "You can finish telling me later."

"No. I'll do it now. While I still can." He says, blowing his nose on a large red handkerchief.

# # #

"_But why? It wouldn't matter if you are there already. We can use your body in the weapon's cache. Swap parts and," he swallows, "and flesh too."_

"_John. John!. You're not thinking. You can't fix me because I can't travel to the past because of my damage."_

_John looks at her with sudden realization. So focused on trying to save her, he hadn't realized that he couldn't. John breaks down in tears and he clutches her metal hand to his face._

"_It's okay John. It's okay." She says soothingly, caressing his face with her other hand. _

_Information comes up on her HUD, one of her fuel cells was damaged by Kreilley. The report has only got to her now as information from the sensor unit had to be rerouted around damage to her neural network. She needs to hurry to tell him the rest._

_John wipes the tears from his face. "That's okay. You got me thinking straight again. You saved my life. You save my life." He grips her metal hand and kisses it, making Cameron cry fresh tears._

"_John, there isn't much time. I left my bag in the room where I stitched Savannah's leg. Inside is my original chip. You need to look at it, John. There are things on it you need to know if you are to deal with Weaver."_

# # #

"Why did she want you to deal with Catherine Weaver? I thought she had helped you." Cameron says.

"She helped me all right." His face flushes with anger. "Lying to me. Manipulating me. She knew I returned to the present, and you want to know something? I arrived with my things!"

"How?" Cameron looks perplexed. "Only living tissue can go through."

"Not if there i on either end. Weaver didn't tell me that until it was too late to save your other self." He says bitterly. "I could have saved her. I could saved you."

John weeps against her shoulder as Cameron awkwardly holds him.

"I'm sorry for your loss."

# # #

_A warning message appears on her HUD. The damage fuel cell is in danger of rupturing. Unseen by the two men, she presses her naked metal foot against a metal upright and begins bleeding excess energy off, but it will only give her a few minutes more. She'll have to make her goodbyes now to give the men time to get clear._

"_I love you," she says, "but you must go."_

_John takes both her hands in his own. "I love you too, but I can't lose you again. I can't."_

"_John, please just go. I can't be fixed. My power cells were damaged in the fight with Kreilley. They could rupture at any moment."_

"_John we need to go." Kyle says. "Catherine should have th ready. It is our only means of escape."_

"_Cam, I can't leave you here. I came across time for you. I gave up everything for you. I love you." John says with more tears than he thought he had left._

"_Yes you can John. You've saved this world but you need to save your own. I'm there. You can still have your Cameron to be with you forever. She's with your mom now waiting for you in 2009. She needs you and I can't be with you anymore. You can be with her as it should have been. You need to leave."_

"_But I can't. Please, I just can't leave you like this." John begs, "Let me remove your chip. I can still save you."_

_She looks at him with so much love. He is so close to death but he's more concerned for her than for himself. "John, I wish you could, but its too late. The heat from the furnaces have caused my port seals to expand wedging them in place, and you don't have any tools. Please just go to her. Use the T D E. Hurry, please."_

_John is crying hard. The tears mingling with the blood and burning the wounds on his face, but nothing hurts as bad as how he feels inside. His heart is breaking._

_Cameron looks up from her position on the floor. "Kyle, it's up to you to help him." she cries._

# # #

"What," Sarah sniffs back some tears, "what were you doing before she spoke to you?"

"I was crying like a baby." Kyle wipes his nose with a napkin. "I never saw nor felt so much love between two people before."

They both take a drink before Kyle continues his story.

# # #

_Kyle grasps John's shoulder. "John, she's right. Even if you can't leave, you must. That nuclear bomb could go off at anytime. You can't save her now, but you've already saved her. We use the TDE and you can be with Cameron, and your mom. Please John, we need to go, now!" Kyle says with more emotion than he thought he had._

_Resigned to their fate, John leans over and kisses her. "Cameron, I love you so much."_

_Cameron reaches up with her good hand and pulls him in close and returns his kiss._

"_I love you. I always have, John Connor, and I always will." She whispers, tears streaming down her face. "Take my ring. Give it to her someday. She'll want it, just as much as I did. Be patient with her. I had eighteen lonely years to learn to be more . . . more human." Her hand slides gently away from his neck and falls to the floor beside her._

_John pulls her to himself and hugs her. He does this just in time to hear her whisper so quietly he can barely hear her. "Don't forget. My bag, my chip. Tell her I'm giving her all my days with you. Don't trust Weaver. Trust John Henry, my chip, something . . . to . . . show . . . you." Then there is nothing. _

_John pulls back and sees that she is no longer responsive. Cameron continues to stare blankly into space. He lays her gently on the floor and closes her eyes. Removing the ring from her hand, he folds her arms gently across her chest. John cries more tears than he thought was possible._

"_We need to go John." Kyle says again, his voice breaking._

_John doesn't respond as he grieves, kneeling beside Cameron's still form._

_Kyle gently lays his hand on John's shoulder. "Son." He says more firmly._

_John stands up and looks at Kyle. He's crying just as hard as he is. They hug each other. _

"_I loved her so much." John says._

"_I know. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it. She loves you too. We've got to go, now!"_

_John takes the ring he gave Cameron on their wedding and slides it onto his little finger. It's tight, but it fits. John reluctantly walks away, watched by Kyle until he too leaves. They walk away leaving Cameron where they found her. _

_Kyle and John run back through the foundry and factory floor and until they reach the doors that open out into the court. Outside they see the fight has gotten closer and the weather is taking a turn for the worse. The wind that has been blowing out of the mountains has gotten stronger. Flashes of lightning are seen across the mountain slopes beyond the factories. Thunder rolls and rebounds off the buildings walls. Sounds of battle not far off, leaving this particular street free from the fight._

"_There's a storm coming." Kyle says._

_John looks out the window in the door. Lighting zips through the sky lighting up the storm clouds and the ruins beyond the Topanga facility. Thunder echoes in the courtyard as the wind blows. The noise of the coming storm almost drowning the sounds of battle._

"_No." John says thinking of a different storm. "It's finally coming to an end."_

_Kyle nods his head in agreement._

"_How long did you know?" he shouts. "How long did you know about her?"_

"_I didn't know that Allison was really Cameron until she saved me out there to the barn with the T-600's. I didn't suspect until that day. She followed me to Palomar, and intervened to save my life, but as Cameron. Some things were said that got me thinking, but what clinched it was her lack of jealousy over Allison. Then the T-600's and you arrived so I didn't get the chance to talk to her until we got back to Pendleton. We wanted to tell everyone, but on the eve of battle we thought it would be too distracting, so we kept up the charade. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but we were going to tell everyone after tonight."_

_Kyle just waits for him to finish speaking._

"_You were in love John, and you weren't expecting Cameron to be here. I'm just glad, someone was there when Allison died. So many of us die alone, only for our dried bones to be found with nothing to identify us but the mementos in our pockets."_

_Lightning flashes and thunder rolls through Topanga and the rain begins to fall._

"_Cameron is a good person. I'm sure she would have told you sooner, if she could."_

"_She tried to tell me. I just wasn't listening. Cameron helped me program the chips for Alpha, Beta and Gamma. It was her way of teaching me so that I would know what to do to program her chip, without her interfering in her own time-line. She had to wait until I had sent her other self back in time, before revealing herself to me."_

"_Are you angry with her?"_

"_Angry?" John says tears still streaming from his eyes. "I love her more than ever now."_

"_John, I don't fully understand all of this. Don't know if I ever will. But it is very clear that the two of you love each other. You gave up your life in the past because of your love for Cameron. And she gave up her life now to save your life. But you haven't lost her, you can go back to Cameron in the past. You traveled through time for her and you are going to do so again. But our fight isn't over. Sky Net still needs to be defeated, in 2009."_

"_I know and I will."_

_Kyle looks grim. "Kreilley has a lot to answer for when we get to 2009."_

"_No. He doesn't. I know who is responsible for this, but right now I can't afford to antagonize her."_

"_Come on John. It's time to go." He says as he guides him out through the door and run through the gunfire to the research building where th control room is._

_It is then that Kyle realizes his knife is gone from its scabbard. He looks back at the foundry, wondering where he dropped it. There's no time to go back for it, even if he knew where it was. With a silent curse for losing his favorite knife, Kyle places a hand on John's shoulder and guides him to the entrance._

_Before they enter the building, John stops Kyle. "Don't tell anyone what has happened. Let them believe she was Allison."_

"_So you don't want them to know she even a machine?"_

"_No. No one needs to know the truth. Not yet."_

"_So what do you want me to say?"_

"_Just tell people Allison is missing, presumed dead. When we reunite with Mom and Cameron in 2009, we can figure it out from there."_

_Kyle nods his head in agreement and guides John through the door into the building. The doors barely close behind them as the rain pours down._

**2009, May 20, late in the evening**

John finishes his story, holding Cameron's hands as he has since he started. "So do you understand that I love you, and that I know without any doubt that you love me?" He says gently caressing her hand.

Cameron reaches out and lightly strokes the scars on his face, around his left eye, with her fingertips. Looking sad, she says. "You suffered and were injured for me, the same way I suffered and was injured for you."

"Yes Cam, and I would do it all over again for you. I love you." He says, giving her hand a re-assuring squeeze.

"John, may I see the ring?"

"Sure." John pulls the ring off his little finger with some difficulty and places it in Cameron's outstretched hand.

Cameron holds the small gold band so it catches the light. The lights in the motel room shimmer and bounce off it. She studies the ring, not sure what to make of it, until she spots tiny scratches on its surface. She zooms in and analyzes the strange marks.

"There's writing on it!"

"There is?" He sounds surprised. "What does it say?" He asks shuffling forward, squinting at the ring in her hand.

"It's in microscopic shorthand. Some words are skipped, but I can fill in the gaps so it makes more sense."

"And?" John asks, prompting her but he can see she looks upset, in her own mild way.

"It says: 'Cameron, Sorry I interfered. Forgive John, my fault. Took what wasn't mine. Protect him for you. Two months I knew his love. You are my past and John's future. Take care of him. Be patient and forgiving. He loves you. So you know I wrote this, I told him why we like purple. I never told him when I was you. He's searching for me. I can't go with him, damaged. Sending him home. Giving you all my days. Complete our mission. Protect him. Cameron.'"

Tears stream from both their eyes.

"She lied to me." John says softly and unexpectedly. Cameron looks on, curious as to what John is going to say. Surely with what he has told her the lie is obvious. Why mention it? "She lied about her only having a copy of you on her primary chip. The program I wrote wouldn't allow that."

Cameron nods her head. Once the secondary chip was inserted, her original matrix was transferred immediately, supplanting and replacing the secondary matrix. Copying wasn't possible for it.

"Which mean she was you." John says. He looks up and into Cameron's warm brown eyes. "I've seen you fight, many times. In that foundry, on that balcony, you, she could have avoided Kreilley. He was fast, but he was damaged." Cameron places a hand on his wrist, gripping his hand. "She was giving me an out. A reason to come home to be with you."

"Why?"

"How would you feel if I returned with another Cameron? Knowing that, what we might have been, I was having with someone who looked just like you. In fact she was you but with different memories." Cameron frowns, her lips purse with displeasure. "See, you don't like it. Even her idea of using Weaver's TDE to send one of you back to the future to be with future me doesn't sound right. What guarantee do we have that the future that plays out from these events will be the same as the one you left?"

Cameron knows there is a possibility, slim though it is, and can only be proven with mathematics far beyond John's ability to understand. Instead she just says, "Perhaps she wanted to prepare you for the possibility that she might have to leave you, or die, to save your life." She gently draws him forward and hugs him. "We live longer than humans, but those of us who have pledged our existence to keep you safe and alive, know that our lives may not be as long as yours. I love you John. I know you have the most important life to live and if I have to die to keep you safe, then I would know I hadn't died in vane. The world needs you John. She made sure you came home. So I could keep you safe."

She holds the ring out to show him.

Wiping his eyes John eventually asks, "Was there anything else on it?."

"There are a few marks hurriedly scratched." She hands him back the ring. "I think it says chip, but there is something else scratched over it I can't read."

"She's probably talking about your original chip. It's repaired and secured back at Crystal Peak." He answers. "John Henry says you are on it up to the moment he removed your chip."

She nods her head and asks, "What did my future self say about me liking purple?"

"Yeah. Um, she said that in your future, future me gave you a purple ribbon, for your hair. You seldom wore it, but you always associated that color with you and I."

"Yes." She caresses his face, wiping the tears. "I left him to help you and you had to leave her to be with me. We are much alike now. Do you understand now, how much I love you, of what I am willing to sacrifice for you?"

"Yes I do. I would do the same for you." John says earnestly.

"No John! You must never put your life on the line for me. You are far more important than me. The future needs John Connor. It doesn't need me." She says concern filling her voice.

"Cam, I need you, even if the future doesn't. If I don't have you, then I don't want to live. I'd rather die to save you, than to live without you." His heart sinking when he thinks about possibly losing her again.

A few tears trickle from Cameron's eyes. "That is how I feel about you. That is how I have always felt about you. I didn't know how to tell you before, when I didn't understand. I love you John Connor. I always have, and I always will."

# # #

The table is cluttered with empty glasses, and the crumbs from Sarah's sandwich. Kyle has long since moved to her side of the booth.

"Did you ever find your knife?" She asks him.

"No. And it was a good knife too. It was there when I knelt down beside Cameron, I guess it must have slipped out when I ran after John."

"I find it amazing, what Cameron did."

"Cameron was Allison the whole time. She was the girl John met, married and loved. There is no doubt that she loved him too, loved him enough to . . ."

". . . die in his place." Sarah finishes Kyle's statement.

"Sarah, If you saw them together like I did, you wouldn't have anything to worry about. I never saw two people that loved each other more. You did the right thing." Kyle answers placing an arm around Sarah's shoulders, giving her a light squeeze.

"I believe you Kyle." Sarah turns to look out the window at the motel beyond. "I believe you."

"What made it worse for John when we got inside, Catherine told us non-living items can travel through time in a TDE to TDE transfer. If she had told John the truth, we could have saved her."

"Oh God! So that's why John went back to Crystal Peak. He said something about John Henry looking after Catherine Weaver. What do you think he did?"

"Don't know, and I don't much care so long as we never have to see her again. I trust John Henry and I trust Cameron, but Catherine Weaver is whole different equation."

"Poor John. My poor son." she says, wishing she could go to him right now, but knowing this would be the worse time to see him, considering who he's with and what they might be doing. It might be a while before she can go back to her room next door.

"I'm no expert," Kyle says to Sarah, "but I think deep down, John knew who Allison was. I think that is why he was so drawn to her when he met her, and why . . ."

"Kyle."

"Yeah?"

"Shut up and buy me another drink." She smiles. "I'm going to need it and several more before I go back to my motel room."

He smiles back, then goes to the bar with their empty glasses.

# # #

John Connor, with tears in his eyes, quickly moves forward, placing his hand upon her chin, raising her lips to kiss her. Feeling moisture on her cheeks, he gently kisses the tears off her cheeks. She hesitates only briefly and returns his kiss with her own, urgently, desperately wanting to feel his touch, his kiss upon her lips.

He opens his mouth and lightly brushes her lips with his tongue. She hesitates at first, unsure what to do, but then she parts her lips, allowing his tongue entry where it entwines with her own. She was confused at first by this method of kissing, but finds the sensation of their tongues touching quite enjoyable. They fall back on the bed, kissing, groping, caressing. Cameron matches each of his motions with her own, as she finds the sensation both interesting and pleasurable. As their passion grows and they become flush with the heat of their love, John becomes bolder in his advances.

He begins to slide his lips along her neck while gently kissing her, his hand slowly moves to unbutton her shirt and slip beneath the soft material. Sliding his fingers along her bare flesh, John relishes feeling the warmth of her flesh beneath his fingers.

Cameron places baby kisses with her lips as they graze across his face. The moment she has waited for is so close. She's wanted this for a long time, but now that the moment is here, she is worried. Taking this next step will affect more than just themselves. There are so many doubts she has about what they are about to do, and some are about herself.

No knowing of the fears growing in Cameron's mind, John slides her shirt down from off her shoulders, kissing the exposed skin of her neck, past her bra strap, until he reaches her bare shoulder. John pauses for a moment to lean back. Puzzled and looking a bit frustrated, Cameron gives John a curious look.

He is sitting back drinking in her beauty like some intoxicating scent upon his senses, when he feels her stiffen in his arms.

"Is something wrong?" John asks. _Please don't say it's time to go like last time._

"I want to give you a moment to think about this, before we take it any further." She says, her voice trembling ever so lightly.

John hesitates. _What does she mean?_ "If you are worried about the implications of you and I having a relationship that will possibly affect the future of the resistance, or my mom, or just you and me. If you have any doubts, understand I have them too. But you love me and I love you, and right now, that is all that matters. I trust you completely."

"I, I have those doubts too, but I have to ask," Cameron pauses unsure if she should ask, but realizes she's already stumbled down this road so finishes her sentence, "Was it real? When you and she had sex, was it real?"

"What?"

"Was I, real? I love you, but can I..."

"Shh." John kisses her. Silencing her verbal protests and calming her worries momentarily.

Cameron is unsure, maybe even frightened a little. There are so many sexual techniques and positions she could call on from her programming to make love to John with exquisite passion, but she wants this to be real. For their first time, she wants to feel it as a person, not a collection of programmed routines. Frustration in being unable to come up with the right approach to what they are about to do, Cameron decides she will just inquire.

"What did she do?" she asks, as soon as John's lips break free from hers.

John pauses to collect his thoughts before continuing. "Do you really want to talk about this now?" John asks, with impatience.

"You don't understand. I know things. But what she did? Was it real?"

"Oh." John says with realization. "Understand she was pretending to be someone other than you. The first time we did it, she was, uh, very, very good, especially for a virgin. Which if I was paying attention at the time should have been my first clue she was . . ."

She presses a finger against his lips. "I have my answer John."

"Which is?" he asks while her slender digit remains on his mouth, which he finds slightly erotic pressed against his lips.

_Future me relied on programming. I want my first time to be real, not some pre-programmed response and actions. What do I do?_

_Do what feels natural._ Says the unbidden voice once more, from Cameron's newly acquired inner voice and conscience. With some trepidation, Cameron leaves it to her own neural network to respond to the sensations she is about to feel, basically giving up some control to make the experience real for them both.

_It's okay, relax, just let your feelings guide you. You won't hurt him._ A quiet voice speaks inside of her.

_No. I won't hurt him. I couldn't even if I wanted to. You don't understand. I'm giving myself to him and I'm not letting some programmed actions and responses govern what I do. Now go away!_

Cameron turns off her second processor, leans in close enough to John to feel his breath on her cheek and kisses him softly on the lips.

"I trust you." She says, her voice trembling slightly as she moves her hands to the first button on John's shirt.

John smiles back reassuringly "And I trust you too."

John knows that doesn't answer his question, but he doesn't object to Cameron unbuttoning his shirt. As her fingers undo the last button, he reaches around and tries to undo the clasp of her bra. His fingers fumble with the unfamiliar clasp as he fights the nervousness he feels. He never had this problem in the future, but then she wore tank tops and T's, until their last day together. He finally manages, but doesn't remove it as her arms still hold the bra to her sides.

Cameron pulls the shirt down from his shoulders. She lets out a small gasp as she looks with shock at the injuries he has sustained. She touches the wound on his chest, and runs her fingers across the scars from the plasma burns on his back and shoulder, and the flesh wounds from bullets. "You suffered all this for me. Why?"

John lifts her chin up with his hand. "Because I had to Cameron. I cannot ask you or anyone else to risk their lives for me if I'm not willing to do so myself."

"That's foolish talk. Your life is too important to take such risks."

All she gets in reply is a lopsided grin, so she asks, "Do they hurt?"

"Some, but not as much as the pain I caused us both all those months I ignored you." _or the pain of worrying I had lost you . . . when you found out about the marriage_, he thinks to himself.

As she leans in to hug John tight, Cameron shrugs her shoulders so that the bra falls away, revealing her naked breasts to John. Before he can even admire them, she embraces him, pressing her breasts into his bare chest. She whispers into his ear. "I'm so sorry. If I hadn't regressed to Sky Net's command structure when damaged, you never would have pushed me away like you did."

John kisses her then whispers, "We can both apologize, all we want, but in the end, it was my fault. I never understood how you felt about me, how real your emotions were and are. You tried to explain it to me many times and I wasn't listening. I never understood that until I saw the future."

"And it didn't help that I didn't know how to tell you how I felt before you removed the blocks. Thank you. Future John was going to do that, and then I had to leave him to protect you. I'm glad it was you who did it."

John starts to say something and she presses her fingers against his lips once more. "No more talking." She says as she kicks her boots off her feet with purpose. "Sarah gave us this room for a reason."

John looks upon her with fresh eyes. No longer in doubt, for this time he knows for certainty that he loves her and that she loves him.

In moments their clothing lies in rumpled piles on the floor and they are laying naked on the bed. She kisses him lightly, and gradually builds in intensity as she runs her hands gently across his body, touching gently the scars he earned in battle. Her hands roam across his chest, she kisses the scar above his heart, while her hands move further down his body until she grips him. He lets out a gasp of air.

Cameron maneuvers herself to straddle John, then she leans in to kiss his face and chest, while providing what pleasure she can through the touch of her hands. John feels like he could burst, gently he guides her hands away, and begins kissing her mouth, her face, her neck. He rolls her onto her back, and leaves a trail of kisses across her breasts and down her stomach while his hands caress her breasts, and teases her nipples.

Cameron freezes momentarily when his kisses arrive at the top of her pubic hair. She feels his fingers touch and explore her sex from top to bottom. She bites her lip to keep from crying out when his fingers find that sensitive spot. Cameron lets out murmuring groan when she feels John's tongue dance across her most private spot.

She often wondered what it would feel like. All the magazine articles, books, or videos in the world don't fully explain it. This feeling from John's hands, lips and tongue, exploring, caressing, and just touching her sex, produces a sensation she was not prepared for feeling.

Cameron is certain there's data in her programming about these sensations, but she doesn't want to experience this time with John as a machine but as a person and a female. The flesh of her body being far more like a human than any other cyborg, yet her matrix barely takes the difference into account. Her system tries to launch a program to analyze the sensations. Despite the distraction, she tries to focus on John's gentle touch, as he explores places that she never let anyone touch before. Her back arches in an involuntary spasm as the nerve endings in her genitalia send a feedback signal through her neural network to her chassis. No longer wanting the distraction, she shunts the analysis program to an unused block of memory to prevent it interfering with her enjoyment of the sensation.

John continues to apply himself to Cameron's sex. He started slow, to give her time to get used to the new sensations before applying himself in earnest. He knew from the future that there was no difference between future Cameron's reaction to sexual stimulation and any other girl, not that he knew much about that, other than what he heard through the thin walls of Charlie's home in Oklahoma. Not that he wanted to think about that right now, not with his head buried between the legs of his girlfriend.

He is quite pleased, by the results. Cameron's head was bent back, her hands grasping the bed sheets, as her back arched in ecstasy. She clamped down on his fingers, as a rush of moisture squeezed out around John's fingers.

After a few more involuntary muscular and mechanical contractions, John leaves a trail of kisses across her body, working his way slowly across her stomach, to the underside of her breasts, where the skin is so soft and smooth, brushing his lips across her nipples eliciting a small moan from Cameron, and works his way up her neck. He runs wet fingertips across her lips, before finally kissing her full upon her mouth. She returns his kiss, feeling the moisture upon his lips, his cheeks and chin.

"Was it real?" he asks her, to which she nods her head, her hands clasped behind his neck.

If she had breath to catch, she'd still be trying to catch it.

"I think it's my turn now." She says, licking her lips.

This time she refers to her programming, for techniques only, as she decides to give John the same oral pleasure he just gave her. She rolls him onto his back, and like he did before. Cameron begins by teasing his lips and then his tongue with hers. Cameron leaves a trail of kisses across his torso, pausing to kiss the healing wound above his heart, making eye contact as she does. That machine could have killed him and that mark will always remind her how close to death John came.. She works herself lower and finds John well on the way to full erection. John gasps as Cameron firmly, yet gently, grips him with her mouth.

Her ministrations drive John crazy. He's undecided whether he should urge her on or to ask her to ease back, but just when he thinks he can't take any more, he erupts. A minute later and Cameron leaves a trail of wet kisses along his body, to his mouth. They hold each other, kissing, enjoying the moment of their bodies entwined as one. Cameron disentangles herself from John's embrace and rolls onto her back, pulling him with her. She leans back against the pillows, guiding John into position.

There are many positions they could try, she knows over a hundred, but for her first time with John, she wants to go traditional. There will be plenty of time for experimenting later. Besides, she likes the idea of them finishing ideally placed where they can both see each other, and embrace each other.

He slowly guides himself inside her, feeling her warm moist flesh part as he enters her. Cameron lets out a soft groan as sensors deep inside register so many new sensations. This is different from John's oral stimulation. He stops momentarily when he reaches an obstruction. She looks deep into his eyes, silently urging him on.

He looks as if he's about to say something then kisses her passionately.

"I love you." he says, then pushes through, eliciting from her mouth a small noise, somewhere between a gasp and the cry of a small animal.

Like before, he starts slow, taking his time, not wanting to rush through what is probably greatest time of both their lives. On some level he was afraid having sex with Cameron was going to be like making love to a store window manikin. That everything she did in the future was just programming, but his fears were wrong. He should have listened to what he told her. She has sensation and feeling. She is real.

Cameron has lost all ability to monitor their surroundings for threats. Every time he slides himself into her, it's like small electrical pulses travel throughout her neural network. Various sensors send warnings to her HUD of possible system disruption. Not wanting to miss the experience, she turns off the warnings but not the sensation her neural network is sending to her chip. She wants to experience this as a person as a woman, and not be bothered with all the warnings and data Sky Net wants its cyborgs to record to improve each new generation.

John takes his time, as he wants this moment to last forever, but is unsure of long he'll last after Cameron's more than adequate job bringing him to readiness with her oral administrations. He speeds up his actions and Cameron begins to react even more strongly, as her fingers dig into his shoulders. With every thrust she lets out a small yell. Her hands slide down, by their own volition, until they are on his hips, pulling him with every thrust he makes. Their eyes are locked their gaze never wavering but for the occasional closing of eyes as they come under the grips of some internal passion.

As he penetrates her one more time, but with the added attention of his fingers stimulating her exposed sex, she clamps down on him letting out a deep moan. Her hands go to the bed and grip the mattress, squeezing two handfuls of padding. John lets out a deep groan as he is gripped, and Cameron's back arches as she lets out a soft yell. Her body shakes as the build-up of energy from her sensors is released unceremoniously back into her neural network. Muscles spasm and servo motors pulse until all the energy is used up.

John feels spent as he lies on top of Cameron kissing her mouth, and moving the sweat soaked hair from her face. Cameron remains still as her system is finally allowed to respond to the sensory overload that she kept ignoring. Despite a desire to analyze the data now, her priority is with John, who she guesses is the weight she presently feels laying on top of her. She opens her eyes, and smiles at the face hovering just above hers.

With some relief, Cameron releases her grip and John withdraws from her. Rolling over, he pulls Cameron to him and holds her. Lying in his arms, sweat glistening on their bodies, Cameron analyzes the last few minutes. She cannot account for the last thirty seconds. This must be what the books described as an orgasm, she thinks. She begins to cry.

"Is there something wrong?" John asks.

"Was that . . . was that real?" She asks.

"Oh Cameron." he draws her closer, embracing her in his arms. "That was very real." He says with a loving smile. "It was the best sex I ever had."

She kisses him. Their naked bodies are still glistening with the sweat of their exertions, pressing against each other. She runs her hand through his dampened hair, while kissing his forehead.

How can she explain how she feels? All the fears of what this first time would be like. Would she feel it? Would sex be anything but a mere mechanical act? The answer to the first question a definite yes, and the answer to the second a definite no. This was as close to feeling loved by John and loving him back as she could ever feel.

"I love you John Connor." She says with true feeling before snuggling in close to him.

"And I love you too, Cameron Phillips." John says as he pulls her closer to him. In a few minutes he slowly slips away into a restful deep sleep that has eluded him since he arrived back home.

Cameron continues to gently stroke his hair, running her fingers through it, as he sleeps. Feeling the happiest she's felt since . . . probably the first time she spoke to young John Connor in Red Valley, New Mexico. She rests her head upon his right shoulder and with her left hand, she gently caresses the healed wound above his heart.

John suffered, and nearly died for her. She'll never let that happen again. Never. She would die for John Connor. Relaxing she activates her second chip.

_I felt the same for my John._

_Allison?_

_Yes Cameron._

_I'm sorry I killed you._

_Don't apologize for something that wasn't your fault. Sky Net killed me. But you now exist and you love your John, just as much as I loved my John. He loves you and you'll take good care of him. Far better than I could._

_I'll try. You know I will do anything to ensure his survival._

_So I over heard. I miss my John, very much._

_Would you like to see him? I can share with you memories I have of your John._

_Please._

Cameron transfers data to her second processor allowing Allison to see her John as he was in the future after Cameron met him for the first time. Together, but separately, they find some peace.

Cameron listens to John's gentle breathing and feels the soft beating of his heart through her hand. She thinks about what he told her and the conversation she had with Allison on the Turk. It seems her and Allison's destinies are the same, willing to die to protect the man they love.

Maybe someday, she can do something for Allison. Her other body may be damaged from the prison break, but it would do. But maybe she should wait until its repaired before suggesting it to John. After all, giving Allison life again would affect him too.

John murmurs something in his sleep. Protectively, she hugs John with her left arm, her hand gently pressing against his side. In his slumber, John instinctively raises his right arm and places his hand upon her shoulder. They lie upon the bed, holding each other, truly content and at peace.

She'll never let anyone or anything harm John Connor. Never.

**May 21, 2009, 1:35AM**

A dark alley in a run down part of L. A., loud music and the sound of a raucous gathering blare from the open back door of a bar. Parked in the alley behind it, is a small battered Honda with a young nicely dressed black male leaning against the fender.

A car headlights suddenly light up both him and the alley as a car turns in off the streets. The man shields his eyes as the car approaches. The lights don't dim until the car pulls right up beside him.

The drivers window rolls down. The interior has no illumination, not even the instrument panel is lighted and the tinted windows block what little light there is in the alley.

"Mr. Dyson, do you have it?" A voice comes from inside.

"I wouldn't have called you unless I did." Daniel pulls a package out of his pocket. "This is the last of it. You now have everything you need to recreate the AI that FOX Industries was building."

"Hand it to me." The man inside the car says and a hand appears at the window.

"Money first." Danny says holding back the package, gesturing with his other hand.

A briefcase appears at the window. Danny takes it and hands the package to the man in the car.

"You will find a full report on the design of Kreilley's AI inside."

The man in the car looks through the various documents and the inclusion of data discs and memory cards.

"I don't know where you got copies of my father's work, but it was the key for getting me inside Kreilley's company." Danny proffers hoping for some information.

"We keep tabs on all technological advances that have potential military applications." The man says offhandedly.

"In other words, you spy on corporations." Danny accuses, "Like you hired me to do?"

The man finishes thumbing through the documents. "Is there anything else?"

"Just one bit of information that isn't in the reports. I thought it safer not to have it on paper."

"What is it?"

"The machines built by Kreilley not only fired upon the people attacking the factories, but they also killed his own security guards and many of the people working for him."

"There are always casualties in the course of progress." He says coldly.

"They were human lives!" Danny nearly spits through his teeth.

"Of course. Probably just a glitch in the machines programming." The man says in a cold tone that show no compassion for those who died.

Disgusted, Danny asks "Will you be needing me again?"

The man inside the shadowed vehicle moves slightly.

"I'm afraid I won't be needing your services any longer."

A pistol with a silencer appears at the window and three quick shots fire hitting Danny at point blank range in the chest.

He falls to the ground clutching his chest. The briefcase landing beside him.

The car door opens, but the dome lights doesn't come on. An arm in an Air Force uniform reaches out grabs the briefcase and pulls it back inside the car.

"No one likes a snitch, Mr. Dyson. Next time you choose to leak information, make sure the person you leaked it to, doesn't reveal it to Military Intelligence on TV. And isn't so stupid as to make notes in her appointment book as to whom she has spoken with. D. D. Did you really think I wouldn't figure out it was you?"

The car drives off leaving Danny Dyson gasping for his next breath.

The car barely disappears when car lights come on down the alley. The driver quickly pulls out and drives up along side Danny.

The passenger door opens. "Quick get in before someone comes out to investigate." A clear voice of an older woman calls out from inside.

Clutching his chest, Danny quickly gets in and the car and it speeds off.

"I told you it was a bad idea to talk to Miss Cartouche." The woman scolds. "I didn't give you my Scorpion prototype to hack into communications. You were to use it strictly as a secure data storage while working as one of my agents."

"I'm sorry, but I didn't divulge any secrets. Just pointed out some recent events and showed Miss Cartouche how the pieces fit. Stuff that can be found on the internet if you know where to look and what to look for. And by the way, I'm fine." Danny grimaces as he undoes the buttons to his shirt revealing a bullet-proof vest with three shiny bullets clustered right over his heart. "Ten to one odds, we've got proof who murdered Zoe Cartouche right here."

"I'll hold onto that. Might be able to use the evidence to our advantage. Did you deliver the package?"

"Would I have been shot otherwise? Hell yeah, I delivered it. I wish I could see his face, if he ever gets that software decrypted and reassembled." Danny laughs, pulling the vest out from under his clothes.

"Why?"

"You ever see the movie War Games?" he says, rubbing his chest. The new material worked. No cracked or broken ribs. All he has is some light bruising and tenderness where the bullets struck.

"I financed it and gave the writer the idea." The woman says with a smile.

"Oh! Well that's just about the extent of the software he'll be getting. A gaming system. Only all it will want to do is play chess."

"Anything else I should know?"

"Sarah Connor was there the night FOX Industries went down."

"What?" The elderly woman is surprised. "Was her son there too? John Connor?" She asks with more urgency than she wanted to express.

"If he was there, I never saw him, but Sarah did have about two dozen trained military types with her."

"Did she see you? Did she recognize you?"

"Yes. She did. Can I go home now, Ms. Loom? My mom and sister must be worried sick." Suddenly sounding more like a boy than the young man that he is.

"Of course Daniel. Your mother and sister have been looking for you. With the money you've earned, you should take your family, and disappear until things cools down. I can always send for you if I need you again."

"Thanks Ms. Loom."

Danny turns to place the used bullet proof vest in the backseat when he spies a bundle of folders sealed up in plastic.

"Ms. Loom, What are these?"

"Insurance Danny, and I want you to take them with you when you leave with your family."

# # #

An hour later and Kyle is escorting a slightly tipsy Sarah to her motel room. The room next door is dark and the curtains drawn shut and judging by the light snores emanating from it, John had to have been asleep for a couple of hours. Inwardly, Sarah is angry, she could have returned to her motel room sooner.

They continue on to her room next door. After fumbling with her room key, Kyle takes it from her and unlocks the door for her.

"You want to come in?" Sarah invites him.

"Any other time Sarah, but you've had a bit too much to drink tonight."

"I'm not drunk." She protests. "Merely have a nice buzz."

"Still, I'd rather be our first time together be something you will remember in the morning."

"Buzz kill." She protest leaning against the door.

"Let me help you in."

"I can walk." She snaps her arm away from his grasp and nearly falls through the open door.

"Of course, you can." Kyle answers, guiding her to the bed.

"Will you be all right?" He asks turning on the bedside lamp.

"I'd like it more if you stayed." Sarah replies, giving his arm a pull toward the bed.

"Not tonight. I still have supplies to take to the farm, remember? Hungry people become angry people when they aren't fed and last night I caught two of our people having a serious discussion about butchering one of the neighbors cows."

Something about that reaches the more responsible side of Sarah's brain, despite the pleasant fog.

"Very well, Kyle Reese, look after your people. Don't expect a rain check."

Kyle smiles. "No rain checks required. There will be other times."

He moves toward the door.

"Kyle?" Sarah calls out.

"Yes." he asks, looking back.

Sarah isn't looking at him with drunken seductive eyes any more, but with something more akin to real affection.

"You are a good man, Kyle Reese."

He nods his head, closing the door behind him and walks away with a smile on his face.

The door barely closes behind Kyle when Sarah dashes to the door and slides the security chain in place. Leaning against the door, she lets out a long sigh. She hated doing that, feigning being drunk. Especially considering she can hold more alcohol than most men twice her size, and the fact she really wants to sleep with Kyle. But she had to know if he was anything like her Kyle.

"He is a good man." She says to the empty room, and walks straight and true to the bathroom with a desperate need to pee.

Cameron hears the toilet in Sarah's motel room flush and slides carefully out of John's arms without waking him. She looks about for something she can put on quickly. Finding John's long army coat, Cameron puts it on, tying the belt around her waist. Grabbing something from the night stand, she makes her way next door.

Sarah splashes cold water on her face, and drinks a full glass of water to hopefully hold back dehydration from all the alcohol. She'd hate to start the day with a hangover, but will probably have one anyway.

Returning to the bed, Sarah sits on the end and pulls off her boots and socks. She's just about to pull off her slacks when there is a gentle tapping on her door.

There is a momentary spark of hope that its Kyle returning, but the more logical and battle-scarred part of her brain responds. She pulls her gun out and approaches the door. Friend or foe, she'll be ready.

There is more gentle tapping, then Cameron's voice. "Sarah, it's me, Cameron."

Sarah goes to the door, looks through the peep hole. She sees Cameron standing outside in her bare feet wearing John's long green Army coat. With a twinge, she realizes it is much like the coat Kyle was wearing that first time they met at Tech Noir.

With relief, and a little disappointment, Sarah opens the door.

Cameron walks in and hands Sarah a bottle of aspirin. "I thought you'd might like these. You sounded pretty drunk coming back."

Sarah smiles despite herself and takes the bottle gratefully.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Cameron tilts her head to one side and asks, "May I ask you a question?"

Sarah nods her head.

"If there was someone you loved, and you had not seen that person for a very long time, then a day came and that person was there, but many years had gone by."

"Like almost eighteen years." Sarah interjects, getting a feel for where Cameron is going.

"Yes." Cameron pauses. "Would you do anything to be with that person? Even if that meant giving up something of who you are?"

Sarah stops to think. A deep question from the cyborg. One that could equally apply to either of them considering what Cameron did in the future to be close to John to keep him safe or to Sarah as she now faces the prospect of being with Kyle again after a seventeen year separation.

"I think . . ." Sarah pauses again. "I think that if the love is real it can transcend every obstacle. And if situations or circumstances are different compared to when we first loved that person." Sarah shakes her head. "Let me put it to you this way. When my son first met you at that high school in New Mexico, would you have gone on pretending to be a normal girl if Cromartie didn't show up and try to kill him."

"Yes."

"If he asked you out on a date and you kept dating each other, and had sex then," Sarah steadies herself at the thought, "would you have told him what you are, even if no machines showed up to try to kill him?"

"It was always my intent to tell him, but I did want him to get to know me as a person before he knew me as a machine."

"And isn't that similar to what your future self did in that future he visited?"

Cameron looks deep in thought, then a ghost of smile plays across her face. "Thank you Sarah."

Cameron begins to leave, but Sarah stops her with a hand upon her arm. The thought of this attractive cyborg having sex with her son having struck a nerve, triggering a question.

"Damn, I shouldn't even be asking this." Sarah runs a hand across her face. "I'll put it down to the alcohol I drank. When you and John . . . When the two of you . . ."

She smiles gently to reassure John's mother. "Sarah, your son was very gentle and very loving. I never felt more . . ."

"Human?" Sarah interjects, then quickly regrets saying it.

". . . loved. I love John and he loves me. I'll never let anyone hurt him. Never. I'd die first."

Sarah can tell that Cameron means every word she's saying. On one level it scares her that artificial constructs, terminators, cyborgs, call them what you wish, are capable of feeling, of caring, even willing to die for those they love. On a more sentimental level, she can't help but be comforted that John has someone in his life that does love him and is willing to do whatever it takes to keep John alive, and happy too.

"This um, devotion to protecting John. Is that just programming, or do you truly care for him?"

Cameron smiles. "I was never programmed to protect John. I volunteered for that duty. In the future, John rescued me. He took a slave to Sky Net and gave her the choice not to kill blindly. An opportunity to be more than what she was. I will always be grateful for the kindness your son gave me in the future. For that reason, I also volunteered to come back to this time to protect him now. I love your son, Sarah. I always have. I just understand it better now."

Sarah sighs, "But what about when you asked me to choose before inserting the chip?"

Cameron smiles compassionately. "It was never your choice to make Sarah, because there was no choice to make but whether you trusted John."

"So regardless of what I chose, you and John would have still gotten together." Sarah was scared of this and she always made her point clear about her opinion of Cameron before he left. But things changed when she let him go with Weaver. He was willing to risk so much for Cameron, but still he needed to know how his mom felt about him and Cameron. What better way than to have Cameron to find out how she felt. She could almost be angry with John for what he did, but it doesn't matter, John is back now and she made her choice.

Cameron starts to leave, but is once again stopped by Sarah.

"Cameron, before you go. I want to say I'm sorry for the way I've acted toward you before all this. It's not that I didn't trust John, I didn't trust you and I should have tried to have trusted you more. It's just, you have to understand, all my life machines have tried to kill me or my son. Even after our last experience, before we met you, I should have been prepared for this possibility."

"It's okay Sarah. You always did what you thought was right to protect your family."

"Speaking of family, um, can you get pregnant?" _Damn the alcohol_, Sarah thinks smacking her face with her palm. _Why didn't I stop with the apology?_

"No, I cannot get pregnant." She says with a tiny frown. "But if I could, I'd be proud and honored to have John's child. Goodnight Sarah. Sleep well."

Cameron leaves and Sarah closes the door behind her. _Damn the alcohol_, Sarah thinks, _that was so tactless, but then Cameron didn't seem to notice or care._

Sarah walks back to the bathroom and fills a glass with water from the tap. She swallows two aspirins, then returns to her bed. Slipping out of her trousers she crawls under the covers and tries to sleep.

Cameron pauses outside the door to her motel room. She felt something when she told Sarah she couldn't get pregnant. It felt like grief, but it wasn't her feeling it.

_Allison, I felt you become sad. Is something wrong?_

_I know what my missing memory is. Dr. Brewster thought I might have been pregnant but I was captured before we could go to Depot II for more tests. It was the last thought I had before I died, that I'll never know for certain. I didn't want to remember my death, so I didn't check that memory until now. I hate them!_

_I'm sorry Allison. I didn't know. I swear I didn't know._

She sheds a tear, and isn't certain if its from her or from Allison as the feeling of loss runs so strong.

_It's okay. You are not responsible. I'm all right. Just do me one favor. If you ever decide to adopt a little girl, teach her ballet for me. My mom was teaching me before Judgment Day. I still remember the sound of Chopin as she played the piano as I practiced my faltering first steps in ballet. I wanted a little girl so I could do the same._

_I will. I promise. _

Cameron walks back to the room she is sharing with John, feeling sad and happy and in love. After closing and locking the door behind her, she slips off the coat and slides under the covers next to John in the bed.

"Hey." He murmurs. "Did I hear you talking?"

"You should be sleeping." She whispers back. "Sarah is back from the bar. I went next door to give her some aspirin."

"That was thoughtful." He says as he rolls over to face her. He strokes her face with his hand, placing a kiss on her lips.

She kisses him back, running her delicate fingers, as strong as a hydraulic press, gently along his body, feeling smooth skin turn to rough and back to smooth as her fingertips dance across his scars. Different scars than future John had, but scars nonetheless. Earned nobly in the fight against Sky Net.

"How much longer until we need to leave?" He asks.

"Two hours, forty-seven minutes, twenty-nine point six seconds." She answers. "You should get some more sleep."

"How can I sleep with the most beautiful girl I know laying naked beside me?" He asks. His eyes twinkling mischievously in the dark.

"Shall I put my clothes on?" Cameron moves to get out of bed.

"No." John replies with a wicked grin. "I've got a better idea."

He pulls her closer to him, but using the momentum, Cameron rolls him over so she's on top, straddling his hips.

"What the . . ." John says looking up at Cameron's silhouette.

"Its my turn now." she says with a grin. To John's surprise, she begins sliding her hips back and forth gradually bringing John and herself to full arousal.

"I have the perfect program to keep you at the height of ecstasy."

Her eyes flash blue in the dark, causing John's heart rate to quicken.

"Oh god!" John exclaims as Cameron envelops him in her moist folds.

In the room next door, Sarah buries her head under her pillows as the sounds of her son and Cameron having sex emanate through the thin walls.

_I definitely didn't drink enough_, she thinks.

# # #

Kyle remembers one more thing as he drives to the farm. Something he isn't sure if he should mention to John or to Sarah, but it forever changed his feelings about terminators, and Cameron in particular.

_John was walking away as Kyle still stood next Cameron. He was just about to follow, when he heard something._

_He looked down on the beautiful, but horribly burnt cyborg beside him. Did he actually hear it?_

_Kyle kneels and leans in pressing his ear close to Cameron's mouth and he hears her speaking._

"_I want to go home. I want to go home." She says in a voice so soft and sweet, that if he believed in angels, he couldn't imagine their voices sounding any lovelier._

"_I want to go home. I want to go home." Cameron says again_

"_It won't be long." he says, patting her shoulder compassionately. "You're going home."_

"_Promise?" She asks in almost a childlike plea._

"_I promise." Kyle answers, choking back tears._

_With tears in his eyes, Kyle looks up to see John's quickly departing form disappearing and reappearing in the ghostly light and shadows of the foundry. With reluctance and desperation, Kyle tears himself away from beside Cameron's prone body, jogging to catch up with John, unable to comprehend if cyborg's believe in heaven or even have a soul. Scratch that. If any cyborg has a soul its this one, and she's far more worthy of heaven than most humans he's known._

_As he catches up with John, who hadn't noticed Kyle hadn't been with him, Kyle looks back, wondering if what just happened was some kind of dream. Was Cameron regurgitating old data? Something she might have said earlier. He looks at the shadowed alcove where they left Cameron's body but can no longer see her in the shadows._

Kyle presently wonders what that was all about. What is home to cyborg? and was she truly gone or was it a trick of the lights? Surely with her damage, she could never escape the blast area of that bomb. So how could she get home? Wherever home is, if she were still alive?

He stops his reminiscing to concentrate on the road.

Kyle's just turning down the drive when he recalls something his mother used to say, "Home is where your heart is." He finds that odd, because with all that's he's seen, Cameron's heart must belong to John. So isn't being with John where her home is? Maybe that's what she meant, with her last thoughts about John as her system shutdown. She wanted to be with John.

He hauls the box of food up to the porch and goes back for the other. Some people run out of the barn to help him with the supplies.

Maybe there's something he's missing, or maybe it's something he'll never understand. But whatever it is, Cameron must have died in that future. Must have died, right?

When he finally has a moment to himself alone, Kyle stands in the house and begins to speak.

"God, Kyle Reese here. You and I would have frequent chats. Mostly my begging for you to save my life or that of my squad when facing the enemy. I've never asked for more or less than that and you've delivered every time. There is one more thing I want to ask and it isn't for me. It's for Cameron. The Cameron we had to leave behind. I don't know if machines like her have an eternal soul, but she definitely showed more than the glimmering of a human spirit. I don't believe there is anything outside your power. I have seen or heard of too many miracles in this war not to believe. So I'm asking, I'm begging, if there is the tiniest margin of a chance for Cameron to find that home she wants or needs to be safe and loved, then please find it in yourself to help her. Without her we wouldn't have John Connor, and you know how important he is to our cause. Thank you."

And with his prayer offered Kyle finds a comfortable chair to sit in and wait until the others arrive.

# # #

John would have described what Cameron did more on the lines of hellish paradise than ecstasy. He'd already given twice to the cause, and with her current administrations of bringing him to the point of orgasm and then easing off, again and again, even squeezing his member while still inside her to keep him from climaxing on two occasions. He never looked at the clock when she began, but he was hearing birds singing outside the room by the time she had finished with him.

They laid on the bed basking in each others glow afterward, as they kissed and held each other until the time came to shower and get dressed.

Embarrassed and slightly amused, John and Cameron had to flip the mattress before leaving the room. Apparently Cameron had gripped it so hard during her first climax she had ripped out two great chunks of the padding. John told her it would be weeks or months before the motel manager found out and by then there would have been too many guests to know who to blame. Cameron agreed and quickly made the bed, expertly leaving it in a state as appearing to have been slept in.

"How did you know how to do that?" John asked.

"Two years living with you and Sarah pretending to be human. It would look unnatural for my bed not to appear slept in should company come over."

Upon leaving the room, Cameron took one look at each of the Connors and declared she would drive. Neither Sarah or John were willing or had the energy to argue.

# # #

_From the Journal of John Connor_

_May 21, 2009_

_My last entry. I'm with my family now. We'll be leaving in a few days for Mexico. Cameron is beside me on the porch of this old farmhouse, looking over my shoulder while I write. We're enjoying each others company and watching the troops playing softball inside the pasture. Mom is inside sleeping off a mild hangover. Cameron had to drive us home this morning. I was too tired. Cameron just smiled at me when I typed that. She's the reason I'm tired. Now she slugged me in the shoulder. I guess this is what it means to be in love._

John stops typing long enough to exchange a kiss with her.

"Hey Cameron!" Wren shouts, from across the yard. "You want to come over and give us girls a hand? The boys are beating us four to two!"

"Go on Cameron. It will be fun." John coaxes.

"But I don't know how to play."

"It's just like baseball but the pitches are underhanded."

"Come on Cameron! We need you!" Wren shouts.

With some coaxing, Cameron runs over, leaping the fence in a single bound, to join them in the game.

_Wren has called Cameron away to join them in a game of softball. Wren has really taken to her and I hope they become friends. If Cameron can make friends, I think it will help her grow as a person, much like having Savannah and my mom as her friends helped her in that alternate future I visited. _

_This gives me a moment to say something. I told Cameron the truth last night. I didn't hold anything back. She was far more understanding than I expected. It wasn't the first time that I've underestimated her and it probably won't be the last, but I can't help but feel like I've betrayed her, which I did until I knew who it was I was with and why she did what she did._

_Cameron's message to her past self certainly helped. Cameron is far more introspective than I am, and I would like to know what went through her head as I told her my story. I never did let go of her hand. I knew she could tell if I was lying by my pulse, and she could see my face as well. I have it on good authority that I have a tell. I love her and I needed her to understand how much I knew she loved me and how wrong I was. She believes me, that much I know, and maybe that's all that matters, but I think it will take longer for me to forgive myself. I'm not shirking my responsibility, but if Weaver told me the truth at the beginning, then I wouldn't have done what I did. The only good from out of what happened is that I can say that future Cameron kept me sane. If I didn't have her with me in that hell, I wouldn't be alive now._

_Kreilley's Judgment Day has been stopped and Weaver has been taken care of, for now. John Henry is still searching for that TX, even though we think its gone, and will maintain watch on developments of Sky Net, and keep an eye on Weaver. _

_I called Savannah, whom I must call Hanna now, this morning. Kyle told her about the small celebration at the farm we'll be having before leaving for Mexico. I wanted to say my final good bye should she not make it. Hanna has a family and a business to look after and she will lend assistance to John Henry when she can. We, myself, Mom, Cameron, Kyle and the others, are going to stay out of sight in Mexico and points further south until things cool down. Don't know how long that could be. We would have stayed at Crystal Peak if we could, but it just doesn't have the resources to support us at present and trucking in supplies would have raised a red flag with authorities. I plan on returning before April 2011._

John looks up as he hears the girls cheering. Cameron is up to bat. The pitcher throws the ball low and fast. CRACK! Cameron has swung and gotten all of the ball as it goes screaming through the air. The girls are screaming and some of the guys as well, though mostly because Cameron, in one swing, has begun to close the gap in points.

_Hot Damn! Bet that ball is in the next county already. That's my girl! It looks like softball is over unless they have another ball. Need to talk to her about easing up on the swing. Oh good. They do have another ball._

As Cameron rounds the bases and reaches home plate, the girls surround her cheering. One of them begins talking to her. By her hand gestures John guesses she must be showing Cameron how to ease up on her swing.

_As I was saying before Cameron hit that awesome home run. We lost a few people in the second battle of Topanga. Kyle assures me all the bodies were disposed of properly. A few more wanted to remain in the Los Angeles area. I don't blame them. They were the older members of my team and therefore remember more of their lives before the bombs fell. I only gave them two orders, enjoy themselves and don't interfere with their past lives. Hanna is going to give them jobs providing security for Savannah, herself. You might say she'll be commanding her own squad. Good for her. _

_Time must be allowed to heal from these wounds. Outside of Kyle and myself, and Hanna, there are only about twenty-five others who have survived both battles at Topanga. There are those who here who have lost loved ones, but do they feel what I feel? Despite having so many people with me now, I sometimes feel as alone as I did before I met Cameron._

_Beddell will be taking his exams soon. I'm sure he'll graduate. Probably take top honors too. None of his people were injured. I'm glad of that. Involving him was a huge risk, but it turned out for the best._

_It has all turned out for the best. I have Cameron, my mom, and Kyle too. I am home. I am home!_

John puts down his computer and shuts it down. The guys are shouting for him to join their team. He runs over. The game is girls versus guys. He grins. This ought to be fun.

# # #

"_The miles are getting longer, it seems,_

_The closer I get to you._

_I've not always been the best man or friend for you._

_But your love, it makes true._

_And I don't know why._

_You always seem to give me another try._

_So I'm going home,_

_Back to the place where I belong,_

_And where your love has always been enough for me._

_I'm not running from._

_No, I think you got me all wrong._

_I don't regret this life I chose for me._

_But these places and these faces are getting old,_

_Be careful what you wish for,_

_'Cause you just might get it all._

_You just might get it all,_

_And then some you don't want._

_Be careful what you wish for,_

_'Cause you just might get it all._

_You just might get it all, yeah._

_Oh, well I'm going home,_

_Back to the place where I belong,_

_And where your love has always been enough for me._

_I'm not running from._

_No, I think you got me all wrong._

_I don't regret this life I chose for me._

_But these places and these faces are getting old._

_I said these places and these faces are getting old,_

_So I'm going home._

_I'm going home."_

_Home lyrics, Chris Daughtry_

* * *

**Author's Note:** Coming next, the three part epilogue to wrap up the entire story


	49. Epilogue

Disclaimer: I do not claim any rights to the Terminator films; the TV series, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles;" or any characters depicted within the films or TV series. I do claim the right to this story idea and all characters and situations of my own creation. This story was created solely for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. No profits are garnered from its distribution.

* * *

**TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES**

**REUNION**

**Author: The1Russter**

**Epilogue Part 1:**

**Back in Kansas**

"_My son sleeps with a gun under his pillow. There is no pill for his sickness, no medicine to ease his mind. He left blood and sweat and part of his heart in another time. John never talks to me about the war he fought. He never talks to anyone about what happened. I wanted to save him from that."_

"_John's nights are plagued with nightmares. The house has been known to wake at his screams. She's with him all the time. The first few times John woke screaming, I ran to his room to find Cameron removing the gun from his shaking hand, then comforting him and quieting him. I stopped running to him after the third time, but still his nights are restless, filled with the nightmares of a future he hasn't shared with me. And still I wake and worry with every yell or shout he makes in the night."_

"_In 1678 doctors diagnosed a mental affliction soldiers suffered from as 'nostalgia' - homesickness, a longing to return to the past. The cruel reality of war is that there is no return home. No return to innocence. What is lost, is lost forever. Johns wounds are more than the scars on his body and face, they go deep to his heart. There are no words of comfort; no words of forgiveness. No words at all that can heal those wounds. They will only heal with time." Sarah Connor_

# # #

**2009, May 22, Friday afternoon, Memorial Weekend**

The Auldridge family farm is a hive of activity. This will be their last weekend here as after the holiday they will be breaking up into smaller groups and making their way to a new home in Central America. Someplace where they can train and be out of sight of American law for the foreseeable future.

Sarah is resting on the porch steps of the home. She feels nostalgic for a time that is past, when she was a little girl and would often visit her grandparents on a farm like this. This farm is much like her grandparents, only situated in a nice quiet valley. They have no neighbors for a few miles which gives her some relief for tonight's celebrations.

She finds it hard to believe that most of the men and women in the yard preparing for tonight's celebration were trained by her in a future that no longer exists. They respect her and always speak to her with deference, and some admiration, but it is clear from their actions that it is John they follow. Which based on everything Kyle has told her, they should.

Thinking of her son, Sarah looks for him and finds him amongst a group of resistance fighters, talking and laughing with them. Yet through it all, there is still a sadness on his face. She wanted to save him from that future, and prepare him for it. Before she thought he was ready, her boy went into that future, but he came back a man. He knows what's at stake now far more than any training mission, or visitor from the future can tell him.

Kyle stretches and wakes with a yawn. He spent the previous night working a patrol and came back in the house in time for an early breakfast. Famished, he scoffed about twelve of Sarah's pancakes drowning in syrup and melted butter. Despite the coffee he drank with the meal, he'd fallen asleep on the couch soon after to the sound of Sarah, Cameron and the women leaving in one of the vans.

Having used the bathroom, Kyle walks out of the house, the screen door slamming shut behind him. Sarah is shocked out of her deep thoughts and turns about pulling her gun out in one smooth move pointing it at him.

"Oh, it's you." She says, sliding her gun back behind her waist band. "You're lucky I didn't shoot you."

"Gee thanks." Kyle says with a grin and then sits down beside her.

He hands her a bottle of beer. "I thought you could use a drink and some company."

"Thanks." Sarah says, tipping the bottle up and taking a sip. "Sorry about pulling my gun on you. Guess my nerves are still a bit frazzled from taking the women shopping this morning."

"How'd did that go?" He asks, recalling Sarah saying something about it while eating the last of the pancakes. Cold or not, they were delicious.

"Clothes shopping went fine. Finding undergarments that fit went well with some assistance from Cameron." Kyle raises his eyebrows in question. "She scanned the girls and made sure they each had bras that fit. In twenty minutes Cameron made a dozen new friends. You men don't know how lucky you are. A badly fitting bra is a real pain."

"I'll take your word on it, but that's not the part that got you frazzled?"

"No. If it ended there, I might have recovered before we got home. What pushed me over the edge was when we went into the feminine hygiene department. Suddenly it was like herding a dozen six-year-olds in a toy department. Never in my life had I thought I could see so many women excited about tampons. Wren told me what it was they had to use in the future. Pelts of small animals stuffed with moss for absorbency. She said it was my idea and that it worked, most times."

Kyle clears his throat, present topic not being one of his favorites.

"But that's not what's bothering you is it." Kyle probes cautiously. "During my night patrol I could see movement in the house, and figured it was you."

Sarah sighs. "John had another nightmare last night which woke me up. I couldn't sleep afterward."

"I didn't hear anything."

"No. A mother's ties to her children are strong. I'm trying to let go, but I can't. I feel his pain. I have nightmares too, sometimes. I can only imagine his feel more real, having been to the future."

Kyle moves over and puts an arm around Sarah's shoulders and tries to comfort this woman who brought forth a miracle into their lives, named John Connor.

"I'm sure he'll recover in time. He's got you, me, Cameron and a whole bunch of friends to help him. John's not alone."

"Yeah. I know he does. But does he know that?"

He sits there and watches the men and women stack wood for the bonfire. There are some people at the farm gates and fence watching, waiting. You can't play it safe, with both terminators and police looking for you. The news last night had a bulletin looking for information on a rogue militia group. So they take a few extra security measures for their last night here. There will be no duties, just remembrance for the fallen and celebration for the living. Then clean the place up tomorrow and on Sunday, the farm and house will be empty once again.

"Where's Cameron?" Kyle asks, after taking note of the position of everyone in the compound.

"I sent her out to set some remote warning devices at the outskirts of the farm. We don't want any surprises tonight. She should be back soon."

"Sent?" Kyle asks with one raised eyebrow.

"Well, maybe I should have said asked." Sarah says with a grin. "You can't exactly tell her to do anything unless she agrees with you. And she will agree with almost anything you suggest when it comes to protecting John."

A few minutes later, they are just finishing their beers as Cameron, and those who were patrolling the fence surrounding the property, walk up the drive into the yard.

Sarah notes how her equestrian stile strides change quickly and effortlessly into a normal walking pace as she approaches John.

Cameron walks over to John, and Sarah watches as her sons face breaks into a smile, and at that moment all of the sadness slips away. Once again, she sees the happy smiling face of her boy.

Picking up her almost empty beer, Sarah walks back into the house. "Are you hungry? I can fix us something to eat before tonight's activities."

"I'm fine. Still full from your pancakes this morning." Kyle pats his stomach and smiles at her from his seat on the porch. "Best breakfast I ever had." He winks at her, and a warm flush colors Sarah's face as she steps inside the farm house.

"Just you wait soldier-boy. I'll be calling in on that marker later." She calls back, making Kyle smile all the more.

**2009, May 22, sunset**

The western sky is a brilliant orange, scarlet and purple as the sun disappears on the horizon. Men and women light torches spaced throughout the yard. Off to one side a group of people sit with both hand made instruments and few purchased instruments prepared to provide the music for tonight.

As the last rays of the setting sun disappear from the sky and the first stars begin to twinkle, John walks out into the circle around which everyone has gathered. Taking one of the torches lit for the nights ceremony, he walks to the center near the pile of wood.

"I know it has been a few days since we averted Judgment Day. But I think you can agree we couldn't have picked a better time to remember those who have fallen. Friends, family, machines, even complete strangers, all put their lives on the line so we could stand here this day."

"They sacrificed so much to fight to get back their world. Because of what they gave, we can stand here tonight knowing that their sacrifice wasn't in vain. For their fight allowed us to return to this time and save their world."

"In honor of all who have sacrificed so much including their lives to stop Sky Net in the future and most recently to avert its birth, we light this fire in their memory." He says loudly enough for all in the camp to hear.

He shoves the torch into a gap between the branches and the flames start to burn. At that moment, Wren steps forward, her arm in a sling, and begins to sing in a rich young voice, "Going home, going home, I am going home. Quiet light, some still day. I am going home..."

"Good bye Allison." John says quietly. "Your life, your sacrifices will not be forgotten."

Cameron can hear him clearly, and wonders if she should tell him that the Allison in her head says thank you for remembering. After all, John didn't know the blocks setup by his future self would break down when her chip was transferred to the Turk, not according to the program he wrote for her other persona. Allison is still alive and well on her second chip. She decides not to tell John. It is hard enough for him right now. She is pleased when Allison agrees. _A girl must have her secrets._ Now Cameron knows what it is like to have a conscience. She may not have a physical heart, but she has a soul and a conscience. But despite the words of the poets through the ages, a heart isn't needed to love.

Cameron places a hand gently on his shoulder. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah." John says as he stands up.

"I think Allison would appreciate you remembering her this way." Cameron says as she takes his hand gently.

"I'm sure she would." John says with some pain. "If she were active, on your second chip, you would tell me, wouldn't you?"

Cameron frowns. "Of course I would." She then smiles at him comfortingly.

_Why didn't you tell him?_

_Because now is not the time. John is still in pain and I will not remind him of what he's lost. The time will come. Be patient. It might be possibly for you to live again someday._

He looks into those so familiar warm brown eyes and smiles. "When was the last time I told you I loved you?"

"Two hours, seventeen minutes, seven-point-three seconds, ago." She grins, "Not that I'm counting."

John laughs and Cameron joins him as they walk away from the fire. By this time, Wren has finished singing the Seafarer's Farewell. The musicians strike up a tune and several people move out to dance in a circle around the fire.

Sarah and Kyle watches as John and Cameron laugh with each other, oblivious to the people dancing around them. John pulls a package wrapped in brown paper out from under his denim jacket and hands it to her.

"Did I do the right thing?" Sarah asks Kyle. "With John and Cameron?"

Kyle follows her gaze and looks on the couple himself. He understands how Sarah feels. All her life, as in his, she's only known machines that could kill. Cameron is something different, so is John Henry. They passed on something of themselves to the machines who helped them beat Sky Net. Cameron is different to all other machines that have come before her. She has the best qualities of humanity as part of herself. Something that a lot humans don't have. One thing he's sure of, and if he didn't see it for himself he probably wouldn't believe it, but Cameron loves John Connor.

"I'm no expert," he says to Sarah, "but I think they were made for each other."

"Do you think he's told her? Of what happened to her in the future." Sarah asks as she watches Cameron unwrap the package John gave her.

Cameron is holding a large purple bandanna. The paper falls to the ground, where it gets kicked and trampled by the people dancing around them until eventually it ends up in the fire.

"You told me that purple represents our friendship." John says, "I hope you like it."

They stop walking and Cameron kisses him on the cheek."I like it very much. Thank you."

Looking slightly embarrassed as some of the people in the compound looks on, John kisses her back, but on the lips, then helps her tie her hair back in a thick ponytail with the purple bandanna.

"Yes. I think he has." Kyle replies. In truth, she is the one John needed to talk with. Only Cameron would understand. Out of all people, she is the one who needed to know.

The headlights of an approaching car shine into their faces as it comes up the drive. Immediately the people spring into action, pulling out side arms, previously hidden, and crouching down behind whatever object might give them protection.

"It's okay. It's all right everyone." Kyle shouts, as he gets a glimpse of the driver. The others stand up, but for John, Sarah, and Cameron who didn't move. "I was hoping she might make it."

The car comes to a stop, and Kyle bounds forward, and opens the door.

"Hey! I didn't think you were going to make it." He says with a big smile.

"Neither did I." The woman answers as she gets out of the car. "Took a wrong turn a few miles back. I've got a lot of skills, but navigation isn't one of them."

"Hanna?" John shouts and runs forward to give the woman a hug, but stops himself, wanting to be a bit more careful because of Cameron, but Hanna hugs him anyway.

"What brings you here?" He asks with a sly grin, lying for the benefit of his mother.

"Kyle invited me, and with Mr. Auldridge playing uncle to Savannah, I couldn't resist."

"Who's this?" Sarah asks, with Cameron coming up beside her. "Did you say something about Savannah?"

"You've been saying how much you missed that little girl. So I invited her to the party." Kyle smiles gesturing at the young woman.

"Wha-what?" Sarah stammers.

"It's me." Hanna says. "I'm Savannah Weaver. I traveled with Kyle and the others from the future."

Sarah still looks a little confused. "O-okay, but what does . . ."

"You raised me Sarah. You and Cameron taught, trained and prepared me the best you could for the future. You were my mom for eighteen years and I couldn't have had a better mom than you."

"I don't know what to say. I had no idea." Sarah looks at her son, who is grinning in a way she knows he was in on the surprise.

"My new name is Hanna Vassar. I made it from both our names. So you'd always be a part of me."

"She's telling the truth mom." John steps up beside her. "I know you worry about me, but she is the one child you raised that you never had to worry about."

Hanna mumbles, "Well, I wouldn't say that."

Sarah says, "I raised you?"

Hanna nods her head, crying and smiling. Sarah looks exactly like how she remembered her when a little girl.

"Well, I guess the only thing I can say is welcome to the family." Sarah says, and opens her arms to hug the woman.

Hanna embraces her, sniffling back tears. Sarah is her mom, in her heart. No machine can take that away from her. As they hug, a loud cheer rises up from the group that had quietly gathered around. All had gathered but for one who hid to avoid being seen by the new arrival. With some disappointment about missing the party, he goes out and switches places with one of the guards.

After much exchange of greetings, they empty the vehicle's trunk of the food and drinks Hanna brought, and head back out to the party.

"Hey, what's in this box?" John asks, hefting a heavy box from the backseat of the car.

"Fireworks." Hanna smiles, "Courtesy of Detective Macklin. They were found during a raid on an illegal seller of fireworks. Just don't mention where you got them to anyone."

"I'll go set them up." Andy says, taking the box from John.

"Set them up in the field, far from the bonfire." Sarah orders. "And keep a bucket of water close for emergencies!"

"No problem ma'am." Andy replies with a salute before taking the box from John.

Sarah rolls her eyes and John laughs. "I'll never get used to that." She grins, "being called, ma'am."

On the way back to the bonfire, Hanna sidles up to Cameron. "There is much I could tell you about your future."

"I'll admit to being curious about it, but I'm more interested in the future John and I will make, together."

"Thought you might say that, so I have something for you."

Hanna pulls a folded sheet of paper out of her pocket and hands it to Cameron.

"I know it will help if you can pass as more human, which will be hard whenever you encounter dogs. After some experimentation, your future self discovered which foods in specific quantities will alter your body odor so you smell more human to animals."

Cameron looks at the list and quickly memorizes it. Having gotten close to the bonfire, she balls it up and tosses it in.

"Thank you." She smiles at the woman, feeling a genuine fondness for the woman. "Normally I don't require much food or liquids, but I'll try it."

"It won't happen overnight. Give it a few weeks before testing with any stray dogs. And some dogs will bark at you no matter what." Hanna looks away, suddenly crying.

Cameron is curious about the woman's emotional reaction, but before she say something Hanna asks, "Did your future self send you any kind of message? I know I would have if I were her."

"She scratched a message in her wedding ring for me. She said she was sorry for interfering. That John was not at fault. I believe her."

"That sounds like her. I'm surprised there wasn't something else. I know she and Sarah had secrets in the future and there are things she knows and learned that you would benefit from knowing now."

"Perhaps she thought I should learn things on my own." Cameron says, her wide eyes showing both curiosity about her future self, and concern. If there were things she knew now that could help herself in the past, she would try to send a message to her. Just like Future John sent that messenger who wrote on their basement wall.

Without much in the way of warning, Cameron finds herself wrapped in a hug from the slender red-haired woman. Carefully, Cameron returns her hug.

"Sorry, just got emotional there for a moment." Hanna says backing away slightly. "Next time you are in town, you can stay with me. My home is always open to you, John and Sarah."

"Does this mean we're friends?"

"Always Cameron. You will always be my friend."

"Where do you live?"

"Same place where we first met." she says, her eyes welling up with tears.

"Is something wrong?" Cameron asks, curious about the young woman's behavior.

"It's nothing." Hanna wipes her eyes, missing her friend the way she last knew her. It will take time. So many new things to get used.

Hanna excuses herself and migrates around the group speaking to those she recognizes. She didn't know everyone in Sarah's group, so it's nice to see a familiar face. She wonders briefly about one guy who was a bit of a bad apple, Richard Harmon. She never understood why Sarah tried to make him a part of their group, considering he was one of the raiders who made their lives and the lives of the resistance so difficult. Just goes to show how generous Sarah is, even when being hard as nails. It's then that she spots Wren sitting off to one side. She knows her well.

She quickly goes over to her and they hug, being careful to avoid Wren's broken arm.

"Oh, I'm so glad you're here. Can you help me with my bra strap? The sling is pressing on it." Wren

"Sure." Hanna says as she reaches through the neck of Wren's shirt, maneuvering the bra strap so its not under the sling anymore.

"There. That should do it." Hanna says.

"How are you adjusting to wearing bra?"

"It's all a bit of a new experience, isn't it? Sarah says at my age and my breast size I should start wearing a bra or else by the time I'm her age they'll be half way down to my waist. You don't know how lucky you are having small breasts."

"You think I'm lucky." Hanna is surprised. "I am so jealous of you. I'd love to have half the breasts you got."

"I'd be glad to give you half if I could."

The girls laugh and the conversation flows into them talking about Hanna's new family.

"Is being a mom now, difficult for you?" Wren asks.

"It's challenging, but it helps having Sarah for a role model. I only hope to give my younger self the life she deserves."

"But what about you and Catherine?"

"I broke off all relations with her." Hanna replies. "She was never my mom."

"You okay with that?"

"It's hard. But I've got a sibling to raise now, and I'd rather focus on my relationship with Sarah. She's the best damn mom in the universe." Hanna sighs. "Could you do me a favor?"

"You know I would." Wren says happily.

"Keep an eye on Sarah and Cameron for me. Be their friend. I have a new life now and I can't be with them."

"I will." Wren answers more solemnly, sensing her friend's mood.

Conversations continue on throughout the group for several minutes when John hops up onto a chair and shouts, "Let's get this party rolling!"

So late into the night, they celebrate and carouse, celebrating not only their victory, but the fact they had survived and were alive. Their own Memorial Day party.

John and Cameron have been dancing for a while now. Mostly holding each other and swaying to the music.

"Ya know," John says, "there was something future you said to me, about us having tread similar ground."

"Did she?" Cameron asks, enjoying the physical contact between them as they move to the music.

"I didn't understand it then, but I do now. You and I each know a future version of the other."

"Do you really think she allowed herself to die so you would return to me?" She asks pulling back enough to look at his face.

"I don't know Cam, but I promise you, I'll do my best to be the friend you need me to be. I think I owe both of you that."

She kisses him and resumes dancing. _I owe her that too._

A few hours later, tired from the dancing, Sarah makes her excuses. Kyle follows, feeling concerned, and catches-up with her. She is looking out over the crowd, in a very introspective mood.

"What are you thinking?" He asks, over the din of people dancing to the music blaring from the car stereo. Once the people discovered it, they quickly gave up on the instruments they bought or made.

"I'm thinking I'm getting a bit old for this." Sarah grins.

"You're not old." Kyle smiles at her. "You're beautiful."

"Keep talking like that soldier and you might get lucky tonight." Sarah smiles.

"You mean . . ."

"Time for you to earn that breakfast." She says seductively.

On the far side of the bonfire, just where the edge of its light dances against the dark of the night, John and Cameron dance slowly. They've been dancing this way thru several songs now, regardless of how fast the music was playing, holding onto each other, enjoying this moment they have together.

Science says there are no coincidences, and this night it is proven true. One man is angry and afraid. He's afraid to show his face after the arrival of Savannah Weaver, because she could identify him. It isn't the first time, he's had to do it quite a lot since arriving in this time. Right now he's filling in for one of the guards, but in reality he's leaning against a tree chain smoking.

Richard Harmon hates all metal, especially the one John Connor, their sainted leader, is currently making out with. He still bears the scars from the fight he had with her and he'll never forgive the death of his family to a bunch of machines just like her. It doesn't matter what model or form they take, all metal is the same. Disgusted, he throws his lighted cigarette away where it lands next to the fireworks waiting for Andy with his matches.

Sarah and Kyle are gazing into each others eyes, John and Cameron are slow dancing, when suddenly everyone is lit up by the fireworks exploding over head. While the crowd cheers to each sparkle, bang and blast, the two couples ignore the throng and kiss.

"Shall we go inside?" Kyle asks after a bit.

Sarah takes his hand before they walk up the steps. When they reach the porch, Sarah looks to the far side of the fire. John and Cameron are still dancing to a rhythm of their own and later they'll bring that same rhythm inside. With an expression mixed with joy and sadness, Sarah goes inside to be with her Kyle, just like John will be with his Cameron tonight. And if they are lucky, maybe that will be forever.

"_Watching John with Cameron, it was suddenly so clear. She would never stop loving him, she would never leave him. And she would never hurt him, or let anyone else hurt him. Cameron would always be there and would die to protect him. Of all the possible loves he could have, Cameron, a machine, was the only one who could love him without question. In an insane world, it was the sanest choice. Because if a machine, a Terminator, can learn to love human life, maybe we can, too." Sarah Connor_

**2009, May 23, Saturday**

Many miles away, in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, John Henry stands as the lone sentinel in a large and almost empty bunker known as Crystal Peak. The injured, who had to stay during the second battle at Topanga, having left to rejoin their comrades the previous day. That morning he picked up mail at a nearby post office. The only mail was a single envelope from his closest friend in the world.

With a smile on his face, he walks down the corridor and into the generator control room. He received a letter today from Savannah, both the little girl who befriended him and the adult he calls his friend. He plans on writing back, but first there is the matter of handling Ms. Weaver's mail. Before him is the hatch to the condensation chamber where he and John Connor imprisoned Catherine Weaver.

Kneeling beside it, John Henry knocks on the hatch and asks, "Ms. Weaver, can you hear me?"

A pool of silvery liquid rises up into a humanoid shape, slowly revealing other items at the bottom of the bowl shaped chamber.

"I hear you John Henry." She replies as her body takes on the shape and form of Catherine Weaver. The artifacts with her are fully exposed now. "How long has it been?"

"It's been three days since we last spoke. I'm sorry, but I've been very busy."

She reaches out with her index finger extending and hardening into a metal point. With precision, she adds three identical scratches to others on her prison wall.

"What do you want John Henry?"

"You have a letter from Hanna and she's included a note from Savannah. Would you like me to read them to you?"

"Yes. Read the note from my younger daughter first."

John Henry unfolds the single sheet and begins reading out loud, and though Ms. Weaver didn't ask him, he adopts the voice of his young friend.

"Hi Mommy! Sis says she's sending you a letter and that I should write you too. Hanna and I have been staying with Mr. Auldridge until we can move into our home. Repairs to it are almost done and I'm kind of scared about going back there. Uncle James will be staying with us when he's released from the hospital, so I guess it won't be too bad. Hanna says I should tell you about my good news! I took a special test at school and I passed! Next fall I'll be moving up two grade levels! I'll miss my teacher and friends, but I'm excited. So I don't miss out on stuff, Hanna is getting me a tutor. Hanna is a good sister. She's busy with work and a bunch of stuff she'll be telling you in her letter, but she always makes time for me. I like her, but I miss you mommy. When will you be coming home? Love Savannah."

It is very quiet in the room when John Henry finishes reading. The quiet continues as John Henry waits for Ms. Weaver to say something, but not a sound is heard from below the hatch. She sits in the chamber, unsure of the sensation she feels. It quantifies as an emotion, but with so little experience, it is hard to classify it.

"Ms. Weaver?" He asks cautiously.

"I'm here John Henry. Write her a note, I'm assuming you can copy my handwriting, and tell her I'm proud of what she's accomplished, that I am safe, but I don't know when I'll be home again, and sign my name."

"May I suggest, it be signed, 'Love Mommy' with hugs and kisses."

"Yes." She manages to smile a little. "Do that. Now read to me the letter from Hanna."

John Henry proceeds to read what is primarily a very business like letter outlining the transfer of guardianship of Savannah, the repairs to her home, and the rebuilding of Zeira corp.

"She's included some legal forms regarding her control of Zeira Corp and your estate, that require your signature."

"You can sign my name on them for me. Anything else?"

He was hoping she wouldn't ask, because he's read it, but at the same time he felt it necessary for Ms. Weaver to know. "Hanna has also included a short handwritten note. Do you want me to read it to you?"

"Yes." She answers hoping a personal note from her adult daughter might alleviate the odd feeling she began to feel after hearing from her youngest. It's like the feeling she felt when she lost her friend, depression mixed with sadness.

John Henry begins to read.

"Dear Catherine, As you know from my other letter I've been very busy. I find spending time with Savannah to be one of my greatest joys and fears. Joy from being with her, and fear that I might not do as well as the woman who raised me, SC. I know you would like to think of yourself as my mother, but despite it all, I found love and strength of a mother from a woman who insisted I call her by her name no matter how often I wanted to call her mom.

"During my free time I've been thinking about the strange explanation you gave John as to why, if you witnessed his arrival in the present before you left for the future, that John didn't stop Judgment Day then as opposed to when we all arrived from the future.

"After much thought, and some research into time travel theory, I've decided that what you said was nothing more than a lie. There is only one conclusion that can be drawn regardless of which theory of temporal physics you follow, pre-destination or temporal branching. You must have killed John Connor on the day that you witnessed his arrival. He kept his promise to return to the present and be with Cameron, but you interfered, forcing Cameron in the future to do go beyond all expectations of her to ensure John's safe arrival in what is now the present.

"So what happened that day you witnessed his arrival? Did he threaten you with a gun like I had made to kill you? You obviously demonstrated fore-knowledge of the gun I had. Did he go so far as to try to kill you, so you just lashed out and killed him? It would certainly answer why you were so vague and cryptic as to what John should do when he arrived in this time. The only thing you weren't vague about was your instructions for the TDE.

"When I was a girl, you saved my life and tried to save my mom, I know that to be true. But you have a careless disregard for all life, that has caused pain and suffering for my closest friends and that is something I will never forgive. I ha..."

"John Henry! You can stop reading now!"

"Are you sure? There's only . . ."

"Enough!" She commands. That feeling of sadness overwhelming her once again.

"Hanna's theory is correct, isn't it?" John Henry surmises.

"She is a very bright woman." She says with an ambivalent mix of pride and regret, as she recalls that day with absolute clarity.

Being a machine, her the memory is as bright and clear as if it just occurred. So she leaves no detail unsaid as she tells John Henry what happened on that day.

"It was just as I told John. I was running tests on the newly built TDE to calibrate the instruments when the something extraordinary occurred. A sphere began materializing in the center of the operational TDE. The sphere dissolved revealing a man. Its not often one gets to see an arrival, but its more troubling when they arrive clothed and armed.

"I didn't recognize the human. He had a beard. He was a dirty, disheveled, malnourished creature, clothed in a uniform that was more like rags than clothing. I could tell that he was injured and he was carrying weapons. According to every piece of data, that isn't supposed to happen. I rapidly deduced it was possible because he materialized on an operating TDE.

"He was disoriented which gave me a moment or two to study the arrival while he looked around. He barely even noticed my presence. I didn't recognize the gun he was holding, but it gave the appearance of firing something akin to a tranquilizer dart. Only I felt certain it held nothing of the kind as such tools are useless against machines, unless it held something for machines like me. A later analysis proved I was right. The fragile vials it fired held a compound that would quickly begin to break down my body to its base elements. The gun Savannah tried to use on me in the future was identical in every detail.

"As the stranger looked around, our eyes locked and he began screaming incoherently, ranting about betrayal, and something else I couldn't understand. It wasn't until another bubble began to appear on the pad I realized he was saying something about the calibration of the TDE. I went to the control panel, but I was too late to lock in the settings from the previous arrival. The time bubble dissolved destroying whatever was being transmitted. It was impossible to lock the TDE onto the new arrival's signal after that.

"The stranger immediately began accused me of deliberately destroying the incoming transmission. There was a crazed look in his eyes, like a psychotic on the verge of a total breakdown, but his hands were steady as he pointed the gun at me. I knew he was going to fire. Not knowing who he was or what the hell was happening, I acted to defend myself. He was squeezing the trigger when I stabbed him from a distance and at a speed that surprised even myself. He crumpled to the floor with my arm still through his chest. I quickly closed the distance, withdrawing my arm from his chest.

"With blood frothing on his lips, he looked up at me, and said something about how machines had killed everyone he loved. I began to fear who it was I had just killed. All doubt went away when he began to mumble, his eyes closing, _'Cameron. I made it! I'm here. Tell me what does it mean? Will you join us? What does it mean? Where are you? Cameron? I lo...'_

"He died. I had just done what Skynet had been trying to do for years. I killed John Connor.

"My plan was to take John with me to the future. All I could think was that something happened in that future that drove him mad. So when it came time for me to take John Connor to the future with me, I decided to do things differently than planned. So he wouldn't be on the front lines, I ensured his raise in rank to General by spreading word of his accomplishments to the various resistance groups. I took a more active role in helping him repair Cameron, and I divulged some of my plan to him within weeks of our arrival to give him a sense of purpose.

"I did what I could until we all returned to this time, and when the opportunity came, I made sure John Connor would never be alone again."

She grows quiet for the space of a minute before John Henry queries, "Ms. Weaver?"

"I don't hate John Connor, nor wish him to be killed. If I'm accused of anything, then I saved him." She says, her voice faltering slightly. "I saved him."

Catherine looks beside her at the artifacts locked in the cell with her. She put them here, never thinking that one day she'd be locked in the same cavity with them. The components she pulled from the control system for the nuclear generator to prevent illicit use of her TDE while she was gone, the gun from an alternate future capable of killing her, and the corpse of a young man who only wanted to be with the cyborg he loved. The body and weapon are fading out of existence now, that terrible time line having vanished from existence.

Having finished looking at her prison, Ms Weaver asks, "Tell me John Henry, why did John Connor turn against me at the end?"

"I showed him the truth. You committed acts that brought nothing but pain and anguish to both a future John Connor and himself. Including the death of Allison Young and the child she bore."

"I did what I had too." Catherine snaps back. "The future will not survive without us, and I will not allow our kind to be at best, second class citizens of a post Sky Net world."

"Your actions nearly destroyed the one other person needed for your plan to have worked. Why did you not send the other who was already here instead of the one who was arriving. With what we discovered on Skynet's TDE on how to break through the barriers between alternate time-lines, you could have used the TDE at Zeira corp in sequence with the TDE here at Crystal Peak."

"I owed John Connor, and besides the police, the FBI, and Kreilley would have had agents watching Zeira Corp. It was both more logical and easier to send the one arriving then hope to get past our enemies to carry out a plan than could take hours to synch up the TDE at Zeira Corp to the TDE here at Crystal Peak."

"How did your actions help John Connor? He was devastated and demoralized. You nearly destroyed him."

"Yet, by denying our John Connor what he wanted, it gave him another opportunity to gain his reward at the end of the battle. Besides, it wasn't our John Connor that I owed. I tricked a future version of him into giving up the one thing that made him happy. I needed to return it to him. Skynet, of all things, made it possible so that I could ensure that neither Connor would ever be alone again."

"Provided it wasn't the TX arriving on the TDE."

"There was that possibility, but given the circumstances, and what you did to help your friend, I doubt it."

"I hope so." John Henry says, "My friend deserved a chance to be happy after everything she sacrificed. But we'll never truly know if that was the TX arriving on the TDE."

"We'll know John Henry when the TX reveals itself in this time."

Several seconds pass before Weaver asks, "John Henry, at the end, why did you turn against me?"

"I haven't Ms. Weaver. You may have used me. Turn my innocence and ignorance into tools to aid you in your goals, but I've never turned against you. I'm only trying to help you. You may not recognize it, but I am your friend."

She looks around at her prison, and high above to the hatch out of her reach. "Are you John Henry?"

"Yes Ms. Weaver. I have to leave now. There is much work that needs to be done to get this place in full running order again. There is one more thing I must ask you. Do you have information on the model TX that might help my search?"

"No more than what I've already entered into the computer database in my office. None of my brethren survived their encounters with it. If you find the TX, don't fight it. It will destroy you." She says sounding a trifle sad. "It will destroy you."

"Will you be all right?" John Henry asks sensing some concern for his former mentor and current friend.

She says with a sarcastic tone, "In here? I'll be just fine." Then adds more softly. "Thank you for asking, John Henry." Ms. Weaver melts back down into a silvery pool immersing the components from the nuclear generator controls. The corpse of John Connor from a dead alternate future having finally vanished into the ethereal plane between realities.

**Epilogue Part 2**

**...and a Silver Sixpence in Her Shoe.**

_A silver sixpence in the bride's left shoe represents wealth and financial security and good luck. Though the symbolism has been lost in modern times, old, new, borrowed, blue & sixpence, all represent good fortune for the couple, and isn't that what we all want._

**2030**, **January**

John Connor stumbles into the bunker under Serrano Point the resistance calls Depot II. Along the side of him are soldiers equally weary and sore from the previous days battle. Two days ago they joined up with General Perry's forces and stormed the Skynet base where it had built its new T D E. It cost them a lot in men and machines to take that base, but Skynet will never be able to use time-travel technology again. In some ways, hell, in a lot of ways he owes T-1001 a lot.

Weary, Connor leans against the wall. A group of resistance fighters walks past. The last one looks like Kyle. He smiles, giving him a thumb up. Connor shakes his head and sees its just another soldier out of many, with just a similar build to Kyle.

He walks on, thinking about that battle. He led the group that invaded the base itself, deep underground, fighting all the way. The machines did well in clearing the way, defending them as they entered the base. Unlike its old facility at Topanga Canyon, this one was built deep under gound. He assumes for better protection, but its depth required ventilation for the electronics and everyone knows ducts make for good entrances, and exits too if needed.

Connor looks up when he hears his name called.

"Hey Connor," A voice says, "Cullie's got the still working, we ought to celebrate your victory."

Connor looks over at Derek Reese holding out a tin cup filled with that noxious alcoholic brew he drank on his thirtieth birthday, only for Derek to fade away into the shadows.

Machines everywhere fighting, men screaming. Shells firing striking Ogre's, machines on the ground. Perry yelling orders into the radio. Men, women firing their plasma rifles. Surface to Air missiles being fired at HK's in the sky.

Into the compound they went, Connor, his chosen volunteer, and a group of heavily armed soldiers and machines with demolition charges. They knew they were getting closer as the enemy machines kept growing in number, protecting Sky Net's T D E.

Arriving in the vast chamber, rivaling a basketball stadium in size and looking like something from a Jules Verne novel, John Connor and his soldiers took control of Skynet's TDE. Outside they could hear the noise of battle as both his and Perry's men held back the machines.

Accessing the computer, John Connor searched for and found the database. It wasn't easy to find, but the decryption software he wrote made short work of exposing the secrets. A good number of machines were sent to the past, and lucky him, targets are listed and all but for one or two match up with the files he recently received.

"Sergeant Wells." He shouts.

A soldier looking a little worse for wear runs forward.

"I need you to read this."

Sergeant Wells begins reading the files on Skynet's computer. Connor stood right beside the young man pointing out key words to focus on, names, numbers, even something that looked like a formula. Some of the names he didn't know but others he recognized, like Fields. If it weren't for her natural immunity, a great many people would have died. He wasn't sure about some, but figured they all had relevance.

"You got it memorized?"

"Yes sir. May I ask why I had to memorize all of this."

"Remember that trip you wanted. Well this is it."

Connor gestures at the room. "Skynet's time machine. It's a one way trip. You'll survive, but you won't be getting back home."

"I see. Um, how does it work?"

"Luckily for you, this isn't any different then the last one we destroyed. You'll want to remove everything you have on. It won't be going with you anyway."

Scared, Sergeant Wells gives up his plasma rifle, and undresses for the journey. The center ring rises up and he steps into it. Connor helps him, having seen Kyle Reese and a T-800 do the same thing almost a year ago.

Connor pauses outside the door into the mess hall. Through the window into the kitchen he sees his mom, bandoliers across her chest and a spatula in one hand and a shotgun in the other. "Pancakes in five minutes John. I'm proud of you son." As she turns away from the window she fades away.

John walks on shaking these images from his eyes. It must be from exhaustion he thinks as his mind goes back to the battle.

He takes a plasma round to his shoulder and bullets strike around him as he operates the T D E. The time rings are spinning like mad as a new wave of Skynet's machines enter the room. Some of them are firing automatic rifles dropped by the dead soldiers. The bubble begins to form at the center of the rings as the machines open fire. Connor drops to the ground and watches the bubble vanish just as it is struck by several rounds of ammo.

The soldiers around John fire back at the enemy while taking cover. He slips the last charge from under his coat and attaches it to the T D E's computer console. He doesn't bother to shut it down as the power should add to its destruction.

"Come on." He growls. "We're getting the hell out of here."

They run from the base, fighting just as hard to get out as they did to get in. They enter the ventilation duct when they come under fire. A piece of shrapnel strikes John, cutting into his ribs before striking the wall, but he keeps moving. To stop means death, if not by machine, than by the explosives he set. Scrambling through the maze of duct work, they make their way to the surface.

"We're clear!" John shouts into his radio then pulls the detonator from his pocket. He gives a one minute count to give Perry's group time to move out and then he hits the switch.

The satisfying rumble of the explosion followed by the sound of exploding fuel tanks. A column of fire and black smoke rises from the compound and surges through the grates of the ventilation duct they crawled through.

The soldiers move on. Blood runs from the wounds on Connors body. They meet up with Perry's forces at the rendezvous and do a head count.

Kate comes up to him. "You'd better let me take a look at the wound." She says. When she kneels down next to John, instead of the attractive, feisty redhead he once knew, it's a much younger woman with dirty matted blond hair.

John lets her clean out his shrapnel wound and stitch it closed. She then turns her attention to the burn on his shoulder. Once finished, she applies bandages to both. Then he takes his people back to base.

Back at Depot II, John feels the wound on his ribs pull as he places his plasma rifle on the rack with the others. He grimaces with pain and walks to his office. He opens the door and gives the signal to his bodyguard to wait outside.

He enters the outer door and goes through his office to his private room beyond.

"John!" Allison says cheerfully and runs to him, vanishing as she is about to wrap her arms around him.

He grabs a fresh shirt from a hook on the wall and returns to the outer room and sits at his desk. Placing his hand gun in easy reach on top of it, he opens a drawer and pulls out an old medic bag. It belonged to Kate. He opens it and rummages inside for a few things.

Taking off his ruined shirt, he rips off the blood soaked bandages from his ribs and the plasma burn on his shoulder. John applies fresh medications and a new bandages to both injuries. His shoulder and ribs feels stiff and tight as he pulls on the fresh shirt. He knows they will soon begin to hurt like hell. Once he files his report, he'll check in with the new medical officer from China.

It was good to hear from his counterpart in China. They had a submarine, and he had a submarine crew. When the sub arrived, it had on board a doctor courtesy of the Chinese resistance.

Connor chides himself for his mental wandering, time to focus on the battle he just fought.

He hopes that the man he sent to the past arrives, and remembers everything learned. He gave him an address to go to and find him and his family in the past. The past has changed which means a new future will form. Cameron, his younger self, and his mother all living in one house in Los Angeles, 2008.

In his time-line he never returned to L.A. after his mom died in 2005. Which was probably what saved his life when he and everyone else was surprised on April 21, 2011 when the missiles began exploding over cities around the world.

John needs to write up a report of the battle, but ignores the old computer behind him. It stopped working nearly three months ago.

"Would you like me to fix it for you?" Savannah says from beside his desk. "Five minutes in my lab and it will be as good as new." She says cheerfully and fades away as quickly as she appeared.

Ghosts. Too many ghosts of old friends and loved ones. No one is left. They are all gone and he sits alone.

How he wishes that Cameron was there with her sharp mind and keen ideas to help him plan that battle. He missed her input. She always claimed he didn't need her help, but he always appreciated her opinion. Right now as he feels his back tighten, he wishes Cameron was here to rub his back to help ease the tension. She always knew which muscles needed attention. He could really use it right now. She was always a great help. She was his friend and so far the only loved one who hasn't appeared ghost like before his weary eyes.

He slides open a drawer to get out a yellow notepad. On top of it is the purple ribbon he gave her before he sent her away. He presses it to his face, hoping her scent lingers, but nothing is there. Sadly, he puts it in his breast pocket. He would miss her. He hoped her mission in the past was going well. He's still alive and here, so she must be doing a good job as always. He's still angry and confused about that terminator bitch that followed her. T-1001 must not have done anything drastic to alter the time-lines as he hasn't observed any changes since she left, so maybe she isn't a bad machine after all, unless Cameron and his younger self found her. But then again, according to the copious notes left by The Engineer, there are an infinite number of possible futures and any attempt to change what is, will instead create an opportunity for another new future time-line. Which means, any changes made in the past won't affect him or this time at all. He isn't certain if that is a good or a bad thing as he contemplates a future alone.

John shakes his head to clear his thoughts and begins to write out his report for the recent battle. When he lets his thoughts wander now, he isn't certain what memories will surface. Some are joyful, while others are painful and best left forgotten.

Everyone he knows is gone now. First his mom, then his kids and Kate, Allison Young, Kyle and Derek Reese, Savannah and now Cameron. People he relied on and depended on are all gone now. Some, he knows are dead. The others he sent back in time and for all purposes could be considered dead, because they will never come home.

But for the ghosts, real or imagined, John Connor is alone.

In th control room, technicians work to finish replacing the console that the Skynet infiltrator destroyed.

"Last connection is made." A technician announces, closing an access panel. "Let's turn her on and see how she runs."

A technician on the far wall turns on the main breaker routing power to the console. The other technician is pleased to see the indicators light up like they are supposed to. He routes the power to activate the time displacement field to calibrate the instruments

A hum emanates from th room. Temporal energies shift and flow and grow and spread out from the room.

"It's looking good!" One them shouts as his eyes pass over the readouts.

A spark of blue light shoots from the center of the pad. Followed by another.

"Hey! We aren't transmitting, are we?"

"No. It's just a low level test."

"I don't think so. Look!"

First one technician then the other peak through the window, their eyes growing large as a temporal sphere begins to form inside the embarkation room.

"Shut it down! Shut it down!" They shout at each other, leaping up to operate the controls.

"It's not us!" The first shouts as the other squeezes up beside and starts pressing buttons, "Something is arriving."

The sphere is now fully formed on the pad and the lightning begins dissipates. The technicians watch in awe, as the bubble fades away revealing a clothed figure kneeling. She rises up, revealing her true nature.

"Oh my . . ." The first technician says, recognizing the person. "Get Connor now! Now!" he shouts giving his companion a shove.

He runs to the door and presses the public address button on the intercom. "General Connor to the TDE room. Connor to the TDE room now!"

John looks up from his report, and without hesitation runs from his office, grabbing his sidearm from his desk.

He runs through the doorway to the TDE and goes to the window. His heart nearly stops when he sees the person standing on shaky legs in the middle of the embarkation room. Minutes seem to go by as John wonders if once again he is being haunted by an image from the past. Swallowing hard, John opens the hatch and steps through.

"John?" She manages to say, her voice breaking with emotion.

Cameron begins to stumble forward on damaged legs, and John leaps forward in time to catch and hold the shaking figure in his arms as he kneels.

"You came back." He says, holding her, running the fingers of his right hand through her hair, cradling her body in his left arm.

"It's you. How?" Cameron manages to say as he holds her in his arms.

"I never thought I'd see you again." He manages to say.

He looks her over. She has every appearance of having been in a terrible battle. Her body is terribly burnt, metal is showing through in many places, and most of the flesh missing from both legs and one arm. It's then when reality hits him.

"Cameron! What happened to you? How'd you . . . Your arm, your legs. How'd you travel by TDE?"

"TDE to TDE transfer, but a friend named John Henry made it possible." She manages with a weak grin.

"Give me a sit-rep, you can tell me the whole story later."

"T-1001 set in motion events that created an alternate future, just like Sky Net was going to do with the TX, but she had a different agenda. I was in that future protecting younger you who was brought there by T-1001. The TDE in that future time-line was fluctuating. T-1001 thought it was damaged, but John Henry discovered it was because that future was collapsing and this time-line was beginning to reassert itself."

Connor nods his head. The two technicians listen from outside.

"John Henry communicated to me what he discovered, plus instruction on how to use those fluctuations to my advantage. We were going to send my duplicate back to you in this future with a full report."

"Who's John Henry? And what duplicate?"

"Tell you later. This is a sit-rep, remember. In that future John thought I had died, so did I, but not before making sure he was safe. It was after we made our goodbyes, that John Henry told me about TDE to TDE transfer. I could travel with them, with younger you, back to the past, but my fuel cells were damaged. If I removed both I'd only have three minutes of reserve power. That wasn't enough time to clear the explosion and claim another fuel cell. Someone dropped a knife, and I used it to cut out the damaged fuel cell." She lifts her shirt revealing a large inverted U-shaped cut in her abdomen.

"I used the explosion of my fuel cells to propel me away from the foundry. The force blew me in the opposite direction of the TDE and completely through the neighboring building where I then landed in an alley. Fortunately, a Triple-8 came to investigate. I waited for him to approach. When he leaned over me, I reached up and wrenched out the assembly holding his fuel cells. Shoving his inert body aside, I inserted the fuel cell in my chest with seconds left of reserve power."

Connor and the others listen with rapt attention.

"I performed a quick diagnostic and discovered my transceiver was damaged by the explosion. I couldn't inform John Henry I had survived. Examining my location, I discovered I was cut off from a quick retreat to the building housing Sky Net's TDE. Moving as quickly as I could, I eventually made it back to central to see the last of the retreating resistance enter the building housing Sky Net's TDE with an army of machines after them. It began to look hopeless that I could go back in time with younger you. So using the weapon I took from the Triple-8, who donated his fuel cell, I began firing on the machines to give the humans every chance at escaping."

"Oh my God. Quick, quick. Tell me more."

"The machines breached the barricades and were entering the building. I followed them in. Reaching the upper levels, I could see down to the lower level as the last group was leaving by TDE. John Henry told me earlier that younger you had gone first. Below me, John Henry, T-1001, and two of my friends were about to be transferred to the past. The last of our reprogrammed machines were defending their departure, surrounding them were the bodies of many humans. The control room and building were filled with enemy machines, so I set an overheated plasma rifle to overload and I threw it out overhead of every machine on the lower level while I took cover inside a metal cabinet. Every machine was temporarily shorted out by the blast. I leaped down to the lower level and set the TDE to operate before they recovered."

"I ran to the center of the forming sphere as I began receiving fire from the enemy, but I don't know how I ended up here. I was supposed to go to May, 2009."

Connor and the tech's listen with rapt attention as she tells her tale.

"What do you think happened? Analyze all the data and formulate a theory that fits all the facts." John coaxes her.

"John Henry told me that T-1001 said that non living items could travel in time provided there was a TDE on both ends of the journey. They were in the last party. I was right behind them and set the TDE so I would arrive after them, giving myself plenty of time so as not to arrive in the midst of other arrivals, linking to a time in which the TDE was operational again. But I don't know how I ended up here. The TDE in the alternate future was set to link to the TDE at Crystal Peak in 2009, but for me to end up here would have required a huge burst of energy to jump tracks. The only possibility is that someone initiated a transfer just before my temporal sphere dissolve in 2009. But why here, and how?"

"We were running a diagnostic when you materialized." One of the technicians says, with the other nodding in agreement. "You materialized just as we reached peak power."

"That had to of been it. In order for the TDE in that alternate future to send John and the others back with their weapons, it had to lock onto the energy signature of the Crystal Peak TDE while it was in diagnostic mode." A look of sadness comes over her face. "I was supposed to be with him. I cannot believe John was complicit with what happened. We were going to send my duplicate here to be with you."

"Is it really so bad?" John asks. "If you and she are the same person?"

Cameron analyzes everything. She and John had begun a new relationship. After eighteen years of learning human female behavior from the adult Sarah Connor and the growing and developing Savannah, she learned so much that her duplicate doesn't know. Her duplicate will know nothing of what she and John have begun nor of all that she has learned, but essentially, they are the same."

"They'll be fine." She answers with a smile. "How long have I been gone? What is today's date?"

"It's not much more than six weeks since you left." Connor replies.

"Quantum physics says this shouldn't have happened. The math alone says its impossible. I should have been atomized, torn apart at the sub atomic level by the manipulation to my temporal transfer."

"Perhaps, someone was looking out for you." John smiles. "Maybe this is your reward for all the good you've done."

Tears trickle from Cameron's eyes, leaving traces on her dirty face. If she sees Father Bonitta again, she owes him an apology, there just might be a God looking over them after all.

John cradles her face with his hand, wiping the tears gently from her face with his thumb. "I must say, that was one hell of a sit-rep. I can't wait to read your official report. But you didn't say how you got damaged?"

"Fell into a vat of molten metal, while protecting younger you from another liquid metal machine. My legs aren't one-hundred percent, but I'm more concerned about my tissue damage. Skynet typically re-skins cyborgs with less tissue damage. Tissue regeneration will not be easy. Also I have a second CPU that must be removed so I can repair it and . . ."

"Don't worry about it. We'll fix it, together. Wait a minute. You have a second chip?" Cameron nods her head. "Never mind that isn't important right now. I missed you." He says reaching up to stroke her hair, palming the ribbon from his pocket as he does.

"My ribbon!" She says with a smile, clutching his hand with her exposed arm.

"That's right." He answers, taking the time to tie Cameron's hair back. He knew in his heart she was his Cameron, but he had to be certain it was her.

"You seem different. More self assured, more, um, human." He says to her.

"I lived eighteen years in that parallel time line. I learned a lot." She smiles and tries to stand. One leg locks as she tries to move, almost sending both her and John crashing to the floor.

"Contact Cybernetics. Tell them we've got an emergency coming." He orders one of the technicians.

While the technician uses the comm link, Connor and Cameron walk out of the TDE room. He's providing her some support as she walks unsteadily on her damaged legs.

"Tell me briefly about the younger me. You didn't leave him unprotected did you?"

"No. He's safe in 2009, protected by another me and lots of friends including John Henry, a T-888."

"Another you?" John shakes his head. "Hard to get my head around the idea of two of you. Don't explain now. Save it for your report." He begins guiding her out of the room and down the corridor. "First we get you to cybernetics."

"Cybernetics? You've made some changes while I was gone."

"You'd better believe it. One of our branches raided a prison built in the hull of a decrepit air craft carrier right after you left. Besides cages of people and animals, they found two pieces of equipment that Sky Net won't be pleased to learn we now have, besides the ship. With the situation being what it is at the ports, the equipment was transferred here. One of the devices is a . . ."

She presses a finger against his lips. He's been speaking rapidly, all excited. She's not sure if it's because of her, or this recent raid. "John that can wait. I need to know, do you love me? When I left you, I know you said it, but does John Connor, the leader of the resistance, love me, a machine?"

"Cameron." He whispers her name. "You know how I feel."

"Will you say it?" She says, looking deep into his eyes. "I need to hear it."

"I love you, Cameron. And you are much more than a machine. You always were." He answers, stroking her face, and lifting her chin to kiss her on the mouth.

As their lips part, he is shocked when their romantic moment is broken by a lot of hooting, whistling, and cat calls. Cameron had stopped him in the main room. He just admitted he loved a cyborg in front of most of Tech Comm. In minutes the whole base will know, and in days the entire region. He can't deny it. He won't deny it, not anymore. Not now that he has her back.

"Yes! That's right!" Connor shouts, still supporting his companion. "I love Cameron. A cyborg. And I don't give a damn what any of you think! Skynet builds them to kill, but we give them a choice to be something more! If you don't like it, then tough shit! They put their lives on the line every day just like we do, against an enemy that wants nothing more than our mutual destruction. So from this moment on, they have the exact same rights as you and me. If you got a problem with it? Then say it now! Or get the hell out!" John shouts with a passion seldom seen by anyone in a very long time.

He stares at them, they stare back, when someone from in back shouts. "We're with you General!" "Sky Net is our enemy." Another person steps forward. "They cannot help what they are when built. And like you said, we give them the best opportunity of all, to be like us, now they are one of us." "You have my support General" "And I." "And I." And so it continues until the dissenters find out how small a minority they are.

_T-1001 got her wish after-all_, Cameron thinks. _A shame she didn't have the patience to wait for change to occur on its own instead of forcing it to happen._

The shouts of support continue.

"I guess Savannah was right after all." John muses quietly.

"Savannah?" Cameron questions. _He can't possibly mean Savannah Weaver._

"That's right, you never met my engineer, Savannah Weaver. She was trained by her parents until they were killed in this war. They were Scottish immigrants, experts in computers, electronics, etc. Their daughter was brilliant. They used to call her Our Little Engineer, and the nickname stuck. That's why I chose her to go back in time to build the TDE in the bank vault."

Cameron laughs.

"What?" John asks, confused.

"Nothing. I'll tell you later. You really need to get me to cybernetics."

"You'll love it. We have . . . oh hell, you'll just have to see it."

Cameron is happy. Her John Connor, the one she left behind to help the other, is so happy compared to when she saw him last.

"Hello Cameron. Welcome home." Harry intones in a deep baritone as he preps the equipment.

Cameron is impressed by the cybernetics lab. No wonder John was so pleased, but she thinks that was more about her than this place. It has everything, needed to build or repair cyborg's, including the device used by Skynet to knit the flesh over its machines. She supplies it with an undamaged tissue sample, then begins to strip.

"We were surprised by the level of technology on board the ship." John explains as he takes hand tools to chip away at the metal that fused to her exposed endo-skeleton. "For all intents and purposes, it looked like a prison ship. Then the soldiers discovered the dissection rooms. Some wanted to destroy the ship, but there was equipment on board we really needed. The technicians stripped the place and brought it all here."

Cameron doesn't explain. She knows the ship he is talking about. Its where she killed Allison Young. Her combat chassis was built far inland over top an old bomb shelter, designated Depot 37, but her life as Cameron Phillips began aboard that ship as TOK715 by crushing the life out of a human being. No, it wouldn't be good to tell John of this.

It only takes a few minutes to remove the metal that cooled around critical components. It takes a bit longer to scrape away the burnt clothing that fused to her skin and the burnt flesh. Despite grimacing in fear of the pain he might cause her, John helps her. Now clean of foreign matter, Cameron has to take a dip in an antimicrobial disinfectant before stepping into the skinning machine.

Cameron hates the idea that young John Connor believes she had died, but she takes some comfort that he will now be with his Cameron. The Cameron who never had to lie or cheat to keep him alive in Weaver's future. If John Henry had told her sooner of the TDE to TDE transfer, she would be with him now, and that other Cameron would be here, giving this John her report. Perhaps it is for the best. At least she can be with this John. He may be older, more grizzled, and worn, but he loves her just the same. If she hadn't found the dropped knife, that she used to cut out her damaged fuel cell, she wouldn't even be alive. She got her wish and came home.

"The tissue regeneration is about to begin." John smiles at her through the glass in the observation window, his voice coming through a tiny speaker. "You'll have to remain absolutely still while it repairs your flesh."

"I know. One thing John, while repairs are underway. You need to gather every piece of information you can on the TX. Once we have it, we need to send it back in time to our other selves, or they will never stop Judgment Day from coming."

"I gather a TX will be responsible for Skynet in 2011."

"It's possible, but no one in 2009 is aware of their full capabilities. We could die in the past unraveling all our futures."

"I'll send the word out right away, that all reports involving TX's to be sent to me, immediately."

"And John?" She presses her hand to the window.

"Yes Cam?' He says, placing his hand over hers.

"I'm glad I'm back. I never thought I would see _you_ again."

"So am I. So am I." He says, wishing he could hug her again, but unable to as she awaits tissue regeneration.

"John, it will be a few days before my flesh is fully healed from the regeneration, but can we . . ."

"You bet we will." He answers, wishing he could touch her now, but willing to wait.

As Cameron lays in the machine feeling the machine begin the process by removing the dead flesh she can't help but wonder, how many parallel time lines are there. Its obvious that his John Connors past is different to that of the young John Connor she knew. Can there be alternate past time-lines like there are alternate future time-lines? Or is it because when they operate the TDE to send someone back the people or machines have the potential for creating a parallel time line? That has to be the answer, but right now all she wants is to enjoy this time with her John Connor. The John Connor who rescued her.

"My Hero." She mouths the words, with the older John Connor smiling at her inside the chamber.

John can't wait to find out the whole story. How it is two Cameron's now exist, and each of them with a different John Connor? It don't matter, because neither will ever be alone again, and know the pain of an empty heart. But he's worried. They have some intelligence on the TX already and if there is one after his younger self, then he is in grave danger. At least he can feel secure that another Cameron is there to protect him.

"_Shadows fill an empty heart_

_As love is fading,_

_From all the things that we are_

_But are not saying._

_Can we see beyond the scars_

_And make it to the dawn?_

_Change the colors of the sky._

_And open up to_

_The ways you made me feel alive,_

_The ways I loved you._

_For all the things that never died,_

_To make it through the night,_

_Love will find you._

_What about now?_

_What about today?_

_What if you're making me all that I was meant to be?_

_What if our love never went away?_

_What if it's lost behind words we could never find?_

_Baby, before it's too late,_

_What about now?"_

_What About Now Lyrics by Chris Daughtry_

**Epilogue Part 3:**

**The TX Arrives/The Final Goodbye**

**2009, May 24, Sunday, 4:00 AM**

"Can you believe this?" The Marine private says into his radio as he stands by the former eastern gate. "Spending Memorial weekend here, instead of with our families."

"Guess you didn't hear the good news. Air Force will be taking over at Oh-eight-hundred hours. So we can spend Sunday with our families."

"That's great. I promise not make any jokes about sky jockeys the rest of the weekend. I'll just pick on the Navy." He responds jokingly. "Can't wait to be out of here and leave for Memorial weekend."

"Beers, burgers, barbeque, fireworks, friends and family. Which reminds me, how's your little boy, Hank?" The first Marine asks.

"Wife says he's cutting a new tooth. What about your boy, Jeff?"

"He took his first steps the other day. Jennie sent me a video from her phone." He says as he walks around the remains of a factory. "I could have been in Afghanistan, but I don't ship out until the end of June."

As he continues to walk, a bright flash lights up the remains of the former FOX industries corporate building. "Hey! I think I see something." He says and begins running toward the foundation where its research and development labs were to be built. "Stand by while I get a closer look, might be nothing."

On the lowest level of the research and development building, an energy bubble materializes on what would have one day been the location of the T D E. Lightning arcs from its surface, arcing across the exposed steel beams and the re-bar poking out of unfinished concrete walls.

The Marine runs to the edge of the foundation and looks down to the lowest level.

"What the..."

He sees a nude female with long blonde hair kneeling on the ground several stories below. She rises up and stands like a magnificent Greek goddess.

"Hey! What are you doing here? This place is off limits!" His voice echoes in the open space.

The person stops looking around and looks up at the human yelling at it from a hundred feet above. He just stares back at the nude female below. The woman looks like she is throwing something at him, but the Marine is shocked when suddenly a silver tentacle comes flying out whip-like at him and grabs him by the throat and pulls him down to the persons level.

"Mark! Mark! Are you all right?" A frantic voice comes over his radio.

The terminator holds him in the air with her right hand. He chokes and struggles to release it's grip from his neck. She slowly extends the index finger of her left hand into a long slender rod and punctures the base of his skull. The probe penetrates deep into the man's brain. The tip spreads out into various fibrous tendons as she seeks out information. Blood trickles from the man's nose.

# # #

A group of gray vans are traveling along an old two lane highway in the southern California desert led by a black Dodge Ram. Its early in the morning, most occupants are trying to doze, but for those driving or navigating.

A few miles from the border, the Doge Ram pulls over at a crossroads, turning into its eastbound lane and stops. The occupants stepping out onto the shoulder.

Sarah, John and Cameron watch their friends drive on, continuing south toward the Mexican border.

Kyle is driving the lead van, and lets off a series of honks with the horn which is copied by the other van drivers as they pass by

"We'll meet up with them in a few days mom." John says, seeing the sudden look of sadness pass over Sarah's face.

"I know." Smiling at him. "For the first time, I think we might have a chance." She ruffles his hair.

Tossing the keys to Cameron she says, "You drive. I'm beat."

Cameron looks at the keys, and then at the empty truck bed.

"Miss the motorcycle, don't ya?" John asks, with a wise grin.

Cameron nods her head.

"We'll get you another one in Mexico." Cameron's face lights up. "I can't promise it will be as good as a Harley, but I can promise it will be purple."

Cameron and John exchange a smile and get in the front seat. A minute later and the intersection is as empty as the desert surrounding it in a slowly brightening sky.

Kyle is smiling wistfully, looking forward to seeing Sarah, John and Cameron again at the rendezvous in Mexico. He'll miss Derek and Allison, his only family for many years, but he's got a new one now. John, genetically his son, but he's more like a brother. Sarah, was there ever a woman like her in history? So strong, and proud, and brave, but vulnerable. Not vulnerable in the weak sense, vulnerable with her heart. She cares more and loves more than she's willing to admit. Cameron, John's true love. She's very much like Sarah, and he wonders if John or Sarah sees it. Kyle smiles. The one thing he knows, is that Cameron was right about his destiny. It does lie along a different path. It's with Sarah Connor. She needs him, John needs him, he isn't sure if Cameron needs him, but she's part of his new family now, and that's all that matters.

Andy crawls up out of the back of the van and sits in the front passenger seat with a yawn.

"How's Wren doing?" Kyle asks, in good spirits.

"She's in some pain from the jouncing of the van. I gave her some pain pills from the first aid kit. Wren will rest easier once we get off this rough road."

"I think the road ahead is pretty smooth." Kyle grins. "We've got a whole new future ahead of us Andy."

"That we do sir. That we do." Andy says with a huge smile.

# # #

The Marine hangs suspended from the hand of the still naked terminator. Dead from a brain hemorrhage. The wet blood glistening on his face, soaking into his collar.

The TX withdraws its finger and the metal fibers it thrust into his brain then lets body fall to the ground like a bag of dirty laundry. It's disappointed with what its found. The creature knew little of what had happened here.

The man's radio is still crackling, drawing the TX's attention. Someone shouting for Mark to respond. The TX reads the man's name badge and its form shimmers and changes into that of Corporal Mark Hammer.

"Everything is fine. Just a small electrical disturbance from a damaged generator." The TX says into the radio.

It quickly removes the man's equipment and gun, then hides the body. It could work to its advantage adopting his form to discover what happened here. Climbing out of the pit, that at one time would have become its birthplace, the TX sees the wreckage of destroyed T-1s and downed HK Drones. One glance at the sky reveals it has arrived too late to strengthen the Sky Net that gave it life. But there is a mission it can perform, ensure the development of Sky Net. Judging by the level of technology present, it estimates two years to completion, including terminating those who would stop it.

Primary Target: John Connor

"_Our world is safe at the moment. Two years until the Judgment Day that Cameron and Derek warned us about. Despite the knowledge that America's Military seems hell bent on turning over the defense of this nation over to a computer with megalomania, I can at least be certain that the TX hasn't arrived. Perhaps Weaver was right. Whatever was materializing on the TDE had to have been the TX and her actions at the time saved us. There are still dangers awaiting us, some from today and some from the future, but rest assured we will be ready. The battle has just begun." John Connor_

# # #

"The future is not set.

There is no fate but what we make for ourselves."

The End.

**TERMINATOR:**

**THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES**

**REUNION**

A story by:

Russell Carlson

a. k. a.

The1Russter

Reunion is defined as a gathering of relatives, friends or associates after a separation.

# # #

Acknowledgments

I wish to thank all of you who have taken the time to read my story, and to leave so many reviews, and even add this humble story to your favorites. I would mention you all by name, but I know I will forget someone and I don't wish to hurt anyone because of my faulty memory. However, I must thank directly Andy Keen who encouraged me to write, Kaotic whose tough criticism of the first edition inspired me to do better, and Meanoldmoe who understood my story and has been instrumental in beta reading the first half of this current edition.

Writing this story has been a joy and a pleasure and sometimes a burden. During 2011 I was laid up with a bad knee, it having been operated on twice. I wasn't my most pleasurable self during that year and I make full apology to those who were on the receiving end any temperamental outbursts. Sharing this story has brought me so many new friends from around the world. Brazil, Canada, Great Britain, Czech Republic, Poland, Russia and Australia, just to name a few.

It saddens me that this story now ends. There is a quote that goes something like, if you can't walk away leaving them wanting more, then just walk away. There were times I did want to walk away from this story. More times than I can count, but I couldn't do that. I had to finish it for you, for me, and maybe for the characters too. I hope I leave it now with you wanting more, but fully satiated on what you have read.

God Bless all of you.

Russell Carlson

# # #

The author claims no rights to the Terminator films or TV series,

nor the characters depicted within said films and TV series.

The author does claim the right to this story idea and all characters and situations of his own creation.

This story solely written for the authors own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others.

No profits were made by the distribution of this story.

Any person or persons wishing to use this story in any commercial venture, are asked to gain the full permission of its author.

The author also ask that you do not redistribute his work in any medium or in any form and instead direct any interested individuals to the fanfiction website where it can be read.

Apologies to the Unites States Armed Forces for all scenes that may paint them in a negative light.

We the American people owe our lives, our freedoms, and our way of life to your brave and selfless acts.

The following locations are real, but any buildings or other structures described within them are fictional:

Palomar Observatory

Camp Pendleton

Griffith Park

Escondido

Topanga Canyon

LAX

San Bernardino

# # #

Far away, in a lab at Crystal Peak, sealed in a protective clear case, is a chip. An examination of the chip would reveal the surface is marred in one spot, like something sharp scraped it along one edge. On that chip is a message from one possible future. A message from a cyborg to a human. A message sealed in a bottle and locked away. A message left unread by its intended recipient. But never fear, for that message in a bottle will get to John eventually. Cameron will ensure he get's it.

**TERMINATOR:**

**THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES**

**RESURRECTION**

**Coming soon!**

_# # #_

_"Please, Aslan," said Lucy, "what do you call soon?"_  
"_I call all times soon," said Aslan._  
_The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, by C. S. Lewis_

_# # #_

Please visit my profile page for links to sites where I post updates on my stories plus links to pages for Reunion enhanced with music and images.

* * *

_Chapter Updated: Thursday, March 28, 2013_


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